Rosie and Extremism

De-moKKKer-rats and FACTS?????

You're joking, right?

It's medically unlikely.

Unlikely, yeah - but would you want to take that chance?

It's not just religious zealots, snood:



It came by way of a person who was, at one point in his or her creative process, considered by most of his/her fellow humans as an eccentric, a fool, a lunatic, or a trouble maker. Look at the extreme opposite of what is labeled conservative. If you look closely into what is commonly called "The Lunatic Fringe," you'll find the future of humanity!

As historical examples: Einstein was thrown out of grade school as hopelessly un-teachable. Louis Pasteur was drummed out of his medical college for proposing that life forms too small for the human eye to see were the cause of disease. Galileo was imprisoned for life for publicly proclaiming that the Earth was round. And then there's the most famous rebel of all time, Jesus of Nazareth.

Each of these people made major contributions to the future of humanity; yet, when they expressed their mastery into the world, they were looked at as troublemakers, as lunatics, or as fools.

The future of humanity is still "out there" in that lunatic fringe. If you look among the malcontents, the eccentrics, lunatics and the quasi-criminals, you'll also find the visionaries, the dreamers, and the possibility thinkers. You'll find the modern-day equivalents of Galileo, Louis Pasteur, Robert Fulton, Joseph Smith, Gandhi, Nicola Tesla, or possibly even another world-renowned, spiritual leader.

Right now, today, numerous individuals of this caliber are diligently working on fantastic new ideas while being ignored, condemned, ridiculed, suppressed, or interfered with by our fellow humans. Those who survive the assault of the status quo will each change the face of this planet forever.

Major changes have always come about this way -- from people who live outside the mainstream of society, from people who think differently, act differently, and hold beliefs that are at odds with what is considered normal, correct, or socially acceptable. It has always been that way. It's that way now, and there is no evidence it's about to change.

If all you can think of is the way things are, or the way they used to be, that's what your future will be.°

That's all very true, Letty. But, your post about visionary people and people whose thinking was or is ahead of their times isn't really on the same subject of loony extremists who are potentially a danger to the public at large.

Rosie was pointing out that christian extremists can be as dangerous as Muslim ones. I've made the point that a dangerous extremist need not be so because of religious reasons.

I get what you're saying - people deemed 'strange' or 'weird' by popular opinion may have great things to offer - but I'm not sure why you said it here...

Hell no.

I thought that I had clarified that, snood. They were all considered extremists and lunatics, and they have all effected great changes.

Did you catch that Rosie's argument was that Christian extremists in this country with separation of church and state...blah, blah, blah were as dangerous as the Muslim extremists of 9-11.

There are "so-called" Christians in this country that commit the occasional murder against abortion doctors, others that protest at soldier's funerals because of the Army's stance against homosexuality. Such incidents are extremely rare and typically conducted by a few distinctly mis-guided individuals. There are no Christian extremists that murder thousands of folks, simply because they don't believe as they do. None are urging the execution of homosexuals as the radical muslim extremists do. Most of all, no "Chrisitian" extremists enjoy state sponsorship at whose behest they can stand-up and train armies of equally-minded radicals and export their violence world-wide.

In the context of the Christian Right in this country Rosie's argument is patently absurd. You might just as well argue that the Act-Up extremists are as dangerous as the 9-11 extremists

I have listened to {tv is normally a background thing for me} an entire episode of "The View"... only suffered a slight nosebleed, followed by dizziness and vomiting, but my head did not actually explode.

Joseph Smith?? Visionary??????


Do you know the thing about Joseph Smith and the Rosetta stone?

Ms O'Donnell exaggerated. "Christian fundamentalists are dangerous, too" would have been corret. What she said instead is "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam" -- which suggests that she is severely misinformed about one of the two.

Nevertheless, I'm not shocked for two reasons
(1) Everyone says stupid things in the heat of an argument.
(2) Radical Christians and radical Muslims are indeed "just as threatening" as each other in the sense that they both aren't. Compared to Real Threats (TM) such as car drivers, swimming pools, and overweight, religious fanatism is peanuts whatever the belief of the fanatics. This whole brouhaha about "islamofascists" and "Christian fundamentalists" is a tempest in a cuisine-art.

No, gunga, but I know that the Mormons thought that Jesus was an American Indian, and that one of my students thought the Rosetta Stone was a woman who helped people interpret things. My husband also called the visiting Mormons, "Elmers".

Odd. I just read where muslims are furious at the Pope for attempting to revive the Crusades.

My entire point on this thread was simply to show that there is a ripple effect among extremists of any kind and that these movements have always effected change.

Islam is a religion of Peace. The Christian Extremists Rosie O'Donnell are in power now in DC. If they took over the whole government, gays would be imprisoned, people who believed in Wicca would be jailed, and Blacks would be hurled back into the status of second class citizens. Isn't it obvious when you read the code words of Robertson and Falwell?

No -- that's the point of them being code words.

Bush is a sworn and devout evangelical Christian, and this is evident in statements made to the press, the content of his speeches, and the base that supports him.
Some would argue that Bush is peddling Christianity, perhaps an extreme version thereof, at the helm of his Presidency.
His unilateral invasion of Iraq is an example of the barbarism gunga and woiyo accuse the, ah, um, what are they called gunga.....slammites of.
Is it done, in whole or in part, in the name of an extreme Christian ideology?

Your argument has absolutely no basis in fact.

Your statement has absolutely no basis in fact, Woiyo.
Bush is a devout evangelical.
That's a "fact" that candidone1 has some "basis" in....

Wrong again,

No unilateral invasion of Iraq. We went there with several other nations.

No facts supporting he is "peddling Christianity". I have never heard him say "you must convert to CHirstianity"?

No, you Bushwackers can not factually support your positions so you spout silly commentary.

Is someone going to tell me that George W. Bush is not one of those who is "born again"? Everyone knows how bigoted and hateful that group is to anyone who is not "born again">

It did not have an international, or even western, consensus nor did it have the support of the UN.
85 percent of the troops were American.. It was a war enacted unilaterally by America and its allies.



His views on abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, his position on the dislpay of the 10 Commandments, and the frequency of refrencing God in his speeches are clear indicators of his propensity to peddle Christianity.