Friday, January 09, 2009

Middle East Needs An Adult

I'm getting sick and tired of all of the petulant, childish whining. Most of the stuff I hear is pro-Israel but the pro-Hamas crap is annoying too.

Look, I'm sure you're all confident that your god told you to go and kill the other guys.

I mean, hell, if you're a Jewish fundamentalist you might think that he promised you the whole country as long as you remember to cut off the ends of your sons' penises. I'd find it annoying if someone traded me my foreskin for a promise and never kept it, but that's something you should be taking up with your Rabbi, not with the poor olive farmer living on the land that you think your god said is yours. Bulldozing the guy's olive farm and taking over his land? That's not going to make anything better, I don't care what you think god told you.

If you're a fundamentalist Muslim living in the Middle East, I'm sure you're pissed off at the misery the Palestinians have been through. I'm sure you think that your god wants you to go off and kill people and drive Israel off the map. But you know what? Running in to a crowded mall and blowing up random Jewish people is not helping. It's not bringing peace. It's not going to change the minds of the Israeli government. In fact, it just gives them an excuse to treat your family and your people even more harshly and it makes it ever more difficult to demonstrate any proper claim you might have.

Yes, it's very colourful and exciting I'm sure. I remember feeling that way about things when I was a teenager. Oooh, look! Here's a chance to get angry and get my testosterone flowing! Fight, fight! We're programmed for that. Evolution can't help but make us want to strut our stuff to attract mates.

But I grew up. I'm an adult now. Part of being an adult is looking back at the stupid things you were taught or incidentally learnt while growing up and realizing that some of them were wrong.

Here. I'll start by making a list of some of the things I was taught that I later realized were wrong:
a) Santa Claus exists
b) women can't do math
c) men are victims of reverse discrimination
d) god hates masturbation
e) the wine really turns in to blood
f) god exists

There, now you go make a list. Start with all of the unevidenced, unsupported claims made by your Imam or Rabbi. Especially examine the ones that make Jews or Muslims sound like mindless animals bent on eating your babies or raping your daughters.

It's time for all of you to grow up. The world doesn't need any more cheerleaders for ignorance.

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