Discussion Group Meeting Wed. Sept. 5 (evening)

[MyPenRye]

Hi Folks,

Our first meeting will take place Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in a Thai restaurant near Kad Suan Kaew. Food served is mostly Thai.

Topic: What should be done to secure the world against the threat of terrorism?

Come and share your personal experience(s) or insights on this topic and meet new people. We have people of all ages, races, genders, and opinions. Although these meetings cater to English-speakers (and those fluent in English), people who are not so ... fluent can attend as listeners and occasional participants, if they are interested. A good dictionary --or friend who is bilingual-- is recommended!

Please send me a message before Monday, so I can tell you where it will take place. I need to make reservations.

If you know of anyone interested, invite them and let me know.

Thanks.

Pierre

Edited August 29, 2007 by MyPenRye

[Blinky Bill]

What should be done to secure the world against the threat of terrorism?

Get rid of GWB!!

[XiengHai]

wish i can be in Chiangmai so i could attend, maybe i should send my friend and she can talk on my behalf, but since i cant attend:

the threat of terrorism is soley based on One religion and One religion only

get rid of this one religion and the threat of terrorism goes with it

this is the outcome when u have a religion soley based on faith and faith alone, faith blinds ppl in thinking they are right no matter what, it blinds them to debate, and blinds them from logic

once u get away from logic and the result of logic, which is the truth, then that person becomes very dangerous, they start flying airplanes into buildings

im speaking in the broad sense that is

[mcgriffith]

I give my vote....to BOTH posters!

Dubya's gotta go.

And Orthodoxy (specifically religious orthodoxy) will be the death of us all.

Take OFF your veils, talismans, crosses and other voodoo accoutrements....

Drink a Breeze, and chill out, people!

McG

Edited August 29, 2007 by mcgriffith

[PeaceBlondie]

Uhhm, the discussion doesn't start until next Wednesday, and it's not .....oh, well.

[Dustoff]

I give my vote....to BOTH posters!

Dubya's gotta go.

And Orthodoxy (specifically religious orthodoxy) will be the death of us all.

Take OFF your veils, talismans, crosses and other voodoo accoutrements....

Drink a Breeze, and chill out, people!

McG

Right ON, dudes!

While this feels like a bit of a troll and will likely draw endless 'wingers', I have to say that I am as unlikely to to particpate in some group to discuss the latest buzzword for reactions to mankind's inhumanity to man as I am to go to a UFO covention where everyone is asking, "You have seen them, right? Them aliens walking among us?"

IMHO, we gotta drop our superstitions, beliefs in supernatural beings and our sad desire to seek out leaders who unfailingly lead us down the garden path to support their own power/greed agendas.

Thanks anyway but I got no need to seek out depressing/meaningless discussions about some narrow vision when there is so much to learn about how I may get my own act together and further develop my own compassion for my own kind.

"One religion and one religion only"..

[Cyberstar]

Is smoking allowed at those discussion meetings?

[ratchabuild]

Is smoking allowed at those discussion meetings?

How many are we likely to get? I am in Chiang Mai for six weeks setting up a coffeeshop and would be pleased to look in. Its nice to be able to socialise. The premises are bought just got to start it off and perhaps its good to meet some falangs who may be future customers. It will also have real italian ice cream..........sorry should not advertise. At least I have not said where it is.

Edited August 29, 2007 by ratchabuild

[JimsKnight]

I used to walk past the place when I lived near there. It's a nice indoor/outdoor cafe near the farang tower blocks.

Yeah you can smoke there (if it's the outside bit).

Be cool.

[Ulysses G.]

What should be done to secure the world against the threat of terrorism?

Get rid of GWB!!

...put all the "moderate" Muslims in Guantanemo until they speak out against suicide bombs!

[Sanpatong]

1. Redefine the discussion: There will always be terrorism of some kind, somewhere. There always has been and there always will be. There is no thing you can do to stop that. Acknowledge that the reason you made terrorism a discussion topic is because of Islamic Fundementalist Terrorism specifically. Acknowledge that you don't care about any other kind of terrorism, or at best see it as a law enforcement issue. This is step one.

