I just saw Bill Maher on Fox’s O’Reilly show, and… despite my dislike for his politics, I whole-heartedly agree with his opinions on religion. Religion has been overwhelmingly responsible for the hate, war, and strife in the world. Not any one religion, mind you. Not christianity, not islam, not jews, and certainly not buddhists, taoists, or even pagans. Religion in general. I’ll grant you that most religions tend to “settle down” over time and become benevolent (someday maybe even the muslims will achieve that), but for the most part all they tend to do is fight with those who believe something other than what they’re preaching.

The reasonable thing would be for humanity to discover true “enlightenment”, and accept that we’re all human and need each other to exist. Religion is not generally conducive to this end, although again I’ll be the first to admit that some religions seem to make that their objective over time.

To paraphrase George Carlin, how stupid do we have to be to blindly accept that there’s an “invisible man in the sky”, who loves us, but threatens to send us to burn in hell if we do wrong… and is needs our money!

Here are some quotes from Bill Maher that I found poignant. (Taken from this google cached article)

“That’s one of the things that really bugs me about religion. If you don’t know the answer, just say, ‘I don’t know.’ Don’t make up stories and make people believe them, and then work backwards in everything in life from the dumb little story you made up, you know? We don’t know. Be a good person just because it’s the right thing to do. How ’bout that?”

(my emphasis)

“I believed all this stuff when I was young,” Maher begins, smiling wryly. “I believed there was a virgin birth, I believed a man lived inside of a whale, and I believed that the Earth was 5,000 years old. But then something very important happened to me — I graduated sixth grade.”

I have to admit, it always seemed rather like a fairy-tale to me… I went through the motions, memorized the appropriate passages, read the required texts… but it never struck me as particularly true.

“Morality is mostly the Golden Rule, treating other people the way you would like other people to treat you,” he says. “I mean, the teachings of Jesus are a great moral guide. Jesus is one of the greatest role models I can think of. It’s a shame that Christianity has gone so far from the teachings of Jesus. I don’t know anyone less Jesus-like than most Christians.

“And, by the way, the Bible does have wisdom in it, but it’s written in parables,” he continues passionately. “It’s the idiots today who take it literally. And the first parable that is in the Bible is the story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge.

“What I believe that writer was trying to tell mankind was, ‘You can’t know. Don’t try to eat from the tree of knowledge. You can’t know. That’s for God to know, not for you to know.’ . . . And I believe that is a fairly wise story. You can’t know.”

Why does it feel like Maher is quoting me?

This is uncanny… I feel like I’ve found a fellow traveler.

Thank you, Bill Maher, for letting me see I’m not alone.

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” - Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.

Why do some Muslims have such an uncanny talent for proving the case of their critics? When accused of violence, they threaten violence. Better still, they engage in it. “Call us unruly and we riot,” they say, in essence. “Call us murderers, and we kill you.” Don’t they see that this makes them a joke?

Jihadists don’t care about logic Islamists don’t want to persuade; they want to coerce

The pope didn’t originate those words, nor did he openly agree with them; but day by day, muslim fanatics prove them to be true.

This is just the sort of thing that the typical radical muslim hates to see - one of “their own” saying nice things about, and thanking Americans for their efforts in deposing an evil dictator. This is the sort of thing we should see plastered over the front page of every major US newspaper. Sadly, it’s the sort of thing we are destined to only come across on blogs and in brief blurbs on the non-primetime news.

Iraqi President Talabani’s Letter to America - DefendAmerica News

The first thing I would like to convey is the gratitude of all Iraqis, who are fighting for a democratic government and a civil society, to the Americans. Without your commitment, our struggle against despotism could not have made the progress that we have achieved. No expression of thanks could be enough for those who lost loved ones in Iraq. We feel your pain, we honor your sacrifice and we will never forget you. To those of you who have family and friends in Iraq today, we say: Your sons and daughters are helping us through a historic transition. We will always remember the enormous sacrifice that America is making for Iraq.

Thanks to the United States, we are transforming Iraq from a country that was ruled by fear, repression and dictatorship into a country that is ruled by democracy and has the values of equality, tolerance, human rights and the rule of law at its heart.

April 9, 2003, the day of liberation, heralded a new era in the history of Iraq and the region. That day triggered a sequence of events that laid the foundation of a modern Iraq that is at peace with itself and the world. All segments of Iraqi society have benefited from liberation.

Under Saddam Hussein, the majority of the Sunni Arabs of Iraq were marginalized; Saddam and his gang were ruling in the name of this community. But in reality, the Sunni Arabs never had the chance to choose their representatives democratically and have a say about their future. Today, they have 58 deputies in Parliament, a vice president, a deputy prime minister and a speaker of Parliament; all were elected by the people of Iraq.

The Shia majority of Iraq was for decades oppressed and discriminated against. They did not even have the right to practice their religious ceremonies. Now, they are equal citizens and hold key posts in government and parliament through their democratically elected representatives.

Kurds were second-class citizens. They suffered from genocide and chemical bombardment; now they are equal members of Iraqi society and active participants in the running of their country, Iraq. The same applies to the Turkomens, Assyrians and other groups of Iraqi society.

Iraq finally has an elected and representative government, a huge contrast to the authority of a vicious tyrant. In other words, Iraq is no longer the property of a gang that ruled by fear and repression. Every Iraqi today feels they have a stake in the new Iraq.

Read it all.

Let’s Say Thanks

The mission of Let’s Say Thanks is to provide a way for individuals across the country to recognize U.S. troops stationed overseas. By submitting a message through this site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women.

