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Malala's f u to the Taliban
- Thread starter Wade
- Start date
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5tomidnite
Paranormal Maven
I'm glad she survived the attack.
Randall
J. Randall Murphy
What I have a hard time believing is that in today's world there's still the need for this kind of thing to happen. It reminds me of when I was young in the 60s. There was still a lot of black vs white racism going on. As I grew up I saw racism over here in North America pretty much fade out of existence, and assumed that the rest of the world was growing up too. Now decades later at age 54 I'm seeing this on TV and I'm having exactly the same reaction. You mean the world is really like this 
! As much as one cannot help but admire this young woman, it's also a sad commentary on the state of humanity in our global village that she should have to find herself in this position to begin with. Will humans ever evolve beyond all the ideological and religious garbage that is weighing us down?
! As much as one cannot help but admire this young woman, it's also a sad commentary on the state of humanity in our global village that she should have to find herself in this position to begin with. Will humans ever evolve beyond all the ideological and religious garbage that is weighing us down?
Burnt State
Paranormal Adept
Malala Yousafzai is one of the case studies I'm using for a high school equity course i'm writing curriculum for this summer for our provincial ministry of education. She's appearing in the global feminist section and is an excellent example of how competing tensions for individual freedom are often countered with violence.
We would do well to remember that it wasn't too long ago that women fought to have the right to vote in North America, and before that they were merely chattels and the property of men. So if you raped someone's wife you could be sued for damaging another man' property. I believe it was not until the mid 80's that the law in Canada was altered to reflect the fact that a man could be charged with raping his wife. Before that it was a man's right to have sex with his wife whenever he wanted. Sounds just like the Taliban, no? I'm not sure when the US brought in a similar law but given the rates of sexual assault, rape and murder of women by men in North America we could be better by eliminating our own boyish, immature Taliban ways when it comes to how we treat women. This forum is as good a place to start as anywhere.
We would do well to remember that it wasn't too long ago that women fought to have the right to vote in North America, and before that they were merely chattels and the property of men. So if you raped someone's wife you could be sued for damaging another man' property. I believe it was not until the mid 80's that the law in Canada was altered to reflect the fact that a man could be charged with raping his wife. Before that it was a man's right to have sex with his wife whenever he wanted. Sounds just like the Taliban, no? I'm not sure when the US brought in a similar law but given the rates of sexual assault, rape and murder of women by men in North America we could be better by eliminating our own boyish, immature Taliban ways when it comes to how we treat women. This forum is as good a place to start as anywhere.
I'm glad she survived and the associated message that came out of this but......
I watched an interview with her where she kept invoking "god" as the reason she survived.
So from my perspective. given "god" was the invisible sky man invoked to justify the attack on her, and "god" the invisible sky man was invoked to explain why she survived......
Topographically i dont see much progress in this scenario
Nil all for the two sides of this story, superstition and ignorance wins again
I watched an interview with her where she kept invoking "god" as the reason she survived.
So from my perspective. given "god" was the invisible sky man invoked to justify the attack on her, and "god" the invisible sky man was invoked to explain why she survived......
Topographically i dont see much progress in this scenario
Nil all for the two sides of this story, superstition and ignorance wins again
Wade
FeralNormal master
I suppose this point cannot be denied, a dispassionate observer could only conclude that the same god wanted her both gravely injuried and then recover. i wondered does the taliban now consider her survival Insha'Allah ? my guess is they would find this inconvient and convince themselves that god was testing their resolve.
this is was I was getting at in my first post, I find it inspiring her resolve to overcome intolerance which is really what we're talking about here. I sort of overlooked her religious beliefs but certainly not her spirit.
Burnt State
Paranormal Adept
Religion has lead many people in the world to do wonderful, courageous, and inspirational things on behalf of many others. These things were done in the name of goodness and belief, operating out of what they feel is the true spirit of their religion. Almost all religions of the world share these amazing tenets of kindness, freedom, non-violence, sharing and caring for those in need.
I separate those people like Malala from those who would seek power through their religion and use 'the word' to justify killing, maiming, terrorizing and controlling others. All fundamentalism is about patriarchy in the end and controlling people because god supposedly revealed to them that the men should be running the show, sometimes it's even very specific or select men be they Ayatollah, Pope or Jim Jones.
But I do not see Malala in the same league. The god she believes in is a good god for her. And wouldn't it be a much better world if the history of religion on this planet was tied to only peaceful actions instead of the sad pathetic history we have known of killing in the name of god. It's really not the religion to be blamed so much as the interpreter.
I separate those people like Malala from those who would seek power through their religion and use 'the word' to justify killing, maiming, terrorizing and controlling others. All fundamentalism is about patriarchy in the end and controlling people because god supposedly revealed to them that the men should be running the show, sometimes it's even very specific or select men be they Ayatollah, Pope or Jim Jones.
But I do not see Malala in the same league. The god she believes in is a good god for her. And wouldn't it be a much better world if the history of religion on this planet was tied to only peaceful actions instead of the sad pathetic history we have known of killing in the name of god. It's really not the religion to be blamed so much as the interpreter.
