imgomez

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Who will stand with Lynndie England?

I will. I pity her. She should elicit our compassion, not our contempt. A poor, disadvantaged girl struggling to make something of herself. Doing what she was told, following the leader, getting lots of positive reinforcement. Just doing what she thought was a good job.

Limbaugh was obscene when he downplayed the prisoner abuse by equating it to a fraternity hazing, but that's exactly the dynamic at play. Hazing, pranks, initiation. Boot camp, military academies. It's cruel and dehumanizing and a rush. And a proud tradition. It starts out being fun and funny and outrageous. Then people get pumped up and they dare each other to go further. They hoot and howl and laugh. It's extreme!

The only thing that reigns it in at all is the larger social context that reminds us of what is unacceptable, what is criminal. But when the context changes, when the victims are not trusting classmates, but dehumanized "enemies," what's to stop it? The superior officers. The structure. The commanders.

Who wouldn't have done the same thing in the same circumstances?

Look at her biography.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynndie_England#Biography

Colleen Kesner, a resident from England's hometown, said: "A lot of people here think they ought to just blow up the whole of Iraq. To the country boys here, if you're a different nationality, a different race, you're sub-human. That's the way that girls like Lynndie are raised... Tormenting Iraqis, in her mind, would be no different from shooting a turkey. Every season here you're hunting something. Over there, they're hunting Iraqis."

Consider how she was also sexually manipulated/abused by her superiors and "friends."
Members of the United States Senate reviewed additional photographs supplied by the Department of Defense which have not been publicly released. Senators note that there are photos of Pfc. England naked, having sex with several military guards, sometimes in front of the Iraqi prisoners.

Consider how this is NOT an isolated incident.
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/charlotte1.html

According to Lynndie's mom,"nothing happened which wasn't ordered by higher up. They are trying to pin all of this on the lower ranks. My daughter was just following orders. I think there's a conspiracy."

Under the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal, however, "defense of superior orders" is not a defense for war crimes, although it might influence a sentencing authority to lessen the penalty.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/006522.html

I will not sleep better for having pinned our shame on this pitiful scapegoat.
I feel sick for all the ways we have failed and abused her and all those like her.

imgomez

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This is an old, ongoing issue, but it makes me want to puke.
Methodist Church and GLBT
http://www.startribune.com/stories/614/5117077.html

We need new language. When such vastly different, even openly hostile factions are using the the same language and source material to support their positions, it becomes meaningless. Such loaded, simplistic
terms and phrases as "I believe in God," "I am a Christian," or "I'm a
member of a Methodist church," are an invitation to misunderstanding.

As much as everyone believes their own definition is THE ONLY, INDISPUTABLE, TRUE DEFINITION it's just not so. And simply writing off your adversary as stupid, wrong, misguided, led astray by the devil, etc. doesn't help.

Consider that people who identify themselves as very "Christian" are/have been:

For peace and for war ("Just War" with God on our side!)
For racial equality, harmony and unity and slavery, segregation and genocide
Pro-Choice and Pro-Life
Anti Death Penalty and Pro Death Penalty
Welcoming and affirming of GLBT people and hatefully anti-gay
Environmentalists and Deregulation industrialists

Saying "I'm a Christian and I believe in God," to someone who is sensitive to all the horror and injury caused in the name of God and Christianity, is like calling yourself a clansman to an African American: "I'm in the KKK, but I'm not one of those fundamentalist, idiot KKKers. I'm not racist, or anti-semitic or homophobic, and I'm committed to non-violence. And all TRUE KKK members share my beliefs."

When I tally up all the good that has resulted primarily from religious motivation, (As apposed to compassionate secular humanists, who just happen to organize through a church) and weigh it against all the harm that has resulted from religion being (mis)used to justify and sanction behavior ranging from cruelty and disrespect all the way to atrocity, I know that I need a new language to talk about my understanding of the primary creative principle and unifying force, and my obligation concerning relation to my fellow inhabitants of the world.

PLEASE: Don't reply with a defense of a position one way or the other by quoting scripture. Both sides do it, both sides can argue about context, interpretations, translations, the merits of a fundamentalist, literal interpretation and the rationale for believing in an evolving gospel and co-creationism. I've heard it. I get it. I don't care to debate it. Feel free to pray for me if you must. I appreciate your good intentions.

P.S. I'm not singling out Christians. Jews and Muslims certainly have their own problems with disputed interpretations. I'm just talking about my own experience.

