Some of these statements you make are laughable. The Bible is a big topic and I'm not about to waste my time and re-study it so I can come back on here and try and enlighten you so I'll work off memory. As far as me not being religious....you seem to have an incredible degree of insight regarding me personally. None of it is in any way based in fact, of course. Again you are incorrect regarding my faith. I'll be happy to discuss the subject of religion with you at any time. I'm a Roman Catholic. My brother studied in a seminary and my family is probably more religious than 99% of the people I know. Fairly easy these days in modern America, I know. What are you, may I ask? I'm going to take a guess that you are Protestant. I'm guessing based on your abrasive mentality and obsession with the rights of Jews in Israel. To say that the Jews have any more right to live in what was previously called Palestine than the population that was already located there at the beginning of the 20th century is ridiculous. Apparently you think Lord Balfour has an undisputed authority in the region. He would be the first, to my knowledge, in the region with such authority. Do feel free to reference which Muslim organization recognize said authority. You have repeatedly called me a moron so in regard to my intelligence level I scored in the top 1% on both of the standardized test I took during high school. I received an academic scholarship to (admittedly) a public university. I am in the process of getting a Masters in International Relations in Vienna, Austria and have never gotten less than an A. All of my professors have been extremely complimentary regarding my work and I wrote (what I thought) was a fascinating essay on the development of the seperation of church and state in the West which I think finds it's simplest and most eloquent defense in the words uttered by Jesus Christ to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. But my intelligence and religous background are insufficient to speak on the subject, according to you....who are in all probablility a goddamn, borish heretic. And as far as the origins of the Palestian people goes....it is a complex mix of different populations that make up the Palestinian people, anyway. It's my understanding that the majority came from the Trans-Jordan territory but again, I'm going off memory. If you can sift through the question of Palestinian genetic origins so easily and find a home for them, well, then my man, your skills are being incredibly underutilized. I have to say I don't think you really enrich the board with the personal, completely unjustified characterizations of people on this forum. I was trying to finish this thread diplomatically as one poster encouraged me to do and move on but your last post in combination with your other unsubstantiated drivel is to much to take. So, let's keep it personal, shall we? Are you in fact a heretic or not? opcorn:
I love this. One the one hand you brag about your so called intelligence and academic credentials and in the same breath you equate being a Protestant with being a heretic. For someone who is about to be awarded to supposedly prestigeous degree of "Masters in International Relations" you have a surprising lack of a grasp on the reality of the reality of the current situation. No matter whether you consider it right or wrong that Isreal now occupies land once claimed by Palestinians, the fact is that Isreal exits and it is in America's best interest to support them. No middle east muslim nation really wants to have the Isralis unleash their military might agaisnt them. Without the USA acting as a restraining influence there is no telling what kind of preemptive strikes that Israel might have launched against their enemies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You guys are something else. I am in no way bragging about academic credentials. I even mentioned it was a public university. (That was supposed to be a jab at the credentials....I'm not sure how much value they are anyway.) I was responding to the repeated assertions that I am a moron. I thought that was some evidence to the contrary. (I admit, I may be a moron and just not realize it yet but that would just indicate how bad our public education has become.) -Protestants are heretics. Check with the catholic church on that one. I am happy to leave it alone, at this point. I am not a morning person and getting up and seeing SaltyOne tell me I'm not a religious person in addition to moronic, childlike and naive was just too much. The mods are welcome to delete my previous post if they want. No hard feelings here. And regarding the naive thing. I may be naive. And I don't even have a 100% opinion on what to do in the Middle East anyway. I can't ever figure out which side I'm on and it drives me crazy. I was hoping to find something here to clear up the issue for me but it seems more like trading insults than anything. And no, my feelings aren't hurt or anything but I guess I would at the very least like the insults to be accurate. Calling a scrawny, computer geek neat freak a fat, stupid slob just misses the mark so much its hard not respond after a while. But whatever, no particular wisdom behind the keyboard here. I have to say I'm not leaving the discussion any smarter than I was yesterday which I hate to admit I did do after dealing with Red and martin a few times. I disagree with them too, but at least they will discuss an issue. Well, we have to support them now. We've ticked off the Muslims so bad now I don't think they will forget it anytime soon.
Both of you know exactly where I tailgate. As I have said before. And while you are at it you might as well go to kicking the faction of the Republican party that has some integrity.
Let me also point out that FLABengal commented on the quotes and reasoning for the 9/11 attack via the 911 Commission Report from our own CIA. It's funny how you will pick and choose what you believe their hate to be when you get the answer from the horses mouth. Talk about naive, childish, moronic, and un-itelligent.
Once again it goes back to those evil Jews. It's truly a shame the US supports that nation's right to exist. Good thing they have the peace-loving palestinians there to balance out their evil ways. Perhaps one day the jihadi Mickey Mouse will catch on here. Maybe Nick can put him on right after Spongebob so all our kids will learn what an honor it is to become a martyr for allah. In what way do you propose the US be more even handed in the mid-east?
I don't think I ever called the Jews evil. I certainly don't think they are evil. I just don't think they are necessarily American. I am an American and prefer our government to pursue American interests, not Israeli interests. As far as US even handedness....how about support for a Palestinian state? How about East Jerusalem for a capital? Or make Jerusalem an international city under the UN protection or something. I believe the US is the only government that recognizes W. Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I'm not even 100% on that....but I'm pretty sure no one else does. Does the UN even recognize that? Or how about bringing the illegal settlements to a halt? We should at least try to give the impression we are being fair to the Palestinians but we don't even do that anymore. We have bet the farm on Israel and I don't see what Israel has done to benefit us.
Now this explains a lot. Again, I'm not here to debate you flabengal, and trust me when I say that anything I write here I would say to your face. If anything I'm more careful here because it's a public forum. I don't mix my words and I speak my mind...this keeps the blood pressure down. I shared with you a small part of why I feel the way I do. Take it or leave it, I don't care. I don't expect to change your mind. You have impressive academic qualifications and my formal education pales in comparison. My knowledge and opinions are simply based on direct interactions and life experience. I really knew nothing of Israel before spending time there. Honestly I harbored no preconceived notions concerning their existence. I know little about the catholic church besides that I have some family that is part of it. I did meet and shake the hand of the Pope on February 26, 2000. It was a pretty cool experience and I had tons of respect for the guy after hearing him speak like 15 languages in one day. He seemed pretty nice and we talked for about five minutes. He seemed to really like Louisiana. Either way, good luck in your studies. By definition, we modern protestants are not heretics. We have neither deserted or dissented from the catholic church. Besides those in Rome, I've never stepped foot in a catholic church.
