Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Old Earth Creationism

2007-04-02T18:23:04Z

Torry:

'''Old Earth Creationism''' is the belief that God created the universe and the world billions of years ago. Old Earth Creationists hold to an exegesis of the Biblical book of Genesis that allows for an old earth <ref>http://www.answersincreation.org/question.htm</ref>. Old Earth Creationists do not all agree on the extent of the [[Noachian flood]], although many maintain that it was a local flood.

Leading proponents of Old Earth Creationism include [[Hugh Ross]], Greg Neyman, Francis Schaeffer, and Norman Geisler.

==External links==

===Old Earth Creationism Ministries===
* [http://www.reasons.org Reasons to Believe]
* [http://www.answersincreation.org Answers in Creation]
* [http://www.godandscience.org Godandscience.org]

=== Criticism of Old Earth Creationism by Young Earth Creationists ===

[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/negative_17December2001.asp Jonathan Sarfati addresses Old Earth Claims]

==References==
<references/>

Islam

2007-03-31T17:13:36Z

Torry: Undo revision 76444 by Special:Contributions/Hojimachong (User talk:Hojimachong)

'''Islam''' is a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] religion based on the teachings of [[Muhammad]], a 7th century Arab political and religious figure. The word "Islam" means "submission." The followers of Islam are called [[Muslim|Muslims]] or Moslems. Muslims follow the teaching of Muhammad, whom they believe to be God's last and greatest prophet. Muslims believe that God (Allah, in Arabic) revealed the [[Qu'ran]] to Muhammad. The [[Qu'ran]] is considered to be the pure and holy word of Allah. Like [[Christianity]], and [[Judaism]], Islam originated in the [[Middle East]] and claims to trace its roots back to [[Abraham]]. Muslims do not believe that Muhammad was the founder of Islam, rather that he restored the original faith of Abraham and the prophets, which had been corrupted and/or misinterpreted over time. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with over 1.4 billion followers, the number of Muslims is rapidly growing, mainly due to high birth rates in Muslim countries. Both Christian and Muslim sources agree that conversions to Islam outnumber those to Christianity.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD: Numbers of adherents; names of houses of worship; names of leaders; rates of growth...]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/AlJazeerahAfrica.php Translation of AL-Jazeerah interview between Maher Abdallah and Shiekh Ahmed Katani]</ref>

[[Image:Mecca.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Mecca]], the Islamic holy city.]]

===Five Pillars of Islam===

*'''Shahadah (Profession of Faith)''' -The Shahadah is the Muslim profession of faith. 'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh, a loose English translation reads "''There is none worthy of worship except the God, and [[Muhammad]] is the messenger of God''" This testament can be seen as the foundation of all of the other tenets of Islam.

*'''Salat (Ritual Prayer)''' -All Muslims are required to Pray to Allah five times each day while facing [[Mecca]].

*'''Zakat (Charity)''' Able Muslims must donate to the poor based on the wealth one has accumulated. In current usage it is interpreted as 2.5% of the value of most valuables and savings held for a full [[lunar year]].

*'''Sawm (Fasting)''' All able-bodied Muslims (children, the elderly, and the ill are exempt) must fast during daylight hours during the daylight hours of the entire month of [[Ramadan]]. According to Muslims, this purifies the body and soul. Some Muslim sects allow military, police and emergency services personnel to receive an exemption from fasting from an imam, on the grounds that their work supports the community or national good.

*'''Hajj (Pilgrimage)''' All able-bodied Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.

[[Image:Quran.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pages from the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic religion.]]

==Islam and Christianity==

While Muslims do not believe Jesus to be the Son of God or in the resurrection, they consider him to be one of God's most important prophets. However, the Qu'ran warns against worshiping Jesus, for fear of [[idolatry]].<ref>[http://www.ccg.org/_domain/ccg.org/Islam/Islam.htm Christian Churches of God Articles on Islam], March 10, 2007</ref>

The Qur'an states that Christians will be punished, though the nature of the punishment is not specified: ''“Unbelievers are those that say: ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.’ He that worships
other deities besides God, God will deny paradise, and the Fire shall be his home. None shall help the evil-doers.
Unbelievers are those that say: ‘God is one of three.’ There is but one God. If they do not
desist from saying so, they shall be sternly punished.” (5:73-75)''

However, Islam does recognize Christians and Jews as "people of the book" since both refer to one God only, and recognize Abraham (Ibrahim in [[Arabic]]) as a founding prophet.

==Sharia==

[[Sharia]] is the body of Islamic law. The term means "way" or "path"; it is the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles of jurisprudence. It is not actually part of the canonical Koran; that is to say, it is not believed to be the direct word of Allah by Muslims, but rather the interpretation of it.

Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, and social issues. Some Islamic scholars accept Sharia as the body of precedent and legal theory established before the 19th century, while other scholars view Sharia as a changing body, and include Islamic legal theory from the contemporary period.{{fact}}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Islam]]

Atheism

2007-03-31T02:19:52Z

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'''Atheism''' is alternatively defined as either a lack of belief or disbelief in the existence of a [[God|god]], gods, or deities.

Well-known atheists include [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Stephen Hawking]], [[Stephen Jay Gould]], [[Ayn Rand]], [[Carl Sagan]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Douglas Adams]], [[William Borden]], and [[Sam Harris]]. [[Albert Einstein]] was an atheist in that he did not believe in the traditional [[Judeo-Christian]] god, but did believe in a divine presence. He is perhaps better described as a [[naturalist]], but reasonable persons differ on this account.

== Atheist morality ==

Atheists often base their [[moral code]] upon [[emotion]], [[experience]], empirically derived ethics, or some combination thereof.{{fact}} It is important to note, however, that just as many religions disagree on specific moral points, and there is sharp disagreement within many religions (e.g. denominational disputes within Christianity), atheists differ substantially from each other in the details of their moral beliefs. Thus, it is difficult at best to summarize the beliefs of the "average atheist."

Atheists typically hold that no religious text can be our only source of morality although all of them may contain useful ideas or principles. As atheists do not believe in any form of deity, books purported to be based upon the wishes of such deities are inherently suspect. Additionally, many atheists point out that all religious texts contain, and often ascribe to God, extremely immoral acts such as the Israelite expulsion of heathen nations from Canaan (i.e. [[ethnic cleansing]]), the stoning of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gay/long.htm homosexuals] to death, questionable treatment of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/19.html#1 women] and the institution of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/slavery.html slavery]. Additionally, atheists often point to a large number of prominent [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html contradictions] present in the bible and other religious texts. The presence of such contradictions challenges claims that these works are the infallible word of God.

Atheists sometimes subscribe to the secular humanist idea that it is far more desirable to do what is right because you believe that it is right, rather than because you fear divine punishment or desire divine reward.
Atheists sometimes condemn religious desires for exclusive reward (and the punishment of others) such as are found in many religious texts.

== Origins ==

From an atheist perspective, religion is a social invention of mankind. Thus the appropriate question is, "Where did religion come from?"

From a fundamentalist Christian perspective atheism can hypothetically be traced back to specific date, as Adam and Eve believed in God so at some point somebody must have stopped believing. The reasons for this lapsing of belief appear to be unspecified.

Similarly, other non-Christian religions would have their own explanation for the emergence of atheism.

=== Christian View of Origins ===

It is difficult to trace the origins of atheism as a result of the incomplete historic record. It is known that ancient Greece produced a theory of materialism as early as the 5th century BC. Materialism is a philosophical position that the material is all that exists. Therefore, it automatically excludes immaterial beings. In addition to materialism the Greeks also considered Spiritualism, in which the material world is an illusion and only spirit exists, as well as dualism, in which both the material and the spiritual exist (e.g. Christianity). It is important to note that while many atheists are strict materialists, some are not. As an example, some philosophical systems generally regarded as religions (i.e. Buddhism) lack deities and thus could be regarded as "atheistic faiths." In any case, it is likely impossible to determine the true origins of atheism as it was presumably the default belief of most humans prior to the development of religion.

The writer of the Book of Psalms knew of atheists and atheism and registered disapproval in Psalm 14: "The Fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." The book of Psalms precedes the 5th century BC by hundreds of years {{fact}}.

== Atheist Population ==

In the [[Great Britain]] 2001 census, 15.5% of the population identify themselves as having no religious beliefs [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293 2001 Census]. This category included [[agnostics]], atheists, [[heathens]] and those who wrote [[Jedi Knight]]. However other articles [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131 suggest] a much higher rate of around 52% in the UK once agnostics have been considered.

More specific research on atheists conducted in 2006 [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131 suggests] that the true proportion of Atheists is 4% in the United States, 17% in Great Britain and 32% in France. The Christian research organization, the Barna Group, [http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=160 reports] that 12% of Americans are atheist or agnostic. Given that the methodology of the Barna Group study does not distinguish between atheists and agnostics, it is impossible to say if their results support, or contradict, the 4% figure. Estimates of the prevalence in atheism in the United States are, however, almost always much lower than comparable estimates from Europe.

It is important to keep in mind that surveys containing an option for "no religion" are not necessarily identifying solely atheists. Indeed, many individuals may believe strongly in some form of god but not subscribe to any one particular religion, and as a result will enter a response of "no religion" on surveys. As an example, 14.39% of the respondents to the 2004 General Social Survey in the United States claim to have "no religion." Of a subsample (197 respondents) of those persons with no religion who answered a second question on the origins of man, 19.80% believe that God created man while an additional 43.15% believe that God created man by guiding evolution over time. Thus, cumulatively 62.95% of those with "no religion" still believe that God was directly responsible for the creation of man in some fashion. Clearly, then, many of those claiming to have "no religion" are not atheists. These data are available and can be analyzed online [http://sda.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/hsda?harcsda+gss04 GSS Data Online]. Additionally, some atheists consider atheism to be a religion and will not respond that they have "no religion" on surveys, often preferring an "other" option.

== Prejudice Against Atheists ==

Research by Penny Edgell, Joseph Gerteis and Douglas Hartmann in the American Sociological Review [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asoca/asr/2006/00000071/00000002/art00003 indicates] that most Americans would be more willing to vote for a homosexual or Muslim presidential candidate than an atheist. The same study indicates that 47.6% of Americans would disapprove of their child marrying an atheist. More recent [http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=26611&pg=1 Gallup polls] confirm this finding and indicate that atheists are among the most disliked minorities in the United States. In addition to discrimination in voting practices and marriage, former President George H.W. Bush has previously [http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/ghwbush.htm stated] that he does not believe atheists should be considered citizens of the United States.

