Tue 13 Jun 2006
I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him
My effort should never be to undermine another’s faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith.
We must respect other religions, even as we respect our own. Mere tolerance thereof is not enough.
The sayings of Muhammed are a treasure of wisdom not only for Muslims but for all of mankind.
The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.
Corruption ought not to be an inevitable product of democracy.
I do not believe in the doctrine of the greatest good of the greatest number. The only real, dignified, human doctrine is the greatest good of all.
The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within.
Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
To believe in something, and not live it, is dishonest.
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Why change the world when we can change ourselves?
Seven Blunders of the World:
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without principle
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.
For this cause I too am prepared to die, but for no cause, my friend, will I be prepared to kill.
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
I can combine the greatest love with the greatest opposition to wrong.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
If love or non-violence be not the law of our being, the whole of my argument falls to pieces.
Even If I am a minority of one, truth is still the truth.
My life is my message.
- Mohandas Gandhi
June 14th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Given the chance to kill Hitler before he slaughtered 6,000,000 Jews and 15,000,000 Russians I would have done it even if I died in the process.
June 14th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Given the chance to kill Saddam before he committed his atrocities, would you do it? Given the chance to kill Bush before he sent 40,000 Iraqis and 2,500 American troops to their death, would you do it?
Who makes the call? Who decides who dies? Who is so blameless?
I wonder how much hate and fear and bigoted speech swirled in the air in Germany in 1934 -35. Did it look separated, like Red and Blue states? Did it sound like Ann Coulter or Bill O’Reilly? How much convincing did it take to make enough people think some one else was the root of the problem? How many people had to remain silent regarding their beliefs to allow Hitler to rise to power? How many people do you have to fill with hate and fear and rage before they become the angry, armed, ruling minority?
How many people would it have taken to stand up and say, “NO MORE” to prevent a Hitler?
Perhaps when I know these answers with certainty, when I can see the minds and hearts of all mankind and determine who is just and who is wicked, then I will be willing to kill.
Until then…
“For this cause I too am prepared to die, but for no cause, my friend, will I be prepared to kill.”
June 14th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
It’s not the “before” these things happen it’s the during. I may be guilty of a bad preposition but not of a bad idea. We did stand up and say “NO MORE” to Hitler. I say I can see the mind and heart of someone who has gassed millions because of their ethnicity or religion.
June 14th, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Men like Hitler are a many headed-hydra. So you kill Hitler, another stands up to take his place. So you remove Saddam. The instability grows and grows. You kill Zarqari. How many are in the wings waiting to be the next martyr? In the meantime, how many witnesses learn and grow to hate and fear? Are our brave soldiers learning to be better humanitarians in the field of battle? Will they be more compassionate when they come home? Are the noble Iraqi people learning to be more tolerant? Are they becoming more appreciative of the “American way of life” and “Democracy”?
If you continue to kill ‘the man’, slay the ‘butcher’, you only teach the next generation how to hate and fear and slay. That is the true crime; it lies in the mind and heart of the many.
Hitler didn’t kill the Jews, but he most certainly fueled and exploited the hate and fear that did. Before his rise to power the German people were depressed and fearful and looking for someone to blame. He didn’t invent the Jewish scapegoat. But, he did exploit it. The German society had reached a point where they accepted his hate-filled rhetoric and vague promises of greatness. They ceased being critical and allowed a dangerous man to speak and engage on their behalf.
No, Hitler didn’t kill the Jews, their neighbors did. Nor did he kill the Russians, their fellow countrymen did. One man looked in the eyes of one Jew, one Russian, with a hate and fear that he could not control nor overcome. One man killed one man 21,000,000 times.
There is however, the story of one man who was a different kind of neighbor, Arthur Schindler. He didn’t give in to the hate and the fear. He saw the greater humanity and he stood against the tide and made a difference. I’m sure there were numerous others. I know there are such heroes today.
The time to stop these things is in the ‘before’ so it doesn’t reach the ‘during’. THAT is what it means to stand up and say “NO MORE”!
THAT is the force that I believe in.
“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”
June 14th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
I say before “NO MORE”. I also say during “NO MORE.