Entry 400, on 2006-09-26 at 16:21:38 (Rating 4, News)
First, he didn't have any connection with them. Then he changed his mind and admitted they had met, then he was fairly neutral on the subject, now he doesn't want to have anything to do with them. I'm talking about New Zealand opposition leader, Don Brash, and the Exclusive Brethren.
In a world where religious fundamentalism and political neo-conservatism seem to be becoming more influential it was refreshing to know that New Zealand was basically religiously and politically neutral. But the antics of this sect, whose beliefs border on insanity (if they really believe them, which I doubt) is disturbing. As I said in my last blog entry, it looks like this will backfire on them anyway, so I guess its a good lesson that, in New Zealand, you keep things within the bounds of reason or pay the price.
On a similar subject (dangerous religious views) I see the Pope has met with Muslim groups in an effort to improve relations between the two faiths. I find it incredible that he accuses Muslims of having "spread their faith by the sword" given that's exactly the way the Christian faith got started. He's either ignorant of his own religion's origins, just picks and chooses the parts of history he takes seriously, or is deliberately untruthful and misleading. I know that Christianity is less involved in violence than Islam is now, but that hasn't always been the case.
It seems that the world goes through cycles where liberal then conservative views predominate. Maybe we are just at a point now where religious extremism and extreme political actions are favoured over more moderate responses, but then maybe things have always been bad. Maybe striking such a bad US president, Pope, and a few Muslim extremists at the same time is just a statistical anomaly which will eventually be corrected.
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