tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post115263090094282342..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Pockets of Sanity in an Insane WorldGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153346395058875192006-07-19T14:59:00.000-07:002006-07-19T14:59:00.000-07:00I have long suspected a connection between male-su...I have long suspected a connection between male-supremacist cultures and toleration/glorification of male homosexuality.<BR/><BR/>Since in a male-supremacist milieu women are nothing more than breeding animals, the only way to have sex with another "person" is with another male. I believe the expression "Women for breeding stock, men for love, boys for pleasure" came out of a male-supremacist society.<BR/><BR/>Islam is torn between a holy book that officially forbids homosexuality and a male-supremacist culture that would encourage/glorify it. In practice, there's probably a lot of toleration of it "as long as you don't get caught" -- especially among those who are rich and powerful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152725249223885632006-07-12T10:27:00.000-07:002006-07-12T10:27:00.000-07:00Tamara said As a Jewish woman, I'm struck at how v...Tamara said <BR/><BR/><I>As a Jewish woman, I'm struck at how very strange Jews must have seemed to everyone else during that time. For starters, they worshipped an 'invisible' G-d (which therefore didn't exist as far as most pagans were concerned); they treated women as beings who had basic rights; they abhorred child sacrifice and infanticide; they had a strict moral sexual code; and to top it all off, they wouldn't even eat certain foods!</I><BR/><BR/>This is probably at least one of the main reasons the Jews became so hated, because they were different and it seems to me that people are afraid of what they don't understand - like liberals and atheists who are afraid of Christians and Jews today, and subscribe to us all kinds of conspiracy theories. They perceive that we cause some threat to their well-being and likely have no rational idea of why they feel this way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152709999219872152006-07-12T06:13:00.000-07:002006-07-12T06:13:00.000-07:00"Even when I was a big liberal, I was never really..."Even when I was a big liberal, I was never really very politically correct. It very much went against the grain of my personality."<BR/><BR/>I would think "...against the grain of my temperament."<BR/><BR/>Bro. Bob: What are your thoughts on 'personality and temperament' and how the terms are used and misused today. I find folks speaking of their infants 'personality' when I would think they mean 'temperament.'<BR/>Shalom,<BR/>Bro. BartlebyBro. Bartlebyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15980379263844521557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152651401832326992006-07-11T13:56:00.000-07:002006-07-11T13:56:00.000-07:00Jonathan, I can assure you that I don't get my his...Jonathan, I can assure you that I don't get my historical info from HBO :-)<BR/><BR/>In fact, half the fun is seeing what kinds of liberties the writers have taken with the actual history. <BR/><BR/>You are correct that the Romans did not practice human sacrifice - I should have clarified that. Sadly infanticide was practiced. <BR/><BR/>As far as arranged marriages among Jews were concerned, a woman had to give her consent. She could not be forced into a marriage. The ketubah also gave her certain basic rights in the event her husband abandoned her.<BR/><BR/>You are correct about men being able to refuse their wives a divorce. That is a subject for another day, however.Tamarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00360876494810611160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152650342419935402006-07-11T13:39:00.000-07:002006-07-11T13:39:00.000-07:00Thanks for the article, Bob. You stated in the art...Thanks for the article, Bob. You stated in the article that "...there is every reason to believe that the world of Islam can proceed through the same evolutionary process that saw the Christian West gradually master external and internal (emotional and cognitive) reality over the past 500 years, as childrearing practices became increasingly humane." While clearly, Islam <I>can</I> proceed through that process, do you think at this point that it very likely <I>will</I>?<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that a catalyst is required to spark this type of change. Perhaps if the fledgling democracy in Iraq is successful, the muslim world will begin to undergo the requisite evolutionary process, but it seems so very fragile at this point. As the Palestinians continue to prove, democracy does not always equal liberty or progress.