ya know the people that run the town talk are either very stupid or they think that their readers are very stupid as evidenced by this garbage that they printed in yesterdays paper.
diversity does not bring strength. lincoln said that "a house divided against itself cannot stand..." jesus said the same thing in mark chapter 3 "...if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand..."
when people leave their home country to come here to america they come to become americans. "out of many one." no one is suggesting that we should forget our ethnic heritage(s) but labels such as euro-american, african-american, hispanic-american and so forth are indeed divisive and serve no purpose than to put us all into subcatagories.
its funny how the town talk use their "diversity is our strength" subject to segue into what is really on their mind and thats trashing palestine and the recent election of hamas to lead their government. the town talk tries to subtly qualify their propaganda by first saying how great diversity is etc, so they can turn right around and hypocritically say some types of diversity is better than other types of diversity. in other words the town talk is saying how great diversity is and how much we can learn from other cultures and peoples - except when its a culture or belief that we disagree with then they are terrorists and up to no good. never mind the fact that hamas was freely elected by the palestinian people and free elections is something we as americans are supposed to cherish.
palestine's values arent our values their beliefs arent our beliefs we dont have any right to critize their choices and from the looks of our own sad government (both state and federal) we dont have any moral authority whatsoever to critize anyone else's governmental choices. our advice is to accept that hamas is in power there and deal with them.
note to the town talk: how about focusing on local news and leave the israeli propaganda to the mossad they do quite well at that by themselves and dont need your help at all.
from the wednesday 08 february 2006 town talk:
Our View: Diversity is at the heart of our strength
The people of this region -- so rich in cultural, ethnic and religious diversity -- tend to co-exist peacefully, despite our differences.
Most of our time is devoted to the daily tasks of living. That doesn't leave much time to worry about the differences, let alone learn about them.
Here in Central Louisiana we experience a range of cultural influences, including Greek, African-American, Italian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Jewish, Korean and Chinese. We have the opportunity to learn about these cultures from those who live them. We should learn about them, in fact, to make life here better for all.
Currently, Muslims, especially Muslim Palestinians, are cautiously coping with the election of the Hamas group to lead Palestine. Hamas, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is "a militant Palestinian Islamic movement ... that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in Palestine."
Some Muslims may not see "terrorists" when they talk about Hamas, but many people see nothing else.
Hamas, for most people, represents something much darker than a political party. Murders committed by "suicide bombers" in Palestine are often the work of the terrorists who control the organization.
This will be a difficult time for the many Palestinians who do not endorse this violence as they try to find their place and a voice of reason.
Muslims may be concerned that non-Muslims make no distinction between being Muslim and being a terrorist. They may worry that this lack of knowledge could lead to misunderstandings, or worse.
Now is not the time to let the unknown take control. Now is the time for open discourse and an understanding of that which we may be ignorant.
We don't have to be Muslim or Palestinian to appreciate that Palestine's history is one of upheaval. Its people, who are striving for independence, were conquered and governed by nearly every conceivable ruler in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, including Alexander the Great and the Mongols. At different times the area known as Palestine has been controlled by Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Canaanites, the Roman Empire, Greeks, Byzantines, Israel and Syria.
America also once struggled for independence.
We don't have to agree about religion, culture or politics. But we can agree -- must agree -- that people who commit murder in the name of religion -- any religion -- are wrong.
The challenge here at home is to acknowledge the things that make us different and respect each individual's freedoms as afforded by the Constitution.
Diversity is what helps make our region -- and our nation -- unique. A better understanding of our differences will help make it special.
Originally published February 8, 2006
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tags: the town talk
