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Taoism

2012-08-17T18:48:50Z

Kurdishfreedom:

[[Image:Yin_yang.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Taoism is often represented by the [[Taijitu]]]]
Taoism is a [[Chinese]] philosophy centered around the concept of Tao. It stresses the unification of contraries. Taoism also seeks harmony with nature.

The primary text of Taoism is [[Lao Tzu]]'s ''Tao Te Ching'', which works to express the essence of Tao. The book stresses the ineffability of the Tao, and is the second most translated book after Christianity's Holy Bible.<ref> Center of Traditional Taoist Studies, www.tao.org/tao.html</ref>

The Tao Te Ching is composed of 81 poems, each of which focuses on either an aspect of Tao or an aspect of being an effective leader.

<blockquote>
8. 
"Doing the right thing" is like water. 
It's good for all living things, and flows without thinking about where it's going
 
...just like Tao.
 
-- excerpted from Ron Hogan's translation<ref>www.beatrice.com/wordpress/tao-te-ching</ref>
</blockquote>

:''Taoist ethics are concerned less with doing good acts than becoming a good person who lives in harmony with all things and people.''

Because of this, devoted Taoists tend to be nice and accomodating people.

Nonetheless, it is important to distinguish between Taoism as a [[philosophy]](as described above) and Taosim as a [[religion]]. Taoist philosophies are readily compatible with most world religious views, similar to philisophical Buddhism. Taoist religious practices include numerous occult rituals including 'internal alchemy'-the ingestion of minerals and herbs to supposedly restore balance to one's Yin and Yang energies-and the invocation of various pagan deities. The ideal of the Taoist 'Sage' is one who removes themselves completely from society and no longer serves to further the well-being of mankind. As such religious Taoism shares many of the dangerous traits of other primitive faiths and lacks the spiritual substance of the Abrahamic traditions.

Taoism originated in [[China]]. Accurate figures for the number of believers of Taoism are elusive, for two reasons. Firstly, Taoism is a loosely defined faith, so some people don't even realize they're practicing it. Secondly, the [[Communist]] Chinese government does not record most religions in its [[census]]es, on account of the government's anti-religious stance. However, Taoism is one of the five religions officially recognized by the Chinese government, the others being Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Islam.<ref> South China Morning Post, April 30, 2007, www.scmp.com</ref>

== External links ==

*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/taoethics/ethics_1.shtml Taoist ethics - theory and practice]

== See Also ==

*[[Confucianism]]
*[[Zen]]
*[[Falun Gong]]
*[[New_Age| New Age Spirituality]]
*[[Feng Shui]]
*[[World History Lecture Three]]
*[[Tai Chi]]

[[Category:Taoism]]

Army of God

2012-08-17T18:45:13Z

Kurdishfreedom: Created page with "The Army of God (AOG) is a militant anti-abortion group based in the United States that states to be following Protestant Christianity in the use of violence to stop abortion in ..."

The Army of God (AOG) is a militant anti-abortion group based in the United States that states to be following Protestant Christianity in the use of violence to stop abortion in the US. The group is disavowed by the majority of Christians as extremist and not representitive of the views of mainstream Christianity.

The first known violent action of the group came in 1982. Three men associated with the organization held Hector Zevallos, an abortion doctor, and his wife, Rosalee Jean, hostage. They were later released unharmed. The AOG also claimed responsibility when Michael Bray and two accomplices planted bombs at seven abortion clinics in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. in 1985.

The AOG claimed responsibility for Eric Robert Rudolph's 1997 nail bombing of abortion clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham as well as an Atlanta lesbian bar.

Clayton Waagner, claiming to act on behalf of the AOG, mailed over 500 letters containing white powder to 280 abortion providers in 2001. The letters claimed that the powder was anthrax however the substance tested negative for anthrax.

The group is also associated with a number of assassinations of abortion providers. Some of these assassins, such as Shelley Shannon, claimed association with the AOG; in other cases, while the assassin expressed no affiliation with the group, the AOG has expressed symapthy and support for their acts.

Polyamorous

2012-08-17T18:18:29Z

Kurdishfreedom:

Polyamory is a general term to denote relationships involving more than two individuals. There are a wide variety of gender combinations that make up different relationships with no one particular set-up being the most common.