<b>Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006- Table 1 (Percentage of respondents answering affirmatively):</b>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! This Group Does Not At All Agree with My Vision of American Society:
! I Would Disapprove if My Child Wanted to Marry a Member of This Group:
|-
| Atheist
| 39.6%
| 47.6%
|-
| Muslim
| 26.3%
| 33.5%
|-
| Homosexual
| 22.6%
| NA
|-
|Conservative Christian
| 13.5%
| 6.9%
|-
| Recent Immigrant
| 12.5%
| Not Asked
|-
| Hispanic
| 7.6%
| 18.5%
|-
| Jew
| 7.4%
| 11.8%
|-
| Asian American
| 7.0%
| 18.5%
|-
|African American
| 4.6%
| 27.2%
|-
| White American
| 2.2%
| 2.3%
|}

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are one contemporary group known to discriminate against atheists. The BSA has been sued several times by Scouts who had been denied the rank of Eagle solely because they were atheists.

== The Problem of Evil==

One argument against belief in all-powerful entities ('gods') is the problem of evil. First identified by the philosopher and materialist Epicurus (341-270 BC), this problem points out the difficulty created by the mere existence of evil:

:Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
:Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
:Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
:Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

A number of responses to this logical paradox have been put forth including those which assert human ignorance as the culprit, the concept of free will and the specific writings in some faiths which discuss the co-existence of good and evil (such as the book of Job in the Christian and Jewish faiths).[http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/evil-log.htm] Many atheists, however, do not regard such arguments as convincing solutions to the underlying problem.

==External Links==

*[http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail 10 Myths and 10 Truths about Atheism]
*[http://creationwiki.org/Decline_of_atheism Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki]
*[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Islam

2007-03-31T02:05:45Z

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Sol

2007-03-31T02:03:47Z

Torry: New page: Sol is the name of the sun of the solar system, or the star system of Earth and the other familiar planets. Other star systems are known by their star's names.

Sol is the name of the sun of the solar system, or the star system of Earth and the other familiar planets. Other star systems are known by their star's names.

Sun

2007-03-31T02:02:40Z

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The '''Sun''', or [[Sol]] is the star at the center of the solar system, and it accounts for over 99% of the mass of the solar system. By mass, it is composed of 72% hydrogen, 26% helium and 2% trace elements of oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, magnesium, iron, and silicon.<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/sun_worldbook.html World Book Encyclopedia @ NASA]</ref> The eight planets, including Earth, orbit the sun, as do countless other small objects.
It provides the [[Earth]] with light and heat. Astronomers classify it as a [[yellow dwarf]] with a [[spectral type]] of [[G2V]].

What eventually became the solar system initially existed as a large, rotating cloud of dust and gas, composed of hydrogen and helium produced in the Big Bang as well as small amounts of heavier elements. Around 4.57 billion years ago, the cloud began to contract, perhaps as a result of a shock wave from a nearby supernova. Inertia caused the rotating cloud to flatten into a disk. Most of the mass concentrated in the middle, and began to heat up. Eventually, the kinetic energy of the hydrogen was sufficient to overcome the electromagnetic repulsion between the protons, and fusion began. The resulting solar wind helped clear away much of the material which had not coalesced into planets or other orbiting bodies. <ref>[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/text/text_plan_1.html]</ref>. The sun is most likely a third-generation star. In Christian theology, [[God]] created the sun on the third day of [[Creation]]. <ref>Genesis 1</ref>

The sun has a diameter of about 870,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers); some 1.3 million Earths could fit inside its volume. It is an average-sized, middle-aged star. Its surface temperature is 6000 [[Kelvin|K]], while the temperature of its core is around 13.6 million K. The inner layer of the sun, called the core, is where most fusion takes place. Beyond that is the radiation zone and then the convection zone. Outside that is the photosphere, the visible layer of the sun. It takes anywhere between 17,000 and 50 million years for photons produced in the core to be emitted at the surface, having been absorbed and re-emitted countless times. The atmosphere, including the corona, surrounds the photosphere. The sun is located about halfway between the center of the galaxy and its edge; it takes around 230-250 million years to orbit the galactic center. It is estimated to have made almost twenty of these trips.

The sun produces a vast amount of energy; the Earth receives only a tiny fraction of this energy, yet it powers practically all life (and industry) on Earth, either directly or indirectly. It is also responsible for Earth's climate and weather. Plants and other organisms capture the energy of the sun in a process called [[photosynthesis]]. Animals and other heterotrophs obtain food and energy from consuming plants or from consuming animals who have consumed the plants. Only a few microscopic organisms obtain energy directly from chemical reactions; this represents a very ancient metabolic pathway and likely existed prior to the evolution of photosynthesis.

Human civilization, too, is dependent on the sun. Much of humanity's industrial energy needs are obtained through the combustion of fossil fuels, the remains of dead plants and animals. Uneven heating of the atmosphere provides wind power. Also, the sun evaporates water from lower-lying bodies of water; this then falls as rain and flows back down channels, providing hydroelectric power. On a limited basis, solar power is directly utilized. Geothermal energy and nuclear energy are examples of energy sources to which the sun does not directly contribute.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Astronomy]]

Ann Coulter

2007-03-29T21:47:29Z

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[[Image:Coulter2006.jpg|thumb|right|Coulter on the ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno''.]]
'''Ann Coulter''' (b. 1961) is a bestselling [[United States of America|American]] author of books that present [[conservative]] views in a direct, forceful and frequently ironic manner.

Some of her books include ''[[Godless:_The_Church_of_Liberalism|Godless: The Church of Liberalism]],'' ''Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right,'' and ''Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.'' Ann Coulter has earned a strong following among conservatives for what many believe is her patriotic stances against [[liberal]]s, her outspokenness against all those who wish to hurt the [[United States of America|United States]], and her strong defense of family values against [[abortion]] and [[same-sex marriage]].

In ''Godless'' Coulter argues that liberals make a religion out of their beliefs which they follow with the same sort of intolerant zeal which condemn in [[fundamentalist]]s. "Liberalism is a comprehensize belief system denying the Christian belief in man's immortal soul [and] that we are moral beings in God's image." (page 3)

Coulter attributes to the [[Judeo-Christian tradition]] the view that we are utterly and distinctly apart from other species.

==Notes and references==
<references/>

Earth

2007-03-27T22:30:40Z

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== Scientific Data on the Earth ==

The '''Earth''' is the third planet from the Sun. Its equatorial circumference (measured around the equator) is 24,901 miles (40,075 kilometers), and the polar circumference is slightly less at 24,809 miles (40,008 km).[http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzcircumference.htm] The reason its metric circumference is so close to the "round number" of 40,000 is that the French defined the [[kilometer]] as 1/10,000th the distance from the equator to the [[North Pole]].

The Earth orbits at an average distance of about 93 million miles (150 million km) from the Sun in an almost circular orbit. It takes light (and other forms of electromagnetic radiation) approximately 500 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth, i.e. the distance can also be stated as "500 light-seconds." The distance to nearby stars is made by measuring the stellar [[parallax]] between observations when the earth is at opposite ends of its orbit, so the earth's orbit itself is a measuring stick for astronomical distances, and is known as the ''astronomical unit'' (A. U.) It is worth noting that if the Earth were slightly closer to the Sun, it would be too hot for life (just as Venus is) while if Earth were slightly further away from the Sun, water would freeze and life would be impossible.

The Earth is approximately 8000 miles (13000 km) in diameter, so its circumference is approximately 8000·π = about 25,000 miles (40,000 km). Its surface area is approximately 4·π (4000 mi)<sup>2</sup> = 200 million square miles (510 million km<sup>2</sup>). It has been said that Earth should really be called "water:" most of the Earth's surface, about 70%, is covered by water. In fact, the Pacific and Indian oceans alone cover about half of the Earth.

== Evolutionary view ==

Estimates by geologists of the age of the Earth give about 4.55 billion years. This estimate is primarily based on radioactive dating of meteorites. The extreme majority of scientists conclude that the Earth formed by natural processes, specifically by the accumulaiton of debris orbiting the sun billions of years in the past. Indeed, astronomers have detected dust lanes around other stars that indicate planet formation is a common and ongoing process.

== Young Earth Creationist view ==

Young Earth creationists believe, as Biblical chronology suggests, that the Earth was formed in 4004 B.C. Mainstream scientific journals do not publish these beliefs, as they are not scientific and stem not from replicatable evidence but from religious documents.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0822sternberg.asp 1</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/538.asp 2</ref><ref>http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53400 3</ref><ref>http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3833&program=DI%20Main%20Page%20-%20News&callingPage=discoMainPage 4</ref>

Some Young Earth Creationists and Biblical literalists also dispute the shape of the earth, saying that according to the Bible, the earth is flat rather than spherical.<ref>http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/crea-fe.htm</ref> Some Biblical literalists also dispute the idea that the Earth Rotates around the Sun.<ref>http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htm</ref>

===Shape of the Earth===
In Revelations 7:1 it is stated:

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth..." (Revelations 7:1)

A sphere has no corners. The four corners are also mentioned in Isaiah 11:12. Some say this is a figure of speach, a view literalists reject.<ref>http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htm</ref>

It is also stated:

"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:35)

AND

"Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:" (Daniel 4:10-11)

AND

"Behold, [Jesus] cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him" (Revelations 1:7)

AND

"Once again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world [cosmos] in their glory." (Matthew 4:8)

Such mountains, such a tree or such a view of Jesus could only be possible on a flat earth could only be possible on a flat earth. <ref>http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htm</ref>

===Position of the Earth===
In the view of the Bible the Earth is fixed, and the sun revolves around it. This can be found in several passages:

"He has fixed the earth firm, immovable." (1 Chronicles 16:30)

"Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm ..." (Psalm 93:1)

"Thou didst fix the earth on its foundation so that it never can be shaken." (Psalm 104:5)

"...who made the earth and fashioned it, and himself fixed it fast..." (Isaiah 45:18)

==Christianity and the Earth==

Scientists conclude from scientific evidence, obtained through the [[scientific method]], that the earth is beyond 4 billion years old.<ref>http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html</ref> In addition, many human societies predate the alleged creation of the world at 4000 B.C.<ref>http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/</ref>

Bible scholars have estimated the age of the earth based on the Creation account in Genesis and the genealogical accounts in Numbers and other books of the Pentateuch. One famous estimate was published in 1650 by [[James Ussher|James Ussher Archbishop of Armagh]] in a book called ''Annals of the World,'' in which he estimated the Creation to have occurred on 23 October 4004 B.C. Other Biblical scholars maintain that there are possible gaps in the genealogies, often using the ideas of the 19th century Calvinist theologian [[Benjamin Warfield]] on the issue. <ref>http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/primeval_chronology.shtml</ref> However, [[James Barr]], regius professor of Hebrew at [[Oxford University]], wrote in 1984 the following: "… probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that: … the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story.’" <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1606/</ref> Furthermore, it should be noted that Barr himself rejects supernatural Christianity, and so is not a priori biased in favor of creationism. <ref>http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/pca_creation_study_committee_report.shtml</ref>

Many [[Christian|Christians]] believe that the Earth is the perfect distance away from the Sun and take this to be evidence of [[God]]'s existence. <ref>http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html</ref> Scientists, however, refute this reasoning using the anthropic principle<ref>http://www.anthropic-principle.com</ref>.

