[extropy-chat] Tyranny in place

[Joseph Bloch]

Samantha  Atkins wrote:

>> Talk to me about true tyranny when George W. Bush is still in the 
>> White House on January 21st, 2009. Until then, I see nothing more 
>> than a possibly over-zealous (and only possibly so), but still 
>> well-intentioned, attept to protect the United States from an enemy 
>> which is determined to eradicate our way of life and in the process 
>> stifle forever the Transhumanist dream, if only 
>
>
> How about when the election of 2004 was quite possibly stolen?  Bush ossibly over-zealous but nothing more?  I am rendered speechless.   We are destroying our own way of life with our apparent willingness to dismantle our own freedom and protections in order to stop a few nutcase terrorist groups.  If you care about preserving our way of life, as I do, then you must be on guard against this clear danger also.
>

Don't be ridiculous. Stolen elections? Dismantling freedoms? You sound 
like the worst posters on dailykos...


>> incidentally as a part of its attempt to drag the world back to the 
>> 13th Century.
>>
>
> Sheesh.  All the Jihadists and Islamists (whatever that is) in the world haven't a tiny part of the power required to do any such thing.  But rampant fear-mongering plus our own heavy increasing influence of religion based politics may destroy our way of life.


I am appalled at your ignorance as to what an Islamist is. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism will provide a starting point. 
http://www.jihadwatch.org will yield a wealth of further information. 
And as far as their having no power to attain their ends, I direct your 
attention to their successful usurpation of a sovereign nation 
(Afghanistan), and their ongoing attempts to repeat that feat in other 
nations (Afghanistan again, Iraq, Somalia, Indonesia, Pakistan, et al). 
If they can take over one nation, and have a credible shot at taking 
over others, then they are a threat that must be addressed. And if you 
don't think Iran's ongoing attempts to secure the ability to produce 
nuclear weapons are part of this threat, then I must conclude that you 
are simply so blinded by your partisanship that you will not see the 
threat until you are faced with a law requiring the burqa in California 
(if then).

>
>> The goal of the Islamists; a global Caliphate which places all of 
>> humanity under strict Islamic law, is a scenario which must be 
>> avoided at all costs.
>>
>
>
> What a silly fantasy this is.  Besides, in this most powerful nation on earth there are far more in positions of great power who want all to live under Old Testament law.    
>


I hope, I truly hope, that you wake up from your Republican-hating ways 
to realize that this nation really does face an external threat of 
hitherto-unseen proportions. It's not about people in power in the U.S. 
And, for the record, I am well aware of, and highly concerned about, the 
Dominionist movement, but I daresay that a handful of well-connected 
Dominionists don't quite rise to the level of threat posted by millions 
of Islamists inspired by their ridiculous faith (as all faiths are 
ridiculous) to impose their vision of their faith on every single human 
being on this planet by deadly force, and being willing to kill 
themselves to advance that goal.

Unless I have somehow missed the hordes of Baptist suicide bombers 
publically calling for the use of nuclear weapons against Democrats...

Joseph