Game On

I’ll be honest, I love a good debate or conversation about those issues society tells us to shy away from. I still believe there’s a time and a place, and that we should pretty much avoid name calling and all that playground stuff. But I think it’s a blast to spend hours talking religion, politics and how retarded the DH is. So, like everyone else, I have an agenda. I’m sure they think they, like my self, have the best of intentions. And maybe they do. But my wife sent me an email that she received yesterday, and all I can say is, game on. Well, that’s not all I can say, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be writing what I imagine will be a 1,500 word response.

It appears that the Post Office is going to produce a stamp that honors the end of two Muslim celebrations, EID for short. Funny enough, the email has a link, http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/e/eid.htm, and it appears those sending it around haven’t even taken the time to read their own link. The website explains that the Post Office produced similar stamps in September 2001 and October 2002.

But here’s what scares me, the text that’s circulated inside the email:

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993,
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon,
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia,
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa,
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE.
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/01.
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM
attacks. Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp.
I strongly urge you to REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this
stamp when purchasing your holiday stamps at the post office. To use this stamp
would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands
of those whom this stamp honors. I also strongly urge you to pass this along to every Patriotic AMERICAN you know, whether by email.

They (MUSLIMS) don't even believe in Christ, & they're getting their own Christmas stamp! BUT, don't dare to dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property! This is truly UNBELIEVABLE !!!
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It is truly unbelievable, unbelievably full of bull shit, hate and hypocrisy.

First off, those acts were committed by small groups of fundamentalists, who just claim to be of that faith, a rather clever tactic used by, well the three major religions. There’s an old adage, “all’s fair in love and war,” sure you’ve heard it before. No, they didn’t play by the rules of engagement, so shame on them, and the horror of these acts isn’t lost on me. But I can understand this much, if we lined up to fight a war with them, and everyone agreed to play by the same rules, we’d absolutely slaughter them. So what’s left? Any means necessary, sorry, but survival is our most basic instinct. And when one group feels threatened, they can use that fear to their advantage. They can spread hate, and inspire some wack jobs to do some crazy ass shit. Sound familiar?

Secondly, I call another old adage to the stand. Mr. Pot calling the Kettle Black, is true that we can tie some horrific acts to many religions? Exhibits 1-5: The Crusades, slavery, murdered doctors, President Bush claiming that God told him to invade Iraq, and the taking of land from the Native Americans. I can go on, but instead I’m going to quote President Bartlet (again):

“Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?”

Thirdly, Muslims DO believe in Christ. Really, this is pretty widely known, so I can only wonder why kind of jackass added that bit of commentary. They see Jesus as a Prophet, but not the Son of God. The Qu’ran, what’s what “they” call their “bible,” actually contains the 10 Commandments. It’s not “them” that opposes having the Ten Commandments on federal property. It’s people like me, and people that you know, truly believe in the separation of Church and State and Freedom of Religion.
Those rights are where one could find a legitimate beef with this, and all religious stamps. Yes, even your cute red nose reindeer. If you do the math, and add up all of the American’s killed in those listed attacks, the total is about 11,000. Which is truly tragic, no question. But if you do the math on the other side, we’ve killed (from various sources online) almost 150,000. So we can keep hating them, spread false information about their beliefs and they can do the same. The hate and the killing can keep going, I guess. Who benefits? On our side, there’s politicians who get more powerful, and companies that get richer. Might cost us a few neighbors or family members, but we’re fighting the good cause. The bitch of it is, they think the same thing.

The only real solution I see, that’s more than a band-aid, is also the least likely solution. Actually, it’ll never happen, but the best way to end the hate is to end organized religion. Not just theirs, and not just ours. Imagine you have two kids in the playground fighting, you don’t do anyone favors if you only send one to detention, and having them sitting there pissed that they got in trouble, isn’t going to end any hostility. Or you know, I guess you can wait to see what kind of emails they send about each other and believe who ever types in all caps AND bolds their text first.