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Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Wisconsin are areas around the world where masses of people have staged protests in recent weeks. Protests in Libya and Bahrain are gaining traction as thousands risk their lives to demand democracy and overturn dictatorial regimes. In the American Midwest, thousands of people in 10 states have participated in walk-outs or assembled at their government buildings, demonstrating support for labor unions and against potential threats to their unions' ability to make bargaining agreements.
Some Americans are drawing connections between these protests and showing support for protesters in the Midwest and worldwide. A coalition of progressive groups planned solidarity rallies with Wisconsin workers in all 50 state capitols for Saturday, Feb. 26. In Salem, hundreds of people demonstrated. Counter-demonstrations were planned in some states.
It's debatable how directly the protests abroad have influenced Americans to protest, but some say they are inspired by the changes they've seen in the Mideast brought by recent populist movements.
Have you participated in a protest? What would it take for you to publicly rally? What connections are you making between protests in Wisconsin and other parts of the world? What role do protests play in existing and emerging democracies?
GUESTS:
- Becky Little: Member of Teamsters Local 117
- Jeffery Reynolds: Chairman of Multnomah County Republican Party
- Kelley Strawn: Assistant Professor of Sociology at Willamette University
- Mohamed Ben Slama: Translator and Professor at the Mediterranean School of Business in Tunisia
- Jeff Green: Assistant Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University
Tagged as: egypt · protests · wisconsin
Photo credit: Jacob Anikulapo / Creative Commons
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Post 9/11 Arab Protest: Cartoonist draws a picture of an Historical figure in a Turban. Muslim world is Inflammed and Outraged at the art. Tempers rise to steam and mobs form simultaneously in several capitals. Protests seize embassies hurtling rocks and incindiary devices. A dozen die.
The West is perplexed and vilified, the islamic world is insulted and wounded.
Post Revolution 2.011 Protest: One man is slapped by a woman. Vegtable stand is confiscated. Buys a gallon of gas, pours it over his head, lights match and self immolates. Dies a month later. Martyred picture and story is circulated on Social Networking sites. Twitter is overwhelmed. Al-Jazera picks up the story. The Internet is a-buzz. Thousands protest in Capital Square. Simultaneous peaceful protests arise at secondary cities.
No violence. Leader flees, Protest spreads to Egypt, 2 weeks later, Leader is deposed.
Peaceful protests gather momentum internationally. Yemen, Sudan, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Algeria. If this is Tuesday, we must be in Libya.
Religion, War on the West, Violent Terrorism all take back seat--this is Principally Economic.
Dominoes Fall. Pregnant Moments in the Middle East. A lot of Arab Tyrants are sleeping poorly.
Peaceful Protest have done more in One Month than all the Terrorist Bombs have done in 50 years.
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just what is it you are trying to say??
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ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES >> your president said that.
The democrat senators who flee the state to avoid a vote reminds me of the behavior of childish poor loser brats. They should stay and vote, not disrupt the democratic process. They have a chance to turn things around on the next election cycle > kinda like the GOP did last November.
Teachers calling in sick just demostrates their true concern is with their pay and benefits not with the STUDENTS. It all looks very bad for them and I predict Wisconsin voters give them little sympathy in future elections.
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you have so many things backwards it would be funny , but this is not a circus, and you don't have a trained dog to make us laugh
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My wife and I participated Saturday in the rally on the capitol steps in Salem to support collective bargaining and other vital rights that are being attacked in Wisconsin and everywhere else in America.
The throng we joined numbered at least 1,000 -- if not twice as many, or more. We were proud to be there in solidarity with them, and with the tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands who rallied in more than 60 American cities, including the capitals of all 50 states.
Not since the 1960s and '70s, when activists took to the streets and eliminated legally sanctioned racism, won tremendous gains in the gender- and gay-rights struggles, and ended the Vietnam War, have I witnessed such fervor in our nation's streets.
Yes, I believe that after decades of wishful thinking, inattention and apathy U.S. citizens who cherish democracy have been inspired by events in the Middle East and North Africa to take direct and effective action here at home.
