Roget's II: The New Thesaurus
Main Entry: sabotage
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: A deliberate and underhanded effort to defeat or do harm to an endeavor.
Synonyms: subversion, undermining
Synonym Collection v1.1
Main Entry: sabotage
Part of Speech: verb
Synonyms: block, damage, destroy, disable, disrupt, incapacitate, subvert, undermine, vandalize, wreck
Use in contemporary pop culture:
"Cause What You See You Might Not Get
And We Can Bet So Don't You Get Souped Yet
You're Scheming On A Thing That's A Mirage
I'm Trying To Tell You Now It's Sabotage
Why; Our Backs Are Now Against The Wall
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All of Y'all This Is Sabotage"
--Beastie Boys
Use in “The New Atheism.”
"I was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, I might add, for a reason that explains why very many people profess an outward allegiance. I joined it to please my Greek parents."
-- Christopher Hitchens, "god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," p.16, (emphasis mine).
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you sabotage your New Atheist case against religion. One thing those who employ the kinds of "arguments" the New Atheism use desperately need, above all else, is the premise that those perpetrating the violence and the abuse and all other poisonous filth are honest believers. But Given Hitchens's admission, how can he tell the dishonest from the honest professor? Perhaps some, "very many (?)", terrorists profess, say, Islam to impress their Iranian parents? Or, perhaps it is because, as Hitchens says, they profess belief over there because if you don't you could be punished with death. Sounds like a good reason to lie. As Michael Martin says, "If society were controlled by militant vindictive professed atheists, professing atheism might not be a foolish thing to do even for believers" (source).
I'll assume I also don't need to point out that Hitchens admits to being what is known as a "big fat liar," right? Apparently he has no problem lying to the Orthodox priest, straight to his face. I'd keep that in mind while reading his many bombastic assertions.
Showing posts with label Hitchens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hitchens. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
How Irreligion Poisons Everything
I've demonstrated below that the charges that it is "religion" to blame for causing all the "violence" and "war" are simply unfounded. I've proven secular causes. Non or irreligious causes. Even atheistic ones. And in the last century, the great wars that have killed untold numbers were fought for secular, irreligious reasons.
Moving on . . .
Another tact taken by those of the New Atheism, like Hitchens, is to point out the child abuse and molestation at the hands of the religious or the religious institution. Below I demonstrated Hitchens's logic would lead to the conclusion that he secretly wants to participate in said abuse. But enough of the logical implications, let's look at some facts.
Let's look at the secular, evolution-teaching, state ran, atheistic public school system. The great hope for children to enter adulthood knowing that when it comes to God, "We have no need of that hypothesis."
****************************
CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Sexual Abuse Not Just in Church; School Too
Aired June 15, 2002 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Catholic Church isn't the only place where children have fallen victim of sexual abuse. One researcher says the problem exists in other places where adults and children are brought together; the nation's schools.
Reporter Seema Mathur takes a closer look now at a new area for investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastating news at Floren (ph) High...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sexual relationship between this teacher and the student...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teenager, who had an affair with his sixth grade teacher...
SEEMA MATHUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stories crop up from time to time. Teachers accused of sexual misconduct with their students. The cases are often viewed as aberrations. The abuser as sick or criminal.
This teacher was convicted of molesting his 12-year-old student.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: There was an incident where I took her -- I didn't take her home -- we went somewhere else. I molested her there. It was an incident where I was even able to get her parents to believe that I was going to take her to go get something to eat, and I took her somewhere else and molested her there. There was an incident even in the classroom.
DR. CHAROL SHAKESHAFT, AUTHOR: Most teachers do not sexually abuse students.
MATHUR: Dr. Carol Shakeshaft has been studying schools for 25 years. In the early 1990s, she found that very little research had been done on sexual abuse of students by school staff. So, she and a colleague did a four-year study on schools in New York state, and found what they considered startling results.
SHAKESHAFT: A small number of teachers sexually abuse a pretty large number of students. If our figures are right, and we believe they are, 15 percent of the students in schools, some time between kindergarten and twelfth grade, have at least one incident of physical, sexual abuse.
HERBERT GARRETT, EXEC. DIR. SUPERINTENDENT ASSOCIATION: After a 32-year career, and 26 of those being administration -- from my personal experience, that sounds high.
