Thursday, June 29, 2017

Please Oppose the Palestinian and Israeli Flags and Nations Until...


PLEASE OPPOSE the Palestinian Flag when it represents the views of Palestinian leaders such as FATAH, the PLO, HAMAS, etc. who praise Islamic killers such as the Palestinian "martyr" and "hero"
who murdered a 13-year-old Israeli girl in her bedrooom:-(

HOWEVER, also, PLEASE OPPOSE the Israeli Flag when it represents the views of Israeli leaders who steal land, steal water, destroy the homes of Palestinians, etc.


Ask for justice and compassion and sharing from ALL people and for ALL people in Palestine-Israel.

FROM
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:

Stop Supporting Israeli Settlements on Occupied Palestinian Land

"For the last 50 years, Israel has been forcing thousands of Palestinians off their land, occupying and illegally using it to create settlements that exclusively house Jewish Israeli settlers."

"Entire Palestinian communities have been displaced by these settlements. Their homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, they’ve had restrictions enforced on their movement, access to their own water, land and other natural resources. The communities have also been violently attacked by the Israeli military and settlers. We must act now."

"We want governments to stop enabling the economy that keeps these illegal settlements growing and fuels the suffering of Palestinians: and you can help."

"The issue is not just about Israel taking Palestinian land and resources illegally. Governments around the world are letting goods produced in these settlements into their markets, and are allowing companies in their countries to operate in settlements. All of this helps the illegal settlements profit and thrive."


"Call on your government now to ban Israeli settlement goods from entering your markets, and to stop companies based in your country operating in settlements or trading in their goods - and help put an end to the cycle of violations suffered by Palestinians living under Israel’s occupation."
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/stop-supporting-israeli-settlements-on-occupied-palestinian-land/





In the LIGHT,

Daniel Wilcox

Guest Blogger: Read "Hunger Strikers at Adelanto Detention Center."


FROM
LA Quaker's article on undocumented immigrants in California

Hunger strikers at Adelanto Detention Center

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

"By the end of Ramadan, I was praying and standing up for the hunger strikers in Adelanto Detention Center, which is much closer to home--only two hours away, in the desert near San Bernardino.


Over 2000 undocumented immigrants who have not committed any crime are being held in detention, and are being treated worse than criminals. Indeed some are being treated worse than animals, according to the wife of a detainee. Under such circumstances it seems clear that God is calling us to "hunger and thirst for justice"!

Last week I went with 70 + religious leaders and activists to visit and pray with the detainees at Adelanto, but when ICE heard we were coming, they locked us out."

To read the rest, url over to http://laquaker.blogspot.com/



In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Monday, June 26, 2017

Distorting and Deleting History: Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee


The UGLY facts about Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee,
and the UGLY falsehood of current American actions:

#1 Both Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee were racists. Both thought Negroes were inferior to Whites.

#2 Both invaded another country.

#3 Both were convinced that God was the cause of war, etc.


#4 Both wanted ALL Negroes to leave the United States and move to another country. Even during the Civil War, Lincoln worked toward getting all Negroes to leave the U.S., and Lincoln kept Negroes enslaved in the Union during all of the Civil War until 1865!
Lee, following the will of his father-in-law, freed his wife's slaves in 1862. But Lee wanted the U.S. to be "rid" of Negroes, too.


#5 Both were responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of humans, the wounding of millions, etc.

#6 Yet both claimed to care for their enemies.

ETC. (and other intriguing immoral similarities)

And they had some similar good points.

THE UGLY FALSEHOOD
of the U.S. NOW:

Americans are taking down the statues of Robert E. Lee
BUT
NOT the statues of Abraham Lincoln!

What hypocrisy and what misguided deleting of history. EVERY human leader is a mixed bag of good and evil.

It is very important to teach the general public and youth both their good points and their evil points.
We learn from history by studying it, not deleting it, not taking statues and memorial down.

From the ol' American literature-history teacher,

Daniel Wilcox

Saturday, June 17, 2017

What is True, Not "Politically Correct"

Part #2: What is True?