Heres the video
Again i'm glad she survived, and im glad she's doing something positive with the result, but when you watch the video its clear she herself subscribes deeply to the very same delusion as that which was used to justify the attack on her, propping up the very same magic sky man delusion that was the root cause of the attack.
For as long as we do the same old dance of my god trumps your god, no progress gets made in the bigger picture.
Both sides of this terrible story are still interpreting and acting on their belief in a magic sky man.
And until that stops, the dance will continue.
I recall a great passage in a book by Robert Silverberg "Star of Gypsies" where the Rom tribe were watching the saracens sack a crusader fort.
"What are they fighting and killing each other over ?" asks one
"What to call god" was the answer
The stupidity of such being obvious to the observers.
It would be tragic enough if this imaginary entity were actually real....... but to do this over an imaginary being ????
So from that pov Malala is both victim and perpetrator in the grand scheme of things
I get that as we drill down we have to distinguish and recognise intent and malice, of which she has none. But from a topographical pov the only winner here is ignorance and superstition, both Malala and the taliban promote and draw inspiration from it
Again i'm glad she survived, and im glad she's doing something positive with the result, but when you watch the video its clear she herself subscribes deeply to the very same delusion as that which was used to justify the attack on her, propping up the very same magic sky man delusion that was the root cause of the attack.
For as long as we do the same old dance of my god trumps your god, no progress gets made in the bigger picture.
Both sides of this terrible story are still interpreting and acting on their belief in a magic sky man.
And until that stops, the dance will continue.
I recall a great passage in a book by Robert Silverberg "Star of Gypsies" where the Rom tribe were watching the saracens sack a crusader fort.
"What are they fighting and killing each other over ?" asks one
"What to call god" was the answer
The stupidity of such being obvious to the observers.
It would be tragic enough if this imaginary entity were actually real....... but to do this over an imaginary being ????
So from that pov Malala is both victim and perpetrator in the grand scheme of things
I get that as we drill down we have to distinguish and recognise intent and malice, of which she has none. But from a topographical pov the only winner here is ignorance and superstition, both Malala and the taliban promote and draw inspiration from it
Burnt State
Paranormal Adept
Is it ignorant to believe to do good, because a god, or a tree, or an animal or one's own declared morality implores, or even commands one to do so when there is no reason to do good in the first place? Does the belief in a sky god really determine intelligence or does it simply define one's spirituality, and is a means to describe one's reason to be good. I think intent has a lot to do with how we define the value of a belief system. After thousands of years of diverse means of worship and beliefs, I'm not prepared to judge the intelligence of someone because of their spiritual convictions. Terrorists are neither spiritual nor believers in a faith. They simply use the parts of various interpretations of a religion as a means to justify their hatred and desire for control and power. That desire is certainly ignorant. Their version of their sky god is baseless.
Doing good.....
Its an interesting question it even featured in an episode of friends
It turns out it may just be a biological imperative
Altruism gene discovered: generosity explained by science
And two arguments here
Spectrum One: Individualism vs Altruism
If its true that altruism is simply a genetic trait, then we cant argue that religion has done a lot of good, which must balance the bad.
If good deeds are primarily a biological imperative religion gets no credit for it imo
Its an interesting question it even featured in an episode of friends
It turns out it may just be a biological imperative
Altruism gene discovered: generosity explained by science
And two arguments here
Spectrum One: Individualism vs Altruism
If its true that altruism is simply a genetic trait, then we cant argue that religion has done a lot of good, which must balance the bad.
If good deeds are primarily a biological imperative religion gets no credit for it imo
Randall
J. Randall Murphy
I guess that it all depends on how we define goodness. Recently I posted my personal view of what it means. I'm sure that more than a few religious people would disagree, but the way I figure it, if their God doesn't agree with it, then any devotion it receives is undeserved.
Hmm ... According to a study done by Helmuth Sørensen Nyborg, a former professor of developmental psychology at Aarhus University, Denmark, atheists scored an average of 1.95 IQ points higher than agnostics, 3.82 points higher than liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than dogmatic persuasions. Religiosity and intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
NOTE: Nyborg, Being from Denmark, which is also a part of my proud heritage, it should be noted that according to Wiki.Answers: "Vikings were one of the most intelligent groups of people who ever existed. Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and all Germanic tribes were so smart that they defeated the Romans and the sheep."
I have no problem with that assumption, but also believe it's entirely possible that some of them have been brainwashed into actually believing that what their acts of terrorism are a noble performance of their Jihadist duty as a "soldiers of Allah" ( or whatever )
Randall
J. Randall Murphy
Just to add ... regarding the religion of my family heritage ... not only were the Vikings smart, and not the savages they've often been portrayed as, they also had a significantly different religious belief system. See this example of how it compares to the Judeao-Christianity: Official funny stuff | Page 42 | The Paracast Community Forums
Wade
FeralNormal master
Randall
J. Randall Murphy
Wade
FeralNormal master
Apparently there are people that are upset that malala was not awarded the Nobel peace prize for her activities. I am not one of them, despite having all the admiration in the world for her. This article in the Washington Post by Max Fisher bests sums up my feeling
The Nobel committee did Malala a favor in passing her over for the peace prize
The Nobel committee did Malala a favor in passing her over for the peace prize