MATHUR: Statistics on sexual abuse by school staff vary widely. Dr. Shakeshaft estimates the number of teachers who sexually abuse students' ranges from less than 1 percent to 5 percent. And, some studies characterize abuse as everything from lewd looks to intercourse.
So, the precise numbers are hard to quantify. But, all agree, any abuse is too much. Meet Brandy.
BRANDY, SEXUAL MOLESTATION VICTIM: He was 28 at the time, and I was 14.
MATHUR: Brandy's perpetrator, a middle school teacher, who lured her in with e-mail.
BRANDY: He asked me if I would ever have sex with him. He told me he loved me. And that he wished that things were different, so that we could be together and things like that.
[SNIP]
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/15/smn.13.html
********************************
The New York Post's July 30, 2001 edition is about the secret epidemic of homosexual child abuse cases that go unreported in New York City’s public schools.
See the “Secret Shame Of Our Schools: Sexual Abuse Of Students Runs Rampant,” by Douglas Montero. It is the result of an analysis of 117 cases of sexual abuse between January 1999 and June 2001.
Other reports and studied:
*********************************
The Statistics of Teacher sexual abuse to Students
The best estimate is that 15% of students will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff during their school career.
Though, when the American Association of University Women Foundation surveyed more than 1,600 students in eighth through 11th grade, 25 percent of the girls and 10 percent of the boys who said they had been harassed or abused said the harasser was a school employee.
The number of K-12 public and private school students in 1996 who have been or will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff is nearly 7 million of 51,331,00.
Between 1% and 5% of teachers sexually abuse or harass students.
At least a quarter of all school districts in the United States have dealt with a case of staff sexual abuse in the past ten years.
Most cases of sexual abuse of students by teachers are never reported.
In nearly half of the cases, suspects were accused of abusing more than one student.
Only two cases were cases of false accusations; less than 1 percent of the cases studied.
No type of school was immune to abuse: public or private, religious or secular, rich or poor, urban or rural.
Responses to Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Students by Staff
38.7% of the teachers resigned, left the district, or retired
17.5% were spoken to informally
15% were terminated or not re-hired
11.3% received a formal verbal or written reprimand
8.1% were suspended and then resumed teaching
7.5% were cases where the superintendent determined that the teacher hadn’t meant to sexually abuse
Of the nearly 54% of abusers who resigned, weren’t rehired, retired, or were terminated, superintendents reported that 16% were teaching in other schools and that they didn’t know what had happened to the other 84%. All but 1% of these teachers retained their teaching license.
Teacher Student Sex Legalities
In 20 states, it is not a crime for school employees—including teachers, administrators, and coaches—to have sex with students aged 16 and over.
In 23 states, it is not a crime for school employees to have sex with students aged 17 and over.
In 45 states, it is not a crime for school employees to have sex with students aged 18 and over.
In 16 states, it is a crime for adults in a position of trust and authority—teachers, administrators, and coaches among them—to have sex with students under the age of 18.
http://www.cpiu.us/?page_id=8
***********************************
And then of course there's this site:
http://www.sesamenet.org/research.html
********************************
Researchers say:
"The best estimate is that 15% of students will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff during their school career." (Shakeshaft, Ph.D., Hofstra University: Testimony, NYS Senate Committee On Children & Families, 2/12/98)
"Criminal convictions of Ontario teachers in 1996-97 involves enough victims to fill an entire classroom." (The Kingston Whig-Standard, Ontario,9/13/97, p.1)
"Survey of high school graduates: 17.7% of males and 82.2% of females reported sexual harassment by faculty or staff during their school careers. 13.5% of those surveyed said they had engaged in sexual intercourse with a teacher." (Wishnietsky, "Reported and Unreported Teacher-Student Sexual Harassment", Journal of Ed Research, Vol. 3, 1991, pp.164-69)
"Many abusers are in positions of power or trust in relation to their victims, which makes it easier to overcome a child's resistance." (Finkelhor, "Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research", '84)
"When there is denial (including institutional denial), disbelief or placement of blame on the victim, recovery is more difficult." (Ken Singer, LCSW, SESAME Newsletter, Fall, '97, p.5)
see above: sesamenet
**********************************
More:
**********************************
And see here: A Trust Betrayed
"In the groundbreaking 1998 series, "A Trust Betrayed," Education Week examined the widespread effects of sexual misconduct on students, educators, and the community. Articles in this series address issues of concern such as prevention and response to inappropriate behavior, legal history and policy of sexual abuse cases, and student-faculty relationships in higher education."