2. Now that the topic is related to Islam, make it clear that Islam is not the enemy in and of itself. Stop blurring the lines. Don't invade and occupy Muslim countries under the pretext of counter-terrorism, because it only increases terrorism. Also recognize that a lot of terrorism is NOT primarily religiously inspired but a far more basic "we want you out of what we consider our land". Need look no further than Palestine, or Southern Thailand for that matter; Muslims who are not Yawi speaking Malays have no issue with Thailand as it is today and respect and love the King. This is the vast majority of Muslims, and they live all over Thailand including Chiang Mai. They're in fact rather like Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia; a rather friendly bunch by and large.

3. Note that more secular, liberal Muslims are the FIRST targets of the religious fundamentalists. They actually have the most to lose. Support them,and the Muslim faith in general. Make terrorism a basic law enforcement issue on the fringes of society. Recognize that the more extreme and violent they get, the more they alienate themselves from the mainstream.

4. Don't confuse supporting 'moderate Muslims' with blindly supporting feudal regimes simply because the fat pigs are just as shit scared of fundamentalists as you are. Need not look further than Saudi Arabia. You tried that in Iran and look what happened.

CONCLUSION: Having this discussion at all may SEEM on the surface to be rather pointless; what difference is it going to make on a global political scale. But that would be WRONG, because there's a very clear thing everyone can do: Support and respect regular Muslim people, yes right here in Chiang Mai, and encourage people (incl. Thais) to get to know them, eat at the restaurants, perhaps support religious celebrations especially if you live in a Muslim area.

Edited August 30, 2007 by Sanpatong

[WaiWai]

there's a very clear thing everyone can do: Support and respect regular Muslim people, yes right here in Chiang Mai, and encourage people (incl. Thais) to get to know them, eat at the restaurants, perhaps support religious celebrations especially if you live in a Muslim area.

Right on.

[Donnyboy]

I give my vote....to BOTH posters!

Dubya's gotta go.

And Orthodoxy (specifically religious orthodoxy) will be the death of us all.

Take OFF your veils, talismans, crosses and other voodoo accoutrements....

Drink a Breeze, and chill out, people!

McG

totally agree McG apart from the Breeze part

[engineer]

wish i can be in Chiangmai so i could attend, maybe i should send my friend and she can talk on my behalf, but since i cant attend:

the threat of terrorism is soley based on One religion and One religion only

get rid of this one religion and the threat of terrorism goes with it

this is the outcome when u have a religion soley based on faith and faith alone, faith blinds ppl in thinking they are right no matter what, it blinds them to debate, and blinds them from logic

once u get away from logic and the result of logic, which is the truth, then that person becomes very dangerous, they start flying airplanes into buildings

im speaking in the broad sense that is

I guess you are referring to Christanity ?

If not , why no reference to Timothy McVeigh and his actions ?

After seeing the recent CNN report ' Gods warriors ' they are all equally to blame .

Its not any particular religion that is to blame , although if you belong to and support one militant branch of any religion it is easy to point the finger of blame at another.

I think this posting should be pulled because it will rapidly become a thread for any bigot with an axe to grind against any particular religion to spew hate and I believe that is against forum rules.

[Prakanong]

wish i can be in Chiangmai so i could attend, maybe i should send my friend and she can talk on my behalf, but since i cant attend:

the threat of terrorism is soley based on One religion and One religion only

get rid of this one religion and the threat of terrorism goes with it

this is the outcome when u have a religion soley based on faith and faith alone, faith blinds ppl in thinking they are right no matter what, it blinds them to debate, and blinds them from logic

once u get away from logic and the result of logic, which is the truth, then that person becomes very dangerous, they start flying airplanes into buildings

im speaking in the broad sense that is

Is all religion not based on faith - its certainly not based on fact.

Why one religion - what religion were the Nationalists in Northern Ireland and the Unionists?

What about state terrorism - some would say Israel is a perpetrator of that?

What about Marxist terrorists - what religion do they follow?

Your arguments are a bit silly and lack any real thought and are stuck in one point in time.

[Prakanong]

Is smoking allowed at those discussion meetings?

Some would say some posters have been smoking something

[meadish_sweetball]

Thaivisa is not the right board for discussing world politics.

As senior posters will remember, it has been tried several times before, but the outcome is always a virtual trench war with us Mods trying to figure out which severed limbs to attach to which bloodied corpse before we end up having to close the topic and issue warnings for flaming.

This is not to negate that the topic itself deserves to be discussed, so I hope those who are interested will find their way to the real-life discussion that is specifically set up for that purpose.

But this topic is now closed.