The song book at Walker Church contains this brilliant song by member Howard Krantz. It's called "Bye Bye Jesus"

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darkangeljen13

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WHO WANTS A NEW FRIEND
xxx

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oh my god. i hate my high school. yesterday some students posted these pamphlet things on the walls around the school advertising a gay/lesbian rights assembly at the capitol that happens tonight. our vice principle ripped them all down, saying that it was wrong and disgusting. then he quoted that officially we have to get permission to hang anything up at school, but did he tear any other posters down advertising things? nope.

even better is that he sent one to our superintendant saying that she would have to approve it, after students complained yesterday about them being taken down. when did he take the poster to her? this morning aka the day of the assembly. he is being sneaky and petty and it makes me so angry that all he thinks about is his own personal beliefs when he says that he is all for the students and their rights. grrr...

has any one else had this happen, and if so, how did you deal with it?

i'm afraid of doing anything because i could get suspended for insubordination and then my parents would kill me. nice message, eh? stand up for what you believe in and get expelled.

sexyleopard1

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To start this synopsis out, I would like to congratulate Mr. President on his slow pronunciation of the word exaggeration to make sure it was said correctly. ;-P Heh...ok, it's out of my system now I promise...wait...I won't be like a politician and make a promise I can't keep. So, I will change my promise...heh...I promise to practice my freedom of speech by making fun of both candidates as I see fit and then give you some of the summary of what the debate is over.

( Cut for lengthCollapse )

Ok, that's my swing on things..."God Bless" and Peace Out!
(also in my actual journal)

sexyleopard1

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To start this synopsis out, I would like to congratulate Mr. President on his slow pronunciation of the word exaggeration to make sure it was said correctly. ;-P Heh...ok, it's out of my system now I promise...wait...I won't be like a politician and make a promise I can't keep. So, I will change my promise...heh...I promise to practice my freedom of speech by making fun of both candidates as I see fit and then give you some of the summary of what the debate is over.

( Cut for lengthCollapse )

Ok, that's my swing on things..."God Bless" and Peace Out!
(also in my actual journal)

corkboardpigeon

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I get so much mail from so many different organizations I've signed up in I hardly read most of them. This one is from one called care 2 I think, it's a republican parties alert. Basically separation of church and state. This country (or the US since not every one lives here.) is SUPPOSED to be "free" and "diverse" and there are so many religions here, how can the government possibly let their descision making revolve around just one? Religion should not be part of government, in my opinion, no matter what party or philosphy you are a part of. So let's get some other opinions and debates going. This community has been so nactive, laziness in my case.

( the e mail.Collapse )

sexyleopard1

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and, to quote Garry (my common law step-dad), "With Kerry, you don't know whether you'll end up in NY or Los Angeles...but with Bush, you know you are going to Memphis." ;-P Heh...and I must say, that's pretty much true.

Now, as most of you know, I'm pretty middle of the road on my politics since I see about half of the issues conservatively and the other half liberally, therefore...I don't have a set party I want to go for.

I personally don't feel that Bush or Kerry are top candidates for the presidency, but if I have to choose between the two, at this point I would have to say Bush. Not because I agree with all his policies...quite the contrary in fact...but, when it comes to actually having a plan...well, there is no contest.

Watching the debate just proved even more that Kerry can't answer a single question about his plan. Every answer he gave either implied for you to find out the plan yourself on his website or implied that we won't know what his plan is until he sets foot in the White House. Personally, that scares me to think of a president who doesn't have set ways before going there...what if he decides to change his plan entirely and everyone that voted for him b/c of his policy is now screwed over since he doesn't have the same ideals anymore.

I dunno...I don't like all of Bush's policies...actually, I don't really like Bush himself either, but at least he has a set plan no matter how screwy it is. I dunno...I think either way this could end up...it will be bad for America. Neither candidate is good enough for the job. On one side you have a wishy-washy idiot who can't decide on anything and on the other side you have a too-stubborn moron who claims to want the law interpreted like the constitution wants, but then goes against the constitution by flat out insisting that religion and state be combined! What is this country coming to?

Anyways, that is my gripe about the presidential selection. I don't like it one bit. And it's not like I will vote for Nader, cause he isn't much better then either one of the actual candidates. ::sigh:: But I have to vote since anyone who doesn't vote has no right to complain in my opinion. What does everyone else think? Who actually watched the debate?

(Also in my actual journal)

daretodream41

Hey everyone! I'm new here so I wanted to introduce myself and say hello. My name's Stephanie, I'm 20, and I live in California. All the rest of my critical info is on my application a couple entries below this one so feel free to read that. As of now I've got two LiveJournals, there's this one which is more my opinions on various topics, and my other one, sparklyngdymond, which is more just for all my superficial crap...day to day activities and so forth. Feel free to add either!

And now on to the more important stuff. I posted this in my journal after seeing the presidential debate. I'm hoping it will spark some discussion!!