************************************
This is exactly the same way Hitchens et al. argue (actually, I provided a bit more hard evidence that Hitchens.
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Public schools, as atheists are quick to point out, are secular institutions.
Many of these teachers, no doubt, are glad to keep religion out of the classroom. They teach science. Math too. Drive hybrids and “save” the environment. None of them teach courses on "Bible." None of them tell the students that this is “God’s will” for them.
The New Atheist is simply a dishonest hack. At every step I can match his arguments, and go one better.
Those who have lauded their work should be embarrassed.
But, faithful congregants that they are, they will defend their high priests 'til the bitter end.
"The New Atheism?"
Whatta joke.
Moving on . . .
Another tact taken by those of the New Atheism, like Hitchens, is to point out the child abuse and molestation at the hands of the religious or the religious institution. Below I demonstrated Hitchens's logic would lead to the conclusion that he secretly wants to participate in said abuse. But enough of the logical implications, let's look at some facts.
Let's look at the secular, evolution-teaching, state ran, atheistic public school system. The great hope for children to enter adulthood knowing that when it comes to God, "We have no need of that hypothesis."
****************************
CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Sexual Abuse Not Just in Church; School Too
Aired June 15, 2002 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Catholic Church isn't the only place where children have fallen victim of sexual abuse. One researcher says the problem exists in other places where adults and children are brought together; the nation's schools.
Reporter Seema Mathur takes a closer look now at a new area for investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastating news at Floren (ph) High...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sexual relationship between this teacher and the student...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teenager, who had an affair with his sixth grade teacher...
SEEMA MATHUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stories crop up from time to time. Teachers accused of sexual misconduct with their students. The cases are often viewed as aberrations. The abuser as sick or criminal.
This teacher was convicted of molesting his 12-year-old student.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: There was an incident where I took her -- I didn't take her home -- we went somewhere else. I molested her there. It was an incident where I was even able to get her parents to believe that I was going to take her to go get something to eat, and I took her somewhere else and molested her there. There was an incident even in the classroom.
DR. CHAROL SHAKESHAFT, AUTHOR: Most teachers do not sexually abuse students.
MATHUR: Dr. Carol Shakeshaft has been studying schools for 25 years. In the early 1990s, she found that very little research had been done on sexual abuse of students by school staff. So, she and a colleague did a four-year study on schools in New York state, and found what they considered startling results.
SHAKESHAFT: A small number of teachers sexually abuse a pretty large number of students. If our figures are right, and we believe they are, 15 percent of the students in schools, some time between kindergarten and twelfth grade, have at least one incident of physical, sexual abuse.
HERBERT GARRETT, EXEC. DIR. SUPERINTENDENT ASSOCIATION: After a 32-year career, and 26 of those being administration -- from my personal experience, that sounds high.
MATHUR: Statistics on sexual abuse by school staff vary widely. Dr. Shakeshaft estimates the number of teachers who sexually abuse students' ranges from less than 1 percent to 5 percent. And, some studies characterize abuse as everything from lewd looks to intercourse.
So, the precise numbers are hard to quantify. But, all agree, any abuse is too much. Meet Brandy.
BRANDY, SEXUAL MOLESTATION VICTIM: He was 28 at the time, and I was 14.
MATHUR: Brandy's perpetrator, a middle school teacher, who lured her in with e-mail.
BRANDY: He asked me if I would ever have sex with him. He told me he loved me. And that he wished that things were different, so that we could be together and things like that.
[SNIP]
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/15/smn.13.html
********************************
The New York Post's July 30, 2001 edition is about the secret epidemic of homosexual child abuse cases that go unreported in New York City’s public schools.
See the “Secret Shame Of Our Schools: Sexual Abuse Of Students Runs Rampant,” by Douglas Montero. It is the result of an analysis of 117 cases of sexual abuse between January 1999 and June 2001.
Other reports and studied:
*********************************
The Statistics of Teacher sexual abuse to Students
The best estimate is that 15% of students will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff during their school career.
Though, when the American Association of University Women Foundation surveyed more than 1,600 students in eighth through 11th grade, 25 percent of the girls and 10 percent of the boys who said they had been harassed or abused said the harasser was a school employee.
The number of K-12 public and private school students in 1996 who have been or will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff is nearly 7 million of 51,331,00.
Between 1% and 5% of teachers sexually abuse or harass students.