==References==
<references/>

Bill Clinton

2007-03-27T02:43:53Z

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[[Image:billclinton.jpg|thumb|right|300px|United States President Bill Clinton]]
'''William''' "Bill" '''Jefferson Clinton''' served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2001, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]].

== Early Life ==

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946 AD in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident while his mother was pregnant with him. Clinton's mother later married Roger Clinton, and the four year-old William was given his stepfather's name.[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html]

Clinton was active in high school, participating in various student government organizations as well as playing the saxophone. Roger Clinton, however, made Bill's family life unpleasant by repeatedly abusing Clinton's mother and her children.{{fact}} Bill Clinton would eventually stand up to his stepfather in high school, forcing him to stop beating his mother and kicking him out of the house. {{fact}} After Roger Clinton underwent alcohol rehabilitation, he would eventually rejoin the family.

Clinton attended [[Georgetown University]], then [[Oxford University]] after receiving a [[Rhodes Scholarship]], and finally earned a Juris Doctorate from [[Yale University]] in 1973 AD. At Yale he met [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]], whom he would later marry [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html].

== Early Political Career and Whitewater Scandal ==

After returning to live in Arkansas, Clinton was elected [[Attorney General]] of Arkansas in 1976 AD. Two years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest governor in the country as a 32 year-old. Though defeated in 1980 AD, Clinton won back the governorship in 1982 AD and held it until becoming President in 1992 AD. His close personal business partnerships with James McDougall in a failed Savings and Loan scam lead to investigation of the [[Whitewater]] scandal.

== Presidency and Impeachment==

Despite never winning a majority of the popular vote during either of his elections, President Clinton enjoyed good public approval ratings during parts of his second term.<ref>[http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm]</ref> Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a popular third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan. It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier. His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress. This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s. Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html]. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings, which would remain above 60% for most of his presidency[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG].

Clinton was reelected in 1996 with 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. Clinton spent a lot of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. {{fact}} The special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought the issue of Clinton giving false testimony in a civil lawsuit while President to light which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he lied about a sexual relationship with an employee in an attempt to avoid paying damages to another employee for sexual harassment. After a brief trial, the Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/impeachment/</ref>

Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives. During his second term Clinton was accused of perjury in connection to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. However, the US Senate voted to acquit him, although he later lost his law license in Arkansas. His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. {{fact}} These incidents included the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. {{fact}} Clinton responded by striking back at [[al Qaeda]], the organization responsible for the attacks. {{fact}} He launched cruise missile strikes aimed to kill al Qaeda's leader [[Osama bin Laden]] [http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.01/], and began planning to invade [[Afghanistan]] in order to capture bin Laden and overthrow the [[Taliban]] government[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/afgh-n20.shtml].

Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. {{fact}} A key provision of this law was later ruled unconstitutional in [[United States v. Morrison]].<ref>http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-5.ZS.html</ref>

Clinton devoted much time during his two terms to the peace process in Northern Ireland. {{fact}} He made interventions including 3 trips to Ireland during periods of stagnation in negotiations which coincided in major breakthroughs which ensured the province didn't slide back to the violence of the 70's and 80's. {{fact}}

== After the Presidency ==

Clinton has spent much of time since leaving office working for charitable causes such as support and fund-raising for the victims of AIDS and the Asian tsunami. In the case of the Indonesian tsunami, he teamed with former president [[George H.W. Bush]] to raise money for relief efforts.

Bill Clinton's wife, [[Hillary_Rodham_Clinton|Hillary Clinton]], was elected Senator to New York in 2000. Reelected in 2006, she is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president 2008.

Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff was John Podesta between 1998-2001.

== References ==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Bill}}
[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Deism

2007-03-24T21:52:51Z

Torry:

The founder of Deism was [[Lord Herbert of Cherbury]]. <ref>http://www.theologicalstudies.org/what_is_deism.html</ref> He came up with 5 essentials of Deism which are "(1) a belief in the existence of the Deity, (2) the obligation to reverence such a power, (3) the identification of worship with practical morality, (4) the obligation to repent of sin and to abandon it, and, (5) divine recompense in this world and the next"<ref>http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/deismeng.htm</ref>

Dictionaries definitions of '''deism''' include:
:The belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.<ref>American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition</ref>
and
:"a movement or system of thought advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe."<ref>Merriam-Webster online: [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/deism deism]</ref>

In other words, this is the belief that God started everything and then left it alone. This belief not only rejects the divinity of Jesus, but also rejects prayers for divine intercession.

This philosophy became popular in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and some of the founding fathers of the U.S. were self-described deists. [[Thomas Paine]] espoused deism and popularized the term in his book [[The Age of Reason]]. [[Benjamin Franklin]] wrote in his autobiography about an earlier period in his life,
:Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist.

At the [[Constitutional Convention]] less than three years from his death, however, [[Benjamin Franklin]] proposed prayers in a way indicative of his no longer being a deist.

Another [[Founding Father]] described as a deist was [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Jefferson personally struggled with the divinity of Christ and produced an edited version of the Gospels, later known as the [[Jefferson Bible]], which contained only the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus and omitted third-person accounts of his life, particularly the accounts of the miracles.

Ten years from his death Jefferson stated that "[The Jefferson Bible] show that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call me infidel, and themselves Christians and preachers of the gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its Author never said nor saw."<ref>Jefferson, Letter to Charles Thomson, January 9, 1815</ref>

The closer Jefferson approached his death, the more Christian he appeared. He read the Bible daily as the end grew near. His grandson described Jefferson as follows:<ref>Thomas Jefferson Randolph, undated letter to biographer Henry S. Randall, reprinted in Masfield et al., ''The Real Thomas Jefferson'', p. 321.</ref>

:He was regular in his attendance [at] church, taking his prayer book with him. He drew the plan of the Episcopal church in Charlottesville, was one of the largest contributors to its erection, and contributed regularly to the support of its minister. I paid, after his death, his subscription of $200 to the erection of the Presbyterian church in the same village. A gentleman of some distinction calling on him and expressing his disbelief in the truths of the Bible, his reply was, 'Then, sir, you have studied it to little purpose.'"

----

'''Sources:'''<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]

Benjamin Franklin

2007-03-24T21:51:09Z

Torry:

'''Benjamin Franklin''' (1706-1790) was one of the [[Founding Fathers]], he was [[ambassador]] to [[France]], and also he is on the $100 dollar bill. Benjamin Franklin was a prolific inventor, he invented the [[Franklin Stove]] and the [[bifocal]] and also proved the existence of [[electricity]] with an experiment involving a key attached to the tail of a kite being flown in a lightning storm. Benjamin Franklin was truly a great American.

Many historians believe that Benjamin Franklin was a [[Deism|deist]]. But although Franklin wrote widely, he rarely made statements associated with principles of Deism. Instead, Franklin made a passionate plea for saying prayers at the [[Constitutional Convention]]:<ref>http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/3rd_floor/god/2_convention.html</ref>

:Mr. President [George Washington] ... I have lived, sir, a long time, and, the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that 'Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.'

:I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed, in this political building, no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

:I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.

The above quotation demonstrates that Benjamin Franklin was not a [[deist]] when he participated in the [[Constitutional Convention]] in 1787, as deists do not believe in the "assistance of Heaven" or that "God governs in the affairs of men." Franklin passed away less than three years after his statement, so it seems unlikely that his views changed further.

Franklin himself clearly states in his autobiography that he was a deist earlier in his life, though he later came to doubt its use. "Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of the sermons which had been preached at Boyle’s Lectures. It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them. For the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to be much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist. My arguments perverted some others, particularly Collins and Ralph; but each of these having wronged me greatly without the least compunction, and recollecting Keith’s conduct towards me (who was another freethinker), and my own towards Vernon and Miss Read, which at times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect that this doctrine, though it might be true, was not very useful."<ref>''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,'' in ''The Harvard Classics,'' P. F. Collier, 1909, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC07236932&id=Mi0LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6-IA1&lpg=PA6-IA1&dq=autobiography+of+benjamin+franklin&as_brr=1#PPA57,M1 p. 57]; also available from Project Gutenberg as [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/148 etext #148], search on "deist."</ref>

Benjamin Franklin guided the establishment of the University of Pennsylvania, which was chartered as nonsectarian. According to the University, it was "a new type of learning institution, that unlike other American Colonial colleges, would not focus on education for the clergy, but would instead prepare students for lives of business and public service. The proposed program of study would become the nation's first modern liberal arts curriculum."[http://www.upenn.edu/about/heritage.php] In his 1749 ''Proposals relating to the education of youth in Pensilvania[sic],'' he outlines an essentially secular curriculum. Religion is to be taught under the rubric of History; Franklin, however, makes a point of saying that
:History will also afford frequent Opportunities of showing the Necessity of a ''Publick Religion,'' from its Usefulness to the Publick; the advantage of a Religious Character among private Persons; the Mischiefs of Superstition, &c. and the excellency of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION above all others, antient and modern.<ref>Franklin, Benjamin (1749), ''Proposals relating to the education of youth in Pensilvania.'' Franklin and Hall.[http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/printableformat.cfm?coll=printedbooks&subcoll=franklin_youth&filename=franklin_youth_body0016.sid&pagePosition=20 online page image] [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/1749proposals.html Online searchable html text]</ref>

==Franklin's "Creed"==
In adulthood, on March 9, 1790, shortly before his death, he wrote, in a letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale:
:Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him is doing good to his other Children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its conduct in in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

:As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and His Religion as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received many corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubt as to his Divinity; tho' it is a question I need not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect Soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble. I see no harm in its being believed, if that belief has good consequences, as probably it has, of making his Doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not observe that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the Unbelievers in his Government of the world with any Marks of his displeasure."<ref>''The Writings of Benjamin Franklin,'' Macmillan and Co., 1907, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC07368016&id=IkQBIcYzzUEC&pg=RA2-PA84&lpg=RA2-PA84&dq=%22As+to+Jesus+of+Nazareth,+my+Opinion+of+whom+you+particularly+desire%22#PRA2-PA84,M1 p. 84]</ref>

This quote does not reflect the views of [[deism]].

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin described his upbringing and continuing respect for Christianity as follows:

:From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes.

:My old favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ... has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more generally read than any other book, except perhaps the Bible.

==References==
<references/>

Turkiye

2007-03-24T21:48:38Z

Torry:

:''This article is about the country. For the large gamebird, see [[Turkey (bird)]].''

Turkey is a nation with territory in Europe and Asia, formed from the remains of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in the Frist World War. It's currently negotiating membership with the [[European Union]]. Turkey has a western-style democracy with separation of church and state.

[[Category:Countries]]

Turkiye

2007-03-24T21:48:26Z

Torry:

Black Panther Party

2007-03-24T21:45:57Z

Torry:

A terrorist group of radical Black people who wore leather jackets and carried disclosed weapons. This group started in Oakland California. They sold the little Mao book and were associated with communism.<ref>http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/ marxism.org</ref> They also ran prostitution rings.<ref>http://itwillbethundering.resist.ca/warrior_publications/fbicointelpro.html Warrior Publications</ref> In addition to their illegal activities, they made efforts to improve local African American communities and provided breakfasts to the poor. [[Huey Newton]] was their leader.