Crooks, tryrants, monarchs, greedheads, autocrats, thugs, plutocrats, oligarchs, sociopaths, despots, gangsters, dictators, corporatists and fascists of all stripes are fundamentally the same all over the world -- as is the power of the human spirit and its unstoppable striving for peace, freedom, justice, equality and hope.
Taking to the streets, plazas, parks and capitol steps to demonstrate unshakable resolve and to insist on change is winning in North Africa and the Middle East. It will win here in America, too.
During Saturday's rally in Salem, as we shouted our collective opposition to Scott Walker and those of his ilk who would trample the American Dream, destroy our middle class and force our poor to choose between starving or begging for scraps from the garbage cans of the filthy rich, one of our brothers held aloft a hand-made sign that said it best: "Walk like an Egyptian!"
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"Walk like an Egyptian!"
That does say it best.
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I couldn't agree more!
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Whoa...I was there in the 60s and 70s. "Won the war on Viet Nam?" No, I remember Walter Chronkite as being the decider for LBJ, not the folks in the streets. And that might have been for those who were fleeing daily to Canada to avoid the draft. I went to Viet Nam and found it was a nationalist war, something "foreign" to all the teapot patriots who were so busy demonizing Communism. The protests were little about the real causes for the war to end. We were propping up a Catholic 3% of the population to run the place when 96% of them were Buddhists. We knew so little about the history and folks that really lived there.
That sounds about the same today. Protests are often loud and done by folks who really are not in the process over time. Yes, sometimes it can make a difference. But it took so long to overturn segregation, more in the Chinese manner of "a generation must die first for change." Not taking to the streets in protest as a quick fix. That is happening for gays and marriage now. The young accept and the old try to pass laws against it, both yelling. But the young will win, as death finally tips the balance.
Does protest have a place? Of course. When a total injustice appears is a great time to yell and we have seen a few of these lately.
But protest is just one tool in the tool box. Vote, campaign, lobby, organize, write, talk to neighbors and many other tools are available. Yes, they take time and don't have that viseral feel of a good march yelling at the top of one's lungs. But I have gotten more done in my life with a nudge and a push than with all the youthful protests I participated in in those years of rage and yelling.
If you need proof, look south. Who is Governor of California? A former protester who started working, nudging, and pushing. Elected because of his record, not because of what he was yelling about. And in spite of his age.
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unhappily, had some of us not had the gumption and temerity to stand out there and dare them to hit us or fire upon us, nothing would have changed - as it is, enough did not get changed - and now you want to say "all should be done in a peaceful manner"?
How wussie is that?
Drafting boys by lottery and sending them away was peaceful, wasn't it - the banks peacefully evict you from a house you've paid and paid on until you've got a nosebleed, and then they take it away because they peacefully screwed up so much?
I'd like to suggest that on a grander scale you might not have gotten nearly enough done in your life with a push and a nudge - take a look around, my friend -your work doesn't look like you got so much done-
I do not advocate violence - but when a sensible force for change runs up against an intransigent establishment, something has got to give -
and it comes down to education - the un/under-educated will resort to violence much sooner, the educated will be able to apply their force in a more targeted, and possibly less violent manner -
'resistance to change' also exhibits a distinct and stronger propensity toward using violence -
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I applaud any non-violent protest, even when I am on the other side of the issue, and especially in places and situations where there is no other recourse (BTW, implied or psychological violence is still violence, even if you don't actually shoot anybody).
It is all fascinating to watch. Especially where the usual attempts to demonize and/or marginalize the protesters seems to have stopped working.
But in this country, the big problem is voter apathy and disengagement. Voting seems to have become an optional, unimportant and seemingly ineffective right/responsibility. WHY? If you don't like what your elected leaders are doing, why did you let them get elected?
The Democratic walkout in Wisconsin is an effective, creative, and important tool for getting this story in front of the public, and I applaud them for it. However, it is NOT a way to legislate or govern.
I think the Governor of Wisconsin is gifting his state with a hostile, and resentful public workforce that will have an adversarial, bunker mentality against the very public, and the agencies they are there to serve. Which will make them less effective in their jobs, and reinforce the public attitude against them. It is a tragic downward spiral, and creates an environment that may take years if not generations to change, but that is apparently what the voters want in Wisconsin.
