The bottom line is that we are being made to feel guilty for being White, Western and Wealthy, and I will include here, "Being Male". After all, it is the male of the species who was the slave owner, and is the war monger, the child abuser, the poor provider, the wife beater, and the faithless marriage partner. - The good thing is that I've never been anti-jew, and I'm not about to start now. I sympathise with both sides. Israel was a minority which became a majority because of the war. The Palestinians had no weapons to fight back, so they used suicide bombers. I don't condone suicide bombing, but if the shoe was on the other foot; if the Palestinians had weapons and the Jews didn't, I think the Jews would be doing the same thing.
In his article "Ready to Cash in on My 'White Privilege', Dustin Hawkins says that he needs help to find the answer to the question: 'Where are my white privileges?'
As it so happens, yesterday I received an email from a Muslim, in which he states "I'm just glad that I'm white, Western, and Australian". Sounds racist, No? A little later I will put that sentence back into Context.
First I want to address some telling issues mentioned in passing in Mr. Hawkins article, but not elaborated on. They are interesting issues about which Mr. Hawkins is obviously aware.
The first telling line is: "So, I went on a search to find out the truth about my automatic benefits and discover just how evil I am". Mr. Hawkins has hit the nail on the head here. 'White' is evil! By extension, so too is being Western or European. Does this sound familiar?
The next telling line concerns a statement by Peggy McIntosh, a "feminist scholar, who said that she has "come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets.." So now we add to the mix that if she, a woman is privileged, then how much more so is the 'white male'? Does this sound familiar?
The next telling line is: "According to Eleanor Hubbard, who taught a "Whiteness Studies" course at the University of Colorado, I am supposed to realize that I have privileges as a result of "being white, not for any other reason..." Personally I can't imagine what a 'white studies' course is, but that there is such a thing, indicates to me that someone thinks it is necessary to teach white people who they are or perhaps should be. But the crux here is that 'White' means 'privilege'. Tell that to the white poor and see the reaction. But again, the deepest message is that white people are 'undeserving' of anything, simply because they are white, western and especially if they are male. Does that sound familiar?
Then we have the line about A Seattle Times columnist who "honed in on his white guilt by proclaiming that he is almost as guilty as his forefather slave-owners...." Now, in addition to being White, Western, privileged and perhaps wealthy, but nonetheless undeserving, and in need of being taught his proper place in the world, we white fellas must bear the guilt of former generations. Does this sound familiar?
Finally Mr Hawkins comes to the crux of everything, to "white liberal" guilt, and informs us about "One Syracuse student suffering from white-guiltism" who said that "The real issue here is our own white privilege and racism within ourselves that we have to examine", and follow this with reference to the "writer to an Oregon newspaper" who wrote, ""I was born privileged because I was born white. Being white means that my life is and will always be easier merely because I am white."
The bottom line is that we are being made to feel guilty for being White, Western and Wealthy, and I will include here, "Being Male". After all, it is the male of the species who was the slave owner, and is the war monger, the child abuser, the poor provider, the wife beater, and the faithless marriage partner.
In short, the most honourable thing any white male could do would be to go throw himself on his sword. Nevertheless, the whole 'white privilege' thing, is real. It is real because within a society that is predominantly white, the 'white man' reigns supreme. Shame on him!
(Emotional Abuse discusses the abuse of society by activist groups)
No such thing exists in China. Here, the white man (read 'foreign expert'), is elevated to a high status. But within this society both historically and presently, 'privilege' does come from birth. In the old days, being Manchurian put you above everyone else. Today, being a party member does the same thing.
In the Muslim world, being Male is a guarantee of so many special privileges, and doubly so if you happen to belong to just the right sect of Islam.
Privilege, while it may not seem tangible, is nevertheless tangible from the perspective that your 'privilege' spares you from tangible negatives. (Thank God I'm male!). And this brings me to the quote I provided from the 'White, Western, and Australian Muslim Male' who wrote to me.
The key word to note in his letter, is the word 'empathy'. In his case however, while he is able to empathise, he has not fallen for the 'guilt trap' or the 'guilt trip'.
His email commenced by informing me that he occasionally likes to read what I write on the Israel/Palestine situation, and after a few more words, left me with the following.
My thoughts on Israel / Palestine: By Khalid
I get to read a lot of things from both sides which make me laugh when I see the ignorance and futility of every argument. Both sides are so hardcore anti-whatever, and both sides want peace (for their own people. Read: war against the other side). Nothing will ever be resolved. I also think it hard to imagine what it's like growing up on either side. I don't think anyone can judge either of them.
We westerners have it so easy. We can live in whatever house we want without fear; we have all the luxuries in the world; why would we bother trying to empathise with people?, especially if they're of another race or religion.
The good thing is that I've never been anti-jew, and I'm not about to start now. I sympathise with both sides. Israel was a minority which became a majority because of the war. The Palestinians had no weapons to fight back, so they used suicide bombers. I don't condone suicide bombing, but if the shoe was on the other foot; if the Palestinians had weapons and the Jews didn't, I think the Jews would be doing the same thing.
Suicide bombing may not be ethical, but they are at war. The Japanese used the same tactic in WWII. But because the Muslims are doing it, all of a sudden it's unconscionable. What gives? So it's okay to use a tank to kill innocent children, but it's not okay to take your own life while doing exactly the same thing? I think that's hypocrisy at its' best. (I'm talking about Israel & Palestine here, not the world wide terrorism we know today.)
