Friday 6 February 2009

Nuts Can Be Harmful

Example given: a limp salad of mixed platitudes, sprinkled with croutons of pseudo-erudtion, smothered in a greasy, tasteless dressing; one part self aggrandisement to five parts self pity.
The mind behind the words may deny analysis, but the words reveal all.
Our Middle East envoy,finance flunkey and worthless panderer to power speaks:

It is an honour to be here. A particular honour to be with you Mr. President. The world participated in the celebration of your election. Now the hard work begins. And now, also we should be as steadfast for you in the hard work as in the celebration. You don’t need cheerleaders but partners; not spectators but supporters. The truest friends are those still around when the going is toughest. We offer you our friendship today. We will work with you to make your Presidency one that shapes our destiny to the credit of America and of the world. Mr President, we salute you and wish you well.

After 10 years as British Prime Minister, I decided to choose something easy. I became involved in the Middle East Peace Process.

There are many frustrations – that is evident. There is also one blessing. I spend much of my time in the Holy Land and in the Holy City. The other evening I climbed to the top of Notre Dame in Jerusalem. You look left and see the Garden of Gethsemane. You look right and see where the Last Supper was held. Straight ahead lies Golgotha. In the distance is where King David was crowned and still further where Abraham was laid to rest. And of course in the centre of Jerusalem is the Al Aqsa Mosque, where according to the Qur’an, the Prophet was transported to commune with the prophets of the past.

Rich in conflict, it is also sublime in history. The other month in Jericho, I visited the Mount of Temptation. I think they bring all the political leaders there. My guide – a Palestinian – was bemoaning the travails of his nation. Suddenly he stopped, looked heaven wards and said “Moses, Jesus, Mohammed: why did they all have to come here?”

It is a good place to reflect on religion: a source of so much inspiration; an excuse for so much evil.

Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.

From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.

And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost. You can see it in the arousing of the world’s conscience to the plight of Africa.

There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith. These are those for whom, in the parable of the sower, the seed fell on good soil and yielded sixty or a hundredfold.

What inspires such people?

Ritual or doctrine or the finer points of theology? No.

I remember my first spiritual awakening. I was ten years old. That day my father – at the young age of 40 – had suffered a serious stroke. His life hung in the balance. My mother, to keep some sense of normality in the crisis, sent me to school. My teacher knelt and prayed with me. Now my father was a militant atheist. Before we prayed, I thought I should confess this. “I’m afraid my father doesn’t believe in God”. I said. “That doesn’t matter” my teacher replied “God believes in him. He loves him without demanding or needing love in return.”

That is what inspires: the unconditional nature of God’s love. A promise perpetually kept. A covenant never broken.

And in surrendering to God, we become instruments of that love.

Rabbi Hillel was once challenged by a pagan, who said: if you can recite the whole of the Torah standing on one leg, I will convert to being a Jew. Rabbi Hillel stood on one leg and said “That which is hateful to you, do it not unto your neighbour. That is the Torah. Everything else is commentary. Go and study it.”

As the Qur’an states: “if anyone saves a person it will be as if he has saved the whole of humanity”.

Faith is not discovered in acting according to ritual but acting according to God’s will and God’s will is love.

We might also talk of the Hindu “Living beyond the reach of I and mine” or the words of the Buddha “after practising enlightenment you must go back to practise compassion” or the Sikh scripture: “God’s bounties are common to all. It is we who have created divisions.”

Each faith has its beliefs. Each is different. Yet at a certain point each is in communion with the other.

Examine the impact of globalisation. Forget for a moment its rights and wrongs. Just look at its effects. Its characteristic is that it pushes the world together. It is not only an economic force. The consequence is social, even cultural.

The global community – “it takes a village” as someone once coined it – is upon us. Into it steps religious faith. If faith becomes the property of extremists, it will originate discord. But if, by contrast, different faiths can reach out to and have knowledge of one another, then instead of being reactionary, religious faith can be a force for progress.

