Recollections

Here's the WW2 recollections of a frontline soldier who served with the 28th Division in Europe. It's a very, very good rememberance of his service.

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Part 1



Part 2

Human v2.0

Here's a video looking at the convergance of neurobiology and computer science. It's stunning stuff.

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Apostasy and The Stagnation of Islamic States

Today throughout the world people are searching for reasons why the Islamic world lags so far behind in terms of social and economic development. Some say the reason is American involvement in the oil rich lands of the Islamic States. Some say that the problem is Islam itself. Both of these hypothesis are historically inaccurate. The social problems of the Muslim world have been around much longer than America has been a nation, and there was a time that the Muslim world was the intellectual and cultural center of the world, and Christianity was once in much the same position Islam finds itself in today - as a tool of political oppression.

The concept of "Christendom" developed primarily as a tool meant to maintain law and order in a time when government power was limited and civil strife was common. Since no man could muster enough power to suppress the restless masses that duty was given to God. The eternal rewards of the afterlife were offered to those who fell in line and played by the rules of the ruling religious class while eternal hellfire waited for those who defied the church. Those who challenged this rigid, theocratic system were put to death as heretics, burned at the stake and accused of satanic subversion of this pure Christian system of rule.

This system, though brutal, served a necessary purpose. Without such an effective tool of control European societies would have forever been caught in civil war, unable to develop in any other field as each member of European society would primarily be concerned with protecting his own family, instead of contributing to the social development of his nation.

Eventually Christianity was reformed and although many of these repressive elements still exist today within the Christian community they have been removed from the political system of western-style democratic nations. Through experience we have realized that by allowing all powerful religious figures to dominate the political system we create an environment that prevents dissent and creates massive opportunities for unchallenged abuse of power. Today separation of church and state stand as one of the fundamental pillars of western democracy as a means of protecting both the church and the state from corruption.

The Muslim world has yet to experience such a reform, and in my opinion it is the biggest cause of the stagnation found in Islamic states. It is destroying both Islam and the Muslim states. Across the muslim world you will find religious laws being widely abused by the political and religious powers who constantly seek to suppress dissent as a means of maintain power.

It's important to understand that there is virtually no separation of church and state in most of the Muslim world. The religious institutions and the political institutions have been bound together as a means of gaining control over populations that remain divided along tribal and ethnic lines.

The primary tool of these religious and political powers is something known as "apostasy laws". "Apostasy" is the act of rejecting your Islamic faith once you have become a Muslim and it is punishable by death across the Islamic world. This places some religious leaders in the Middle east in a unique position - they can choose who lives or dies arbitrarily. Apostasy laws have been expanded to include, in the example of Pakistan, "Penal Code 295-C: Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of [Muhammad]: whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of [Muhammad], shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."

To someone living in a free society it is clear that this law has a tremendous potential for abuse. The only judge in this regard are the Shariah courts, effectively allowing the religious leaders to levy a death sentence on anybody they wish to, at any time, for any reason under the banner of religion. How can you defend yourself from charges of having "indirectly defiled the sacred name of Muhammad" when you stand before a religious court?

According to Amnesty International - "In all the cases known to Amnesty International, these charges have been arbitrarily brought, founded solely on the individual's minority religious beliefs or on malicious accusations against individuals of the Muslim majority who advocate novel ideas. The available evidence indicates that charges were brought as a measure to intimidate and punish members of minority religious communities or non-conforming members of the majority community and that the hostility towards minority groups appeared in many cases compounded by personal enmity, professional envy or economic rivalry or a desire to gain political advantage".

In western democracies our protected free speech is what allows us to grow and prosper. Peaceful dissent and criticism of the political powers of the day allows us to adapt to an ever changing world. Our political leaders are not appointed for life, nor can they levy random accusations of "apostasy" on any political figure who criticizes them.

Imagine a world where President Bush could randomly execute leading democrats on the grounds that they had defiled the name of Christ. How would anybody form a cohesive, vocal, productive opposition? Suppose you can't vote either. What would you do? What could you do? What peaceful avenues would be left? Who would oppose the war in Iraq? Who would oppose his stance on Gay marriage? Who would oppose his abuse of the Geneva conventions, or his use of torture on terror suspect?

Ask yourself what kind of a place America would be if the political leaders were able to use draconian religious law to silence any criticism.

America would be like Pakistan. America would be like Saudi Arabia. The standard of living would plummet. Human rights abuses would be common place. Government corruption would run rampant (even more then today). People would be afraid of speaking their mind and Americas social development would grind to a halt.

It is dissent, criticism, and free speech that drives progress. It is a free press, freedom of assembly and the right to choose your religion freely that drives progress. Any nation who's political and religious elites seek to stifle such basic elements of a healthy society will fail miserably. By taking away a societies basic right of self-examination the religious elites strip away any chance for growth, as you must be allowed to identify and understand a problem before you can deal with it progressively. The society will in time become incapable of claiming responsibility for any of it's own failings. The youth will never have the opportunity to improve their parents society via peaceful means as we lucky few in the west do.

So the youth will turn to violence, and the cycle will repeat generation after generation.

And the society will remain stagnant.

This is not a condemnation of Islam, nor of Muslims. This is a condemnation of a political structure that abuses the basic rights of it's citizens at every opportunity. This is a condemnation of a political structure that cynically abuses religion as a means of maintaining draconian control over undereducated masses. This is a condemnation of a political structure that will be the ruin of the Muslim world unless fundamental reforms come out of the middle east.

I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.

Either way here's a video featuring some liberal voices from the Middle east. Maybe that'll give you a little hope.

Here's the link. There's some very smart people talking on this video. very, very smart.

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