But, thinking forward, I do not see that this action is an effective long term strategy and they have gotten their message heard. Now what?
It will be interesting to see if voter turnout is up in the next Wisconsin election and which direction it goes. But in the same way that I do not respect the national Republicans refusal to bow to the will of the voters in 2008, I will not respect the Democrats, nationally or in Wisconsin, for not bowing to the will of the voters in 2010. I think the results will be tragic and potentially devistating, but maybe that's what we need to wake us up. Like it or not we ARE a stable democracy and we are in charge of our own political destiny, either through our action, or our inaction.
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There are things we can change and things we cannot change. Wisdom is knowing the difference. Protesting about the weather will not change rain to sunshine.
If you have an autocratic dictatator, ending his reign is only a heart beat away.
If you have a Fiscal Budget Problem that is the Largest in the History of the World, you have to make painful cuts. Unfunded US public sector retirement benefits amount to 5 TRILLION DOLLARS! ( One Trillion is ONE THOUSAND BILLION. The Total US annual GDP is 15 Trillion--again the largest in the Historical World)
In many cities including in Oregon, ONE-THIRD OF THE ENTIRE MUNICIPAL BUDGET goes directly to Retirement benefits. Yes government programs cannot afford to patch a pothole. But the government official will smile when he says that.
Government workers have been insulated from the Great Recession in 2008.
-Defined Benefit Retirement plans enable police and fire officers to retire in their 40's with full salary. Many other officials retire in their 50's with a fixed pension that is 50%-60%-70% or more of their salaries.
-Government hours are even more cush than banking hours. The average school week is 4 days long. This past semester there were 3 weeks with only 3 working days.
-Iron clad Job Security. If a foreign country took over our K-12 Education system and ran it as poorly in the past 20 years as we have witnessed, then we would have terrorist conspiracies, violent revolts and open rebellion. Incompetent teachers cannot be fired because of union rules for anything short of a felony.
-In a time of shrinking benefits, guess who is getting a gold plated health and dental plan with aroma therapy massages?
-Government is a monopoly. There is no alternative providers. Shoud essential civil workers be allowed to strike and hold a society hostage?
Money is NOT UNLIMITED. Whether Democrat or Republican We are spending our children's future and they will suffer unless we act.
Sustainable also means FINANCIAL SUSTAINABLITY.
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Where were you when the Bush administration was spending us into this corner?
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If not for protesting, we in the LGBTIQ Community would still be getting beaten by the cops (the "Man"). If not for protesting, women would still be dismissed from their employ if they became pregnant. If not for protesting, Blacks (as African-Americans were known then) would still be sitting in the back of the bus. If not for protesting, mine workers would be working for a pittance when compared to the risks they face. If not for protesting, farm workers would still be subjected to hazardous levels of toxic chemicals on a daily basis. If not for protesting, our American Fighting Men and Women would be begging for scraps (remember the "Bonus Army" of the 1920's?). If not for protesting, women still would not have the right to vote. If not for protesting, apartheid would still be a way of life in South Africa.
Finally... If not for protesting, we would still be subjects of the British Crown.
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For the tea party guest:
Where were your protests during 8 years of out-of-control spending by the Bush Administration? Where were you when the Bush Administration expanded government and intruded on the privacy of Americans? Where were you when the Bush Administration bailed out Wall Street before leaving President Obama with the tab?
Why did the tea party only get "organized" when a black man named Barack Hussein Obama was elected President?
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very cogent questions. thank you
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All very good questions. Why wasn't he asked the revealing questions such as the ones you're asking by the show host? Why didn't she shine the light on the greedy ghoul and expose him for what he is? Why am I supporting OPB when they just give a platform to enemies of the people without challenging them? Anyway, I'm encouraged by the listening audience but disappointed time and time again by the talking heads of NPR.
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- Jeffery Reynolds: Chairman of Multnomah County Republican Party
This guest is prevaricating! (Lying!)