<references/>

Theodore Roosevelt

2007-03-24T21:44:02Z

Torry:

'''Theodore Roosevelt''', considered by many to be one of the greatest American Presidents, was the 26th [[President of the United States]]. He was born on October 27, 1858 at 28 East 20th Street in New York city. Although he had asthma he managed to work over it and become strong. He worked in both the Police Department and the Navy Department. When the [[Spanish-American War]] started he became a rough rider. Because of his well known assault on San Juan Hill and other patriotic acts he was nominated for Vice-President with incumbent William McKinley. When President McKinley was shot by a [[polish]] [[anarchist]], Roosevelt automatically became President. Because of his success in the presidency he was renominated by the Republican party to run for President. He successfully beat Democratic candidate Alton B. Parker in the election of 1904. When his term was up he supported Republican candidate and then Vice President [[William H. Taft]], but later he expressed disapproval of Taft's handling of the presidency and ran against him. He lost the Republican nomination to Taft but ran as an independent on the Bull Moose Progressive party. Both he and Taft lost to Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson]] in the election of 1912. He never ran for President again. He died age, 60 4 o'clock AM January 6, 1919.<ref> [[Encyclopedia of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt]] By Zachary Kent, Chicago Press </ref>

Ronald Wilson Reagan

2007-03-24T21:12:37Z

Torry:

[[Image:Gorbachev reagan bush.gif|right|250px|thumb]]
'''Ronald Wilson Reagan '''(February 6, 1911- June 5, 2004), was the fortieth [[President of the United States of America]] from 1981 to 1989, following [[Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]] and preceding [[Republican]] [[George H. W. Bush]]. Ronald Reagan is credited with leading America peacefully through the Cold War (except for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair), lowering taxes, and promoting a free economy. He was known affectionately to Americans as "The Gipper," harking back to a film where he was cast as All-American George Gip.[http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_bartlett/bartlett200310290853.asp]

In one of his most famous challenges to Soviet communism in Europe, Reagan gave a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin in which he said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan's economic policies became known as "Reaganomics" based the idea tax cuts will spur savings and investment. Reagan was strongly opposed to the concept of big government, advocating a reduction in the size and budget of the federal government. This economic policy resulted in the recession during the late 1980's and early 1990's that caused [[George H. W. Bush]] to loose to [[Clinton]] During his terms in office, he faced a divided Congress split between Republican and Democratic control for six of his eight years as President. Reagan was known for forging alliances with the Democratic Speaker of the House, [[Tip O'Neill]], among others, to effectively pass legislation.
==Early Life==
Reagan was born and raised in Illinois and attended Eureka College, where he quickly developed a reputation as a "jack of all trades", excelling in the areas of athletics and theater. In his first year at Eureka, where Reagan earned a degree in economics, the president of the college tried to cut back the faculty. Reagan immediately helped organize a student strike. Reagan enlisted in the military during World War II, but his eyesight was not good enough for combat duty. He used his acting skills to make military training films and promote the sale of "War Bonds. <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.obit/index.html</ref>.

Reagan became a radio sports announcer, and then a famous actor, leading the Screen Actors Guild. Ironically, Reagan was thus the only president to ever lead a [[labor union]], traditionally considered bastions of liberalism. Reagan himself was a registered Democrat well into the 1950's, but as head of the Screen Actors Guild he fought against communist infiltration. Peggy Noonan, wrote: ''Even in his zeal to purge the communist influence from Hollywood, he fought those who engaged in witch hunts and defended those who had been falsely accused of involvement.'' Reagan met his second wife, actress Nancy Davis, when she ended up on the "Black List" and came to him for help. [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2001/11/17/noonan_when_character_was_king]

==Governor of California==
In 1966, he was elected the 33rd Governor of California. In 1970, he was re-elected. But in 1974, he chose not to seek a third term. Achievements during his terms included:

*Fighting the People's Park protests, and restoring order to California's chaotic University campuses.

*Led a massive revision of California's massive public assistance programs, actually increasing benefits to the needy.

*Working well with the Democrats to forge consensus on a variety of issues.

*Opposing the Dos Rios Dam

==Presidency==
In 1968, Reagan was a late candidate for president in the Republican primaries. However, [[Richard Nixon]] easily won that nomination. In 1976, Reagan challenged Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination, before withdrawing his name from consideration. Reagan knew if he continued, he would take the nomination away from Ford, and forever be branded as a Party spoiler. This he did not want, so he signaled his wish to be removed from consideration, and gave a very effective speech at the convention in support of Ford. Then, in 1980, he beat [[George H. W. Bush]] in the Republican primaries, and went on to oppose [[Jimmy Carter]] (incumbent) in the general election with G.H.W. Bush as his running mate. A poor economy and the incumbent's failing to deal with several international crises aided Reagan. As he put it, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his." In the general election, he received 50.75% of the popular vote and 90.9% of the electoral.

Once in office, Reagan showed he was playing hardball. When the Federal [[Air Traffic Controllers]] struck illegally, Reagan gave them 48 hours before he fired all who hadn't gone back to work (11,359).

In 1984, Reagan won 49 out of 50 states' electoral votes, and the largest public vote in almost 100 years, 58.77%. During his second term, he helped end the [[Cold War]], with the help of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], and [[Pope John Paul II]] by recognizing the weakness of the Soviet economy, and simply spending them out of existence.

==Presidential Legacy==

Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative became popularly known as "Star Wars," the name given to it by critics because they thought it was pure fantasy like the popular George Lucas films. This plan was never actually fully instituted. Although billions of dollars have been spent on development, no space-based missile defense was tested successfully until 2006. While supporters of Reagan claim SDI gave the United States a large amount of leverage in its standoff with the [[Soviet Union]], many political scientists and historians note that Star Wars played a secondary role in the calculus of Soviet policy-making, where internal structural problems were paramount, but it should be noted that the threat the Soviet Union felt from the initiative was instrumental in making them step-up negotiations, according to many involved with diplomacy at the time. [[Henry Kissinger]] wrote: ''I know it's an axiomatic view of the Left around the world that missile defense is sinful, and that it's desirable to keep each nation as vulnerable as possible. But that's a debatable premise. The U.S. must defend itself against whoever has missiles that would threaten the United States. And you don't have to be able to name an enemy.'' [http://www.doublestandards.org/dreifus1.html]

Upon his death, Margaret Thatcher commented: ''As Prime Minister, I worked closely with Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly both before and after his presidency. And I have had time and cause to reflect on what made him a great president. Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm principles - and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively. When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively what to do. When his aides were preparing option papers for his decision, they were able to cut out entire rafts of proposals that they knew 'the Old Man' would never wear. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding. Yet his ideas, though clear, were never simplistic. He saw the many sides of truth. Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power and territorial expansion; but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform. Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow's 'evil empire'. But he realised that a man of goodwill might nonetheless emerge from within its dark corridors. So the President resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism began to collapse beneath the combined weight of these pressures and its own failures. And when a man of goodwill did emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere cooperation. Nothing was more typical of Ronald Reagan than that large-hearted magnanimity - and nothing was more American.'' [http://reagan2020.us/eulogies/thatcher.asp]

===Economy===

Fueled by an over spending Congress that steadfastly refused Reagan's budget proposals, the national debt increased 160% during his two terms in office. The economic growth that resulted from tax cuts made deficits as a percentage of GDP lower than what they had been in during the previous decade of stagflation.

===Foreign policy===

In 1985, after Reagan won reelection to his second term, the focus turned from reviving the domestic economy to several foreign policy matters which had been lingering throughout the decade. One such matter involved Iran, a long time ally of the Western Allies since 1941 that had experienced an Islamic Revolution in 1979 after President Carter announced [[Human Rights]] had superseded [[Containment]] as the primary focus of American foreign policy. Since 1980 Iran had been enmeshed in a brutal trench war with neighboring Iraq which was emerging as a potent military threat in the region to other allies. Members of the National Security Council staff, along with CIA Director [[William Casey]], persuaded Reagan much could be gained and several problems could be addressed simultaneously with an overture to Iran to restore relations.

The objective of the plan was fourfold (1) take steps to restore good relations with the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] which was becoming increasingly hostile to the West; (2) take measures to convince Iran that Israel could become a friend and ally; (3) insurance against Iraq becoming too strong which and become a threat to [[Kuwait]] or [[Saudi Arabia]]; (4) provide funding for other operations to continue the policy of containment in the Western Hemisphere, most notably [[Nicaragua]], and the violence the Soviet/Cuban/Nicaragua connection was creating in [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]].

There were humanitarian aspects to the proposal as well; (1) the Iran-Iraq War had stalemated for nearly six years and Reagan was advised that he was in the unique position as President to help facilitate bringing a senseless war with much suffering to an end; (2) the suffering of the people of the Central American Republics at the hands of Soviet inspired subversion which had in the decade of the 80s established a beachhead in North America; (3) Iran perhaps could be persuaded to use its good offices and influence hostage takers in Lebanon who had held several Western prisoners, many of the Christian Missionaries, for several years.

Reports had filtered back to Reagan that children as young as nine years old had been used by Iran to clear minefields. <ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/iran-iraq.htm Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), ''Iraqi Retreats, 1982-84''], Globalsecruity.org, retrieved 20 March 2007.</ref> In weighing Iraq's delicate Sunni/Shia balance and the growing threat of Iranian-sponsored terrorism, the NSC staff and Casey recognized the dangers of an Iraqi collapse as well as the urgent need to dissuade Iran from continuing its ruthless and inhumane tactics. <ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq53.pdf NSDD 139, 5 April 1984].</ref>

The Boleyn Amendment, a Vietnam era-style Congressional impingement on the legitimate foreign policy prerogatives of the Executive via the power of the purse, was used to deny Reagan's recommitment to the [[Truman Doctrine]] which had been adhered to by every President, Democratic and Republican alike since Truman, with the exception of [[President Carter]] who's [[human rights]] policy had brought one of the active belligerents, the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]], to power. In three of the active Soviet fronts, [[Afghanistan]], [[Nicaragua]], and [[El Salvador]], some Congressional Democratic leaders were openly sympathetic to Soviet foreign policy.<ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/591eifow.asp ''One Weekend in April, A Long Time Ago . . . What John Kerry thought about the Sandinista in Nicaragua''], Hugh Hewitt, The Weekly Standard, 09/09/2004.</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060331222819/www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/6/7/234527.shtml ''Kerry: 'I'm Proud I Stood Against Reagan''] Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff, 7 June 2004.</ref> So the decision was made to fund [[Containment]] of Soviet objectives on an active front in North America with sales of TOW missiles to Iran. Israel provided the TOWs because the Boleyn Amendment forbad direct US funding and it was a welcome opportunity for Israel to build bridges to a much needed friend in the Middle East.