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152649584323206272006-07-11T13:26:00.000-07:002006-07-11T13:26:00.000-07:00Jonathan, Dennis Prager had a very interesting dis...Jonathan, <BR/><BR/>Dennis Prager had a very interesting discussion of this on his show a few months ago. He talked about how the Jewish law for adultery was different for men and women not out of gender inequality, but for the fact that men and women are different and have different needs. Women also have the ability to conceive children, as I am sure you aware. Adultery is bad, no matter who commits it, but adultery from women can be more serious because of the ability to conceive. Her husband will not be sure if any of the children are his, where as a wife who does not cheat can always be sure of who the father of her children are. Circumstances are different and Jewish law does seem to take that into consideration. May seem archaic in today's world but it makes sense to me. Dennis explained it in much more detail and more eloquently than I have, so please forgive me if I am not getting my point across clearly.<BR/><BR/>I am a non-practicing being-Jew. I try to see things from all sides and also the deeper layers inside. Sometimes, the eyes have a hard time seeing everything in perspective.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152646709016172712006-07-11T12:38:00.000-07:002006-07-11T12:38:00.000-07:00Your mantra is so true, Gecko. I used to get very...Your mantra is so true, Gecko. I used to get very upset when I was a little girl that something was not fair in whatever circumstance that may be. My mother would always answer that life was not fair. It pissed me off because there is always a (but x!). As I have gotten older I have come to accept the fact that not everything in life is fair and I just have to deal. It's too bad so many groups of people have poor coping skills and always play the victim. Life can also be wonderful, you just have to accept responsibility for your actions, good or bad, and try to do better. People that are not capable of accepting responsibility and coping in a non-violent way have to be done with. That is my solution to global warming, too!<BR/><BR/>OT, will the NYT or Durbin try to blame the 7/11 bombing in India on the neo-nazis? Protecting future jobs for White Americans?Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152645292844213912006-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:002006-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:00As a matter of fact, I wrote an article about chil...As a matter of fact, I wrote an article about child-rearing practices in the Muslim world. I started working on it on 9-12-01:<BR/><BR/>http://www.primal-page.com/godwin.htmGagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152644660024617592006-07-11T12:04:00.000-07:002006-07-11T12:04:00.000-07:00Here is a Frontpage article from 2004 about the bo...Here is a Frontpage article from 2004 about the book I mentioned:<BR/><BR/>http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13230<BR/><BR/>The book's full title is "The Sheik's New Clothes: The Psychoanalytic Roots of Islamic Suicide Terrorism".<BR/>The Author is Dr. Nancy Kobrin.<BR/><BR/>I bring this up because it seemed relevant to the discussion as a modern example of how a culture's mother/infant relationships, among other family relationships, may have a direct effect on the sanity of the culture as a whole.<BR/><BR/>The article above is what I had read before. It was striking enough that I still remember some of the details two years later. It also, at the time, brought to mind an even older news story (1994) about a muslim (Afghan) man in Portland, Maine, who was seen kissing his infant son's penis. He was arrested and tried, and for his defense "...according to the man's lawyer, and about a dozen Afghanis who attended the trial, that is accepted, and common, in Afghan culture as a show of affection." (Fun People Archive, http://www.langston.com/Fun_People/1994/1994BEI.html). <BR/><BR/>I apologize if this seems overly long or off-topic, but I thought it relevant to the discusion and wanted to cite my sources. I mentioned it earlier not as an example of "seeing what I want to see", as Dan suggested, nor out of some paranoid and unfounded projection about Muslim cultures, but rather as specific modern cases that more knowledgable people than I have reported on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152643868363884502006-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:002006-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:00I am loving the Troll-No-Mor policy.Good job, Bob!...I am loving the Troll-No-Mor policy.<BR/>Good job, Bob!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152642420751102812006-07-11T11:27:00.000-07:002006-07-11T11:27:00.000-07:00Gagdad, Of course you a a writer, and a generous o...Gagdad, <BR/>Of course you a a writer, and a generous one at that. I am a voracious reader. I know. You be da man.<BR/>Sal said,<BR/>"I was wondering what percentage of forward moving persons would there have to be in any society for it to make any progress?"<BR/>Someone said that" it takes one thousand masters praying to melt one heart of stone."