Every time there is a moral panic, whether Macarthyism, Americans of Japanese origin being incarcerated in the Second World War, or now, when the Government has arguably inflated the risks and dangers of terrorism and crafted an atmosphere of fear, politicians scurry to reduce civil liberties. The Survey Research Institute of Cornell University has found that:
– more than a third of Americans are willing to deprive other Americans of basic civil liberties “in time of war.’
– 40% believe “individuals should not be allowed to protest against the government.””
– 4% said “individuals should not be allowed to criticize the government or its policies”
– 33% said “the media should not report comments of individuals who criticize the government.”
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– 33 % said the "media should not cover anti-war protests.”
– Nearly 66% believe “law enforcement officials should be able to detain indefinitely suspected terrorists".
They also found that the people most willing to restrict civil rights were the people who most strongly identified themselves as Christian.*
Epicurus created his Garden as a sane refuge against the very type of person who still today advocates anti-humanist , anti- democratic ,dare we say "fascist", policies based on fear. As the Germans showed, it is all too easy to frighten a population into vile behavior. Ethics and morality are quickly trumped by herd mentality and hysteria.
*(Statistics quoted by “The Humanist”, July 2006)
Fascist tendencies have nothing to do with religion, which with most people is skin deep. Many quickly forget what they hear in church if the herd panics.
Religion is absolutely no barrier to a man like Hitler, not to a man like Stalin , who walked over all those allegedly deeply religious Russian Orthodox believers, and the few Germans of principle who stood up to Hitler simply illustrate how few have the courage of their convictions. Survival is more important .
Whoops! Sorry to be so gloomy! Just returned from a wonderful time with the grand-children in the best city in the world. The above post has nothing to do with my mood this morning.
You a Moslem then? Bush had the courage of his convictions when he went into Iraq knowing saddam sent the bombers on 9/11. If it had been up to the liberals we’d have been nuked.