===Cold War victory===
Reagan is credited for ending the Cold War in victory for the United States. Historian Tony Judt in ''Postwar'' credits Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, while the political scientist Jan Kubik presents a viewpoint that credits [[Pope John Paul II]][http://praguepost.com/articles/2007/02/28/letters-to-the-editor.php]. Other historians contend structural weaknesses within the Communist bloc meant Reagan's actions were inconsequential to the end of communism. This is the view adopted by Russians themselves, and many political historians, citing [''perestroika''] and [''glasnost''] as beginning an inevitable slow fading of central power, and a collapse by irreconcilable differences between the central Soviet [[Politburo]] and the constituent republics, especially the [[Ukraine]].<ref>David Remnick, "Lenin's Tomb</ref> In the end, the consensus seems to point to all of the above, that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union; Internal factors, religious pressure brought by the Pope, Gorbachev's "Perestrokia" and the united front of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, leading NATO and the West to imbed a missile defense system in Western Europe.

Columnist Cal Thomas wrote about it like this: ''He proved he was right about the big things. Faced with editorial denunciations at home and massive demonstrations in Europe against his plan to put missiles there to offset a Soviet threat, Reagan went ahead and did it anyway. The Soviets could not keep pace with the buildup or Reagan's proposed missile defense system (derided by critics as "Star Wars"). When those critics could not bring themselves to admit they were wrong, they unpersuasively claimed the Soviet Union fell under its own weight. More accurately, Reagan pushed it onto "the ash heap of history," with the able assistance of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. What Reagan did more than anything else - and it will be his lasting legacy - is replace despair with hope. Most people, even his detractors, felt a glow from being in his presence. He was the kindest, most gracious president I have met, and I have met them all since JFK. In his presence you felt he was interested in you and not himself. He was a good man.'' [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2004/06/07/ronald_reagans_wonderful_life]

Brian Mulroney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said of Reagan: ''"Some in the West during the early 1980s believed communism and democracy were equally valid and viable. This was the school of "moral equivalence." In contrast Ronald Reagan saw Soviet communism as a menace to be confronted in the genuine belief that its squalid underpinning would fall swiftly to the gathering winds of freedom. Provided, as he said, that NATO and the industrialized democracies stood firm and united. They did. And we know now who was right."'' [http://reagan2020.us/eulogies/mulroney.asp]

==Miscellaneous Facts==

*Reagan was the first and only labor leader and former President of an AFL-CIO union ever elceted US President.

*Reagan was the first and only divorced president.

*Reagan was a lifeguard for seven years growing up, and was said to have saved 77 people <ref>http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/reagan/stories/bio.part.one/index.html</ref>.

*Reagan was the first president to break the "[[Curse of Tippecanoe]]"

*At 69, Reagan was the oldest man elected to the presidency.

*The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is located in Simi Valley, California <ref>http://www.reaganfoundation.org/visitorguide/hours_directions.asp</ref>.

*Reagan's 1994 announcement that he had Alzheimer's Disease brought large amounts of public attention to the disease.

*Reagan loved jelly beans <ref>http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/pages/q&a/trivia.shtml</ref>. The blueberry flavor was made in his honor. [[Jelly Belly]] even created a [http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/pages/q&a/bean_art_gallery.shtml Ronald Reagan portrait out of jelly beans].

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040614-646317,00.html Time Magazine Article on ''The All-American President'']
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html White House Official Page]
*[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/ Reagan's Presidential Library]
*[http://imdb.com/name/nm0001654/ Actor Bio At IMDB]
*[http://www.ronaldreaganmemorial.com/ Official Memorial]

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Ronald Wilson Reagan

2007-03-24T21:10:25Z

Torry:

[[Image:Gorbachev reagan bush.gif|right|250px|thumb]]
'''Ronald Wilson Reagan '''(February 6, 1911- June 5, 2004), was the fortieth [[President of the United States of America]] from 1981 to 1989, following [[Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]] and preceding [[Republican]] [[George H. W. Bush]]. Ronald Reagan is credited with leading America peacefully through the Cold War, lowering taxes, promoting a free economy, and causing the end of [[communism]] in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He was known affectionately to Americans as "The Gipper," harking back to a film where he was cast as All-American George Gip.)[http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_bartlett/bartlett200310290853.asp]

In one of his most famous challenges to Soviet communism in Europe, Reagan gave a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin in which he said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan's economic policies became known as "Reaganomics" based the idea tax cuts will spur savings and investment. Reagan was strongly opposed to the concept of big government, advocating a reduction in the size and budget of the federal government. During his terms in office, he faced a divided Congress split between Republican and Democratic control for six of his eight years as President. Reagan was known for forging alliances with the Democratic Speaker of the House, [[Tip O'Neill]], among others, to effectively pass legislation.
==Early Life==
Reagan was born and raised in Illinois and attended Eureka College, where he quickly developed a reputation as a "jack of all trades", excelling in the areas of athletics and theater. In his first year at Eureka, where Reagan earned a degree in economics, the president of the college tried to cut back the faculty. Reagan immediately helped organize a student strike. Reagan enlisted in the military during World War II, but his eyesight was not good enough for combat duty. He used his acting skills to make military training films and promote the sale of "War Bonds. <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.obit/index.html</ref>.

Reagan became a radio sports announcer, and then a famous actor, leading the Screen Actors Guild. Ironically, Reagan was thus the only president to ever lead a [[labor union]], traditionally considered bastions of liberalism. Reagan himself was a registered Democrat well into the 1950's, but as head of the Screen Actors Guild he fought against communist infiltration. Peggy Noonan, wrote: ''Even in his zeal to purge the communist influence from Hollywood, he fought those who engaged in witch hunts and defended those who had been falsely accused of involvement.'' Reagan met his second wife, actress Nancy Davis, when she ended up on the "Black List" and came to him for help. [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2001/11/17/noonan_when_character_was_king]

==Governor of California==
In 1966, he was elected the 33rd Governor of California. In 1970, he was re-elected. But in 1974, he chose not to seek a third term. Achievements during his terms included:

*Fighting the People's Park protests, and restoring order to California's chaotic University campuses.

*Led a massive revision of California's massive public assistance programs, actually increasing benefits to the needy.

*Working well with the Democrats to forge consensus on a variety of issues.

*Opposing the Dos Rios Dam

==Presidency==
In 1968, Reagan was a late candidate for president in the Republican primaries. However, [[Richard Nixon]] easily won that nomination. In 1976, Reagan challenged Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination, before withdrawing his name from consideration. Reagan knew if he continued, he would take the nomination away from Ford, and forever be branded as a Party spoiler. This he did not want, so he signaled his wish to be removed from consideration, and gave a very effective speech at the convention in support of Ford. Then, in 1980, he beat [[George H. W. Bush]] in the Republican primaries, and went on to oppose [[Jimmy Carter]] (incumbent) in the general election with G.H.W. Bush as his running mate. A poor economy and the incumbent's failing to deal with several international crises aided Reagan. As he put it, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his." In the general election, he received 50.75% of the popular vote and 90.9% of the electoral.

Once in office, Reagan showed he was playing hardball. When the Federal [[Air Traffic Controllers]] struck illegally, Reagan gave them 48 hours before he fired all who hadn't gone back to work (11,359).

In 1984, Reagan won 49 out of 50 states' electoral votes, and the largest public vote in almost 100 years, 58.77%. During his second term, he helped end the [[Cold War]], with the help of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], and [[Pope John Paul II]] by recognizing the weakness of the Soviet economy, and simply spending them out of existence.

==Presidential Legacy==

Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative became popularly known as "Star Wars," the name given to it by critics because they thought it was pure fantasy like the popular George Lucas films. This plan was never actually fully instituted. Although billions of dollars have been spent on development, no space-based missile defense was tested successfully until 2006. While supporters of Reagan claim SDI gave the United States a large amount of leverage in its standoff with the [[Soviet Union]], many political scientists and historians note that Star Wars played a secondary role in the calculus of Soviet policy-making, where internal structural problems were paramount, but it should be noted that the threat the Soviet Union felt from the initiative was instrumental in making them step-up negotiations, according to many involved with diplomacy at the time. [[Henry Kissinger]] wrote: ''I know it's an axiomatic view of the Left around the world that missile defense is sinful, and that it's desirable to keep each nation as vulnerable as possible. But that's a debatable premise. The U.S. must defend itself against whoever has missiles that would threaten the United States. And you don't have to be able to name an enemy.'' [http://www.doublestandards.org/dreifus1.html]

Upon his death, Margaret Thatcher commented: ''As Prime Minister, I worked closely with Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly both before and after his presidency. And I have had time and cause to reflect on what made him a great president. Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm principles - and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively. When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively what to do. When his aides were preparing option papers for his decision, they were able to cut out entire rafts of proposals that they knew 'the Old Man' would never wear. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding. Yet his ideas, though clear, were never simplistic. He saw the many sides of truth. Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power and territorial expansion; but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform. Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow's 'evil empire'. But he realised that a man of goodwill might nonetheless emerge from within its dark corridors. So the President resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism began to collapse beneath the combined weight of these pressures and its own failures. And when a man of goodwill did emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere cooperation. Nothing was more typical of Ronald Reagan than that large-hearted magnanimity - and nothing was more American.'' [http://reagan2020.us/eulogies/thatcher.asp]

===Economy===

Fueled by an over spending Congress that steadfastly refused Reagan's budget proposals, the national debt increased 160% during his two terms in office. The economic growth that resulted from tax cuts made deficits as a percentage of GDP lower than what they had been in during the previous decade of stagflation.

===Foreign policy===

In 1985, after Reagan won reelection to his second term, the focus turned from reviving the domestic economy to several foreign policy matters which had been lingering throughout the decade. One such matter involved Iran, a long time ally of the Western Allies since 1941 that had experienced an Islamic Revolution in 1979 after President Carter announced [[Human Rights]] had superseded [[Containment]] as the primary focus of American foreign policy. Since 1980 Iran had been enmeshed in a brutal trench war with neighboring Iraq which was emerging as a potent military threat in the region to other allies. Members of the National Security Council staff, along with CIA Director [[William Casey]], persuaded Reagan much could be gained and several problems could be addressed simultaneously with an overture to Iran to restore relations.

The objective of the plan was fourfold (1) take steps to restore good relations with the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] which was becoming increasingly hostile to the West; (2) take measures to convince Iran that Israel could become a friend and ally; (3) insurance against Iraq becoming too strong which and become a threat to [[Kuwait]] or [[Saudi Arabia]]; (4) provide funding for other operations to continue the policy of containment in the Western Hemisphere, most notably [[Nicaragua]], and the violence the Soviet/Cuban/Nicaragua connection was creating in [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]].

There were humanitarian aspects to the proposal as well; (1) the Iran-Iraq War had stalemated for nearly six years and Reagan was advised that he was in the unique position as President to help facilitate bringing a senseless war with much suffering to an end; (2) the suffering of the people of the Central American Republics at the hands of Soviet inspired subversion which had in the decade of the 80s established a beachhead in North America; (3) Iran perhaps could be persuaded to use its good offices and influence hostage takers in Lebanon who had held several Western prisoners, many of the Christian Missionaries, for several years.

