Yes, I do. That's why I made the post. You claimed that people - all people, not just me, not just fairly affluent adults residing in western democracies, but all people - get the government they deserve. So go ahead and tell us why this specific person deserves the government she got.
If you can't, at least have the grace to admit you were lazy enough to pull out an old adage as an alternative to rational thought.
Beware of what you ask for James. You and a lot of people aren't likely going to appreciate what I have to say, and I'm sure you (and others) will have a heyday surgically extracting fragments to twist and argue over, but I'm not going to stand quiet to your accusations. Before I do though, let's address your approach to internet debate.
You, sir, have some stones to throw down like that. Ignoring everything relevant to the conversation and narrowing in one one tiny little line that tweaked your sensibilities that you think will give you the leverage to win an argument on the internet because you have no other leg to stand on in the discussion when weighed in total. Taking phrases out of context, making strawman arguments, deflecting the topic.
Klassy. Most people would call you a troll with tactics like that, yet there's a clearly defined consistency of a true believer to your rhetoric that's hard to ignore. Even if you are a troll, the fact that you're willing to behave as such proves my point that you have genuinely contributed to and earned the ills you so deeply dislike in a very karmic nature.
Given your nature, however, this will be the last time I will publicly engage you. As I cannot control or change you but only myself, I will refrain from further engaging on your terms as your shtick is not what one might consider
charming.
Now, back to the loaded straw man topic at hand and your prior statement.
We'll start with Malala Yousafzai, the young woman you insist on bringing into this conversation who did not suffer at the hands of her government as you insist on claiming, but instead at the hands of Pakistani Taliban rebels. What occurred was a tragedy, but a predictable one. Cause and effect. A great deal of genuine innocence and a desire to speak up and do whatever was necessary to do the right thing at
any cost. She risked her life to advance women's rights because she knew the inequality was wrong.
Now I will recap your situation briefly: JamesQF - a man well into his life who has first world problems with the graft and corruption in his government, too cowardly to apparently do anything about it or stand by his convictions, but not so much a coward that he doesn't exploit the situation for his own personal benefits by utilizing the exact same tactics of his supposed oppressors.
Finally, in the third corner, there's me: Daley - hard nosed, stubborn, forceful and sometimes angry internet morality and ethics cop in the MMM forums. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and sometimes an ass... a frustrating mix of arrogance and humility. Clearly a sinner.
Despite the disparity between the players, there is a common thread between all three of them. That thread is the last word used to describe myself:
sinner. If there's any one true constant in the nature of mankind, it is the wickedness of his soul. The annals of history show that many have risen up and overcome this nature, but it has been done at great sacrifice to their personal interests... and the greatest of these people are the ones who despite personal blindness to certain immutable facts about their surroundings, have had an unshakable conviction that withstood the the rigors of logic in their actions and they took ownership of their acts. Many may have been martyrs, but none of them victims... and still, all sinners.
Sin is pervasive. It eats at all of us... it drives our greed, our lust, our avarice, most of our anger, and that's just the tip of the iceburg. It makes us terrible people, and it's everywhere in our lives and our culture. I have no doubt that I've already lost the Atheists in the crowd, and a good many agnostics. I don't want to debate or argue religion with this post. This post is answering the charge that James has made that I claim that
all people get the government they deserve, even the totalitarian regimes, and why I might be inclined to such an opinion. You're right, I do believe that and it is a fair charge... but with one exception, the true innocents of the world. Children and the mentally challenged do not deserve the repercussions and consequences of the wickedness of man, but it is theirs and our burden to carry that they do anyway. I shouldn't have to make this specific distinction as believing otherwise would make me a monster, but apparently I need to.
Nothing happens in a vacuum. Actions, right or wrong, cause repercussions. For example, I know that posting this will not be favorable towards the tolerance that some others have extended towards me in the past within this community, but I'm a big boy wearing big boy pants. I'm willing to take that knock.
Because of the nature and pervasiveness of sin within our actions, we cannot escape the wages of that sin. On some level, even the most random and violent acts visited upon each and every one of us, we are partially responsible for contributing towards. Now, before you sit up and try to claim that I'm making a blanket statement that victims deserve to be blamed for their hand in any aggression visited upon them, I ask that you pay extra close attention to what I'm about to write. Sometimes truly random acts of violence happen where people have done nothing but exist to have that wickedness visited upon them. No person genuinely
deserves any evil thing visited upon their heads, even if they're guilty of the very same wickedness. That's right James... go gloat. You caught me in a technicality, and that's what you wanted. I am a hypocrite myself for daring to paraphrase Plato in a post designed to try and avoid a colossal wall of text by attempting to communicate in known concepts. My sincerest apologies for apparently misleading you so deeply that this caused you such grave offense to respond in the manner you have, even if your own actions shouldn't warrant any earned respect or pity. It is regrettable that things have escalated to the point of this wall of text, but I'm just as guilty of that as you are.
And yet, since you insist in dealing with technicalities, they
do deserve it...
we all do. That's the problem with sin and free will. The nature of our wickedness and rebellion is so great, that HaShem has clearly outlined the severity of that blood guilt, and the price of that guilt we wear is not just mortal and immediate death, but a second
eternal death... a permanent separation from His glory and lovingkindness. Even the cruelest of dictatorships can ultimately be traced back to the consequence of our own personal choices on at least some level, and even that suffering is nothing in comparison to the fate we all earn and deserve for our willful sin. And yet, despite this deserved fate, we are still given a free will opportunity towards redemption and salvation as a
truly innocent man, a
true victim of this world, willingly paid the price of that blood guilt for us through His own death and resurrection. That man is Yeshua of Nazareth, the perfect embodiment of the living Torah, son and prophet of G-d, with the earthly father and guardian Yosef of the House of David, tribe of Judah of Israel. Most people know him as Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Christianity.
Even still, within this redemption and forgiveness that we cannot earn on our own, yet is given freely to us to take through a simple act of submission and request for forgiveness, we are still held accountable for our actions. Even in forgiveness and our addition to the Tree of Life, we are urged to refrain from sin and taught that willfully and unrepentantly doing wrong lessens our place in His kingdom. We can and will be forgiven for our transgressions, but it is
only through the cleansing of our sins and the act of repentance for those acts and learning to walk in the way of Yeshua, the man and prophet who fulfilled and embodied all of Torah that get us there. That knowledge makes it all the more difficult for me to willfully wrong my fellow man. And yet, I apparently have anyway here. I am human, I am a sinner, I make mistakes, and sometimes it gets the best of me. All I can do is apologize, seek forgiveness, and try to be a better man.
Through striving towards and achieving these acts of truly right and honorable things unto your best understanding and this forgiveness, we can be bold enough to suffer the wages of sin not as victims, but as victors. There is a short term and temporary price, however. It is said that an honorable man is by nature a financially poor man. That may be, but money is just a tool. There are far greater riches than money to be had in this world if you have the humility and the wisdom to see them. I only pray you, and others, can see that. Even if it's a fate made through your free will and personal choice to reject the kool-aid you might think I'm selling, and no matter how hypocritical you may be and how you may mistreat others in your actions, I don't want to see you suffer the damning consequences of sin.
Don't worry, I'm finished preaching now. You can have the thread back.
