Current Events in the Middle East: root causes

When I read about these sad events I was reminded of the following segment of the video The Root of all Evil:

(the relevant part starts after the Colorado segment ends and continues into the second segment)

Some of this is summed up here:

Under the terms of the Oslo Declaration of Principles signed in September l993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) agreed to settle the thorny issue of Jerusalem in the final stage of permanent status negotiations. This marks the first offi­cial recognition by the key parties of Jerusalem’s negotiability. What exactly was negotiable and to be negotiated about the issue was not yet specified or agreed, on paper or otherwise. A pre­dominant view outside of Israel was that negotiations must cover the core question of sovereignty. But before signing the Oslo Ac­cords in Washington Simon Peres, then Foreign Minister, stressed Israel’s recognition of Jerusalem’s religious significance to other groups and its continued commitment to securing freedom of ac­cess to and worship at the holy sites for all faiths.[1] The Israeli government under Prime Ministers Rabin, Peres and Netanyahu alike all continued or stepped up the policy of establishing a stra­tegic presence on the ground through land confiscations and Jewish settlement. It thus sought to undermine the Palestinian claim to a capital in the Arab sector, and to pre-empt future ne­gotiations on divided rule over the city. It made clear that Israel plans to stand by its traditional position that the city is the exclu­sive capital of the Jewish state: What would be discussed were solely “matters pertaining to united Jerusalem under Israeli sov­ereignty.”[2] As reflected in the l994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, the Israeli government aimed to reduce the problem to a religious one involving Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations and the manage­ment of the holy sites. According to this view the permanent status negotiations would consider a religious solution for Jeru­salem, with the participation of both the Palestinians and repre­sentatives of “all the other religions.”[3]

In short, much of the problem has to do with, surprise, RELIGION.

The whole Root of All Evil DVD is well worth watching; I have a copy (from the Dawkins website) but here are some googlevideo copies:

As an aside, here is the 34 minute uncut interview between Dawkins and Bishop Harris.

Comments on a Windy December 2008

The wind is howling up a storm outside; the temperature hit in the 40s today but that I will change for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve 2-mile (3.2 km) run.

Football

Last night’s game (Alamo Bowl) between Missouri and Northwestern was exciting. Northwestern was dominating the first half until Missouri hit a big punt return just prior to the half.

In the second half, Northwestern would take the lead and Missouri would respond; eventually the Tigers tied the Wildcats just before the game ended and so it went into overtime.

The Wildcats also missed an extra point; otherwise they gave a good account of themselves.

I didn’t see much of the Humanitarian Bowl; I caught a few minutes (maybe 5-10?) of the first quarter. That was enough to see

1. A touchdown drive by Nevada.
2. A kickoff return for a touchdown
3. A botched kickoff which turned into an unintentional squib; this was returned to the Maryland 10 yard line.
4. Then Maryland intercepted the ball end the end zone
5. Then there was another touchdown; this time by Maryland followed by
6. A Nevada score.

The final ended up 42-35, Maryland. A benched starter ended up coming back into the game and went wild.

Currently I have the Holiday Bowl (Oregon vs. Oklahoma State) on the TV and am watching the Texas Bowl (Rice vs. Western Michigan) on the internet. The Cowboys lead the Ducks 17-7 in the Holiday and the Owls lead the Broncos 24-0 in the Texas Bowl. The Owls are moving at will and stopping the Broncos effectively.

(photos from yahoo)

Science: here is a good article where the late Stephen Jay Gould’s views on evolution are explained. Note: the purpose of this article is to show that many of Gould’s critics didn’t bother to fully understand his arguments to begin with.

Politics
Disgraced and indicted governor Rod Blagojevich has selected Roland Burris for Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Here is Obama’s Statement:

“Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy,”

Harry Reid’s Statement (Senate Majority Leader, for now)

“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

Next week we will start one of the most important debates of the year – outlining an economic recovery plan to create jobs and invest in America. And in the coming weeks, we will be working to protect homeowners and consumers, make America more energy independent, strengthen our national security, and improve health care and educational opportunities. There is much work to do and a lot at stake. It is thus critical that Illinois and every other state have two seated Senators without delay.

“We again urge Gov. Blagojevich to not make this appointment. It is unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand. The governor must put the interests of the people of Illinois and all Americans first by stepping aside now and letting his successor appoint someone who we will seat.

What will (might) happen?

Jesse White (Illinois Secretary of State) might attempt to block the appointment, but probably lacks the authority to do so. If this attempt to block fails, there may be no legal way the Senate can refuse to seat him.

What a mess. I don’t like this at all.