At least a quarter of all school districts in the United States have dealt with a case of staff sexual abuse in the past ten years.
Most cases of sexual abuse of students by teachers are never reported.
In nearly half of the cases, suspects were accused of abusing more than one student.
Only two cases were cases of false accusations; less than 1 percent of the cases studied.
No type of school was immune to abuse: public or private, religious or secular, rich or poor, urban or rural.
Responses to Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Students by Staff
38.7% of the teachers resigned, left the district, or retired
17.5% were spoken to informally
15% were terminated or not re-hired
11.3% received a formal verbal or written reprimand
8.1% were suspended and then resumed teaching
7.5% were cases where the superintendent determined that the teacher hadn’t meant to sexually abuse
Of the nearly 54% of abusers who resigned, weren’t rehired, retired, or were terminated, superintendents reported that 16% were teaching in other schools and that they didn’t know what had happened to the other 84%. All but 1% of these teachers retained their teaching license.
Teacher Student Sex Legalities
In 20 states, it is not a crime for school employees—including teachers, administrators, and coaches—to have sex with students aged 16 and over.
In 23 states, it is not a crime for school employees to have sex with students aged 17 and over.
In 45 states, it is not a crime for school employees to have sex with students aged 18 and over.
In 16 states, it is a crime for adults in a position of trust and authority—teachers, administrators, and coaches among them—to have sex with students under the age of 18.
http://www.cpiu.us/?page_id=8
***********************************
And then of course there's this site:
http://www.sesamenet.org/research.html
********************************
Researchers say:
"The best estimate is that 15% of students will be sexually abused by a member of the school staff during their school career." (Shakeshaft, Ph.D., Hofstra University: Testimony, NYS Senate Committee On Children & Families, 2/12/98)
"Criminal convictions of Ontario teachers in 1996-97 involves enough victims to fill an entire classroom." (The Kingston Whig-Standard, Ontario,9/13/97, p.1)
"Survey of high school graduates: 17.7% of males and 82.2% of females reported sexual harassment by faculty or staff during their school careers. 13.5% of those surveyed said they had engaged in sexual intercourse with a teacher." (Wishnietsky, "Reported and Unreported Teacher-Student Sexual Harassment", Journal of Ed Research, Vol. 3, 1991, pp.164-69)
"Many abusers are in positions of power or trust in relation to their victims, which makes it easier to overcome a child's resistance." (Finkelhor, "Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research", '84)
"When there is denial (including institutional denial), disbelief or placement of blame on the victim, recovery is more difficult." (Ken Singer, LCSW, SESAME Newsletter, Fall, '97, p.5)
see above: sesamenet
**********************************
More:
**********************************
And see here: A Trust Betrayed
"In the groundbreaking 1998 series, "A Trust Betrayed," Education Week examined the widespread effects of sexual misconduct on students, educators, and the community. Articles in this series address issues of concern such as prevention and response to inappropriate behavior, legal history and policy of sexual abuse cases, and student-faculty relationships in higher education."
************************************
This is exactly the same way Hitchens et al. argue (actually, I provided a bit more hard evidence that Hitchens.
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Public schools, as atheists are quick to point out, are secular institutions.
Many of these teachers, no doubt, are glad to keep religion out of the classroom. They teach science. Math too. Drive hybrids and “save” the environment. None of them teach courses on "Bible." None of them tell the students that this is “God’s will” for them.
The New Atheist is simply a dishonest hack. At every step I can match his arguments, and go one better.
Those who have lauded their work should be embarrassed.
But, faithful congregants that they are, they will defend their high priests 'til the bitter end.
"The New Atheism?"
Whatta joke.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Does Christopher Hitchens Secretly Want to Abuse Children?
"Nothing optional--from homosexuality to adultery--is ever made punishable unless those who do the prohibiting (and exact the fierce punishments) have a repressed desire to participate" -- Hitchens, "god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," p. 40
"[I]f I was suspected of raping a child, or of torturing a child, or infecting a child with venereal disease, or selling a child into sexual or any other kind of slavery, I might consider committing suicide whether I was guilty or not. If I had actually committed the offense, I would welcome death in any form that it might take . . . The ignorant psychopath or brute who mistreats his children must be punished but can be understood. Those who claim a heavenly warrant for the cruelty have been tainted by evil, and also constitute far more of a danger" - ibid, p. 52
Since Hitchens thinks child abusers (of all forms) must be punished, and since he implies, and since it is obvious, that almost all instances of child abuse are done by those with the proper control of their actions to be morally responsible, and Hitchens thinsk they could refrain, so it is "optional," then Hitchens, per Hitchens, must "have a repressed desire to participate."
