re: #3 researchok

My point is that all too often we assign labels and in doing so, we give a pass to those who ought not be getting one.

For example, I recall after 9/11 there was some talk of our foreign policy ‘causing’ that event- as if there was a moral equivalence and thus a justification for that terror., etc.

There is no justification for acts of terrorism. Ever. Period. That said, I think it would be foolish to pretend that our foreign policy has no effect on the lives of faceless people we will never meet, people whose daily reality we cannot possibly comprehend from the relative comfort & freedom of our own existence, people we seem to consider largely expendable as long as our international strategic political interests are met.

Hawks & politicians can call it realpolitik or whatever other euphemism effectively removes awareness of the human reality from the concept, but it’s there nonetheless. No nation, NOT ONE, no matter how rich & powerful has ever remained “on top” indefinitely. I worry about the day when we slip from the top spot and are at the mercy of others. To me, the Golden Rule is more about a CYA type of reciprocity in anticipation of the shoe eventually being on the other foot than it is about “being nice” because it’s the right thing to do.

Radical Israeli settlers declare their ‘right’ to every inch of land they deem of biblical origin and Palestinian extremists insist every bit of Israel as Dar al Islam. They use religion as the excuse and justification of their dysfunction.

After the viciousness I witnessed in the comments on reine’s Gilad Shalit Page the other day, I’m no longer inclined to discuss the I-P issue here. If I have questions about Judaism, Zionism or Israel, I’ll ask them, but other than that I’m not touching the subject online again as the feelings are too strong. Understandable perhaps, but not something I want to deal with as it doesn’t facilitate learning.

And that is before the politics.

Labels. You gotta love em.

Yeah, politics & labels seem to go hand in glove. :-|