Here is one view that Burris ought to NOT be opposed (frankly, I don’t like this appointment, not because I don’t like Mr. Burris but because this appointment is indeed tainted).

The legally elected, not convicted Governor of Illinois did his job today and made an appointment to the US Senate. He choose a man with no ilicit taint. I would contend that if you worked for 40 years in state politics, you would have made a campaign contribution at some time, perhaps when the under-indictment person was not yet under indictment. And if you worked for a political law firm, and your firm did its job well, you’d get some state contracts over the years. Big deal.

The Secretary of State says he won’t certify. The Senate says they will not accept. Bobby Rush makes a good point that the people of Illinois are entitled to their two senators, each of whom comprises 5% of the voting body of the Senate. Think about it, if that seat remains unfilled, and we lose something by ONE vote, is that biting off our nose to spite our face?

If the legislature gets its act in gear and schedules an election, and a Republican wins, is that so good for the Democrats?

I am really beside myself here. Rod Blagojevich is under indictment. All things being equal, he might not get to trial until after the end of his term. He might be impeached by the Illinois legislature, but that depends on what Patrick Fitzgerald is holding back, and whether he will tip his hand prior to trial. If you talk to lawyers about what the “evidence”, it seems somewhat lacking. Fitzgerald has a good track record of evidence, so he’s certainly got more than he’s disclosed. But no one has said that he will keep his position under a new Administration.

Rod said “the Senate seat is worth something.” And?

He cursed. And?

The legislature wants to impeach him because they don’t like him. And even if he is proven guilty, pay-to-play is new? This is virgin territory in Illinois or any other state?

More importantly, people are letting emotion stand in the way of a competent, experienced, good man from filling a seat. A compromise might be to let him have the seat temporarily until an election can be held in the summer or fall. In my mind, the taint on Blagojevich is nothing compared to the emotion of so many people who are letting their hatred of Rod colour their understanding that the people of Illinois have the right to representation.

Again, this is not my view; in fact, I disagree with it. But I thought it was stated well enough to be considered.

Religion and the “New Atheists”

Larry Moran was called out by the author of someone who is whining about the New Atheists. Andrew Brown is a Guardian writer and has a 6 question quiz to find out if someone is really a “new atheist”. I’ll go ahead and take it, just for grins.

1. There is something called “Faith” which can be defined as unjustified belief held in the teeth of the evidence. Faith is primarily a matter of false propositional belief.

I agree.

2. The cure for faith is science: The existence of God is a scientific question: either he exists or he doesn’t. “Science is the only way of knowing – everything else is just superstition” [Robert L. Park]

Agree for all practical purposes.

3. Science is the opposite of religion, and will lead people into the clear sunlit uplands of reason. “The real war is between rationalism and superstition. Science is but one form of rationalism, while religion is the most common form of superstition” [Jerry Coyne] “I am not attacking any particular version of God or gods. I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented.” [Dawkins]

I’d say that religious claims are non-verifiable and therefore shouldn’t be taken seriously. I wouldn’t call it “opposite” though; “incompatible” would be a better term.

4. In this great struggle, religion is doomed. Enlightened common sense is gradually triumphing and at the end of the process, humanity will assume a new and better character, free from the shackles of religion. Without faith, we would be better as well as wiser. Conflict is primarily a result of misunderstanding, of which Faith is the paradigm. (Looking for links, I just came across a lovely example of this in the endnotes to the Selfish Gene, where lawyers are dismissed as “solving man-made problems that should never have existed in the first place”.)

I’m not so optimistic; it is just that the gods 5000 years from now might be different from the current ones. I’d like to believe that we’d be done with superstition for good, but it may be the case that we’ll always have a percentage of the population which is simply incapable of living without superstition.

5. Religion exists. It is essentially something like American fundamentalist protestantism, or Islam. More moderate forms are false and treacherous: if anything even more dangerous, because they conceal the raging, homicidal lunacy that is religion’s true nature. [Sam Harris]

I think that the “religions” that don’t depend on supernatural intervention or communication from deities might be useful; those that see religion as a source of meaningful life-affirming myth and as a potential source for practices such as prayer (to calm one’s own mind), meditation and practices such as yoga (to stretch the body) might be helpful.

6. Faith, as defined above, is the most dangerous and wicked force on earth today and the struggle against it and especially against Islam will define the future of humanity. [Everyone]

Blind adherence (sans thinking) is indeed a dangerous and wicked force, but this type of thing can take both religious forms and atheistic ones too (e. g., Communism as practiced by Mao or Stalin, Pol-Pot or Kim Jong-il.) Example: the false science that was forced on the Soviet Union retarded their advancement in genetics and could have lead to agricultural disasters.