I pretty much agree with what you've said. The world would be such a better place if everyone knew how to respect and interact with anyone different from them.
Well the thing about Obama is that he was very upfront with the whole 'change doesn't occur in a day, month or year..' that it is going to take a lot of hard work.. however people are not interested in hard work, they are interested in IMMEDIATE CHANGE RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.
Adorno, the German Jewish philosopher, once said that there isn't a belief system so pure that cannot be corrupted for selfish aims, and that is as close to a definitive statement about beliefs as I will personally accept. I think that a person who has been tempered by life experience to be selfless, compassionate, just and generous, to live in order to heal and inspire others and bring them joy, will say that their beliefs have led them to that place - whether they believe in Christ, Buddha, Islam, objectivism, communism, Hindu gods, pagan rituals or whatever. Conversely, a cruel and selfish person, someone who is miserly, closed-minded, ignorant, greedy, hateful and fearful will use their beliefs to justify that - even if their behaviour directly contravenes the original essential nature of their beliefs.
I don't know very many people who follow a proscribed set of beliefs like Islam or Catholicism or even atheism (like this manifesto just published today on Salon) who don't try to disavow members who behave badly. They all say
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I don't know very many people who follow a proscribed set of beliefs like Islam or Catholicism or even atheism (like this manifesto just published today on Salon) who don't try to disavow members who behave badly. They all say ( ... )
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