The following was in the news on Sunday:
"(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will invite allies to a Feb. 18 security summit in Washington to try and prevent violent extremism, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Sunday after meeting his European counterparts in Paris.
The gathering of justice and interior chiefs came as France mourned 17 victims of Islamist gunmen this week in the worst assault on its homeland security in decades.
"We will bring together all of our allies to discuss ways in which we can counteract this violent extremism that exists around the world," Holder told reporters."
When President Obama says that there will be a world forum on combating "extremism" I worry. The reason is that Obama's definition of an extremist is very different to that of most fair minded people. And this is coming from the President of a nation that has supported more brutal dictatorships and bombed more civilians than any extremist group has. Not to mention America's own track record of murdering unborn children, and the export of a vulture corporatism that pillages the third world.
Over the last several years various US government agencies and documents have described groups or viewpoints that the US Government regards as "extremist" or "potential terrorist". There are now at least 72 categories and this says a great deal about the "big brother' mentality in the US and the terrible decline in genuine American values of liberty and freedom. Below is the list and all of the categories are links to US source documents.
This list should terrify all rational and fair people because it covers a very large percentage of the population and includes just about everyone that I know and respect. The common theme is 'independent thought' and 'scepticism of government'. If this makes people an extremist or potential terrorist then our society is in real trouble. If this is what our society has become, we have more to fear from our own governments than from extremists.
1. Those that talk about “individual liberties”
2. Those that advocate for states’ rights
3. Those that want “to make the world a better place”
4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”
5. Those that are interested in “defeating the Communists”
8. Anyone that possesses an “intolerance toward other religions”
9. Those that “take action to fight against the exploitation of the environment and/or animals”
10. “Anti-Gay”
11. “Anti-Immigrant”
12. “Anti-Muslim”
14. “Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians”
15. Members of the Family Research Council
16. Members of the American Family Association
18. Members of the American Border Patrol/American Patrol
19. Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
20. Members of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition
21. Members of the Christian Action Network
22. Anyone that is “opposed to the New World Order”
23. Anyone that is engaged in “conspiracy theorizing”
24. Anyone that is opposed to Agenda 21
25. Anyone that is concerned about FEMA camps
26. Anyone that “fears impending gun control or weapons confiscations”
28. The sovereign citizen movement
29. Those that “don’t think they should have to pay taxes”
30. Anyone that “complains about bias”
31. Anyone that “believes in government conspiracies to the point of paranoia”
32. Anyone that “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”
33. Anyone that “visits extremist websites/blogs”
34. Anyone that “establishes website/blog to display extremist views”
35. Anyone that “attends rallies for extremist causes”
36. Anyone that “exhibits extreme religious intolerance”
37. Anyone that “is personally connected with a grievance”
38. Anyone that “suddenly acquires weapons”
39. Anyone that “organizes protests inspired by extremist ideology”
40. “Militia or unorganized militia”
41. “General right-wing extremist”
42. Citizens that have “bumper stickers” that are patriotic or anti-U.N.
43. Those that refer to an “Army of God”
44. Those that are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”
45. Those that are “anti-global”
46. Those that are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
47. Those that are “reverent of individual liberty”
48. Those that “believe in conspiracy theories”
49. Those that have “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”
51. Those that would “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
52. Those that would “insert religion into the political sphere”
53. Anyone that would “seek to politicize religion”
54. Those that have “supported political movements for autonomy”
55. Anyone that is “anti-abortion”
56. Anyone that is “anti-Catholic”
57. Anyone that is “anti-nuclear”
60. Those concerned about “illegal immigration”
61. Those that “believe in the right to bear arms”
62. Anyone that is engaged in “ammunition stockpiling”
63. Anyone that exhibits “fear of Communist regimes”
65. Those that are against illegal immigration
66. Those that talk about “the New World Order” in a “derogatory” manner
67. Those that have a negative view of the United Nations
68. Those that are opposed “to the collection of federal income taxes”
69. Those that supported former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr
70. Those that display the Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread On Me”)
71. Those that believe in “end times” prophecies
I regard myself as a moderate and compassionate person, and someone who reads widely and takes an interest in world affairs. I like to think I am an objective thinker, and I certainly don't derive all of my information from the mainstream media. I have highlighted above all of the categories which apply to me and apparently I am an extremist x 20! There are other categories that do not apply to me but are groups I do not have issues with, eg. returning veterans and evangelical Christians. This is absurd. All of my friends are also extremists by these definitions, as are all of my work colleagues notwithstanding a very diverse range of opinions and belief systems in my workplace.
Ever since 911 the response of our governments has been to attack civil liberties and to turn the apparatus of the state against its own citizens. Not to mention several wars, including the invasion of a country based upon lies. We are now spied upon in multiple ways by our own government and any form of independent behaviour or thinking is suspect. The tragedy of events like the Paris murders is that governments will use the event to devise yet further ways to turn the state on its own citizens without actually doing anything significant to combat terrorism.
I find it particularly ironic that the Gadsden Flag is regarded as a sign of extremism or potential terrorism. This flag derives from 1775 and was an American Independence flag in the War of Independence against the British. The flag is bright yellow, emblazoned with a fierce rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, with thirteen rattles which symbolise the 13 colonies, and sporting the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The flag also evokes a statement made by Benjamin Franklin in 1751, when he made a reference to the rattlesnake in a satirical commentary published in his Pennsylvanis Gazette. It had been the policy of Britain to send convicted criminals to America, so Franklin suggested that they thank the British by sending rattlesnakes to England.
The flag is and has been for over 200 years a symbol of liberty and resistence to tyranny. It says everything about America today if it is now regarded as a symbol of extremism.
I - proudly - display a Gadsden Flag in my office, which has additional meaning for a lawyer who fights for client rights.
While Maurice has a point - there will never be perfection on this earth wrought by man - we must however strive to model our society on the justice and charity of the kingdom of heaven.
It is all very worrying.
Posted by: Thygocanberra | Thursday, 15 January 2015 at 10:35 PM
Your resignation to the inevitability of it all (as you see it) is pretty uninspiring.
Posted by: Paul | Wednesday, 14 January 2015 at 08:26 AM
I am an extremist because I read the Linux Journal.
Name any time in history when a national emergency was not converted by the politicians into an opportunity to shore up their power and support their hobby horses. I put to you that there are many in the Vatican trying to use the sex scandals the same way.
There will never be peace and justice on earth, but there will always be prayer and the poor to serve.
Posted by: PythonMagus | Tuesday, 13 January 2015 at 10:59 PM