Back when TOTN had discussion boards, there was a Conservative Republican poster named Harry Holmquist who told us what the Conservative Republican strategies are. One strategy is to drive the government so deeply into debt that they have to cut all social services and get rid of the Public Schools systems and get rid of Teachers Unions and other Public Unions.
And their strategy is working. Even a moderate Democrat like Kitzhaber is forced into into social services.
Shakespeare wrote something like "methinks he doth protest too much" about a person who was getting what he wanted but wanted to look like he wasn't getting what he wanted.
Poor poor Jeffrey, his strategy is working and working very well in driving our government into debt and he has to pretend that it is not.
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If unsustainable spending was what sparked the Tea Party, then where were they when the unfunded wars started?
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Rallies and protests in themselves mean nothing. In Germany mass Nazi rallies brought Hitler to power. The Tea Party masses are more like those in Germany with a racist and reactionary nature. The protests in the 60s against the war were met with violence (Kent State) and shows that we are not that different from Middle East countries when a real confrontation occurs. I attended an anti George Wallace rally back east. A black youth was murdered by a police officer while he walked home from the rally. This was in Buffalo, New York and the youth was Richard Giff. The police officer confessed after many years had gone by. I was in a demonstration against Nixon and was tossed down a flight of stairs and then arrested by police. I was in another demonstration against the draft and was beaten by federal marshalls who had chains and clubs.
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In 2002 I was illegally arrested in Washington D.C. in a protest against the IMF and the World Bank. Since then a group called 'Partnership for Civil Justice' won a class action suit around this illegal mass arrest. It was truly an eye-opening experience about the power of the police department in spite of the U.S.'s democracy.
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Protesting is one of the few times where the full human, physical body serves as a voice. It is easy enough to vote, but when you vote your voice is transported silently through a piece of paper or through a machine, it is representative---you are removed from the articulation. Protesting is the ultimate kind of realism, it can be the ultimate statement, this putting of your physical body on the line, this communication goes a step further, this symbolism is the gold behind the money. For all the statistics, for all the polls, for all the petitions, for all the blogging, those communiques are merely symbolism of what people have to say---they bare little in comparison to actual people getting together publicly, as a physical group, to give texture and spacial context to an issue. Protesting, if done well, can be the ultimate expression of solidarity.
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just last week I attended a rally in support of planned parenthood
as a viet nam era woman, i was excited to see all the young people out in force. i hope if they have a revolution, i have the sense to support them.
the other special thing was that different ages, different races, both sexes came together on this.
so in this case, i thought i saw crossing of class and economic and educational level lines. lines, which is what we really need. so this relatively small rally found common ground rather than inspiring a sense of fight, a sense of self righteousness.
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The Tea Party is so phony, they are protesting against the problems that they created! When are they going to take responsibility for the problems they caused? When are they going to vote against Conservatism?
Sheesh.
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I don't believe the founders saw democracy as a spectator sport. We have a duty to make our voices heard, whether by voting or by attending a rally or by helping to organize a PAC or by writing individually to our elected senators and representatives. What I worry about most is the apathy factor. We are awfully spoiled in this country and that makes for a dangerous lack of urgency when it comes to protecting our rights.
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the guy who says OPB does not speak for the average person is kinda right. the average person eats corporate fast food, has a blood sugar that is well on the way to terminal diabetes and congestive heart failure. OPB listeners want to know why no bank executives are cell mates of bernie madhoff for committing crimes at least as hideous and why our leaders seem deaf average person's wishes. violence in mass assembly is most often caused by thugs hired by those with power that must be shared (on the streets of libya). vigilance is each persons responsibility.
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Jeff Reynolds is some kind of soft-pedaling apologist - he's got a mealy mouth, he will talk around this and that but get nothing said because he doesn't know what the listener wants to hear, and he's going to try to please them anyway - GET OUT BUDDY - get lost- he doesn't sound like he has principles, he sounds like he's going to find what the local superstitions are and go for scaring us that way
can't you get better guests - shouldn't there be an intelligence test for them?
Or at least you could ask questions that would let them show themselves as a fool
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It's ironic - and a little bit sad - to hear the Tea Party in Oregon representative complaining about "the elites," when his entire movement (Freedomworks, Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Express) has been funded and promoted by corporate billionaires. I can remember when public broadcasting used to do a better job of digging at the roots of astroturf movements. That was before the days of federal financing threats and corporate underwriting.