The Foundation which bears my name and which I began less than a year ago is dedicated to achieving understanding, action and reconciliation between the different faiths for the common good. It is not about the faith that looks inward; but the faith that resolutely turns us towards each other.

Bringing the faith communities together fulfils an objective important to all of us, believers and non-believers.

But as someone of faith, this is not enough. I believe restoring religious faith to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future, is itself of the essence. The 21st Century will be poorer in spirit, meaner in ambition, less disciplined in conscience, if it is not under the guardianship of faith in God.

I do not mean by this to blur the correct distinction between the realms of religious and political authority. In Britain we are especially mindful of this. I recall giving an address to the country at a time of crisis. I wanted to end my words with “God bless the British people”. This caused complete consternation. Emergency meetings were convened. The system was aghast. Finally, as I sat trying to defend my words, a senior civil servant said, with utter distain: “Really, Prime Minister, this is not America you know.”

Neither do I decry the work of humanists, who give gladly of themselves for others and who can often shame the avowedly religious. Those who do God’s work are God’s people.

I only say that there are limits to humanism and beyond those limits God and only God can work. The phrase “fear of God” conjures up the vengeful God of parts of the Old Testament. But “fear of God” means really obedience to God; humility before God; acceptance through God that there is something bigger, better and more important than you. It is that humbling of man’s vanity, that stirring of conscience through God’s prompting, that recognition of our limitations, that faith alone can bestow.

We can perform acts of mercy, but only God can lend them dignity. We can forgive, but only God forgives completely in the full knowledge of our sin.

And only through God comes grace; and it is God’s grace that is unique.

John Newton, who had been that most obnoxious of things, a slave-trader, wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”.

“Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved.”

It is through faith, by the Grace of God, that we have the courage to live as we should and die as we must.

When I was Prime Minister I had cause often to reflect on leadership. Courage in leadership is not simply about having the nerve to take difficult decisions or even in doing the right thing since oftentimes God alone knows what the right thing is.

It is to be in our natural state – which is one of nagging doubt, imperfect knowledge, and uncertain prediction – and to be prepared nonetheless to put on the mantle of responsibility and to stand up in full view of the world, to step out when others step back, to assume the loneliness of the final decision-maker, not sure of success but unsure of it.

And it is in that “not knowing” that the courage lies.

And when in that state, our courage fails, our faith can support it, lift it up, keep it from stumbling.

As you begin your leadership of this great country, Mr President, you are fortunate, as is your nation, that you have already shown in your life, courage in abundance. But should it ever be tested, I hope your faith can sustain you. And your family. The public eye is not always the most congenial.

I was reminded of this, as I waited in London in the snow to fly to America and made the mistake of reading a British newspaper. It was the very conservative Daily Telegraph. A few days ago I gave an interview in which I remarked how much cleverer my wife was than me. The Telegraph has a famous letters page. In it was a letter from a correspondent that read something like: “Dear Sir, with reference to your headline ‘Blair admits wife more intelligent than him’, I fail to see why this is news. Most of us have known this for a long time.” As a PS perhaps: “the bar, however, has not been set high”.

I finish where I began: in the Holy Land, at Mount Nebo in Jordan, where Moses gazed on the Promised Land. There is a chapel there, built by pilgrims in the 4th Century. The sermon was preached by an American, who spent his life as an airline pilot and then, after his wife’s death, took holy orders. His words are the words of a Christian but they speak to all those of faith, who want God’s grace to guide their life.

He said this:

“While here on earth, we need to make a vital decision ... whether to be mere spectators, or movers and shakers for the Kingdom of God... whether to stay among the curious, or take up a cross. And this means: no standing on the sidelines ... We’re either in the game or we’re not. I sometimes ask myself the question: If I were to die today, what would my life have stood for... The answer can’t be an impulsive one, and we all need to count the cost before we give an answer. Because to be able to say yes to one thing, means to say no to many others. But we must also remember, that the greatest danger is not impulsiveness, but inaction.”

