HUMAN
Apparently being human can suck, or maybe it could be better defined as being improper being a humanist in some situations.
Oh the pain, the suffering, the humiliation; I lost a "friend" on Facebook.
Well, not really a friend, just a fellow atheist that happened to friend me over the years because we agreed that religion is, well, bunk. I've seen her posts over the last few years - mostly ignoring - but every so often offered an opinion. Last night I was tired, had a few drinks, and finally let her know how I really feel; and that is always a mistake in life.
She is a writer of books and screenplays, and promotes herself heavily. No problem, good for her. Science Fiction is what she centers on, and hey, I've enjoyed that genre just about my entire life. I've never read any of her novels or plays so cannot attest to her ability, but I have no reason to doubt it. She has a habit of posting scientific material that sometimes isn't scientific, but that can happen to most of us. No, I have no problem with errors, they're usually straightened out immediately.
So now that I've bored the living hell out of you, let me get to the point. She is one of those who is seemingly very anti-muslim. Like probably most that will read this, I probably agree to a certain extent. To be clear, I think any religion is harmful to society as a whole if left unchecked. To continue with the thought, I really don't care if someone wants to believe in whatever fairy tale grabs their fancy, as long as they don't use it to tell me how to live my life, have any effect on society's mores, or be used to govern; that's where the battles always begins.
The heart of her muslim posts seem to center on getting rid of them. They are an evil that should be eliminated, Islam is a blight on humanity and must be stopped; the list goes on as it probably should. The last post though was in error again and was about the influx of immigrants, predominately from Syria, trying to escape into other countries, mostly European. The gist of her tirade was that that ungrateful muslims were throwing away food that was given them in Hungary. Hungarians are poor and they could of used that food, etc.
The real story is that immigrants were tossing away the food because they were going on a hunger strike to protest not being allowed passage to other European nations. Quite a difference in my opinion.
I see this as a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, nothing more.
Yes, they're muslim. Yes, it seems that Europe has a problem with immigrants who refuse to integrate into society, I would as well. But yet, these are families escaping war and poverty, are trying to find safety for their children, are trying to find life; wouldn't we do the same? I just can't blame them for the attempt. When I see the photos of a dead child laying on the beach, when I hear the stories of a father's loss as his family drowns, I seem to not see the religion, but the humanity.
It appears I am at odds with many atheists. Maybe it would be better to force them into sleeping in the beds they made. This is all their own doing, they decided to embrace religion - a religion that sucks the morality out of life - why should we care? Maybe they'll destroy each other so we don't have to.
We have had prominent atheists - think Hitchens - who railed against Islam. What would he say if he still was walking this earth, let them die? Dawkins is not a friend, what does he say? The latest I see is that he thinks the richer Arab states should be helping, and in that I agree. With the way the muslim population currently acts in many European countries, I don't see it as being a boon to said countries. Integrate or leave is how I look at it. Become an asset or go home.
An ex-AU-member from the Middle East once explained a issue of morality that comes up every so often. When a country is hit by drought, or other natural phenomenon that makes it hard for the people to survive, they are taken in by neighboring states who support them until they can go back home. They do this because maybe next year it will be the opposite. It is survival. Possibly this should be treated the same way?
There are now over 4 million refugees out of Syria. Turkey has taken in almost half of them. This should be a problem that muslim states deal with, not the west. Yet if the Middle East is going to be up in flames for years, maybe the farther away you can run the better. Perhaps I am just too liberal in my thinking? Should a more conservative viewpoint be embraced?
I'm sure my European friends will be happy to explain the problem, please do.
Regardless, being human to me means that allowing other humans to suffer is immoral. At times it appears I may be wrong, but that's a problem I haven't come to grips with yet.
Being human at times can and does suck, but that's based on a selfish vision. To be a humanitarian would appear to be even much worse if the decisions you make are in error.