Really, people lauded this drivel?
The New Atheism?
What a threat.
Perfect instance of "The No-god Delusion."
"[I]f I was suspected of raping a child, or of torturing a child, or infecting a child with venereal disease, or selling a child into sexual or any other kind of slavery, I might consider committing suicide whether I was guilty or not. If I had actually committed the offense, I would welcome death in any form that it might take . . . The ignorant psychopath or brute who mistreats his children must be punished but can be understood. Those who claim a heavenly warrant for the cruelty have been tainted by evil, and also constitute far more of a danger" - ibid, p. 52
Since Hitchens thinks child abusers (of all forms) must be punished, and since he implies, and since it is obvious, that almost all instances of child abuse are done by those with the proper control of their actions to be morally responsible, and Hitchens thinsk they could refrain, so it is "optional," then Hitchens, per Hitchens, must "have a repressed desire to participate."
Really, people lauded this drivel?
The New Atheism?
What a threat.
Perfect instance of "The No-god Delusion."
Friday, June 13, 2008
Lying for Mammy Nature
Dawkins called those associated with "Expelled," liars for Jesus. So I'll assume he thinks my terminology fair.
"I shall simply say that those who regard [Saddam Hussein's] regime as a 'secular' one are deluding themselves" -- Christopher Hitchens, "god is not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything", p. 25)
Let's see what the "About Atheism/Agnosticism" web site claims (do I need to point out that I'm invoking a source not sympathetic with my own view of the world?):
********************************
Name:
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti
Important Dates:
Born: April 28, 1937, in al-Awja, Tikrit, Iraq
Executed: December 30, 2006
Joined the Baath Party: 1956
Married his cousin, Sajida: 1958
Attempted Assassination of Iraqi Prime Minister: 1959
Aided in Baath Party Coup of Iraq: 1968
Seized Power in Iraq: 1979
Invaded Iran: 1980
Married Second Wife, his daughter's teacher Samira Shahbandar: 1984
Invaded Kuwait: 1990
Captured by U.S. forces: December 13, 2003
Titles:
Great Uncle
Glorious Leader
Field Marshall
President
Biography:
Born in a mud-brick house to a family of sheep-herders, Saddam Hussein rose to become one of the world's most brutal dictators of the latter-half of the 20th century. Key to this was his participation in the secular and nationalist Iraqi Baath party. Originally this party was united with a Syrian Baath party, but the two eventually split due to doctrinal differences. The Arabic word ba'th means "resurrection" or "renaissance" and is used here as a reference to the ideal of a renaissance of Arab power in the world — a curious stance, given that the power they were striving for was secular while the historical power was constituted at least largely on the basis of religion. This secular/religious contradiction in Baathist ideology would play a role in Saddam Hussein's own rule.
Socialist and secular in nature, the Iraqi Baath party has a great deal in common with European fascist movements, both religious and secular, with its reliance on developing extremist national consciousness as a means of uniting the people against enemies, both internal and external. Islamist movements in the Arab world have much the same goal, though they base their political philosophy on Islamic religious ideology rather than secular socialism. The fact that both secular and religious ideologies can achieve popularity with the same goals despite being opposed to each other indicates that they are both are tapping into something important.
Saddam Hussein received law degrees from the University of Cairo and the University of Baghdad, with the latter occurring after a non-violent Baathist coup in Iraq. At this time Hussein served in various positions within the party and the government, but in 1979 when President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr announced his retirement, Hussein managed to assume the positions of Chairman and President, consolidating a great deal of power in his hands alone.
Saddam Hussein: Secular or Religious Ruler?
Saddam Hussein's popularity in the Muslim and Arab world varied greatly, depending upon whom one asked and what the political situation at the time was. Because of his repression of the religious Shi'ite minority in Iraq and his long war with Shi'ite Iran, it was difficult for Shi'ite Muslims to find anything good to say about Hussein. In addition, because of his staunch secularism and his secularization of Iraq, it was been difficult for devout and conservative Muslims of any type to think well of him.