It is fitting at this extraordinary moment in your country’s history that we hear that call to action; and we pray that in acting we do God’s work and follow God’s will.

And by the way, God bless you all.

I hope he remembered to take his headgear off before he started, the murdering, psychotic fuck.

44 comments:

jon doy™ said...

some people say he should be wearing a not entirely dissimilar piece of head wear - one with electrodes attached and a wet sponge underneath

personally, i think that any fucker who advocates war should pick up a gun and go to the front line to fight their own fucking war

that'd put an end to it

...or him

Anonymous said...

Captions please!

"God, I feel a right prick"

Anonymous said...

"After 10 years as British Prime Minister, I'm doing an equally shit job as this quartet envoy thingymajig"

Anonymous said...

"Please tell me it's removeable"

Anonymous said...

"God I wish I was killing some Iraqi's right now"

Anonymous said...

"God I wish I was killing some Afghani's right now"

Anonymous said...

"God I wish I was killing some Serbs right now"

Anonymous said...

"This 90o baseball cap jobbie, sucks!"

Anonymous said...

"3200s, 3199s, 3198s, God!, 3197s"

Anonymous said...

"That's not Jeremy Badle behind that curtain is it?"

Anonymous said...

"Shit, I just remembered, putting on a skull cap isn't the only thing you have to do if you want to be Jewish. Shit! Oh God, Shit, Shit Shit!"

Anonymous said...

"Gordons gonna be pissing himself"

Anonymous said...

"God, that bloody waxwork is never around when you need it"

Anonymous said...

"That medal from George better not be as shit as this"

Anonymous said...

"If a bomb just happened to go off in London right now, I wouldn't have to stand here looking like a tosser. God, where did I put that special phone?"

Anonymous said...

"God, the bastards! I'm sure only last week it was 30 and not 25 pieces of silver they promised."

Anonymous said...

"God that tea sucked! What was it said it was called again? He brew?"

Anonymous said...

"Eeew. When they changed Sharons nappy. God..!"

Anonymous said...

"God what a stupid candlestick!"

Anonymous said...

contuniation from 05:49

...shit shit shit! Quick Tony! Think man, THINK!.... Yes! That's it. Catholic. I wanna be a Catholic instead. Thank God!

Anonymous said...

And ff course, mass murdering shitbag religious scholar Tony bLiar was only being polite by not correcting the Palestinian man who said "why did Moses have to come here." Because Moses DIDN'T. Moses died and it was Joshua who conquered Canan.

Either bLiar was being polite or he was just making the whole bloody thing up.

Now which one was it?

The mass murderering shit.

Anonymous said...

"tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost." does the demonic despot never shut about the 'achievements' of his premiership?

Anonymous said...

"There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith, and I thought I'd managed to get them all, but quickly discovered more of the little Iraqi buggers later. British forces will reamin until the job is done. MU HU HA HA HA HA HA!"

Anonymous said...

"I remember my first spiritual awakening. I was ten years old. That day my father – at the young age of 40 – had suffered a serious stroke after revieving a vision of me in the future"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYRr67advsY

Anonymous said...

"And in surrendering to God, we become instruments of that love." - over 1,000,000 Iraqi's, hundreds of thousands of Afghanis, tens of thousands of Serbs felt your love Tony.

May God help you the day I ever set eyes on you Bliar - face to face like, cos when you love Tony, you often get love in return.

Anonymous said...

"“if anyone saves a person it will be as if he has saved the whole of humanity”" - Well Tony, you better get a bloody move on 'cos by my approximation your -1,680,000. Now where's the figures from your Global economic policy....

May I ask is your definition of 'save' similar to your definition of 'love'? Looking at the above figure, I suspect it just may well be!

Anonymous said...

"Faith is not discovered in acting according to ritual" - Oh. And the person that said it was is.....???

Tosser!

Anonymous said...

Tony. F U. F U to the deepest darkets pits of Hell. where you can reside in peace cos when you die, upon which I will dance on your grave, the Devils gonna do a runner.