Reports had filtered back to Reagan that children as young as nine years old had been used by Iran to clear minefields. <ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/iran-iraq.htm Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), ''Iraqi Retreats, 1982-84''], Globalsecruity.org, retrieved 20 March 2007.</ref> In weighing Iraq's delicate Sunni/Shia balance and the growing threat of Iranian-sponsored terrorism, the NSC staff and Casey recognized the dangers of an Iraqi collapse as well as the urgent need to dissuade Iran from continuing its ruthless and inhumane tactics. <ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq53.pdf NSDD 139, 5 April 1984].</ref>

The Boleyn Amendment, a Vietnam era-style Congressional impingement on the legitimate foreign policy prerogatives of the Executive via the power of the purse, was used to deny Reagan's recommitment to the [[Truman Doctrine]] which had been adhered to by every President, Democratic and Republican alike since Truman, with the exception of [[President Carter]] who's [[human rights]] policy had brought one of the active belligerents, the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]], to power. In three of the active Soviet fronts, [[Afghanistan]], [[Nicaragua]], and [[El Salvador]], some Congressional Democratic leaders were openly sympathetic to Soviet foreign policy.<ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/591eifow.asp ''One Weekend in April, A Long Time Ago . . . What John Kerry thought about the Sandinista in Nicaragua''], Hugh Hewitt, The Weekly Standard, 09/09/2004.</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060331222819/www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/6/7/234527.shtml ''Kerry: 'I'm Proud I Stood Against Reagan''] Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff, 7 June 2004.</ref> So the decision was made to fund [[Containment]] of Soviet objectives on an active front in North America with sales of TOW missiles to Iran. Israel provided the TOWs because the Boleyn Amendment forbad direct US funding and it was a welcome opportunity for Israel to build bridges to a much needed friend in the Middle East.

===Cold War victory===
Reagan is credited for ending the Cold War in victory for the United States. Historian Tony Judt in ''Postwar'' credits Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, while the political scientist Jan Kubik presents a viewpoint that credits [[Pope John Paul II]][http://praguepost.com/articles/2007/02/28/letters-to-the-editor.php]. Other historians contend structural weaknesses within the Communist bloc meant Reagan's actions were inconsequential to the end of communism. This is the view adopted by Russians themselves, and many political historians, citing [''perestroika''] and [''glasnost''] as beginning an inevitable slow fading of central power, and a collapse by irreconcilable differences between the central Soviet [[Politburo]] and the constituent republics, especially the [[Ukraine]].<ref>David Remnick, "Lenin's Tomb</ref> In the end, the consensus seems to point to all of the above, that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union; Internal factors, religious pressure brought by the Pope, Gorbachev's "Perestrokia" and the united front of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, leading NATO and the West to imbed a missile defense system in Western Europe.

Columnist Cal Thomas wrote about it like this: ''He proved he was right about the big things. Faced with editorial denunciations at home and massive demonstrations in Europe against his plan to put missiles there to offset a Soviet threat, Reagan went ahead and did it anyway. The Soviets could not keep pace with the buildup or Reagan's proposed missile defense system (derided by critics as "Star Wars"). When those critics could not bring themselves to admit they were wrong, they unpersuasively claimed the Soviet Union fell under its own weight. More accurately, Reagan pushed it onto "the ash heap of history," with the able assistance of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. What Reagan did more than anything else - and it will be his lasting legacy - is replace despair with hope. Most people, even his detractors, felt a glow from being in his presence. He was the kindest, most gracious president I have met, and I have met them all since JFK. In his presence you felt he was interested in you and not himself. He was a good man.'' [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2004/06/07/ronald_reagans_wonderful_life]

Brian Mulroney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said of Reagan: ''"Some in the West during the early 1980s believed communism and democracy were equally valid and viable. This was the school of "moral equivalence." In contrast Ronald Reagan saw Soviet communism as a menace to be confronted in the genuine belief that its squalid underpinning would fall swiftly to the gathering winds of freedom. Provided, as he said, that NATO and the industrialized democracies stood firm and united. They did. And we know now who was right."'' [http://reagan2020.us/eulogies/mulroney.asp]

==Miscellaneous Facts==

*Reagan was the first and only labor leader and former President of an AFL-CIO union ever elceted US President.

*Reagan was the first and only divorced president.

*Reagan was a lifeguard for seven years growing up, and was said to have saved 77 people <ref>http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/reagan/stories/bio.part.one/index.html</ref>.

*Reagan was the first president to break the "[[Curse of Tippecanoe]]"

*At 69, Reagan was the oldest man elected to the presidency.

*The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is located in Simi Valley, California <ref>http://www.reaganfoundation.org/visitorguide/hours_directions.asp</ref>.

*Reagan's 1994 announcement that he had Alzheimer's Disease brought large amounts of public attention to the disease.

*Reagan loved jelly beans <ref>http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/pages/q&a/trivia.shtml</ref>. The blueberry flavor was made in his honor. [[Jelly Belly]] even created a [http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/pages/q&a/bean_art_gallery.shtml Ronald Reagan portrait out of jelly beans].

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040614-646317,00.html Time Magazine Article on ''The All-American President'']
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html White House Official Page]
*[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/ Reagan's Presidential Library]
*[http://imdb.com/name/nm0001654/ Actor Bio At IMDB]
*[http://www.ronaldreaganmemorial.com/ Official Memorial]

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Contras

2007-03-24T21:09:48Z

Torry:

{{stub}}The Contras were the anti-[[communist]] party of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under President [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras, leading to the Iran-Contra affair. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the illegal funding, is currently a senior correpsondant at the [[Fox News Corporation]]

Contras

2007-03-24T21:09:12Z

Torry:

{{stub}}The Contras were the anti-[[communist]] party of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under President [[Ronald Regan]] covertly supported the Contras, leading to the Iran-Contra affair. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the illegal funding, is currently a senior correpsondant at the [[Fox News Corporation]]

Creole

2007-03-24T21:07:58Z

Torry:

A creole is a person with ancestors from Europe who was born in either the West Indies or Latin America.

Creole languages result from a mixuture of Romance launguages and native languages.

Charles Darwin

2007-03-24T21:06:49Z

Torry:

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
Charles Darwin was a famous naturalist born in [[England]] to a Christian family on February 12, [[1809]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been generally accepted by biologists as the major mechanism for [[Theory of Evolution|evolution]]. The concept is that biological species develop over time via natural selection, branching from common origins. Outside of evolution in particular, he was regarded as an expert on barnacles as well as credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.

==Religious Beliefs==

Charles Darwin was a Christian up and through his famous five year voyage on the ''HMS Beagle''. But in the ensuing two years after returning to England (1836 to 1839; and in his late twenties) Darwin abandoned Christianity (1) and "had become a 'materialist' (more or less equivalent to an "atheist") (2). About twenty years later in 1859 (at the age of fifty) Darwin published his famous book ''The Origin of Species''. "In order not to hurt the feelings of his friends and wife, Darwin often used deistic language in his publications" (3). According to Darwin the "manifestly false history of the world" (4) as recorded in the Old Testament and New Testament miracles led him to reject Biblical veracity (5). Eminent Darwin biographer, Professor Janet Browne, sums up Darwin's views concerning religion: Darwin "mapped out a comparative evolution of the religious sense, proposing that religious belief was ultimately nothing more than a primitive urge to bestow a cause on otherwise inexplicable natural events...In short, he made no secret of his view that he did not believe religion to have any rational foundation at all" (6). When he died in 1882 at the age of seventy-three, Darwin was buried at Westminster Abbey next to Sir [[Isaac Newton]].

Though Darwin wrote of religion as a tribal survival strategy, he still believed that God was the ultimate lawgiver. His belief dwindled, and with the death of his daughter Annie in 1851, Darwin finally lost all faith in Christianity. He continued to help the local church with parish work, but on Sundays would go for a walk while his family attended church. He now thought it better to look at pain and suffering as the result of general laws rather than direct intervention by God. When asked about his religious views, he wrote that he had never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God, and that generally "an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind."

It is interesting that ''both'' of Darwin's grandfathers (the physician and poet Erasmus Darwin, and the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood) were members of the [[Lunar Society]], a private club devoted to science, philosophy, and free thinking based in [[Birmingham]], [[England]], which was largely responsible for starting the industrial revolution, and also numbered amongst its members the American scientist and politician Benjamin Franklin.

== External Links ==
[http://creationwiki.org/Darwin%27s_Illness Darwin's illness -CreationWiki]

== References ==
# Mayr, Ernst ''Growth of Biological Thought'' (1982:402).
# Mayr, Ernst ''One Long Argument'' (1991:75).
# Ibid. (1991:75).
# Barlow, Nora (editor) ''The Autobiography of Charles Darin'' (1958:85).
# Ibid. (1958:85-87).
# Browne, Janet ''Charles Darwin The Power of Place'' (2002:341)

[[Category:Biographies|Darwin, Charles]]

Patriot Act

2007-03-24T00:46:09Z

Torry:

{{stub}}
The '''Patriot Act''' (formally, the `Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001') was an act passed by the [[Republican]] [[congress]] following the 2001 attacks on World Trade Center. It removed a certain number of liberties from American citizens, including such things as the right of habeas corpus and the requirement for a search warrent; in addition, it allows the government to confiscate the property of any foreigner in the United States, or to ignore any foreign bank for any reason whatsoever, even if not security related.

The Patriot Act seems to indicate that safety holds a higher value than liberty, which is a very strong argument in favor of gun control, something that followers of the Patriot Act seem strangely opposed to.

==Links==
*[http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html Text of Patriot act]
*[http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17343res20031114.html discussion of Patriot Act]
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.03162: LIbrary of Congress info on Patriot Act]
*[http://www.ala.org/cfapps/archive.cfm?path=washoff/Patriotres.html view of American Library Association]
*[http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/01/patriot-games-terrorism-law-and.php view of the Jurist]

[[Category:United States law]]

American Indian Genocide

2007-03-24T00:43:51Z

Torry:

The United States, throughout its history, has repeatedly destroyed numerous Native American settlements and cultures. Some were directly assaulted by the military, while others, such as the Cherokee and the Nez Perce, were relocated from their homes to reservations. The state of Oklahoma was originally the territory of the Native Americans, but it too was later taken by the American government. Later in its history, the United States attempted to eliminate the culture of Native Americans by abducting their children and sending them to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their native language or practicing a native ritual.

Mao Zedong

2007-03-22T21:14:21Z

Torry:

Mao Zedong (correctly transliterated as ''Mao Tse-Tung'') lived from December 26, 1893 to Semptember 9, 1976. He was a [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]], and a founding member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in 1921.

Mao was the author of ''Quotations from Chairman Mao,'' published in 1966, informally known as "the little red book." During his lifetime, almost everyone in the People's Republic of China was expected to have a copy.