Some people hold promiscuity and a lack of commitment to be the real reason behind most polyamorous relationships and in some cases that is true. It is by no means universal and there are a greater number of polyfidelitous relationships than any other relationship type within the community. To focus exclusively on the sex is to miss the fact that a polyamorous relationship includes everything a monogamous relationship does, simply with more participants.

== Philosophy of Polyamory ==
One of the cornerstone ideas in a polyamorous relationship is that someone cannot reasonably expect one other person to satisfy all of their emotional, personal, sexual, or spiritual needs as a human being. Many polyamorous people feel that this expectation is a contributing factor to the spike in divorce and general dissatisfaction with marriage that is seen in modern society.

Those critical of polyamory often bring up the concern that if there are three people in a relationship, the love and affection will be spread too thin and someone will go without. The polyamorous community sees love as a boundless resource, not confined by numerical limits and as such there should never be a lack of it in any relationship, regardless of the number of participants.

Trust is also an extremely important facet of polyamory because a person has to trust their partners (and often themselves) to be willing to enter into a relationship where they may be sharing their partner with someone else.

Another core idea is the concept of taking joy from the happiness of the person you love. If they are happy when they are with you and with another person, you should be happy that they are finding fulfillment and not engage in what is called "loving selfishly"; considering your partner's love to be yours and yours alone, not to be shared with other people.

== Forms of Polyamory ==
Polyamory can take one of several distinct forms.

* Polyfidelity, which is a relationship involving multiple partners which is closed off to new members and the people within the relationship are faithful to each other.
* Primary and Secondary relationships are most often found in polyamorous relationships involving three people where one person is the Primary participant and another is the Secondary. The different individuals usually fulfill different needs for each other and for the third person involved
* Various relationships between multiple people or sets of people, named by their configurations (A relationship of three people would be called a triad, a relationship between two different sets of couples a quad, and so on.)
* [[Polygamy]] (polygyny and polyandry), in which one person marries several spouses
* Group relationships and group marriage, in which all consider themselves associated to one another, popularized by Robert Heinlein in many of his works
* Networks of interconnecting relationships, where a particular person may have relationships of varying degrees of importance with various people.
* Mono/poly relationships, where one partner is monogamous but agrees to the other having outside relationships.
* Singular relationships are sometimes defined by the letter shape they form; one person romantically involved with two individuals who are not involved with each other would be a "V" relationship and so on.
* Open relationships are termed when one or more participants in any relationship are free to seek other partners outside the relationship while staying attached to their primary partner, long-term relationships of this type are often referred to as Primary and Secondary relationships.
[[Category:Sexuality]]

== Legal Status ==
Being polyamorous is not technically illegal anywhere in the US, however public knowledge about a person's polyamorous leanings can cause complications at work or in legal dealings such as custody disputes. Many states have fornication or cohabitation clauses in bigamy statues that do cover polyamorous behavior that can range anywhere from a misdemeanor and negligible fine to a felony and a year or more in prison as well as a substantial fine. Polyamorous relationships can be considered "cohabitation" and thus are prohibited by the bigamy statues of many states. They can also be considered as "presenting a marriage as having more than two participants" which also trips the bigamy laws.

In most states, these laws are rarely (if ever) enforced but the concern for polyamorous individuals and families is still present. Further complicating the idea is that many laws that may affect such relationships are convoluted and unclear so someone is never quite sure if they're violating a statue or not until they find themselves in court.
==References==

<references/>

Kurdistan

2012-08-17T18:13:48Z

Kurdishfreedom:

'''Kurdistan''' is a region of western [[Asia]] spanning portions of the states of [[Iraq]], [[Iran]], [[Turkey]] and [[Syria]]. It is not a recognized entity in any of the nations it inhabits, but the Kurdish people do have an autonomous zone in northern Iraq that was set up after the first Iraq war.

The Kurdish people have been engaging in an ongoing struggle for a free and independent Kurdistan for nearly 100 years and have ranged success against some of the strongest militaries in the Middle East including Iran and Iraq. Military success against Iraq was met with the reprisal of chemical attacks that killed thousands of Kurds during Saddam's reign.

Kurdish freedom fighter groups have the distinction of fielding entire units of women fighters and giving women equal status and rights within the Kurdish government.

The movement for a free and independent Kurdistan has sometimes been helped and hindered by the outside world, namely the US. The Kurds fight against the Iraqi, Iranian, Syrian and Turkish militaries for control over Kurdistan and outside support has waxed and waned depending on US relations with the nations Kurdistan is a part of.

[[Category:Asia]]