Oh Shit, here comes Tony. I'm dead. Get me out of here!!! Dear Lord, I repent, please please forgive me Father. Don't leave me here with this maniac. Please God. Have mercy on me.

paul said...

if you don't like him,LW, just spit it out.

Anonymous said...

paul :)
what gave you that idea?

Anonymous said...

http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2009/02/07/like-a-sniper-using-bollocks-for-ammunition/

The Antagonist said...

We're off to see the wizard....

"A trip to see the wizard we're on,
the wonderful grand wizard of Zion."

The Antagonist said...

Probably time to invoke the the wind instrument of truth clause.

Anonymous said...

Conspiraloons of all confessions unite!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7fjGxfNsKk

Anonymous said...

I would like to see this video too, just to know what kind of bullshit he is spreading, alas, it is not "available" in my country:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C9BuXe2RM

So I post its link here, without knowing what it contains.

And it is not censorship, as long as you say that you merely make something "unavailable".

Anonymous said...

Is it the same as these?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_H_Apgqdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnnOzceZmcc&hl=de

Anonymous said...

I tried to find out more and found this website. Most of it seams reasonable, only the following argument works both ways...

Even more incredible is to see what Leuchter writes in his report:

"Evidence as to Krema function is non-existent since Krema's I oven has been completely rebuilt, Kremas II and III are partially destroyed with components missing, and Kremas IV and V are gone".

"Are gone"! Yet, he can still conjecture about how they functioned before being destroyed...

The pictures of the gas chambers in their current state appear in Pressac. They are totally demolished and there is no way a reasonable person would claim to be able to conclude anything about how they functioned before they were destroyed.

The Antagonist said...

The video's are the same.

This one is different: Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson on 9-11 being an inside job

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence, both this interview of Richard Williamson and the Islam-Bashing of the current pope happened in Regensburg - the city I lived in for a long time...

I was born in Ingolstadt, the city the Illuminati were founded in. Before that, it was home to Johannes Eck and the Counter-Reformation.

I now live in Hamburg, were Atta studied electrical engineering - same as me, only I studied it in Regensburg.

Is this some weird dream I live in? If you look long enough and hard enough, you find patterns and connections were there are none. If there is a some sort of superior being (which I would deny anytime you ask me), he is having a laugh at our expense.

Anonymous said...

And with regards to Tony here:
What a gosh-darned cunt.

Anonymous said...

@ Parabellum

v=E7fjGxfNsKk, v=l0_H_Apgqdg and v=nnnOzceZmcc&hl=de
are the same. The middle one has German subtitles. So the belif of this man is disguised from you in your country. That's 'free' society for you!

Re: God having a laugh. If I thought you were capable of understanding something that created the universe, or even to completely characterise a single thing inside that creation, then I'd be all ears. but I won't argue with your right to believe what you want.

Anonymous said...

I recently read something mildly interessing (I think it was from Sartre). I went something like this:

Either god exists within this universe, or outside of it. If he exists within, he is subject to the same rules as the rest of it. Or he exists outside of it, then he couldn't interact with it.

Personally, I think (as in very firmly believe) that there is no god, no 'spirits' and such things. Strange things, unexplained yet, mysteries waiting to be deciphered. Sorry not god here, no soul, no karma. Just you, me, and everybody and everything else. We define what we do and that does not relieve me from my duty of being "kind". I don't need no frickn god to tell me "don't do something upon someone, you don't want to be done upon yourself".

Anonymous said...

"Either god exists within this universe, or outside of it." - I wonder who managed to established those two possibilities and determine what God can our can't do as a result.

Anyway, you've expressed your current opinion clearly.

Lets get back to laying into that phoney religionist El Diablo bLiar. There's rumour afoot that he's set to become EU president. Hope the good folks of the worlds countries have started building their air raid shelters already. Perhaps bliar looked like that 'cos he was scoffing at the thought that such a shelter could resist one of his bombs? Wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that Tony Blair ejaculates every time a Muslim baby dies? It's why he speaks the way he does.