Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Pol Pot

2007-05-24T00:45:00Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''Pol Pot''' (1926?-1998) was the ruthless [[Cambodia]]n [[communism|communist]] [[dictator]] responsible for killing 1-2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. Anyone thought to be intellectual was murdered, including the killing of people simply for knowing a foreign language or even merely wearing classes. Pol Pot held power through a combination of enormous charm and complete ruthlessness.

When Pol Pot took over Cambodia in 1975, he abolished private property, money and religion and converted everything back to an agricultural society. He emptied the cities. His [[Khmer Rouge]] government fell in 1979 when [[Vietnam]] invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations, and Pol Pot fled to the northern jungle with his forces.

An Oscar-winning film about his dictatorship, ''[[The Killing Fields]]'' brought a wider knowledge of his atrocities, but only years after they had taken place. The United States and other Asian nations were blamed for once supporting him in order to counter Vietnam next door.

There was a bloody power struggle within the Khmer Rouge in 1997. Pol Pot was then arrested by his former supporters in July 1997. They charged him with [[treason]] but a "people's tribunal" merely sentenced him to house arrest for life.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pot, Pol}}
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Mass murderers]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Benito Mussolini

2007-05-24T00:43:26Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''Benito Mussolini''' was a journalist and politician from [[Italy]]. He was nominated prime minister by Vittorio Emanuele III di savoia, king of italy, in the time of [[World War II]].He was head of one of the strong forms of government seen in Europe in this time. He called his political structure Fasci Italiani di Combatimento, what later would be known as [[Fascism]], a term which was later used to describe any government which put the national identity above the people. In fact, it was an anti-communist front.
[[Image:Mussolini.gif|right]]

==Early Life==

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born July 29, 1883 and died April 28, 1945. Mussolini was born in the north Italian town of Pergine Valsugana in the northern Italian province of Trento. His father was a cobbler and his mother a washerwoman. The Mussolinis were a relatively poor family in comparison with the majority of the neighbours and it is believed that Mussolini was ridiculed by his peers at La scuola elementare di Valsugana due to his shabby clothes and dirty appearance. Many historians attribute Mussolini's aggressive nature. His father was an socialist and raised Mussolini as a socialist. He was named after Benito Juarez (Mexican President). At the age of 12 Benito was sent to an Italian Military academy in Turin where he completed his secondary education. Mussolini graduated from school in 1901 and then went on to study at L'Università di Roma where he completed a degree in Social Sciences. It was during his university days that Mussolini first became exposed to politics. It is reported that Mussolini would spend long afternoons in the university library reading the memoirs of various European kings and other books about political ideologies. At one time he was the editor of "Avanti" (a self declared socialist paper).

==Break with Socialism==

He graudally began to have a falling out with his fellow socialists. His final break with socialism came during World War 1, since he changed his former position of neutrality and supported Italy's involvement in the war. He then grew to despise socialism.
By February 1918, he was calling for the emergence of a leader "ruthless and energetic enough to make a clean sweep." In May, he hinted in a speech in Bologna that he might be that leader.

==Rise to Power==

In 1923 after rising through the ranks Mussolini became the elected member for Tuscany in Italian Parliament. In 1927 he took over from Mario Felloni as the leader of Cullo Cappelli who were the opposition. Leading up to the 1928 election Mussolini began to begin his campaign. During this time Italy was in an economic slump and the Italian public were not satisfied with the president of the time, Francisco Delosini and his Treasurer Guido Michenelli's management of the federal budget. Mussolini preyed on this dissatisfaction and promised to eliminate all debt within the government. In 1922, Mussolini was invited by King Vittorio Emanuele III to form a new Italian government. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini's title from "president of the Council of Ministers" (prime minister) to "head of the government." He was no longer responsible to Parliament, and could only be removed by the king.

==Alliance with Hitler==

In 1931 Mussolini first came into contact with [[Adolf Hitler]] at a European Leaders' convention and an alliance was formed. For the rest of the 1930's Mussolini began to recklessly spend Italy's money on obsolete arms which he planned to issue to the army if Hitler ever attempted to take over Europe.

==World War II==

In September 1939 when [[England]] and [[France]] declared war on [[Germany]] after they invaded [[Poland]]. Mussolini made the announcement that Italy would join Germany in the war effort against the allied forces. He waited however, until after France had surrendered before invading southern France and officially entering the war. During World War 2, he increased his military, limited free speech and pushed his political views on all of his country even more so.

===Mussolini Deposed===

When the Allies invaded the Italian island of [[Sicily]] in 1943, King [[Vittorio Emmanuel III]] panicked at the thought of an Allied invasion of the Italian mainland. He immediately stripped Mussolini of his power and ordered Mussolini to be arrested.

===Reinstatement===

He was rescued through covert operations by German special forces (most notably [[Otto Skorzeny]]) without a single casualty occuring during the rescue operation. Mussolini was then installed as the head of the German puppet state, Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) based at Salo in northern Italy - hence its alternative name of the Salo Republic.

===Capture and Death===

He was later recaptured at the end of the war by partisans. He and his mistress were shot and hanged upside down.

==Family Members==

His legacy is continued by his neo-fascist granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini, who is a current member of the European Parliament. His daughter-in-law, Anna Maria Scicolone, was the sister of actress [[Sophia Loren]].

