I was speaking to my flatmate a couple of nights ago. We were discussing some of the issues surrounding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We soon moved on to the natural beauty of the region.
She has family living in Jordan and has spent some time in a few countries in the region, including some Gulf states. Her descriptions of the land features, the geography, were surprising to me, especially Lebanon.
If anyone out there reads this, please take the time to leave a comment on this site (it is far easier to do now that Blogger has updated its comments-posting procedure) giving your description of what a country like Lebanon looks like.
I know this may sound like an odd request, but when I ask different people this question, I have gotten many different responses: "bombed-out hell hole," on one hand, and "the most beautiful place on earth" on the other. The latter comment came from my Kiwi flatmate. Being from New Zealand, I think she knows a thing or two about beautiful natural landscapes.
If you do respond, indicate your first-hand knowledge of the country. Have you been there? Have you read about it? Have you seen pictures in a book, a National Geographic special on the region, or only news footage?
Just wondering.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Oh, and another thing...
Sorry, got side-tracked in my last post on this article on CNN.com.
Jack Hinton stated that without his program of Bible education kids would "get into trouble and have no moral structure on which to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that."
I hear there is already a program to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that, it is called Parenting. Under this program parents can rear children in such a way as to keep them away from the crack pipe.
If I was a parent in that town, I think I would be pretty upset that some guy says that I am powerless, without his help, to keep my kids from doing heroin, having sex, watching pornography and doing "all that."
Jack Hinton stated that without his program of Bible education kids would "get into trouble and have no moral structure on which to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that."
I hear there is already a program to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that, it is called Parenting. Under this program parents can rear children in such a way as to keep them away from the crack pipe.
If I was a parent in that town, I think I would be pretty upset that some guy says that I am powerless, without his help, to keep my kids from doing heroin, having sex, watching pornography and doing "all that."
CNN.com - Parents challenge weekly Bible classes - Feb 12, 2005
CNN.com - Parents challenge weekly Bible classes - Feb 12, 2005
The killer quotation in this article comes from Jack Hinton, who speaks for a rural Virginian group that provides religious education to children. As quoted in the CNN article, "Without religious classes, he said, 'kids get into trouble and have no moral structure on which to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that.'"
For me, the whole state/religion divide is argument enough to keep the Bible out of the classroom (except in English class). But what I just can't figure out is why the religious right is always carping on and on about the moral decay of America and then goes on to blame it on a lack of religiousness in various public services.
There is no law that says NBC, FOX, ABC or CBS can't make television programming that is geared towards the Christian community. As far as I can see, the only show that routinely crosses into the religious is Seventh Heaven, which supremely sucks. Why don't these guys go after televison and do something real, instead of filing these petty claims against networks for airing a breast gone astray. Get some good writers with good ideas and put them into action if that is what they want.
It is the guys at the top of these media corporations who have more of a say as to which direction the moral compass points. But the guys at the top of the media corporations are businessmen, and usually they are pretty successful businessmen. Of course, they sell things that, for the most part, pretty much sell themselves. Everyone watches television, they are simply trying to persuade people to his 5 on their remote instead of 2 or 7.
So, they are trying to persuade viewers to switch over by giving them what they want. And you guessed it, America likes "moral decay." We love it. We eat it up for breakfast. CSI is an acronym for crime scene investigation. I mean, we are fascinated by gory crime scenes!
I say this not because I am (not) fascinated by gory crime but because mainstream America is. Mainstream America wallows in its own adolescent sexuality, voyeuristically turned on by the sight of a breast or by Paris Hilton sticking her arm up a cows ass.
This is what America wants. It can crow on about moral values, but if business really does gauge the delights of America, then it wants mainstream hackery far more than it wants Christian ideals.
The killer quotation in this article comes from Jack Hinton, who speaks for a rural Virginian group that provides religious education to children. As quoted in the CNN article, "Without religious classes, he said, 'kids get into trouble and have no moral structure on which to combat drugs, sex, pornography and all that.'"
For me, the whole state/religion divide is argument enough to keep the Bible out of the classroom (except in English class). But what I just can't figure out is why the religious right is always carping on and on about the moral decay of America and then goes on to blame it on a lack of religiousness in various public services.
There is no law that says NBC, FOX, ABC or CBS can't make television programming that is geared towards the Christian community. As far as I can see, the only show that routinely crosses into the religious is Seventh Heaven, which supremely sucks. Why don't these guys go after televison and do something real, instead of filing these petty claims against networks for airing a breast gone astray. Get some good writers with good ideas and put them into action if that is what they want.
It is the guys at the top of these media corporations who have more of a say as to which direction the moral compass points. But the guys at the top of the media corporations are businessmen, and usually they are pretty successful businessmen. Of course, they sell things that, for the most part, pretty much sell themselves. Everyone watches television, they are simply trying to persuade people to his 5 on their remote instead of 2 or 7.
So, they are trying to persuade viewers to switch over by giving them what they want. And you guessed it, America likes "moral decay." We love it. We eat it up for breakfast. CSI is an acronym for crime scene investigation. I mean, we are fascinated by gory crime scenes!
I say this not because I am (not) fascinated by gory crime but because mainstream America is. Mainstream America wallows in its own adolescent sexuality, voyeuristically turned on by the sight of a breast or by Paris Hilton sticking her arm up a cows ass.
This is what America wants. It can crow on about moral values, but if business really does gauge the delights of America, then it wants mainstream hackery far more than it wants Christian ideals.
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