With the aid of [[Comintern]] operatives in the US Government subverting [[President Roosevelt]]'s vision of a post-War [[United Nations]] enforcing peace by "the four policemen" <ref>Townsend Hooper and Douglas Brinkley, [http://www.ninehundred.net/~jveon/fdrbook.html ''FDR and the Creation of the U.N.''] (New Haven, 2000).</ref><ref>[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm U.S. State Department], Office of the Historian, Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History 1937-1945, United Nations.</ref> Mao took control of the Chinese mainland and established the People's Republic of China. As the leader of China, Mao initiated the Great Leap Foreward, an economic plan intended to industrialize China's then largely rural economy. In the end it proved a failure, for it prevented the peasants from producing needed food, and over 20 million starved. Later, Mao instigated the Cultural Revolution, in which those questioned of disloyalty to the party were killed or humiliated in order to solidify Mao's control. Richard Nixon was the first United States president to meet with Mao, and thus the first to acknowlege the existence of the People's Republic of China, as opposed to Taiwan's Republic of China.

Although his family name ''Mao'' is the Chinese word for ''cat'', Mao Zedong did not like pets of any kind. However, his wife Jiang Qing -- who was generally considered responsible for the [[Cultural Revolution]] of 1966-1969 and the [[Right Economist Wind]] movement of 1970 -- insisted on keeping cats in their state residence in [[Beijing]], perhaps for superstitious reasons.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:China]]
[[Category:Political people|Zedong, Mao]]

Newt Gingrich

2007-03-22T01:30:40Z

Torry:

[[Image:Gingrich.jpg|right|Newt Gingrich.]]
Newt Gingrich (born 6/17/1943) is a conservative politician. Gingrich served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and is generally credited with being the mastermind of the morality-based Republican Revolution of 1994. Gingrich's accomplishments include a number of showdowns with [[President]] [[William Jefferson Clinton|Bill Clinton.]]

In 1997 a strong majority of Americans believed Gingrich should have been replaced as Speaker of the House, and he held an all-time low job approval rating of 28%.[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/04/18/poll/(1)]. Gingrich was forced out of the Republican leadership as a result of the poor Republican performance in the 1998 election, the only mid-term election in a president's second term in the last 60 years where the opposition party failed to gain seats until 2006.

The conservative politician is now thought to be positioning himself for the 2008 presidential race.

Newt Gingrich has publicly admitted to having been engaged in an extra-marital sexual relationship during the period he was pushing for Clinton's impeachment. For this he has been widely labelled a hypocrite.

== Personal Life ==

In 1962, Gingrich married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old; she was seven years his senior at 26 years old. They had two daughters together.

Gingrich divorced Jackie Battley in 1980. Battley has charged that Gingrich discussed the terms of their divorce settlement while she was in the hospital after cancer surgery. According to L.H. Carter, his campaign treasurer, Newt said of Battley: "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the President. And besides, she has cancer." He refused to pay alimony or child support.

Gingrich married Marianne Ginther in late 1981. Marianne was quoted in a 1995 article in Vanity Fair as saying: "I don't want him to be president and I don't think he should be."They divorced in 1999, the same year Gingrich had an extramarital affair with a then 33-year old member of his Congressional staff, Callista Bisek. This happened during the same time Newt Gingrich was condemning President Bill Clinton for his affair with a staffer Monica Levinsky. Newt Gingrich refused to discuss the affair until he admitted it in March, 2007. According to several newspaper editorials, the electability of Gingrich for president is more than questionable, especially on a Republican party ticket — with a party that emphasizes family values and Christianity as some of their strongest assets.

By August 2000, Gingrich married Bisek. Gingrich resides in Virginia with Bisek, who appears with him on the back cover of his book "Winning the Future".

The Gingrich family includes two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren.

[[Category:Political people|Gingrich, Newt]]

Adultery

2007-03-22T01:29:30Z

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Adultery is the sin of "knowing" or "laying with" someone other than your husband or wife. The Bible forbids adultery in the [[Ten Commandments]]. The punishment for adultery, according the Bible, should be death. Many prominent American politicians have been accused of adultery or exposed as adulterers, such as [[Newt Gingrich]].

Adultery

2007-03-22T01:29:05Z

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Barack Hussein Obama

2007-03-22T01:22:44Z

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Barack Obama is an African American Democratic Senator from Illinois, elected to the United States Senate in 2004 after serving as a state Senator. He is a Democratic front-runner for the 2008 United States Presidential election. He has been criticized as being politically inexperienced, although he has retorted showing that some of the greatest presidents in American history were criticized for the same reason. He often speaks about his father's African descent and has written [[The Audacity of Hope]], a national bestseller, published in late 2006.

== Personal Life ==
Obama was born in [[Hawaii]] on August 4, 1961. His father was a [[Kenya|Kenyan]] former farmer, and his mother a white US citizen from [[Kansas]]. His parents divorced when he was two, and Obama's mother remarried to an [[Indonesia|Indonesian]] man and relocated the family to [[Jakarta]]. From age ten he lived in Hawaii with his maternal grandparents. He completed high school in 1979. Obama has a law degree from [[Harvard University]] and a BA from [[Columbia University]]. Until he entered politics in the 1990s, he was a senior lecturer in [[Constitution|constitutional]] law at the [[University of Chicago]].

[[Category:Political people|Obama, Barack]]

Conservative

2007-03-22T01:21:06Z

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Conservative

2007-03-22T01:14:32Z

Torry:

A '''conservative''' is one who adheres to principles of limited government, personal responsibility and moral virtue. He or she may agree with the statement in George Washington's [[Farewell Address]] that "religion and morality are indispensable supports" to political prosperity.<ref>http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/49.htm</ref> Conservatism arose in the 19th century as a response to [[liberalism]], particularly as manifested in the [[French Revolution]].

== What is a Conservative? ==

Jonah Goldberg wrote a excellent piece on this in [[National Review]] Which is quoted, in part, below...

"In the United States, conservatives are generally characterized by the following beliefs:

# A deep suspicion of the power of the state.
# A dislike of laws limiting the economic power of the wealthy.
# A belief in established institutions and hierarchies.
# Skepticism about the idea of progress.
# Elitism.

Points 2, 4, 5, and 6 run obviously counter to the idea that things can ever be perfectly harmonious. Preferring liberty over equality means preferring inequalities in some circumstances. Acceptance of established institutions and hierarchies is obviously anathema to those seeking an organic balance where everyone fulfills their destiny equally and happily. Ditto acceptance of elitism, which is simply the belief that at the end of the day there are some people who are going to be better at a given thing than other people, and education, welfare, and other “interventions” by the state won’t change that. In other words, point 1. As for point 5, this runs against the grain of Hegel-based worldviews that assume that merely ripping pages off a calendar gets us closer to the eschatological kewpie doll at the End of Days.

All that leaves is point 3, patriotism. Now, patriotism and nationalism are very different things and there are many people on the right and left who think nationalism is definitionally conservative or right-wing. This is nonsense on very tall stilts. Patriotism, however is merely the devotion to a set of ideals, rooted in history, and attached to a specific place. And once again we are spun back to [[Hayek]]. To a certain extent patriotism is conservatism, in the same way that being a [[Christian]] involves some level of conservatism. It is a devotion to a set of principles set forth in the past and carried forward to today and, hopefully, tomorrow. (I wish it weren’t necessary to point out that this is a non-partisan point: Patriotic [[liberals]] are holding dear some aspects of our past as well.) What we call patriotism is often merely the content we use to fill-up the amoral conservatism discussed above. Axiomatically, if you are unwilling to conserve any of the institutions, customs, traditions, or principles inherent to this country you simply aren’t patriotic and, as a side note, the more you think the [[United Nations]] is the savior of the world, the less patriotic you are."

[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWMxNWNiNDJkY2JmNTExY2E1MzdkYWU3MWU1MTBiOGU=]

In the United Kingdom the present parliamentary opposition party is called the Conservative party [http://www.conservatives.com]and as it's name suggests hold traditional conservative views. Its current leader is [[David Cameron]]. In politcal policy the UK Conservatives are more closely aligned to the US Democrats, despite them being the most right of the main 3 parties.

== References ==

Conservative party UK <http://www.conservatives.com/>
[[Category:Politics]]

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

2007-03-22T01:13:14Z

Torry:

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the USSR, the primary member of which was [[Russia]],, was established by [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s [[Bolshevik]] Party in 1922 following the overthrow of the Tsar and the [[Russian Civil War]]. It allowed one central government under Lenin to control many socialized republics. Upon Lenin's death, a power struggle insued between Leon Trotsky and [[Joseph Stalin]], two influential officials during Lenin's tenure. Stalin eventually gained the upper hand in the fight, and ostracized [[Trotsky]] to [[Mexico]]. The USSR became infamous for Joseph Stalin's violations of human rights and eventually began to collapse in the 1980s due to [[Mikhael Gorbachev]] moving towards Glasnost and easing the hard line communism that had been in place for the past half a century. The USSR was formally dissipated in 1991 by [[Boris Yeltsin]].

[[Category:History]]

19th century

2007-03-22T01:11:50Z

Torry:

The '''19th century''' was the time period between 1800 and 1901. It was a busy time, because lots of things were going on at once. For example, there was the [[Civil War]], the [[American Indian Genocide]], the [[Mexican War]], and the [[Spanish-American War]], all in the 19th century. The 19th century was also the time of [[cowboy]]s and [[Indian]]s in the West, and the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the East.

[[Britain]] was the most powerful nation for the whole of the 19th century.

Atheism

2007-03-20T23:11:03Z

Torry:

Atheism is disbelief in the existence of a [[God|god]] or gods.

Atheism is a worldview based in reason and rationality rather than myth. Many people have argued that there really should be no need for a term like atheism, citing, for example, that there's no comparable term for someone who doesn't believe in astrology. Rather, it is argued, atheism should be the considered the norm and religious faith regarded as peculiar. Exactly why religion has persisted till modern times is a question of considerable debate, however, no consensus answer has emerged.

The basis of atheist ideology, in most cases, is the concept that an idea must be proven or validated before it ought to be accepted. Supernatural claims, by definition, cannot be validated, and thus atheist do not believe them. There are varieties of atheist: some, called "weak atheists," do not believe in the supernatural becase they lack proof, while others, called "strong atheists," do not believe in the supernatural becase they claim it to be impossible.

Well-known Atheists include [[Stephen Hawking]], [[Stephen Jay Gould]], [[Carl Sagan]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Douglas Adams]], [[William Borden]],[[Sam Harris]], [[Jeremey Alliadiaere]], [[Gary Neville]] and [[Ricky Gervais]].

== Atheist morality ==

Atheists often base their [[moral code]] upon [[emotion]], [[experience]], empirically derived ethics, or some combination thereof.{{fact}} It is important to note, however, that just as many religions disagree on specific moral points, and there is sharp disagreement within many religions (e.g. denominational disputes within Christianity), atheists differ substantially from each other in the details of their moral beliefs. Thus, it is difficult at best to summarize the beliefs of the "average atheist."

