Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Religion IS crazy!

Jump to new
Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair

Former prime minister will reignite debate on Iraq as he calls on governments to switch tactics


Tony Blair has reignited debate about the west's response to terrorism with a call on governments to recognise that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world.

Referring to wars and violent confrontations from Syria to Nigeria and the Philippines, Blair, writing in the Observer, argues that "there is one thing self-evidently in common: the acts of terrorism are perpetrated by people motivated by an abuse of religion. It is a perversion of faith."

Identifying religious extremism as an ever more dangerous phenomenon, the spread of which is easier in an online age, he says: "The battles of this century are less likely to be the product of extreme political ideology, like those of the 20th century – but they could easily be fought around the questions of cultural or religious difference."

The former prime minister, who led the country into the Iraq conflict in 2003, appears to acknowledge that previous aspirations to export liberal democracy focused too much on political objectives.

But sources close to Blair insist that he is not in any way indulging in a mea culpa over past interventions by the west, including in Iraq. In the future, he writes, "the purpose should be to change the policy of governments; to start to treat this issue of religious extremism as an issue that is about religion as well as politics, to go to the roots of where a false view of religion is being promulgated and to make it a major item on the agenda of world leaders to combine effectively to combat it. This is a struggle that is only just beginning."

The promotion of religious tolerance, both within and between countries, states Blair, will be key to fostering peaceful outcomes around the world in the 21st century.
Click to expand...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/25/extremist-religion-wars-tony-blair
 
reason-v-faith.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DB008 said:
Debate: Atheist vs Muslim (Christopher Hitchens vs Tariq Ramadan)

Click to expand...


Thanks for that link DBOO8.......I did see it some months ago, in fact I think I may have posted it on this thread many months ago.

But thanks anyway.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DB008 said:
Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair

Former prime minister will reignite debate on Iraq as he calls on governments to switch tactics




http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/25/extremist-religion-wars-tony-blair
Click to expand...

And yet Tony Blair, more than any other British PM, has the dubious reputation of having allowed mass Muslim immigration into Britain during his term as prime minister.
Britain is now starting to pay a heavy price for his folly!
 
Looks like the Salvos have been just as bad as the Catholic religion in their abuse of innocent little kids, including covering up their crimes and taking no action against known offenders.
At least one of the vermin who carried out the abuse is still an officer in the Salvos.

I’ll never donate money to the Salvos again. I know they do a lot of good work too, as do the Catholics. But if an organization allows its highest members to rape and beat little kids while hiding behind the cloak of religion, then its lost my support.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/salv...em-royal-commission-hears-20140128-31k5u.html
 
bunyip said:
Looks like the Salvos have been just as bad as the Catholic religion in their abuse of innocent little kids, including covering up their crimes and taking no action against known offenders.
At least one of the vermin who carried out the abuse is still an officer in the Salvos.

I’ll never donate money to the Salvos again. I know they do a lot of good work too, as do the Catholics. But if an organization allows its highest members to rape and beat little kids while hiding behind the cloak of religion, then its lost my support.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/salv...em-royal-commission-hears-20140128-31k5u.html
Click to expand...

I used to donate equally to the Salvos and Saint Vincent de Paul for their Christmas appeals but went completely off the Salvos when they sent a questionnaire out because they wanted to know more about their donors. This is several year ago now. I was miffed at the time because I valued my privacy and the questions made some assumptions about the donors and their motivations that were not true in my case and would have allowed false conclusions to be drawn if I answered. Since then I have doubled up and given almost everything to Vinnies.

As to why I would donate through patently Christian organisations? I just believe they are the most effective at getting the funds to those who need, because of their low overheads and cost structure. The majority are also good people at heart and deserve support for that aspect of their mission.
 
Bunyip and Bellenuit, which charities are safe to donate to?

I'm not interested to send money to the Middle East or Africa so that rules out international organizations.
 
Chris45 said:
Bunyip and Bellenuit, which charities are safe to donate to?

I'm not interested to send money to the Middle East or Africa so that rules out international organizations.
Click to expand...

I would have thought both the Salvos and Vinies. I may be wrong, but I assume that the Red Shield Appeal of the former and the Christmas appeal of the latter are both for local causes.

I would never support organisations such as UNHCR (as they also have a political agenda - for example, their criticism of Abbotts boats policy) or any of the several other international organisations that have young collectors on the streets day in day out. These are usually paid commission, so I can see a large part of the donations going to overheads.
 
Chris45 said:
Bunyip and Bellenuit, which charities are safe to donate to?

I'm not interested to send money to the Middle East or Africa so that rules out international organizations.
Click to expand...

OT - I donate to the Westpac Rescue Chopper each year.
 
Bellenuit and DB, thanks for your suggestions.

I agree that anything to do with the UN, especially the UNHCR, is not even up for consideration as far as I'm concerned.

The reason I'm against international charities is that I'm one of the mugs who got caught up with the wave of compassion after the Indonesian Tsunami, and donated generously to the appeal, but after seeing how they have responded ... NEVER again!!!

The Salvos and Vinies should be good. The vast majority of Salvos do great work and must be quite devastated by what has come out of the inquiry but I'm not going to condemn the entire organisation because of the actions of a few rotten members.

I suppose the Surf Lifesavers could be a worthy cause too.
 
Chris45 said:
Bellenuit and DB, thanks for your suggestions..
Click to expand...

Silver Chain: a non-profit, "The Silver Chain Group’s purpose is to build community capacity to optimise health and wellbeing. This is the core of who we are as an organisation and will help shape the future of in home community care across Australia. . . . With well over 100 years' experience delivering care in the community, respectively, both Silver Chain and RDNS SA are committed to offering a range of services to assist people in their homes. . . These services include specialist nursing, palliative care, home care and support services, home hospital and home therapy/allied services, such as physiotherapy, podiatry and speech pathology. We also have a range of equipment like personal alarms and other technology based support to assist clients of all ages."
http://www.silverchain.org.au/group/about-us/
Their palliative care / home support has been first class in every dealing I have had with them. They now operate in Queensland.

Also RFDS http://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/default.aspx another not-for-profit
 
Chris45 said:
The Salvos and Vinies should be good. The vast majority of Salvos do great work and must be quite devastated by what has come out of the inquiry but I'm not going to condemn the entire organisation because of the actions of a few rotten members.
Click to expand...
Agree. I don't understand the perspective of people who have now resolved never to donate to either St Vinnies or the Salvos because of the perverted and dreadful actions in the past.

The evidence coming to light this week is sickening, almost unbelievable that anyone could inflict such cruelty on children who had already lost so much.

But don't let's impede the work these charities do now. It won't punish those long ago perpetrators.
 
Chris45 said:
Bunyip and Bellenuit, which charities are safe to donate to?

I'm not interested to send money to the Middle East or Africa so that rules out international organizations.
Click to expand...

I have a soft spot for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, maybe because of my years living in outback Queensland where the nearest hospital was a long drive of several hours if you had a bad fall from a horse or got bitten by a snake or whatever. It was mighty comforting to know that the Flying Doctor was only a phone call away. I never had to use them myself but I know people who have. Apart from the invaluable service they provide to bush people, the RFDS also supplied each station property in their area with a comprehensive first aid kit at no cost to the recipient.
The RFDS is woefully underfunded by government and has to rely in large part on donations and fund raising functions to provide funding.
 
Top