Comments by "Aasif Azimabadi" (@aasifazimabadi786) on "Academy of Ideas"
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As America is the new Rome, it is rather "fitting" how this nation transformed from a republic into an empire, plunging deeper and deeper into social, economic, political, and most certainly moral bankruptcy. What was done in 1933 (FDR's banking holiday, the great gold confiscation, and the subsequent dollar devaluation from $20 to $35 per ounce), 1965 (the removal of silver from dimes, quarters, and halves), 1971 (the end of the gold standard) and 1982 (the removal of copper from pennies), and of course the larger trajectory from 1913 (the establishment of the Federal Reserve) to the present, does have great parallels to Rome's crisis of the Third Century.
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I wish I could be as enthused with the Republicans as you are, Jary (I once was, several years ago, maybe in 2016 when I thought that the media hated Trump and Alex Jones convinced me to vote for him) but as I see it, Trump and Biden are part of that decline, one that probably began with the assassination of JFK in 1963 (if not earlier, although the creation of the Federal Reserve 50 years earlier could also be construed as contributing to this). Imagine that we are in a car headed for a crash over some cliff. Trump continued the ride with some brakes, whereas Biden pushed the accelerator, the way Obama had (except more like Mr. Magoo). Nothing truly changed between the Trump and Obama regimes; the military-industrial complex continued, the Federal Reserve continued to print money, and civil liberties continued to be violated in the aftermath of the so-called "Patriot Act" from 2001. The leftists are far more evil, but the right-wing seems to do more talk than action about reversing this course.
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Did the video claim that only atheists are mentally ill? I don’t think so, Edith. He was trying to talk about the therapeutic nature of spirituality. When I almost embraced the ideas of Christopher Hitchens and Ibn Warraq back in grad school, I almost became a nihilist. My re-discovery of religion helped cure me of this affliction. Atheism is not the only cause of mental illness, but I don’t see it as particularly beneficial to mental health. Consider the suicide taboo. Schopenhauer was an atheist philosopher, and he threw that taboo out the window. Josef Stalin might have been more restrained in his handling of the USSR had he believed in God. While Schopenhauer and Stalin are extreme examples, atheism tends to descend into some kind of slippery slope. To sum up, atheists are prone to nihilism. While some religious people can be mentally ill, they are suffering from a different mental illness than this particular video is addressing. If life is absurd, then you will do absurd things. If it has a meaning, however, you will generally have some deterrents against psychopathy.
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Sadly, it probably will, but maybe it's not so sad. If this is a world without the British monarchy, for example, then that would be a very good thing. I am reminded of when Gandhi was asked about his thoughts on Western civilisation by a journalist, and most of us here know what his reaction was... Maybe civilisation is just an illusion, a maya / dream, just like this temporal existence. I'm not a Hindu, but this is not the real life. This is a test. Nevertheless, God willing, let us strive to do good things and leave the world better place than how we found it.
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@lamontfaulkner5090 My faith (Islam) is true to me, and I do not care about fighting with people about my religion, as the atheists so desire. Islam has a reasonable balance of rationality and mysticism, and because of various geopolitical agendas, it is probably the most misunderstood religion on the planet. On the subject of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah and son of the Virgin Mary (peace be upon him) it is the sensible midpoint between Judaism (which denies them the respect they so deserve for their great contributions to advancing the cause of the truth) and Christianity (which is rather extreme in its love for these two human beings, denying the right of God to be worshipped alone). As I understand it, God is one and He has no partners, but ultimately, He is beyond comprehension. He is not like any of His creation. Without Him, there is no meaning. With Him, anything is possible. Whether you call him God, Allah, Khuda, Tanri, Bhagwaan, or something else, I see religion in general as a powerful tool to stop me from falling into nihilism, apathy, and the bottomless pit of depression.
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@kewgardensstation This is an absurd characterization of religion. You see religions as being inherently violent, I see them as a bulwark against Maoism and Stalinism, which have the power to kill more people at even more frightening a speed than political struggles that are often times cloaked in the guise of religion. My religion, Islam, is the true religion. I am not a perennialist. I invite you to my religion, the true religion of peace. I cannot guarantee you peace in this world (it's laughable to think that by abolishing religion, peace will suddenly come to this abode, why wouldn't we just fight over class or race or something else), but if you truly believe it (and I cannot be confident that even I truly believe it), you shall get eternal peace in the Hereafter. What is this pathetic world in comparison to Paradise? Nothing. Go ahead, laugh at me. Keep on laughing! I assure you that the Believers will have the final laugh on Judgment Day, and I hope and pray that I shall be honored as one of them. I invite everyone to Islam, the most reviled religion. No religion gets demonized the way mine does. No man gets attacked the way the beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) does. The more you attack my religion, oh you wicked atheists, the stronger my faith in it grows. Peace.
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Over the years, I've received a lot of hate from Christians, Hindus, Jews, atheists, agnostics, New Agers, and even Buddhists over my Islamic faith. However, it is my belief in a religion (in this case Islam) and my relationship to God that prevents me from falling into sociopathy, psychopathy, and various suicidal thoughts. This faith works for me, and there is something so therapeutic about having some kind of metaphysical belief system. I just think it's very arrogant how the New Agers claim that people don't sin; they are essentially arguing like the atheists, that they created themselves. Of course, we all sin. Fine, don't use the word sin. We all make mistakes. We err. We go astray. Humans are not perfect, but there is something so beautiful about knowing that there is a force (God, the Supreme Being, the Creator and Sustainer of all that was, is, and forever shall be) beyond you and that you will eventually return to Him. Peace, whatever your religion or lack thereof.
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Here's an experiment for anyone with the money to spare: line up the latest series of $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 in Federal Reserve Notes. Missing is the $2, but that denomination has not been circulating normally for decades now. Then line up the $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 from your Monopoly board game's set. That, my friends, is the Fed's idea of a joke.
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