Atheists typically hold that no religious text can be our only source of morality although all of them may contain useful ideas or principles. As atheists do not believe in any form of deity, books purported to be based upon the wishes of such deities are inherently suspect. Additionally, many atheists point out that all religious texts contain, and often ascribe to God, extremely immoral acts such as the Israelite expulsion of heathen nations from Canaan (i.e. [[ethnic cleansing]]), the stoning of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gay/long.htm homosexuals] to death, questionable treatment of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/19.html#1 women] and the institution of [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/slavery.html slavery]. Additionally, atheists often point to a large number of prominent [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html contradictions] present in the bible and other religious texts. The presence of such contradictions challenges claims that these works are the infallible word of God.

Atheists sometimes subscribe to the secular humanist idea that it is far more desirable to do what is right because you believe that it is right, rather than because you fear divine punishment or desire divine reward. This view is illustrated by celebrated atheist [[Albert Einstein]]:

:“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death”.

Atheists sometimes condemn religious desires for exclusive reward (and the punishment of others) such as are found in all religious texts.

== Origins ==

An atheist would claim that Atheism has existed for as long as man. That man evolved, then Religion was invented by man.

A Christian would claim it can be traced back to specific date, as Adam and Eve believed in God so at some point somebody must have stopped believing.

=== Christian View of Origins ===

It is difficult to trace the origins of atheism as a result of the incomplete historic record. It is known that ancient Greece produced a theory of materialism as early as the 5th century BC. Materialism is a philosophical position that the material is all that exists. Therefore, it automatically excludes immaterial beings. In addition to materialism the Greeks also considered Spiritualism, in which the material world is an illusion and only spirit exists, as well as dualism, in which both the material and the spiritual exist (e.g. Christianity). It is important to note that while many atheists are strict materialists, some are not. As an example, some philosophical systems generally regarded as religions (i.e. Buddhism) lack deities and thus could be regarded as "atheistic faiths," or forms of non-materialistic atheism. In any case, it is likely impossible to determine the true origins of atheism as it was presumably the default belief of most humans prior to the development of religion.

The writer of the Book of Psalms knew of atheists and atheism and registered disapproval in Psalm 14: "The Fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." The book of Psalms precedes the 5th century BC by hundreds of years {{fact}}.

== Prejudice Against Atheists ==
Research by Penny Edgell, Joseph Gerteis and Douglas Hartman in the American Sociological Review [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asoca/asr/2006/00000071/00000002/art00003 indicates] that most Americans would be more willing to vote for a gay or Muslim presidential candidate than an atheist. The same study indicates that 47.6% of Americans would disapprove of their child marrying an atheist. More recent [http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=26611&pg=1 Gallup polls] confirm this finding. In addition to discrimination in voting practices and marriage, George H.W. Bush has previously [http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/ghwbush.htm stated] that he does not believe atheists should be considered citizens of the United States.

However this is not the case around the world, in the Great Britain 2001 census 15.5% of the population identify themselves as having no religious beliefs [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293 2001 Census].

== The Problem of Evil==

One argument against belief in all-powerful entities ('gods') is the problem of evil. First identified by the philosopher and materialist Epicurus (341-270 BC), this problem points out the difficulty created by the mere existence of evil:

:Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
:Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent.
:Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
:Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

A number of responses to this logical paradox have been put forth including those which assert human ignorance as the culprit, the concept of free will and the specific writings in some faiths which discuss the co-existence of good and evil (such as the book of Job in the Christian and Jewish faiths).[http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/evil-log.htm] Many Atheists, however, do not regard such evasions as convincing solutions to the underlying problem.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Greece

2007-03-20T23:04:32Z

Torry:

The collective term for the [[civilization|civilizations]] of the Greek subcontinent. It is now a [[Greece (Country)|developing country]]. Ancient Greece had a lot of influence on many of today's cultural achievements, like democracy and the art of debating. The ancient Greeks were pagans, believing in their own pantheon of numerous gods.

==See Also==
[[Greco-Persian Wars]]

{{stub2}}
[[Category:Country]]

Pandora

2007-03-20T23:03:36Z

Torry: New page: In Greek mythology, Pandora was a woman entrusted by the Gods with a box, and told never to open it. However, due to what the story calls feminine curiosity, she did open the box, and resu...

In Greek mythology, Pandora was a woman entrusted by the Gods with a box, and told never to open it. However, due to what the story calls feminine curiosity, she did open the box, and resultingly let loose from it all the misfortunes that befall man (such as greed and death).

Evil

2007-03-20T23:01:57Z

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'''Evil''' is defined as harmful, immoral, or extremely unpleasant. It is the opposite of [[goodness]]. What is considered evil varies among civilizations, but murder and rape are considered by most societies to be an example of evil.

According to Christian beliefs, evil entered the world when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil<ref>Genesis 3:6-7</ref>. This mirrors the ancient Greek story of [[Pandora]].

== References ==
<references />

Omnipotence

2007-03-20T22:59:48Z

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'''Omnipotence''' is the ability to do absolutely anything. It is usually ascribed to [[God]]

Some [[atheist]]s have argued that omnipotence is a paradox, because if [[God]] is omnipotent, He both can and cannot make a rock so large that He cannot pick it up.

A common counter is that [[God]] can do anything within His nature; it is not in [[God]]'s nature to create such a rock, so He would not do so. However, this is a contradiction of the definition of omnipotence.

Sikhism

2007-03-20T22:58:37Z

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Sikhism was founded in the 16th century in the [[Punjab]] district of what is now [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. It was founded by [[Guru Nanak]] and is based on his teachings, and those of the 9 Sikh gurus who followed him.

Sikhism is a [[monotheistic]] religion, though not in the Western sense, as it purports an impersonal universal truth to which humans must strive to return rather than an actual being to whom humans owe obedience. It stresses the importance of doing good actions rather than merely carrying out rituals. <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/]</ref>

==References==

<div class="references-small"><references/></div>

==External links==

*[http://www.sikhs.org/] Official site
*[http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1377927,00.html] Critical press article

[[Category:Religion]]

Mao Zedong

2007-03-20T22:56:02Z

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Mao Zedong (correctly transliterated as ''Mao Tse-Tung'') lived from December 26, 1893 to Semptember 9, 1976. He was a [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]], and a founding member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in 1921.

Mao was the author of ''Quotations from Chairman Mao,'' published in 1966, informally known as "the little red book." During his lifetime, almost everyone in the People's Republic of China was expected to have a copy. After reaching a general truce with the Chinese Nationalist forces during WWII, Mao eventually lead the Communists to victory, establishing the People's Republic of China and spurring the Nationalists to relocate to Taiwan (formerly Formosa). As the leader of China, Mao initiated the Great Leap Foreward, an economic plan intended to industrialize China's then largely rural economy. In the end it proved a failure, for it prevented the peasants from producing needed food, and oer 20 million starved. Later, Mao instigated the Cultural Revolution, in which those questioned of disloyalty to the party were killed or humiliated in order to solidify Mao's control. Richard Nixon was the first United States president to meet with Mao, and thus the first to acknowlege the existence of the People's Republic of China, as opposed to Taiwan's Republic of China.

Although his family name ''Mao'' is the Chinese word for ''cat'', Mao Zedong did not like pets of any kind. However, his wife Jiang Qing -- who was generally considered responsible for the [[Cultural Revolution]] of 1966-1969 and the [[Right Economist Wind]] movement of 1970 -- insisted on keeping cats in their state residence in [[Beijing]], perhaps for superstitious reasons.

[[Category:China]]
[[Category:Political people|Zedong, Mao]]

American Indian Genocide

2007-03-20T22:48:35Z

Torry: A reference to the United State's killing of Native Americans

The United States, throughout its history, has repeatedly destroyed numerous Native American settlements and cultures. Some were directly assaulted by the military, while others, such as the Cherokee and the Nez Perce, were relocated from their homes to reservations. The state of Oklahoma was originally the territory of the Native Americans, but it too was later taken by Americans. Later in its history, the United States attempted to eliminate the culture of Native Americans by abducting their children and sending them to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their native language or practicing a native ritual.

19th century

2007-03-20T22:42:42Z

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The '''19th century''' was the time period between 1800 and 1901. It was a busy time, because lots of things were going on at once. For example, there was the [[Civil War]], the American Indian Genocide, the [[Mexican War]], and the [[Spanish-American War]], all in the 19th century. The 19th century was also the time of [[cowboy]]s and [[Indian]]s in the West, and the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the East.

[[Britain]] was the most powerful nation for the whole of the 19th century.

Socialism

2007-03-20T22:41:21Z

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Born out of the deprivations suffered by the urban poor in proto-capitalist 19th century Europe, socialism is an economic and political ideology that stresses the rights of the many over the privileges of the few. Politically, socialism is democratic and has been responsible for the extension of the franchise to all adult citizens. As an economic theory, socialism calls for the redistribution of wealth. This may be achieved indirectly via taxation of private wealth coupled with progressive social policy or directly via nationalisation and public ownership.

Although socialist ideas such as the provision of unemployment benefit, state pensions, universal healthcare, and state control of key industries have been common throughout the developed world in the modern era, the [[United States]] has tended to reject socialism as an ideological position. In other parts of the world, such as Europe, Africa, Asia, and South and Central America, there has generally been more explicit support for socialism as a doctrine, and socialist parties have been among the most successful political forces of the last 100 years. This correlates with a rise in atheism, although some ideas in religion, such as the society of very early Christianity, have shown similarity to socialism, as shown by Acts 2:44. Arnold Toynbee, the Britush historian, has responded to this,

:"the Marxian excerpt from a Christian Socialism is an experiment which is doomed to failure because it has denied itself the aid of the spiritual power which alone is capable of making Socialism a success. ….‘Christianity’, they say, ‘is the opiate of the People’; and, in the [[Soviet Union]]… Christianity or of any other theistic religion have been debarred… from admission to membership of the All-Union Communist Party. In fact, Communism has been definitely and militantly anti-Christian.

Thus the campaign against Christianity which is to-day an integral part of the propaganda of Marxian Socialism is a challenge to the living generation of Christians …we latter-day Christians may still turn a Marxian attack upon Christianity to good account … a re-awakening of the Christian social conscience has been the one great positive practical achievement of Karl Marx” <ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585-586, Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity.</ref>

[[Marx, Karl|Karl Marx]] considered socialism to be a transitory stage between capitalism and communism. In his view, socialism is summed up by the expression: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." A major criticism of socialism is that it infringes individual rights in favour of the populace. In a very real sense, politics in the western world throughout the 20th century was shaped by the conflict between socialist and capitalist governmental policies.

Although socialist parties are common in Europe, the leading examples all currently embrace some free enterprise, individual property rights and certain other aspects of capitalism.

Leading European Socialists are very critical of America<ref>[http://www.pes.org/content/view/666/74/lang,en/]</ref>.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Economics]]