On the other hand, Hussein was also one of the few Arab leaders to have been able to stand up to the West on a regular basis, asserting Iraqi and Arab independence from Western interests and power. This, rather than the brutal repression of his own people, was the point upon which many Arabs and Muslims focused the most. In a region which has had few powerful leaders to whom people could point with pride, Saddam Hussein became something of a folk hero.
As poor of a hero as he was, the lack of any better candidates assures him a position of respect and honor for Arabs and Muslims for generations to come. Usually Muslims are regarded by Westerners as putting religion above everything else, but here we have a clear example of many Muslims doing just the opposite: even though Saddam Hussein was staunchly secular, he can still be a hero among devout Muslims because of his political accomplishments. Is this merely a contradiction in some Muslims' worldview, or a sign that their politics is more complicated than Western critics normally give them credit for?
Saddam Hussein's conflicted relationship with religion has also created a conundrum for conservative critics in the West: should they condemn him as an example of what happens with Islam is allowed to control society, or should they condemn him as an example of what happens when a fully secular government is allowed to control society? Religious conservatives would like to attack both, but they can't attack both in the person of Saddam Hussein at the same time.
Iraq under Saddam Hussein was very secular and, as a consequence, there was far more freedom for women and non-Muslims than in most other Arab Muslim nations. In contrast to the religiously authoritarian direction which Iraq has taken under the American occupation, though, such secularism is a difficult target for criticism for religious conservatives who otherwise treat secular governments as inspired by the Antichrist. Indeed, it's not unusual to see religious conservatives complaining about events in Iraqi politics that they might otherwise praise in American politics.
On the other hand, Saddam Hussein only turned to religion near the end of his reign when he desperately needed anything that would bolster support. Conservative critics in the West have tended to focus on this, ignoring the fact that he was only using religion for political purposes - something we see in the West as well. Lumping Saddam Hussein with other Islamist leaders and movements is also likely to be inaccurate because Hussein himself was a frequent target of Islamist criticism for being too secular and not enforcing Islamic religious laws.
If anything Saddam Hussein and his rule can serve as a bad example both to secular atheists and to religious theists. First, he is a good example that a secular government cannot necessarily be trusted to be completely just or good and that removing religion from government will not necessarily lead to great improvements. Secularization means little without democratization and liberalization. Second, Saddam Hussein is also an example of how donning a cloak of religious piety will not automatically provide political legitimacy to a troubled, unpopular leader. Religious theists shouldn't trust a politician merely because they use the right religious language and proclaim their desire to serve religious tradition.
http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/islam/bldef_husseinsadam.htm
**************************************
A Muslim I once knew told me that it was not against Islamic law to lie to infidels. He was a used car salseman. I guess that same type of thinking is how Hitchens justifies his repeated lies in his book, "god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." Since he affirms qualitative hedonism, and thus is a consequentialist, what does a little lying matter so long as you can "eradicate faith?"
"I shall simply say that those who regard [Saddam Hussein's] regime as a 'secular' one are deluding themselves" -- Christopher Hitchens, "god is not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything", p. 25)
Let's see what the "About Atheism/Agnosticism" web site claims (do I need to point out that I'm invoking a source not sympathetic with my own view of the world?):
********************************
Name:
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti
Important Dates:
Born: April 28, 1937, in al-Awja, Tikrit, Iraq
Executed: December 30, 2006
Joined the Baath Party: 1956
Married his cousin, Sajida: 1958
Attempted Assassination of Iraqi Prime Minister: 1959
Aided in Baath Party Coup of Iraq: 1968
Seized Power in Iraq: 1979
Invaded Iran: 1980
Married Second Wife, his daughter's teacher Samira Shahbandar: 1984
Invaded Kuwait: 1990
Captured by U.S. forces: December 13, 2003
Titles:
Great Uncle
Glorious Leader
Field Marshall
President
Biography:
Born in a mud-brick house to a family of sheep-herders, Saddam Hussein rose to become one of the world's most brutal dictators of the latter-half of the 20th century. Key to this was his participation in the secular and nationalist Iraqi Baath party. Originally this party was united with a Syrian Baath party, but the two eventually split due to doctrinal differences. The Arabic word ba'th means "resurrection" or "renaissance" and is used here as a reference to the ideal of a renaissance of Arab power in the world — a curious stance, given that the power they were striving for was secular while the historical power was constituted at least largely on the basis of religion. This secular/religious contradiction in Baathist ideology would play a role in Saddam Hussein's own rule.