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You're right, newshound, "Americans for Prosperity" was founded and is funded by the Koch Brothers (Koch Industries) and is about as AstroTurf as you can get. Crossroads GPS, Karl (Bush's Brain) Rove's group is funded by elites, too!
I really wish we had impeached Cheney and Bush. (Cheney first, lest he become president, then Bush). President Pelosi may not have been the perfect solution, but she would have been better than the Cheney/Bush administration.
(How do we get rid of Justice Thomas, barring death? He's clearly NOT impartial -- His wife is the head of Liberty Central!)
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"funded and promoted by corporate billionaires"
Ayup!
And with well funded wordsmith Frank Luntz doing the research on finding words that will make "drinking the Kool-Aid' acceptable to a lot of Americans and get them to vote against their own interests, families, and jobs.
The average Conservative Republican is "Boobus Americanus" and the Conservative Republican elites are making a killing off of fooling and fear-mongering them into submissive compliance.
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The main link between protests around the world is that working people--the laboring class of the world--are struggling for survival. Rates of unemployment for people 18-30 years of age (the largest demographic) in Northern Africa and the middle east are all above 30%; the price of food and basic staples (cooking oil especially) have exceeded what most people can pay. An example of this is that Egypt's former president ordered the military to bake bread in 2008 to relieve food insecurity. The inability to meet basic needs of citizens--which is supposed to be the goal of any political and economic system--is the driving force behind world-wide protests. This is made more complicated by the reliance of many of these nations' on oil exports as their primary source of funds for government operations; due to physical limitations (peak oil) and rising domestic consumption, oil exports have declined in many nations suffering from unrest (Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, UAE, etc.). Yes, the protesters are advocating democracy as a new political system, but they are doing it NOW because the old systems have proven unable to meet basic needs.
The situation in the US is similar due to the rising ineffectiveness of government; remember, the Wisconsin battle is supposed to be a state government going bankrupt--the Republican governor is going after public sector employees to plug the budget gap. The time of growing government budgets is over, largely due to the imposition of natural limits of environmental exploitation. We are watching the beginning of serious protests around the world (and at home)--the only way to deal with this equitably is to understand the underlying drivers responsible for the anger (inability to meet basic human needs) and address it appropriately.
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This weekend my family and I joined a Planned Parenthood support rally. We joined because I am a mother, we have two daughters and I fear for what their future holds for them. Joining together with people of like mind encouraged me that we were not alone. I felt powerful and like people heard our message.
When I got home I posted some pictures from the protest online. I expected support but was instead attacked. I was attacked for exposing my children to women's rights issues. I was attacked for claiming that sexism is still very much alive.
I felt beat down, and it made me realize how important it is rally with people who have your back, cause they need support too. It's not easy being an activist, and we need eachother's energy to hold up the fight.
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You have more support than you realize, and all over the world.
It's like I reminded a friend of mine when his kid was going into surgery, there are those Tibetan Buddhists and monks constantly spinning thgeir prayer wheels and flying those prayer flags, there are all those Catholics lighting candles and kneeling and praying, there are all those muslims praying five times a day, all those jewish peoples, protestants, Atheists, hindus, and every other group of people who work and or pray for the health and welfare of all of the people in the world, and we even have it written into our constitution "to promote the "general welfare" of our nation.
It is my belief that most of the people in the world are doing the best they can and want the best for all of the peoples in the world, and I invite you to think about that and remind your daughters of that.
When you are down, most of the people in the world have your back, it just isn't always obvious. So keep your candle lit, yours is needed along with all of our others.
And I dedicate this post to my two sisters, my mom, my sister in law, my niece, all of the men and all others who have supported Planned Parenthood and the ERA.
Um, and you and your family have joined in the great history of protestors like Gandhi, our US founders, the French revolutionaries, that guy in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square, Egypt, Iran, and all others.
Congratulations, you guys have courage and heart.