The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, were selected from a pool of entries from children across the country.

A link to this site was included in my weekly Geeks.com tech newsletter - I immediately clicked through and fired off a postcard. Now it’s your turn. Click the link and send a message of support to a Marine, Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Guardsman standing on the front lines.

Kudos to the Xerox corporation for providing this thoughtful service.

Sweetness & Light offers a friendly reminder about funding the enemy.

I’ve been telling folks for quite some time that Citgo funds that asshole - it’s high time people took notice.

The image is black and white, but that’s General Gray wearing a green camo (MARPAT!) sportcoat…

Anyone know where I can get one?

Here’s a nice detail of the MARPAT, in case you’re wondering what it looks like in color…

On September 11, 2001, 2996 Americans were murdered by animals driven by a cult that worships death. Shelley A. Marshall was one of those Americans, guilty of nothing more than being a citizen of a great country.

A while back, a call went out for 2996 bloggers to each write a post today, as memorial to one of those whose lives were stolen on 9/11. I have the honor of bringing you Ms. Marshall, a 37 year old wife, mother, and budget analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.

Below are a number of quotes and items I have found about Ms. Marshall while researching this article… I thought it fitting to compile them today.

9-11 Victim Memorial

When Shelley Marshall was in elementary school her second grade teacher wrote on her report card, “Shelley is a ray of sunshine, when she smiles all seems right with the world.” That small sentence is huge in our memory of Shelley…the vision of her smile still touches us today! Shelley’s smile in her heart was as big as the one on her face…full of love, happiness and devotion.

The Shelley A. Marshall Foundation

Accounts of the heroes and victims of September 11th focus on their good qualities, excluding their inevitable frailties and imperfections, and have appeared in such a way as to suggest that we had been walking among angels. These accounts were all true: our wives, friends, and family members did have all that goodness within them, and they were angels… and so are we, if we will only recognize it in ourselves and each other.

My wife, Shelley Marshall, was passionately devoted to me, her children, her family, and her friends. She lived her life with grace, intensity and fire. I saw that fire the moment I met her, at first as a sparkle in her eye, and I was privileged to watch it grow and spread and to be its chief recipient. That fire burned in many places, and her family and friends know and miss the diminishment - but not the disappearance - of its warmth and glow.

Creative Writing, George Mason University

The Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Prize was established by Donn Marshall, the husband of Shelley Marshall (1963-2001), a GMU alumna who was killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. She was an avid reader of short stories and also wrote them. For Shelley, Donn says, “writing short stories was about the journey, not the destination; writing was about making your life extraordinary.” The prize is given by The Shelley Marshall Foundation for a single short story of 20 doubled-spaced pages or less.

Shelley’s memory lives on through the works of her husband Donn and their children. Donn Marshall created the above mentioned creative writing prize at her alma mater, as well as a foundation that hosts tea parties (one of Shelley’s passions was tea) at nursing homes across America, art workshops, children’s story hours, and other charitable endeavors.

My best wishes go out to Donn Marshall and the rest of Shelley’s family.

I will never forget.

Fortunately, the only people who ever really made a big deal about this story are newsmen and bloggers. And liberals, but they don’t really count, do they?

Let’s hope this is the end of this discussion - unless of course someone decides to take the Wilson’s to task over that disturbing little accusation leveled against the vice president. Wrongful prosecution? Libel? Aren’t there protections against illegitimate/frivolous lawsuits?

End of an Affair

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame’s CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming — falsely, as it turned out — that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush’s closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It’s unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

Just got this in my email… scary:

Impeachment. Cutting and running from the War on Terror. Key defense systems dismantled. Tax cuts repealed. Speaker Pelosi.

That’s what America could look like one year from now if Democrats take the majority. Don’t wait a year find out how Democrats have weakened America - after it’s too late. Get a sneak peak at what the news would be like in September 2007 - based on the Democrats’ actual record - with America Weakly, the newspaper of record for the Democrat majority.

America Weakly

I don’t really have anything to write about tonight, but it occurred to me that I should mention that I attended an MCA (Marine Corps Association) luncheon the other day; the guest speaker was former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Al Gray.

General Gray is always fun to listen to - he’s so direct and honest (ok, ‘blunt’ is more appropriate term) it makes me wonder how he ever got selected to be Commandant, given the political environment such office foists on the holder.

I wish I had had the foresight to bring along a recorder so I could quote from his speech, but the one statement that really hit home with me concerned retired Marines and how they should behave in regards to supporting our Marines in the line of fire. He stopped short of dropping names, but it was obvious a certain jack(ass) was on his mind when he spoke.

Good stuff.

PS. If anyone knows where to obtain a MARPAT digital camouflage blazer like the general was sporting, I’d love to have one for Friday morning formations…

This came appeared in my mailbox today as part of the daily humor/spam, thought it was worth sharing:

A father watched his young daughter playing in the garden. He smiled as he reflected on how sweet and pure his little girl was. He thought about her seeing the wonders of nature through such innocent eyes.

Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground. He went over to her to see what work of God had captured her attention. He noticed she was looking at two spiders mating.

“Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?” she asked.

“They’re mating,” her father replied.

“What do you call the spider on top?” she asked.

“That’s a Daddy Longlegs,” her father answered.

“So, the other one is a Mommy Longlegs?” the little girl asked.

As his heart soared with the joy of such a cute and innocent question, he replied “No dear. Both of them are Daddy Longlegs.”

The little girl, looking a little puzzled, thought for a moment, then took her foot and stomped them flat and said, “Well, we’re not having any of that Brokeback-Mountain shit in our garden.”