Socialist and secular in nature, the Iraqi Baath party has a great deal in common with European fascist movements, both religious and secular, with its reliance on developing extremist national consciousness as a means of uniting the people against enemies, both internal and external. Islamist movements in the Arab world have much the same goal, though they base their political philosophy on Islamic religious ideology rather than secular socialism. The fact that both secular and religious ideologies can achieve popularity with the same goals despite being opposed to each other indicates that they are both are tapping into something important.
Saddam Hussein received law degrees from the University of Cairo and the University of Baghdad, with the latter occurring after a non-violent Baathist coup in Iraq. At this time Hussein served in various positions within the party and the government, but in 1979 when President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr announced his retirement, Hussein managed to assume the positions of Chairman and President, consolidating a great deal of power in his hands alone.
Saddam Hussein: Secular or Religious Ruler?
Saddam Hussein's popularity in the Muslim and Arab world varied greatly, depending upon whom one asked and what the political situation at the time was. Because of his repression of the religious Shi'ite minority in Iraq and his long war with Shi'ite Iran, it was difficult for Shi'ite Muslims to find anything good to say about Hussein. In addition, because of his staunch secularism and his secularization of Iraq, it was been difficult for devout and conservative Muslims of any type to think well of him.
On the other hand, Hussein was also one of the few Arab leaders to have been able to stand up to the West on a regular basis, asserting Iraqi and Arab independence from Western interests and power. This, rather than the brutal repression of his own people, was the point upon which many Arabs and Muslims focused the most. In a region which has had few powerful leaders to whom people could point with pride, Saddam Hussein became something of a folk hero.
As poor of a hero as he was, the lack of any better candidates assures him a position of respect and honor for Arabs and Muslims for generations to come. Usually Muslims are regarded by Westerners as putting religion above everything else, but here we have a clear example of many Muslims doing just the opposite: even though Saddam Hussein was staunchly secular, he can still be a hero among devout Muslims because of his political accomplishments. Is this merely a contradiction in some Muslims' worldview, or a sign that their politics is more complicated than Western critics normally give them credit for?
Saddam Hussein's conflicted relationship with religion has also created a conundrum for conservative critics in the West: should they condemn him as an example of what happens with Islam is allowed to control society, or should they condemn him as an example of what happens when a fully secular government is allowed to control society? Religious conservatives would like to attack both, but they can't attack both in the person of Saddam Hussein at the same time.
Iraq under Saddam Hussein was very secular and, as a consequence, there was far more freedom for women and non-Muslims than in most other Arab Muslim nations. In contrast to the religiously authoritarian direction which Iraq has taken under the American occupation, though, such secularism is a difficult target for criticism for religious conservatives who otherwise treat secular governments as inspired by the Antichrist. Indeed, it's not unusual to see religious conservatives complaining about events in Iraqi politics that they might otherwise praise in American politics.
On the other hand, Saddam Hussein only turned to religion near the end of his reign when he desperately needed anything that would bolster support. Conservative critics in the West have tended to focus on this, ignoring the fact that he was only using religion for political purposes - something we see in the West as well. Lumping Saddam Hussein with other Islamist leaders and movements is also likely to be inaccurate because Hussein himself was a frequent target of Islamist criticism for being too secular and not enforcing Islamic religious laws.
If anything Saddam Hussein and his rule can serve as a bad example both to secular atheists and to religious theists. First, he is a good example that a secular government cannot necessarily be trusted to be completely just or good and that removing religion from government will not necessarily lead to great improvements. Secularization means little without democratization and liberalization. Second, Saddam Hussein is also an example of how donning a cloak of religious piety will not automatically provide political legitimacy to a troubled, unpopular leader. Religious theists shouldn't trust a politician merely because they use the right religious language and proclaim their desire to serve religious tradition.
http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/islam/bldef_husseinsadam.htm
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A Muslim I once knew told me that it was not against Islamic law to lie to infidels. He was a used car salseman. I guess that same type of thinking is how Hitchens justifies his repeated lies in his book, "god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." Since he affirms qualitative hedonism, and thus is a consequentialist, what does a little lying matter so long as you can "eradicate faith?"
The Argument from Areligious Experience
"Some of them [people who rejected religious faith] had blinding moments of unconviction that were every bit as instantanious, though perhaps less epileptic and apocalyptic (and later more rationally and morally justified) than Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road." - Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, p. 5.
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