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The protests in the Middle East are all against Conservative "small governments", against kings, dictators, presidents for life, family dynasties, strongman thugs, etc.
That fact ought to wake up Americans who have been fooled and lied to into voting for Conservative Republicans in the US. Those governments have been supported by American Conservative Republicans like the Washington, DC, group which calls themselves The Family, which was investigated and talked about on Fresh Air.
Those governments are what Conservative leaders really mean when they talk about the virtues of "small government".
Remember that Dick Cheney worked to create GW Bush as "The Unitary Executive", ruling through issuing Executive Orders and ignoring the Congress and the Supreme court? Well, Unitary Executive is apparently a euphemism for strongman dictator, isn't it.
The people in the Middle East don't like their Conservative governments and we Americans didn't like our version of it either, but it has raised its' ugly head again in Wisconsin and other Midwest states.
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You are incorrect in trying to simplify the protests in the Middle East as being rallies against conservative regimes. I can’t even fathom on what basis you are trying to make this overreaching argument. Social issues? In Egypt, you aren’t going to find much difference on either side regarding social issues. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah is actually a moderate compared to his conservative opposition.
It is mainly about individual rights versus a strong federal government. It would actually be easier to make the opposite point than what you are trying to claim.
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People are still self-interested and short sighted in degrees. Many people can do the same things and have a whole range on both the 'selfishness' spectrum, and the short-sightedness spectrum.
Protesting, Blogging, Soldiering, Voting, you can't generalize any of them. People do them for all manner of reasons, enlightened and selfish.
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The Tea Party is helping corporate elites role back decades of fighting for workers and other human rights in this country. They are helping corporate elites force us to have to repeat our history which is what happens when powerfully backed groups like the Tea Party who are ignorant of their history and angry with being disenfranchised by greedy corporate tyranny but fail to see who the real culprits are. The early 20th and late 19th centuries are soaked with the blood and suffering of the working class men and women who fought and were beat, shot and imprisoned by private and public police, militia forces and in the case of the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, the national guard was used to gun down and burn not just the miners but their wives and children. Basically the rights we take for granted such as the 8 hour work day, living wages, benefits, ending child labor, the 5 day work week and on and on, were all earned by our great grandparents taking to the streets and risking death at the hands of those doing the bidding of tyrannical corporate interests. Not one president ever made any significant changes in this country without having to concede to the angry masses who demanded our rights and fought long and hard, rose up in the streets in such great numbers that corporate commerce both nationally and internationally was threatened. Corporate masters needed to allow for example: FDR to make changes in order to bring back stability to the markets and factories. For people such as the Tea Party groups and other Republican extremists claiming to be such patriots, they either don't care or don't know anything about their history and why America was great. Therefore, I think these groups and their politicians should have their patriotism questioned. They're acting more like enemies of the people and agents of those powerful corporate forces that threaten to destroy our quality of life.
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I don't know why people get so worked up about the tea party. They are an extreme minority that are getting smaller all the time based upon the bozos who are trying to paint themselves as party leaders. Yes, they had a role in influencing the last election. People who believe in fiscal responsibility will have a bigger role in the future, but I doubt it will fall under the label of the tea party. People love to define their opposition, but I see it as being more of a futile effort.
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"Therefore, I think these groups and their politicians should have their patriotism questioned. They're acting more like enemies of the people and agents of those powerful corporate forces that threaten to destroy our quality of life. "
That's right.
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Come on folks! Even in the rarefied atmosphere of PC PBS, there must be some honesty applied here.
This is not about 'saving unions.'
This is all about helping the N.E.A. and its state and local teachers unions and activists retain their grip on taxpayer-financed education.
In 2012 we will continue reversing direction in America, and begin to finally recapture our society, learning to honor our Constitution and the Founders' vision of limited government.
What no one is saying is that the public schools - and universities - will be the last battlegrounds.
True-believing liberals/progressives/socialists/Humanists will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from campuses.
But if Wisconsin is the first domino, as I hope it is, we will already be well on the way to prying education out of the grip of liberals.
