Osama's Message to America!

[rlortie]

You can learn a lot about other people and countrys and make connections all over the world by doing as I did.

Become a foster parent for foreign exchange students. First thing you know you will be receiving visitors from all over the globe and of various religious backgrounds. I have yet to find any that did not stay in contact after returning home.

Ralph

[fAtnhapy]

So what you're saying is that you are harboring terrorists! :0)
fAt

[ken_behrendt]

James...

Thanks for the link to the site devoted to articles about Islam. I do not have time to read through it all now, but will do so when I can.

I found a quote by Voltaire on the site that I found most appropriate:

Those who make you believe absurdities will also make you commit monstrosities.

I could not agree more and that is why each of us must be very careful as to what version of reality we allow others to create for us.

The Jihadists who are now committing various atrocities around the globe had, as children, a certain reality created for them by the people who "taught" them. Those teachings, in many cases, involved extreme distortions of the Koran's verses mixed with an unhealthy dose of Middle Eastern anti-semitism and anti-Christianism.

Many people who cast a negative light on Islam forget that it was the product of a violent world about 800 years ago. So, too, was Judaism forged in a turbulent and violent world. I could point out instances of mass murder committed in the Old Testament by God's order and then go on to suggest that religion was somehow inherently evil and anybody who professed to follow it was potentially dangerous. And, of course, that would be nonsense.

This is why I advocate that, today, religions concentrate on the best of their moral and ethical teachings and begin moving away from prophecies and metaphysical schemes for worldwide transformation. If people, regardless of their religion, would just practice the "Golden Rule" or seek as much positive Karma as possible, then the world would take care of itself...


ken

[trevie]

I believe the way the things are going with the muslim world and everything else that revolves around it, will probably live on till the end of time. whilst cats are chased by dogs and birds are chased by cats, they will never get along, its built into the animals genes. I guess you can compare this with ourselves, humans. Yes, we have the intelligence to tolerate each other and have certain laws that we follow to keep us in check, but different races will always have some friction between other races.


I guess in maybe 2000 to 10000 years time, evolution will take over and only one race will remain on earth should we not destroy ourselves in the meantime. evolution could mean only one race of humans survives possibly due to our generic structure and able to fight of certain diseases or possibly by other genetic means. Survival of the fittest. I think thats how natures intended and nature will decide in the end.

[ovyyus]

...but different races will always have some friction between other races...

Genetic analysis has proven that there is no such thing as 'race'. The concept of race difference was an argument put forward to promote a socio-economic agenda.

[AgingYoung]

Bill,

I'm amazed you made that point. It's a very good one and quite sound. Race is a contrivance racists invented. That was a pleasant surprise.

Gene

[ovyyus]

Gene, I'm amazed that you agree with it - there is hope yet.

[Fletcher]

Yep, there's more genetic variance (& that's absolutely minimal) between some 'white' European populations than between Europeans & Asians & Africans on mass.

That means we are ONE species. Interestingly there are very few, if any, other examples of single species in nature. Seems we really are alone.

[Trev]

Seems we really are alone.

Maybe that should be - Seems we really are all one.

[Fletcher]

*grin* nice pick up Trev.

[terry5732]

Here is yet another example of someone simply believing what an "expert" said.
Obviously races have genetics differences to cause differemces in pigmentation, facial features, etc.
You could say a Wood Duck and a Mallard are genetically the same - they can even interbreed - but that would be absurd to say.
There ARE genetic differences between races and within races too.

[Fletcher]

Variances in pigmentation (melatonin concentration), eye colour, physical features etc are the result of expression of the same genes.

If they can interbreed they are the same species (that is one of the definitions of a species).

If the small genetic differences between isolated populations become to divergent then they don't interbreed & are no longer the same species or become a sub species on the way to becoming a different species.

There are examples of groups of animals that have the same morphological adaptations so that they look the same but they developed in different parts of the world. Their genetic blue prints are not the same & are not even closely related.

[ken_behrendt]

I feel like this is the place where we should all virtually link arms and begin singing "We are the world...we are the people..."!

Seriously, though, I have to agree that much too much an issue has been made over the millenia of ethnic and racial differences between human beings. In the final analysis, there is only one human race that contains a wide degree of variations that were needed to help people living in different parts of the world adapt to and cope with their particular environment.

In the future, as travel and migration of human beings becomes easier, there will be an ongoing intermarriage of people that will eventually lead to a kind of "homogenized" genome for the average citizen of Earth. Perhaps this homogenized human of the future will look something like the Native American Indian does today. With the advance of science and technology, there will no longer be any need for racial and ethnical variations to ensure survival in different environments.

If that homogenization can then be coupled with a composite worldwide religion that incorporates the best from all faiths, then I can envision a true "Golden Age" of peace and prosperity in the future of mankind.


ken

[ovyyus]

Obviously races have genetics differences to cause differemces in pigmentation, facial features, etc.

So... your (anti-expert) interpretation of genetic variation must lead you to conclude that blondes and brunettes are a different race. Perhaps all blue-eyed people need to be segregated from dark-eyed folk? Maybe funny shaped earlobes are also a sign of race difference, or could it be that those with freckles are a sub-species? :P

[rlortie]

Ken,

Well we finally hit on another topic that I cannot debate with you!

In the final analysis, there is only one human race that contains a wide degree of variations that were needed to help people living in different parts of the world adapt to and cope with their particular environment.

I have been thinking of posting a very similar statement here. After all it has not been to long ago that I stated that we were designed to live on this planet, it was not design simply for us.

Ralph