OBAMA: "The people of the world can live together in peace."

[kpete]

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.

the full text of the speech on TPM:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/obama-delivers-major-address-in-cairo.php?ref=fpb

[bdamomma]

1. amen.

[Vickers]

2. How dare he quote the Koran!

Er...and the Bible, and the Torah, and...

:blush:

[onehandle]

3. All this God talk.

Jesus!

[Aristus]

4. Wow. My heart is full.

I'm so proud. We did the right thing last November... :thumbsup:

[grahamhgreen]

5. Cool. Can we go home now?

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Then stop killing people, Mr. President.

[Badgerman]

7. The people of Earth CANNOT live in peace....

They can try to live in peace, and it is hoped by all sane people that such becomes a universal effort...BUT nature dictates failure. Until such time as mans' brain evolves to the point that certain 'survival' and competitive traits are no longer 'hard-wired' into his brain, there will be conflicts. Those conflicts will mostly be small, but when they excalate they will be no less destructive than any of their predecessors.

Yes, I know, the starry-eyed, the twirly-eyed, and the rosy-eyed will be howling at this, it will be objected too, possible deleted or locked...but biology DOES NOT LIE! So instead of wondering around in a state of beatific fog, decrying reality, declaring that all lions really deep down want to be vegetarians, try instead to work toward the 'possible'...some sort of agreement or alliances that provide checks and balances maintain the sovereignty of the members. It's very much like the trite old adage that 'Good fences make good neighbors.'. Many, many cultures and ethnic groups existing today cannot co-exist within the same confines.,,no more so than cannibals can co-exist with pacifists. and the pacifists continue to exist beyond the feeding pens their 'partners' provide.

The simple fact remains that man does not have free will as it pertains to instincts that are biological in origin, he may fight them, may develope 'work arounds', but in the end when a certain stress level or a certain environment presents itself, it is 'Mother Nature' who dictates the humans reaction.

So spend your efforts wisely in trying to find those 'work arounds', and not trying to set up impossible Utopias.

[Fumesucker]

9. A relatively small percentage of the population causes a huge percentage of the conflicts..

Dr Bob Altemeyer calls them "double highs", scoring high on both the authoritarian follower scale and on the social dominator scale.

The problem is these people tend very strongly to seek positions of power, from whence they can inflict great harm on the rest of us.

Read Dr Bob's book all about his research into these sorts of people and how the cause conflict for free at this site.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what happened to the American government after "conservatives" gained control of Congress in the 1990s and the White House in 2000. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government made, which have created the enormous problems we face now. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve known this all along.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Introduction” link on this page?

Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.

For example, take the following statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within.” Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with it? Want to guess what they had in common?

Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right? Guess again.

Don’t think for a minute this doesn’t concern you personally. Let me ask you, as we’re passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.

[Badgerman]

10. Only by dint of the fact that...

their sphere of influence is greater. Replace the offending power randomly from the general population and the results will remain the same...war, greed, conflict ad nauseum. 'Bad' things happen not so much because of an individual(Dahmer, Manson et al notwithstanding), the general hardwiring of man is for survival and expansion of the species...unfortunately Mother Nature failed to give the human the ability to recognize as 'the same species' anything out of an individuals immediate family or group.

[Fumesucker]

11. I disagree..

I think it's possible at least for us to become less combative.

Learning to recognize those who should not be given power under any circumstances is a step in the right direction.

[Badgerman]

12. hmmm, similar to what my grandfather used to say...

"If they want to be a cop, they shouldn't be allowed to."

true

[NeedleCast]

14. Your case doesn't seem to hold water

when you look at the fact that humans today seem to be far less war-like than our ancestors.

The number and severity of wars has been on the decline for a long time.

[arcadian]

8. Not as long as we have corporate overlords.

Directing the poor and the weak to make war on each other.

[NeedleCast]

13. This is why I voted for the man

Great speech. Wingnuts will hate it. That's how I know it was great.