Honesty, Justice, Commitment, Reason, Goodness, Human Rights, Compassion, Duty, Kindness, Equality, Helpfulness, Peacemaking, Fairness, Patience, Fidelity, Generosity, Sharing, and so on...


What is False?

Dishonesty, Lying, Cheating, Injustice, Irrationalism, Fickleness, Cruelty, Torture, Rape, Enslavement, Abuse, Slaughter, infanticide, Violence, Theft, Racism, Promiscuity, Prostitution, Selfishness, and so on...

Many of these ethical truths, (and their contrary immoral actions) have been discovered by humans through experience, reasoning, and intuition and have been held up as ideals for thousands of years. Some of the ideals have taken much longer to become accepted by most humans than others.

But even way back in 250 B.C. one human leader in Western Asia banned slavery. And many of the virtues and ethical rights were emphasized even before then.

The POINT?

We humans, contrary to what many present leaders claim, don't need to reinvent the moral wheel of civilization over in every generation.

Instead, we reflect on the achievements of past moral leaders, sift and look for ways to improve on their lives and ideals. We finite individuals get to add in our insight and thinking, seeking greater and greater understanding of ethical truth. For instance, one topic that has come up in the last 50 years or so is the question of "animal rights." A deep topic to think about for the future.

CONTRARY to the many naysayers and negaters of the present, who claim that all ethics are "relative" and "subjective," and that no human has inherent value, and that there are no human rights,
we humans can live for
what is true,
what is good,
what is of inherent value.

NOW TO the "politically correct:"

So much of modern media has been touting catch phrases and words that many people adopt in mass, rather than test with previous ethical truths.

For instance:

Everyone is equal and that therefore those humans who have an orientation toward same sexuality ought to have the same right to commit to one other person to become his/her lover, spouse, and life-long partner.

Here's the 'socially and politically incorrect" part:

Terms and descriptions such as "GLBTQI" ought to be abandoned.

Why?

Because not only are such terms politically-charged catch phrases, they often aren't accurate.


#1 Same sexual is a more denotative term than the connotative terms such "gay" and lesbian."

#2 "Same sexual" explains how an individual human is orientated, but it doesn't define him/her in all of his/her complexity as do such popular sexual words such as "gay."

Opposite sexual individuals aren't defined by one term! There are many different sorts of opposite sexual individuals with widely different worldviews, life-stances, and perspectives.

That seems to be true for same sexual individuals, too.

#3 B stands for "bisexual," BUT this ambivalence in some humans ought not to be a defining description of them. If an individual feels emotionally and physically drawn to both sexes, that person needs to reflect deeply to which type of human he/she is most drawn. If it is 50-50, then he/she needs to make a definitive choice to go one way or the other.

If the person does choose, and then lives celibate until meeting his/her true love, and makes a commitment for life with that special person, then that is his/her chosen path.

He/she may still feel ambivalent, like a young adult might still feel torn some years later after choosing his/her career but usually continues with his commitment.

And he/she usually doesn't call themselves in an identifying term, such as I am a "bi-career";-) as if they feel so ambivalent about choosing to be a doctor or an engineer that they need to emphasize it to everybody!

#4 Transgendered is a very new field of study in human nature and ethics. Why do a few humans feel that they are caught in the wrong body? Sometimes the case is that when born, an infant is in the "middle" in his/her private parts and the obstetrician made a misdiagnosis.

This is tragic because it makes it so hard for the child as he/she grows up. However, transgendered individuals are of equal worth and inherent value as opposite and same sexual humans.

Again, why identify themselves centrally by their particular orientation?!

There is so much more to being human than sexuality, as important as that is to everyone of us.

#5 Lastly, another reason to stop using these catchy terms and "politically correct" phrases is that human sexuality ought to NEVER have been the political football it has become, where strident voices on all different sides of the issue yell at each other.

We need to focus on HUMANISM--the ideals, truths, and values that we all share.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox








Sunday, June 11, 2017

The Whole Human Versus the One-Angled Human


#1 Usually orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other religionists say they live only by faith (usually narrowly defined)-- belief in the divine, eternal truth of only their own ancient literature by which all other human values must be judged, that all other views are "made-up" or "demonic" or based in "human pride" and "selfishness."