In the meantime they will wave their signs and assault anyone who dares to resist their self-righteous march upward into a new age of higher consciousness, peace, love, world community and chanted Humanist worship words like 'Diversity, Choice, World Community, Consenting Adults, Redistribution, Cultural Pluralism, Social Justice, Separation of Church and State.....'
That's right, N.E.A.!
We know that the worship words you teach come straight from the Humanist Manifestos and never entered public policy debate until after the Manifestos preached them!
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Could you please tell me where to find a copy of The Humanist Manifestos? There don't seem to be any on the shelves at Powell's.
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Newshound, you can simply go to a Portland meeting of the American Humanist Association and they will give you a printed copy. They are actually very nice people. I disagree with their faith and I believe it is destructive, but it is obvious they are well-meaning folks.
Or you can just print it off straight from the source:
http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I
http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II
There is a national advertising campaign started in 2010 called 'Consider Humanism.'
Not content with showing the virtues of Humanism, they began by critiquing out-of-context Bible verses. That's the integrity of the belief system. They state that to Humanists, ethics is 'autonomous and situational,' meaning whatever they say is right at the time.
http://www.considerhumanism.org/
If your question was an honest one, the above should help!
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Dear B.L.
aren't you just a little over-full of B.S.?
yes, that's right, Bogus Statistics - in the grand old line of "lies, damned lies, and statistics" your sort are the next in that line
that's quite an accomplishment - how long did it take you to memorize all these "facts" - or do you just cut and paste them?
Apparently you think it is academia which created the mess we're in? and not the corrupt sort you seem to associate with, judging by the 'literature' you throw around as if you knew what it meant -
Now, it's true, Reader's Digest and the John Birch Society are quite enough culture and education for some - but those aren't the people who ever amount to anything that the future looks back on sympathetically
So instead of trying to bring all civilization down to your level, why don't you just accept your personal place as an illiterate and under-informed cipher and hope that someone might be able to show your children a better way than what you could ever manage, and give over with all this blaming of the wrong parties
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Poor little LoLo!
Can't handle the truth that you are a faithful, fanatical, Religious Left believer?
Which do you resent more? The fact that you were evangelized by Humanist high priests without your knowledge or approval?
Or that I told you about it?
Attacking the messenger again, are we? ;-)
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Oh BobLar -
do you wear a red-nose and big shoes?
you respond as if you do -
you? a messenger? you couldn't hit the broad side of a porch if you were still on your paper-boy route - you're not a messenger, you are a parrot - not even - you are a parakeet -cheep cheep cheep cheap - a messenger?? - you compliment yourself overly- you track in dirt, that's not a message - wake up ol'boy, before it's too late
you have swallowed an imaginary fish whole, you choke on the spines as you try to regurgitate, and so you grimace and try to swallow it whole again - oh pelican - you're not a messenger, you fancy yourself some sort of martyr ...
... but you're a mess, or a mess of anger - that i would agree with - but a messenger ?? only for a side that's already lost
"it was written, so it must be so" - and you're here to tell us about it?
I'm not attacking someone who fancies himself a messenger- i attack the message, and i call into question the competency of folks who believe such stuff and at the same time think they should have something to say about actually important matters
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wow, maybe its right
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Comments are now closed.
"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right --Lennon and McCartney
There are two types of Protests: Peaceful and Violent. Both have their proponents. Peaceful change can be glacial, obtuse and seemingly impractical. But it may be our best and only hope. VIOLENT PROTESTS HAVE NO ROLE IN CIVIL SOCIETY.
Revolution 2.011 is introducing into a violent Arab world, the POWER OF PEACEFUL NONVIOLENT PROTESTS. It has accomplished more Regime change in 2 months than the Bush-Cheney wars of the past decade or the previous 50 years of autocratic transitions in the Mideast.
The teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King and now an obscure American pacifist Professor Gene Sharp are now seen as the way to change, instead of the Suicide Bomber, Car Bomb Taking an Airliner full of Hostages, 9/11 Terrorism, Biological, Chemical or Nuclear Bombs.
76 Trombones in a Big Parade instead of 72 Virgins. Islam may finally be getting the message. Inshallah.
NO TOLERANCE FOR VIOLENCE. PEACE THROUGH NONVIOLENCE.