Post by iris89 on Jul 8, 2007 21:57:34 GMT -5
Exercise of Prudence is NOT Bigotry, but Learned Discretion:
INTRODUCTION:
In life, one must exercise prudence and treat situations and/or people and/or animals with circumspection if they have proved disadvantageous and/or dangerous in the past. This is not bigotry which is a showing of strong partiality to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ; whereas, prudence is based on learned experience and is essential for avoiding dangerous situations and/or people and/or animals in the future. Of course this will lead to one's holding something to be dangerous that is similar to what proved dangerous in the past even if it is NOT DANGEROUS.
Let's look at some illustrations:
Situation #1 = For an example, once many people are bitten by a dog, they treat all dogs for ever more with suspicion, best be safe first rather than sorry. Now of course all dogs are not dangerous, but based on past bad experience, many feel it is prudent or circumspect to treat all dogs as dangerous until proven otherwise - guilty until proven innocent. This is an psychological aspect of mankind that is built into his psyche as a measure to protect him/her from harm.
Situation #2 = For example, many mushrooms are safe to eat, but others are highly poisonous. Now the prudent thing to do when one is not sure of the safety of any particular mushroom is to not eat it until it has been proven none poisonous - treat it as guilty until proven innocent.
Situation #3 = For example, there are many evil people in the world who will do you harm. If a neighborhood or group have individuals that have proved dangerous in the past such as crime infested areas, it is the prudent thing to avoid both these neighborhoods and/or groups until they are proven otherwise - treat as guilty until proven innocent.
TRUST MUST BE EARNED BUT CAN EASILY BE DESTROYED:
Situation # 1, In Cherry Hill, N.J. lived a well respected Albanian Muslim family who ran a roofing business and a pizzeria and to all outward appearances were normal individuals. The family members delivered pizzas to many locations in fort Dix and were never regarded with any suspicion. They had earned the trust of the community with their good behavior and were NOT discriminated against because they were Muslim.
However, they did NOT live up to the trust that had been given to them as shown by their secretly plotting to murder many individuals as follows:
<<<"Sylwia Kapuscinski for The New York Times [5/8/2007],
CAMDEN, N.J., May 8 -Six Muslim men from New Jersey and Philadelphia were charged Tuesday with plotting to attack Fort Dix with automatic weapons and possibly even rocket-propelled grenades, vowing in taped conversations "to kill as many soldiers as possible," federal authorities said.
The arrests came after a 15-month investigation during which the F.B.I. and two informers who had infiltrated the group taped them training with automatic weapons in rural Pennsylvania, conducting surveillance of military bases in the Northeast, watching videos of Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 hijackers and trying to buy AK-47 assault rifles.
The authorities described the suspects as Islamic extremists and say they represent the newest breed of threat: loosely organized domestic militants unconnected to - but inspired by - Al Qaeda or other international terror groups.
The suspects include three ethnic Albanian brothers who entered the United States illegally, part of a family that has lived for years in Cherry Hill, N.J., where they attended public schools and ran a roofing business and a pizzeria. They were joined by a brother-in-law, who was born in Jordan and is a United States citizen, and two other legal United states residents: an ethnic Albanian from the former Yugoslavia, and a Turk who lived in Philadelphia.
The men, ages 22 to 28, held jobs ranging from roofing to driving a cab to delivering pizza, and had no clear motivation other than their stated desire to kill United States soldiers in the name of Islam. They considered a variety of targets, including the annual Army-Navy football game and warships docked in the Port of Philadelphia, but ultimately dismissed Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as having too much security and picked Fort Dix largely because one of their fathers owned a restaurant nearby that delivered to the base.
The authorities first caught up with the men in January 2006, when personnel at a video store alerted the authorities after the suspects requested that he transfer onto a DVD a videotape of the group shouting about jihad as they fired assault weapons at a range in the Pocono Mountains.
"This is a new brand of terrorism where a small cell of people can bring enormous devastation," Christopher J. Christie, the United States attorney for New Jersey, said at an afternoon news conference in the courthouse here.
As the suspects were charged before a United States Magistrate Judge, Joel Schneider, prosecutors described a complicated operation that was at once ambitious and meandering, marked by deadly weapons and a certain lack of sophistication. The suspects alternately declared themselves eager to sacrifice their lives in the name of Allah and expressed ambivalence, worrying about getting arrested or deported for buying weapons or possessing a map of a military base...".[source - New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09plot.html?ex=1336363200&en=3b4af6b0b61c9abf&ei=5088&partner=r ] >>>.