According to them, each human has no “inherent” worth, value, and meaning. Every human and everything else is “worthless” except for whom and what God has given value to in his foreordination, sovereignty and hidden will.

All events in existence including natural disasters, disease, war, famine, crime, and evil etc. are the result of the sovereign will of God.

VERSUS

#2 Usually hard Atheists say they live only by science and reason (usually narrowly defined)--that all other human values are subjective, relative, “made-up,” “constructed,” only “ personal opinion” or “cultural preference” that there are no inherent ethics, no human “rights,” no “justice,” no valid aesthetics, no “better” culture or social framework.

According to them, each human has no “inherent” worth, value, and meaning. Every human and everything else is “worthless” because there is no essential or ultimate reality. Nothing but matter and energy moving eternally.



All events in existence including natural disasters, disease, war, famine, crime, and “so-called evil” are the result of a meaningless, purposeless rigid determinism. All humans are "puppets" and have no choice.

Do you see the irony of this double-mirror, each worldview, perspective negating the other yet almost exactly the mirrored reflection of the other in many significant ways?

FURTHERMORE:

Of course, most religionists don’t only live by “faith.”
They regularly live by “science and reason” when it comes to illness, mechanical failure, running their business, etc.

Most of them don’t live “only by faith.” When they are sick, they consult a doctor, go in for an operation, when their vehicle breaks down, they use tools or take it to a mechanic, when they start a business, they employ an accountant, etc.

And, of course, most atheists don’t live “only by science and reason.”
They regularly support the police and serve on juries which are allegedly based in justice, not subjectivity, that if criminals break into their house or assault their children, it’s not just “subjective,” “relative,” or “made up.”

And they usually send their kids to formal schools be educated in the humanities and aesthetics as well as science.
They don’t assume that the latest scam, National Inquirer news, or scrawl on the side of a building are “equal” to an historical study, meticulously honest fair news or the classics in the library.


Essential or Inherent Humanism seeks to counter both of these ‘one-angled’ extremes which distort reality.




But the explanation of that is for the next post:-)

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Please Write for Iranian Human Rights Activist

"Elderly human rights defender Dr Mohammad Maleki, 84, is being prevented
from leaving Iran to visit his children in the Netherlands and Canada.

The authorities have placed him on a travel ban
since 2011, in reprisal for his peaceful human rights activism."


Dr. Mohammad Maleki: “I have not
committed theft, fraud or any other criminal offence. I have been deprived of my civil rights solely for my
beliefs...and human rights activities...I wish to visit my son after seven years...

This is the obvious right and the
deep wish of every father.”

"In July 2015, he began a weekly sit-in protest outside a state-affiliated building. He
maintained the protest until November 2015 when his health declined and he could no longer continue. He suffers from several serious health problems and wants to be reunited with his family."

"Dr Mohammad Maleki is one of the founders of the Campaign for Step by Step Abolition of the Death Penalty, known by its Persian acronym, Legam. He regularly participates in gatherings held in solidarity with victims of human rights violations, and maintains contact with other human rights defenders as well as families of political prisoners."


from Amnesty International:

1) TAKE ACTION

"Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

Lift the travel ban imposed on Dr Mohammad Maleki immediately and unconditionally, as he is being solely punished for the peaceful exercise of his human rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly;

Respect the right of everyone to leave their country, as guaranteed under Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party;

Explicitly recognize the legitimate work of human rights defenders, and end the criminalization of peaceful activities that promote and defend human rights, including communication with UN human rights mechanisms."

Contact...by 14 July, 2017:

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection
Vali Asr Street, Tehran, Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency

Office of the Supreme Leader
Permanent Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Fax: (212) 867-7086 I Phone: (212) 687-2020
Email: iran@un.int
Salutation: Your Excellency

https://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent-actions/urgent-action-sick-elderly-iranian-activist-travel-ban-iran-ua-120-17/
--


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox