Religion and Schooling and Soldiering in the Faith

What do you make of this?

Here's a quote for you. I'd be interested in what people take from it, especially as it pertains to the current left/right divide.


Secular schools can never be tolerated because such a school has no religious instruction and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith. From our point of view as representatives of the state, we need believing people. A dark cloud called terrorism threatens us. We have need of soldiers, believing solders. Believing solders are the most valuable ones. They give their all. Therefore we will maintain the confessional schools in order to train believing people through the schools, but this depends upon having truly believing teachers, not by chance Liberals or Humanists or Atheists who do not stand fully by their religious faith, as teachers.

I've heard quite a few people speak out against secular schooling, and I know the opinion that morals cannot exist (or are meaningless) without religious faith or fear to back them up, is a popular one in right wing circles.
So is it really a huge leap to this sort of thinking? Would this be acceptable to a largish portion of the US citizenry?
posted by Manchild at 1:00 PM

Tit for Tat

Two wrongs don't make a right-winger happy

Found this rather amusing, since it's tangentially connected to my area of the business world.

White House to file case over Airbus

The thing is, that it is widely known, on both sides of the Atlantic, that the US and the E.U. illegally subsidise their respective airlines. What's more, not only is it KNOWN to be true, it can be proved as well.

What is not really spoken about are the reasons behind it. The E.U. did not seriously start breaking the law until they discovered that the NSA was passing insider information (obtained through Echelon) which allowed Boeing to underbid Airbus for a contract with Saudi Arabia worth 8 Billion. That's a lot of money, and to say it irked off the EU slightly, is what we call an understatement.

Of course, Echelon was only used because the US suspected (correctly) the EU often resorted to bribery in securing its business contracts. The fact that such bribes are considered routine (if unmentionable) in most EU countries, cuts no sway with their US counterparts.

The fact is that the size of ones bribe (or extra-contractual payment) is simply considered a measure of how serious you are about acquiring the contract. The EU perspective would simply have been "We wanted it more" and that if the US wanted it more, they would have offered more (of a bribe, that is).

I doubt it will get to the WTO (they'll probably settle) but I personally will find it hilarious, if this gets into a real mud-slinging match over who was the bigger law breaker, and who had the most justification. There's certainly enough mud to go around.
posted by Manchild at 8:30 AM

Well it's not like we're tattooing them

Because that would be wrong

A U.S. Marine writes an identification number on the forehead of an Iraqi man detained during a search in Haditha, 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Wednesday, May 25, 2005.

posted by Manchild at 3:30 PM

Tell us the one about how there won't be a draft.

That always makes me laugh.

For the full story go here.

There is a serious crisis looming for the US military recruiters. It's already been reported that they are extending tours of duty, calling up people who have already done their tours, and changing the requirements (such as increasing the allowable age.)

It has also been reported that the Select Service boards received increased funding and have begun collecting lists of people who fall within certain age limits and possess "desired" skill sets.

It has also been reported (to varying degrees) that the Iraqi occupation is not going so well, and that troops keep, em, what's the euphemism this month? undergoing an involuntarily cessation of bodily functions.

And then there's the upcoming invasion of Iran (which was scheduled to begin in June, but may have a late kick-off since Tony Blair might have been grounded by the British Public. They don't like him playing with that retarded bully kid from across the road.)

Those brown skinned towel wearing heathens won't butcher and rape themselves, you know.

So one enterprising young lad, David McSwane, decided to see how far would the army recruiters go, to meet their ever more unrealistic quotas.

The story is fascinating, and you can read about it at the link above.
But the salient points are these:
1) How desperate are the recruiters?
Pretty fucking desperate.

2) If they are taking drug addled dropouts into the army, can we expect more idiotic behaviour like flushing Qur'an's and torture?
Hell yes.

3) The army says it is conducting a full investigation. Will anything come of this?
Hell no.

4) When you've gotten all the brave signed up, and the desperate signed up, and you're working your way through signing up the stupid and the gullible... who's next?
Possibly the criminals. Then Mr. Joe Average.

McSwane is a high school journalist. Too bad that this standard of journalism will never find a place of honour in the right wing controlled media of Bushworld USA.
posted by Manchild at 4:30 PM

We think you're stupid

The sheer contempt from those not living in reality

There have been many blatant lies from the current US Administration, but this one seems to just reek with unadulturated contempt for those living in reality.

I mean, to me, this ranks right up there with "We have always been at war with EurAsia". They know that the limp wristed mainstream media won't call them on their bullshit, so they just get more and more ridiculous as time goes on.

The latest crock of shit? "This war came to us, not the other way around."

Rice clearly has nothing but contempt for the ability of the average soldier to reason his way to a more realistic conclusion.
posted by Manchild at 10:20 PM

My new favourite quote

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54
posted by Manchild at 2:30 PM