These individuals who had earned trust for Muslims in Cherry Hill, N.J., but then destroyed it by proving themselves to be just hateful, greedy, and lustful for violence individuals. They have not only destroyed trust for themselves, but all Muslims in the psyche of those in the Cherry Hill, N.J. area. Most people in this area will of course do the prudent and circumspection thing - regard ALL Muslims with extreme suspicion until proven not dangerous - guilty until proven innocent. Is this bigotry? No, not at all, but is a learned reaction to a group of people some of whom have proven very dangerous in the past - strictly a defensive measure against perceived danger which is prudence.
Situation # 2, The murder of over 3,000 individuals and the destruction of the prettiest building in New York City on September 11, 2001 by a group of Muslims acting under the orders of a Muslim Sheik named Usama bin Ladin, and his subsequent launch of other murder plots.
The sociological fallout from this is of course the invoking of prudence and circumspection with respect to the group to which these belonged as all being dangerous and to be regarded with extreme suspicion until proven innocent. Some might wrongly call this bigotry, but it is not. It is simply people reacting to a perceived danger and the prudent and circumspection thing - regard ALL Muslims with extreme suspicion until proven not dangerous - guilty until proven innocent. Is this bigotry? No, not at all, but is a learned reaction to a group of people some of whom have proven very dangerous in the past - strictly a defensive measure against perceived danger which is prudence.
This prudent action is called generalization, and is a basic human reaction to perceived dangerous and/or disadvantageous situations. All humans do it, some consciously and others unconsciously - it is a built in by nature self preservation instinct.
CONCLUSION:
Groups must take action against their misbehaving members if they do NOT want to be adversely generalized as being dangerous as a measure of prudence and circumspection. If they fail to take sufficient measures against their misbehaving members, then they should be expected to be considered suspicious and dangerous until proven otherwise.
In the above cases, the members of the group they belonged to failed to take the necessary action against their misbehaving members and therefore they will reap the odious generalization by the world community at large for failing to do so. They should not blame others for being prudent and circumspect, but themselves for their failure to take preventative measures.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
PS, visit my forum at religioustruths.proboards59.com/
INTRODUCTION:
In life, one must exercise prudence and treat situations and/or people and/or animals with circumspection if they have proved disadvantageous and/or dangerous in the past. This is not bigotry which is a showing of strong partiality to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ; whereas, prudence is based on learned experience and is essential for avoiding dangerous situations and/or people and/or animals in the future. Of course this will lead to one's holding something to be dangerous that is similar to what proved dangerous in the past even if it is NOT DANGEROUS.
Let's look at some illustrations:
Situation #1 = For an example, once many people are bitten by a dog, they treat all dogs for ever more with suspicion, best be safe first rather than sorry. Now of course all dogs are not dangerous, but based on past bad experience, many feel it is prudent or circumspect to treat all dogs as dangerous until proven otherwise - guilty until proven innocent. This is an psychological aspect of mankind that is built into his psyche as a measure to protect him/her from harm.
Situation #2 = For example, many mushrooms are safe to eat, but others are highly poisonous. Now the prudent thing to do when one is not sure of the safety of any particular mushroom is to not eat it until it has been proven none poisonous - treat it as guilty until proven innocent.
Situation #3 = For example, there are many evil people in the world who will do you harm. If a neighborhood or group have individuals that have proved dangerous in the past such as crime infested areas, it is the prudent thing to avoid both these neighborhoods and/or groups until they are proven otherwise - treat as guilty until proven innocent.
TRUST MUST BE EARNED BUT CAN EASILY BE DESTROYED:
Situation # 1, In Cherry Hill, N.J. lived a well respected Albanian Muslim family who ran a roofing business and a pizzeria and to all outward appearances were normal individuals. The family members delivered pizzas to many locations in fort Dix and were never regarded with any suspicion. They had earned the trust of the community with their good behavior and were NOT discriminated against because they were Muslim.
However, they did NOT live up to the trust that had been given to them as shown by their secretly plotting to murder many individuals as follows:
<<<"Sylwia Kapuscinski for The New York Times [5/8/2007],
CAMDEN, N.J., May 8 -Six Muslim men from New Jersey and Philadelphia were charged Tuesday with plotting to attack Fort Dix with automatic weapons and possibly even rocket-propelled grenades, vowing in taped conversations "to kill as many soldiers as possible," federal authorities said.
The arrests came after a 15-month investigation during which the F.B.I. and two informers who had infiltrated the group taped them training with automatic weapons in rural Pennsylvania, conducting surveillance of military bases in the Northeast, watching videos of Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 hijackers and trying to buy AK-47 assault rifles.
The authorities described the suspects as Islamic extremists and say they represent the newest breed of threat: loosely organized domestic militants unconnected to - but inspired by - Al Qaeda or other international terror groups.
The suspects include three ethnic Albanian brothers who entered the United States illegally, part of a family that has lived for years in Cherry Hill, N.J., where they attended public schools and ran a roofing business and a pizzeria. They were joined by a brother-in-law, who was born in Jordan and is a United States citizen, and two other legal United states residents: an ethnic Albanian from the former Yugoslavia, and a Turk who lived in Philadelphia.
The men, ages 22 to 28, held jobs ranging from roofing to driving a cab to delivering pizza, and had no clear motivation other than their stated desire to kill United States soldiers in the name of Islam. They considered a variety of targets, including the annual Army-Navy football game and warships docked in the Port of Philadelphia, but ultimately dismissed Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as having too much security and picked Fort Dix largely because one of their fathers owned a restaurant nearby that delivered to the base.
The authorities first caught up with the men in January 2006, when personnel at a video store alerted the authorities after the suspects requested that he transfer onto a DVD a videotape of the group shouting about jihad as they fired assault weapons at a range in the Pocono Mountains.
"This is a new brand of terrorism where a small cell of people can bring enormous devastation," Christopher J. Christie, the United States attorney for New Jersey, said at an afternoon news conference in the courthouse here.
As the suspects were charged before a United States Magistrate Judge, Joel Schneider, prosecutors described a complicated operation that was at once ambitious and meandering, marked by deadly weapons and a certain lack of sophistication. The suspects alternately declared themselves eager to sacrifice their lives in the name of Allah and expressed ambivalence, worrying about getting arrested or deported for buying weapons or possessing a map of a military base...".[source - New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09plot.html?ex=1336363200&en=3b4af6b0b61c9abf&ei=5088&partner=r ] >>>.
These individuals who had earned trust for Muslims in Cherry Hill, N.J., but then destroyed it by proving themselves to be just hateful, greedy, and lustful for violence individuals. They have not only destroyed trust for themselves, but all Muslims in the psyche of those in the Cherry Hill, N.J. area. Most people in this area will of course do the prudent and circumspection thing - regard ALL Muslims with extreme suspicion until proven not dangerous - guilty until proven innocent. Is this bigotry? No, not at all, but is a learned reaction to a group of people some of whom have proven very dangerous in the past - strictly a defensive measure against perceived danger which is prudence.
Situation # 2, The murder of over 3,000 individuals and the destruction of the prettiest building in New York City on September 11, 2001 by a group of Muslims acting under the orders of a Muslim Sheik named Usama bin Ladin, and his subsequent launch of other murder plots.
The sociological fallout from this is of course the invoking of prudence and circumspection with respect to the group to which these belonged as all being dangerous and to be regarded with extreme suspicion until proven innocent. Some might wrongly call this bigotry, but it is not. It is simply people reacting to a perceived danger and the prudent and circumspection thing - regard ALL Muslims with extreme suspicion until proven not dangerous - guilty until proven innocent. Is this bigotry? No, not at all, but is a learned reaction to a group of people some of whom have proven very dangerous in the past - strictly a defensive measure against perceived danger which is prudence.
This prudent action is called generalization, and is a basic human reaction to perceived dangerous and/or disadvantageous situations. All humans do it, some consciously and others unconsciously - it is a built in by nature self preservation instinct.
CONCLUSION:
Groups must take action against their misbehaving members if they do NOT want to be adversely generalized as being dangerous as a measure of prudence and circumspection. If they fail to take sufficient measures against their misbehaving members, then they should be expected to be considered suspicious and dangerous until proven otherwise.
In the above cases, the members of the group they belonged to failed to take the necessary action against their misbehaving members and therefore they will reap the odious generalization by the world community at large for failing to do so. They should not blame others for being prudent and circumspect, but themselves for their failure to take preventative measures.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
PS, visit my forum at religioustruths.proboards59.com/