On the other side, the Palestinians need to get over the fact that Israel has occupied their territory. It's been so long since they occupied, isn't it time to move on and accept it? You can't exactly ask them to leave now can you? Where will they go? Moreover, because of this war, every child that's born, is another angry soul out to get Israeli's. They are born and bred to hate Jews and their allies. Who is that? The west. So now it becomes a war against America, Australia, and everyone. Their original plan was to fight in their home country, but all it takes is for someone to steer them onto a different path; give them a one way ticket to another country, and we have world wide conflict.
I don't like what's going on, but the problem is that everyone is biased. The Christians are helping the Jews in Israel, and America is on the Israeli side. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan etc, are on the Palestinian side. Now it's become not a war against land occupation, but a war against religion. Who's got the upper hand? The West. Just look at what is going on now. It's okay for Israel to have nuclear weapons, (they've had them since 1950) and it's okay for America and France to have nuclear weapons, but not Korea, Iran, or Iraq?
The problem with society is this. We only look after our own interests. We have no empathy, no morals, no cares. We make bombs, wage wars, cheat and lie, and ruin other people's lives. It doesn't matter what our governments do to other people in the world. Why would we care? We have it soooo good here.
And that's not aimed at the west. Look at Sudan and what their government did to their own people. Look at Somalia; look at Indonesia, look at the conflict in Fiji. Look at what Sadam did to the Kurds; look at the conflict in Syria, Jordan, Israel, and in Iraq. The world world is literally @#*%$^. And it's not religion that caused this, it's DEVIATION from religion that did it. Oh for SURE we call ourselves Muslims, but do we practice Islam (submission, peace)? We call ourselves Christians, go to church on Sunday, sing songs, read a few bits of the bible and then go out drinking afterward. We don't care about sinning because we're forgiven as long as we believe in Jesus.
Either way, I think that what is happening is a byproduct of environment. The Jews are taught to hate Muslims; the Muslim children learn to hate Jews & the West, and the western world is taught to hate everybody except America.
And America is great, they're fighting for democracy. How good is that? I mean, look at the democracy we have here in Australia. You can't even smoke on the street. Did we get a say? Where was the referendum? Oh, the politicians made that decision did they? Is that democracy? Why didn't we get a say? Oh we voted in that particular political party, that's right. We had two parties running for election. They were both @#&%^ but we had to choose the best one we could. That's democracy isn't it?
Even in America, the courts ruled that what George Bush is doing with Guantanamo Bay is against the law, but Bush is above the law.
The thing I've learned, is to ignore the media and ignore articles, because it only makes you angry with the world we're living in. I'm just glad that I'm white, Western, and Australian. But I'm still proud to be Muslim, even though we Muslims are on the receiving end, and that's not just paranoia.
You should see the treatment that my wife and I have to put up with just because she wears hijab. But that's another story. (That Story in 2011: Are Most Aussies Racist?)
"The Patriarchs' Route" in Gush Etzion also passes through an area known as Netzer, located between the Elazar and Alon Shvut communities. The Netzer area is built on terraces that assemble a spectacularly beautiful, green mosaic; green grapes twining alongside old olive trees in plots of varying shapes and sizes, and in the pre-Spring season the Netzer space looks like a Claude Monet masterpiece: the green background is spotted with the pink and white of the almond trees at the peak of their bloom. But this pastoral bubble bursts the moment we 'zoom-in' on the photo, then we discover a real battle for this land and the future of the country, with the innocent plants often standing like soldiers on the frontline.
A key portion of the meeting was White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) Director Cecilia Munoz outlining President Obama's overall immigration reform proposal that includes creating a pathway to citizenship for up to 11-million illegal aliens. In my discussion with the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Border Security, I mentioned that a potential "State of State Emergency" might be unfolding, and deliberate steps might have to be taken by the State of Arizona to protect its' own sovereignty and welfare."
Marxists believe that the existing society must be destroyed in order to successfully establish the new order. They believe that society, like the Phoenix must die so that out of the ashes can rise the new Phoenix. I don't think that they realise that it is the same bird that rises, not one with a new design. Cultural Marxists pay no attention to the lessons of history, and it is we who will suffer because of it. We must begin to question what we have been taught. We must begin to see where our societies are headed. And most importantly, we must stop being bystanders who believe that there is nothing that they can do. (History, accelerated by science, is compressing itself, and our misfortunes, into ever tighter spirals. Can we cope? We can if we recognize the fact that man's astonishing technological progress presents just as many dangers to society as opportunities; and if we remember that utopia, or the Kingdom of Heaven, or whatever you choose to call such a state of grace, is not something that we confer on our society with science or social institutions, but forge within our souls by an act of devotion to some thing or principle greater than ourselves: Wm. B. Fankboner
"Application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria," drew over 1,000 diverse attendees, from college students, journalists and bloggers to veteran activists and pensioners, and was held in a jam-packed, standing room-only Jerusalem hall, featuring some of most influential government leaders and policy makers in Israel today. To put it simply, while just several years ago annexing Judea and Samaria seemed liked an implausible, unrealistic, or even taboo suggestion, today the concept of establishing Jewish sovereignty over all of the land from the River to the Sea has grown into an entire movement
Annexing Judea and Samaria: The speakers discussed the practical aspects of applying sovereignty: How it should be done, what the status of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria will be, and what are the anticipated reactions from the Arab and Western worlds. The Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein, also mentioned that even the application of sovereignty over Jerusalem, decades ago, did not make the world accept construction in all parts of the city, so there is no reason to worry about the international response.
Annexing Judea and Samaria: The drive to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria -- all or parts thereof -- is now a bona-fide, full-blown national drive, with the support of government ministers, Knesset Members and candidates, academics, and members of the media. Talk of a two-state solution, while widely prevalent, is largely irrelevant.
Definition: King's Calendar Chronological Research
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix 5. to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
(He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.)
Part 1. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 2. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 3. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 4. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology
