A Behavioral Choice is Not a Race

[M.D. Rawlings]

Dear 'World Community': You Are Not Our Equals
By William A. Levinson
May 31, 2011
American Thinker

Excerpt:

The world may indeed be a community but not all members of a community are equal. The community's wife-beater and drug dealer are not the equals of the community's doctor, home builder, banker, or teacher. Societies that abuse women and religious minorities under color of the ideology they call Islam are similarly not the equals of Euro-American and primarily Judeo-Christian nations whose laws and cultures encourage freedom of thought, rational inquiry, and full social and economic participation by both sexes and all races and religions.​

ARTICLE

 

[Salt Jones]

Will William A. Levinson get into heaven?

 

[signelect]

Fortunately we don't get to decide that question.

 

[JBeukema]

Judaism: freedom of thought?

Killing the unbelievers is freedom of thought?

Deuteronomy 17
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant; 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

 

[Salt Jones]

Fortunately we don't get to decide that question.

Who does?

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

It doesn't look like you guys read the same article I posted.

 

[daveman]

It doesn't look like you guys read the same article I posted.

Well, to be fair to them, when you look at the world through leftist-colored glasses, it's really distorted.

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

It doesn't look like you guys read the same article I posted.

Well, to be fair to them, when you look at the world through leftist-colored glasses, it's really distorted.

I think maybe the prescriptions are bit off too or cracked. Same thing really.

 

[The Rabbi]

Dear 'World Community': You Are Not Our Equals
By William A. Levinson
May 31, 2011
American Thinker

Excerpt:

The world may indeed be a community but not all members of a community are equal. The community's wife-beater and drug dealer are not the equals of the community's doctor, home builder, banker, or teacher. Societies that abuse women and religious minorities under color of the ideology they call Islam are similarly not the equals of Euro-American and primarily Judeo-Christian nations whose laws and cultures encourage freedom of thought, rational inquiry, and full social and economic participation by both sexes and all races and religions.​

ARTICLE

While I am sympathetic to his basic point, I have issues because it is so Enlightenment-centered that puts a premium on economic criteria while discounting other criteria, like religious piety, respect for elders, and respect for tradtion itself.

 

[daveman]

It doesn't look like you guys read the same article I posted.

Well, to be fair to them, when you look at the world through leftist-colored glasses, it's really distorted.

I think maybe the prescriptions are bit off too or cracked. Same thing really.

That would explain a lot of their anger.

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

That would explain a lot of their anger.

 

[Wiseacre]

There are certain basic human rights that should be sacrosanct in any culture or country. If a country denies those rights to some of it's citizens, the rest of the world IMHO bears a responsibility to isolate the applicable regime and apply legitimate pressure for it to correct the behavior. The fact that said country exports oil to your country or provides assistance against your enemies is an insufficient reason to allow violations of human rights to continue. It's not enough to condemn such a gov't, actions should be taken and whatever sanctions applied. Failure to do so is tantamount to complicity; you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

 

[JBeukema]

Hi, you have received -671 reputation points from jillian.
Reputation was given for this post.

Yes, don't cite their own book- how dare I expose them!

That's like quoting Hitler and saying he represent Nazism

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

Dear 'World Community': You Are Not Our Equals
By William A. Levinson
May 31, 2011
American Thinker

Excerpt:

The world may indeed be a community but not all members of a community are equal. The community's wife-beater and drug dealer are not the equals of the community's doctor, home builder, banker, or teacher. Societies that abuse women and religious minorities under color of the ideology they call Islam are similarly not the equals of Euro-American and primarily Judeo-Christian nations whose laws and cultures encourage freedom of thought, rational inquiry, and full social and economic participation by both sexes and all races and religions.​

ARTICLE

While I am sympathetic to his basic point, I have issues because it is so Enlightenment-centered that puts a premium on economic criteria while discounting other criteria, like religious piety, respect for elders, and respect for tradtion itself.

As a man of faith, I share these concerns with you. But this is what I know to be true about the fabric of reality itself: where there is much liberty, these things persist. The problem in the West right now is that there is very little liberty in public education, and that's killing us.

 

[The Rabbi]

Dear 'World Community': You Are Not Our Equals
By William A. Levinson
May 31, 2011
American Thinker

Excerpt:

The world may indeed be a community but not all members of a community are equal. The community's wife-beater and drug dealer are not the equals of the community's doctor, home builder, banker, or teacher. Societies that abuse women and religious minorities under color of the ideology they call Islam are similarly not the equals of Euro-American and primarily Judeo-Christian nations whose laws and cultures encourage freedom of thought, rational inquiry, and full social and economic participation by both sexes and all races and religions.​

ARTICLE

While I am sympathetic to his basic point, I have issues because it is so Enlightenment-centered that puts a premium on economic criteria while discounting other criteria, like religious piety, respect for elders, and respect for tradtion itself.

As a man of faith, I share these concerns with you. But this is what I know to be true about the fabric of reality itself: where there is much liberty, these things persist. The problem in the West right now is that there is very little liberty in public education, and that's killing us.

That is a statement based on enlightenment ideals of liberty. In Medieval society liberty was not much of a virtue. Obedience and respect were. Evaluating a culture based on virtues of your own culture is pretty easy.

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

While I am sympathetic to his basic point, I have issues because it is so Enlightenment-centered that puts a premium on economic criteria while discounting other criteria, like religious piety, respect for elders, and respect for tradtion itself.

As a man of faith, I share these concerns with you. But this is what I know to be true about the fabric of reality itself: where there is much liberty, these things persist. The problem in the West right now is that there is very little liberty in public education, and that's killing us.

That is a statement based on enlightenment ideals of liberty. In Medieval society liberty was not much of a virtue. Obedience and respect were. Evaluating a culture based on virtues of your own culture is pretty easy.

I am going a step further. It is based on more than that, for I'm asserting an absolute imperative, not merely a conviction born of my own cultural perspective. The "enlightenment ideals of liberty" extrapolated from the socio-political implications of Judeo-Christianity's ethical system of thought are superior to those of competing systems of thought, and liberty is the only medium in which genuine virtue flourishes. The ideals of all other systems of thought are pretenders—ultimately the stuff of depravity and tyranny.

 

[The Rabbi]

As a man of faith, I share these concerns with you. But this is what I know to be true about the fabric of reality itself: where there is much liberty, these things persist. The problem in the West right now is that there is very little liberty in public education, and that's killing us.

That is a statement based on enlightenment ideals of liberty. In Medieval society liberty was not much of a virtue. Obedience and respect were. Evaluating a culture based on virtues of your own culture is pretty easy.

I am going a step further. It is based on more than that, for I'm asserting an absolute imperative, not merely a conviction born of my own cultural perspective. The "enlightenment ideals of liberty" extrapolated from the socio-political implications of Judeo-Christianity's ethical system of thought are superior to those of competing systems of thought, and liberty is the only medium in which genuine virtue flourishes. The ideals of all other systems of thought are pretenders—ultimately the stuff of depravity and tyranny.

How old are you?
First off, there is no "JUdeo-Christian ethical system." There might be a Christian ethical system. There are probably several. None of them to my knowledge value independence and self-determination.
Second, you must define "superior" in some intelligent way. Islam is superior in producing a society where family ties are critical. Chinese society is superior in producing self-abnegation. Western society seems superior in its narcissism and self-promotion.
Depravity? Tyranny? There have been few tyrants greater than Hitler, an absolute product of Western enlightenment, and Stalin. So was Mao, but he was greatly influenced by Marx/Engels.
You are way behind the debate here.

 

[American Horse]

Judaism: freedom of thought?

Killing the unbelievers is freedom of thought?

Deuteronomy 17
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant; 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

When and were is the most recent example of that having happened outside of Islam?

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

How old are you? First off, there is no "JUdeo-Christian ethical system."

There is no Judeo-Christian ethical system of thought? LOL! Really?

There might be a Christian ethical system.

Might be? LOL!

There are probably several. None of them to my knowledge value independence and self-determination.

With respect to the socio-political ramifications of the Judeo-Christian construct of free will and the preeminence of the Creator over the State as conceived by the Lockean tradition of natural law there most certainly is a tradition of self-determination and free-association predicated on the sanctity of human life, unbridgeable rights and the notion that the family of nature is the first principle of private property.

Second, you must define "superior" in some intelligent way.

I already did. Superior in this case means actual, real, true, genuine. All other systems of thought are pretenders, delusions, the stuff of depravity and tyranny.

Islam is superior in producing a society where family ties are critical.

Reexamine that statement. It makes no sense. Family ties are critical to only some societies, and in those societies Islam is the best formula?

Hmm? Why do Islamic societies typically sport statist regimes, wherein first allegiance is not to the family at all, but to the state?

Chinese society is superior in producing self-abnegation.

Uh-huh. And the Chinese have always tended to avail themselves to a self-denying allegiance to the state.

Western society seems superior in its narcissism and self-promotion.

Oh?

There have been few tyrants greater than Hitler, an absolute product of Western enlightenment, and Stalin. So was Mao, but he was greatly influenced by Marx/Engels.

Indeed, a product of Continental European thought, rejected by the Anglo-American tradition of free will and individual liberty. Collectivistic. Statist. Akin to that of Eastern thought.

You are way behind the debate here.

There is no debate. I'm right. You're delusional.

 

[M.D. Rawlings]

Judaism: freedom of thought?

Killing the unbelievers is freedom of thought?

Deuteronomy 17
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant; 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

When and were is the most recent example of that having happened outside of Islam?

There is none. That's why the statement makes no sense.