<BR/>Lisa,<BR/>Thanks for the laugh. When I was younger someone gave me a mantra to say over and over which was"People are the way they are not the way I wish them to be". That really pissed me off bigtime.Geckohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11150958111957262924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152638377537095262006-07-11T10:19:00.000-07:002006-07-11T10:19:00.000-07:00It's interesting that you mention child abuse and ...It's interesting that you mention child abuse and pederasty in ancient societies. A couple of years ago, someone - I believe a Palestinian man whose family moved to the States - wrote a book about the prevelance of child abuse and molestation in Palestinian culture. I think it was titled "The Sheik's New Clothes". I never read it it, but did see some excerpts that, if true, offered a glimpse of Palestinian culture as being very similar to the way you've just described ancient Greek culture.<BR/>Has anybody else here read or heard of this book?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152637490931732762006-07-11T10:04:00.000-07:002006-07-11T10:04:00.000-07:00The HBO series 'Rome', which aired last season, ga...The HBO series 'Rome', which aired last season, gave a glimpse into people's attitudes and practices in the ancient, pagan world.<BR/><BR/>As a Jewish woman, I'm struck at how very strange Jews must have seemed to everyone else during that time. For starters, they worshipped an 'invisible' G-d (which therefore didn't exist as far as most pagans were concerned); they treated women as beings who had basic rights; they abhorred child sacrifice and infanticide; they had a strict moral sexual code; and to top it all off, they wouldn't even eat certain foods!<BR/><BR/>I look forward to your post tomorrow.Tamarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00360876494810611160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152636125577575452006-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:002006-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00Thanks for saying so, Sal! Humor is often underap...Thanks for saying so, Sal! Humor is often underappreciated! Your comment about bringing everyone else down to the same level of suckiness really pisses me off, too. What's even worse is when you try to rationalize with those people, they always put themselves outside of everyone. So, in their reality, everyone should be at the same level except them because they are so smart or special or whatever! Their arrogance and fake superiority is really annoying, not to mention illogical! I just keep telling them that if they turn off their a/c, stop driving vehicles, using petroleum based products, ie. plastics of any kind and then let me know how that works for them and if the globe cools off, MAYBE, I will follow their lead. So far, no takers!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152635547158938202006-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:002006-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00Lisa, what a treasure you are - you never fail to ...Lisa, what a treasure you are - you never fail to make me smile!<BR/><BR/>I can concur, everyone I've known who was pining for the _th century fjords, had niches other than peasant, servant or wage slave carved out for themselves in their imaginations.<BR/><BR/>What really pisses me off though, are the ones who want the world to stay 'picturesque', even if it means substandard everything for the peoples involved. <BR/><BR/>Bob - this was, to me, one of the most compelling and interesting parts of your book.<BR/><BR/>I was wondering what percentage of forward moving persons would there have to be in any society for it to make any progress? Clearly, even very dysfunctional societies can survive, and even force themselves on others, but not thrive. (Sister and I are still upset about the 33% unattached and 33% ambiguously attached babies, btw. We really hope that data is wrong.)<BR/><BR/>Or, more importantly right now, what's the tipping point for a society like America to survive defection from its ideals from within?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1152632711497244582006-07-11T08:45:00.000-07:002006-07-11T08:45:00.000-07:00I'm impressed, from the worst post ever to one of ...I'm impressed, from the worst post ever to one of the best in just two days! ;0)<BR/><BR/>I always get a kick out of how naive libs romanticize history and "exotic" cultures. If they only knew how brutal and barbaric most cultures are/were, they would completely deny it and insist that America still sucks (we are talking naive libs here, they'll never learn!) <BR/><BR/>I also think it's hilarious that whenever someone does a past life regression or that kind of thing, they always are some kind of queen, king, or nobleman, priest. It cracks me up, of course they wouldn't want to hear that they were just some meaningless slave that died under a huge block of stone at 19 and was swept to the side. How bout some dirty peasant that had no teeth and smelled and was illiterate? That is probably the majority of "past lives". Isn't this life complicated and exciting enough for most people?<BR/><BR/>I wish more people could see the big picture more clearly.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.com