== External links ==

*[http://www.nndb.com/people/468/000045333/ Benito Mussolini] NNDB.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussolini, Benito}}
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Fulgencio Batista

2007-05-24T00:42:50Z

DemocraticSocialist:

Fulgencio Batista was the President of [[Cuba]] for two periods, 1940-44 and 1952-1959. He was head of the Cuban military and effective de facto Cuban leader when not in office from 1933. His first period in power saw Cuba undertake significant liberal reforms, and Batista, of mixed heritage, was initially popular amongst black and poor Cubans.

Batista's return to presidency via a coup d'État in 1952 led to the suspension of the Cuban constitution, and sparked unrest in Cuba. Rigged elections and an increasingly corrupt regime with close ties to the United States drew large opposition from a coalition of Cubans from all political backgrounds including [[Fidel Castro]]'s [[26th of July Movement]]. Batista was eventually overthrown by a popular revolution spreading from the east of the island, and fled the country on January 1st 1959. The key turing point in the 6 year long struggle was in 1958 when the U.S. ceased selling Batista arms. These arms had been effective in suppressing the rebels and brutally terrorizing agricultural workers, who had supported the revolution, into submission. A new government took over chosen by Castro and headed by liberals [[Manuel Urrutia Lleó]] and [[José Miró Cardona]]. Castro became head of the new armed forces before quickly manoeuvring himself into the position of prime minister.
[[Category:Dictators]]

Robert Mugabe

2007-05-24T00:41:19Z

DemocraticSocialist:

''Robert Mugabe'' is the totalitatarian dictator of Zimbabwe. He violently oppresses anyone who opposses his government. He has cracked down on homosexuals and violently seized farms from white (and some black) farm owners
[[Category:Dictators]]

Talk:Robert Mugabe

2007-05-24T00:40:59Z

DemocraticSocialist: New page: lol, sometimes vandalism is funny--~~~~

lol, sometimes vandalism is funny--[[User:DemocraticSocialist|DemocraticSocialist]] 20:40, 23 May 2007 (EDT)

Alvaro Uribe

2007-05-24T00:35:50Z

DemocraticSocialist: New page: '''Alvaro Uribe''' is the totalitarian dictator of Colombia. He terrorizes the populous by use of the Colombian military and right wing paramilitaries such as the AUC. [[Category:Dictators...

'''Alvaro Uribe''' is the totalitarian dictator of Colombia. He terrorizes the populous by use of the Colombian military and right wing paramilitaries such as the AUC.
[[Category:Dictators]]

Colombia

2007-05-24T00:33:39Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''Colombia''' is a [[country]] just south of [[Panama]], in the continent of [[South America]]. Colombia is a major source of [[cocaine]] and has been ravaged by many illegal drug gangs and [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations.{{fact}} The primary language in Colombia is [[Spanish]]. It is ruled with an iron fist by totalitarian dictator [[Alvaro Uribe]], a staunch Bush ally. Uribe brutally supresses any dissidence by use of his illegal right-wing militias.
[[Category:Dictatorships]]

Colombia

2007-05-24T00:31:51Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''Colombia''' is a [[country]] just south of [[Panama]], in the continent of [[South America]]. Colombia is a major source of [[cocaine]] and has been ravaged by many illegal drug gangs and [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations.{{fact}} The primary language in Colombia is [[Spanish]]. It is ruled with an iron fist by totalitarian dictator Alvaro Uribe, a staunch Bush ally. Uribe brutally supresses any dissidence by use of his illegal right-wing militias.
[[Category:Dictatorships]]

Category:Dictatorships

2007-05-24T00:30:41Z

DemocraticSocialist: New page: {{CatBrowser}}

North Korea

2007-05-24T00:24:52Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''North Korea''' (which styles itself the Peoples's Democratic Republic of Korea) is a totalitarian state that occupies the Korean peninsula north of a line that roughly follows the 38th parallel north. Ruled by [[Kim Jong Il]], it is the last completely [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] government on Earth.

On October 9, 2006, North Korea claimed to have detonated a nuclear device deep underground <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6032525.stm</ref> but the yield was equivelent to only approximately 400 tons of chemical high explosive and some analysts believe no chain reaction was achieved.

== External links ==

*[http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/korea_north/index.html Korea, North - 2007] Geographic.org

== References ==

<references />

[[Category:Asian Countries]]
[[Category:Dictatorships]]

Saudi Arabia

2007-05-24T00:24:26Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:SaudiArabiaWorldMap.png|right||400px|thumb|Location of Saudi Arabia]]

'''Saudi Arabia''' is a country in the [[Middle East]] which is under [[Sharia]] law, a brutal and oppressive set of rules. It was the legal system put down after the death of [[Muhammad]], the founder of Islam. It was founded in 1902 by [[Abul Ibn Saudi]], a member of the royal House of Saudi.

Saudi Arabia is mostly a desert country, but it is rich in [[oil]] and date palms. It is also ruled with an iron fist. People will get their hands chopped off for stealing, alcohol is illegal, and women are not allowed to drive.
[[Image:Bcdf.jpg|right|Masjid Nabawi, Medina, Saudi Arabia|thumb|400px]]
==Noteable Saudi Arabians==
*[[Osama Bin Laden]]
*[[Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud]]: ranked 11th richest person in the world by USAToday in 2002.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/02/28/forbes.htm</ref>

[[Category:Asian Countries]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]
[[Category:Dictatorships]]

Saudi Arabia

2007-05-24T00:24:07Z

DemocraticSocialist:

Sandinistas

2007-05-24T00:14:35Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Notes */

The Sandinistas were socialist rebels of [[Nicaragua]].<ref>"Havana unquestionably assisted the Sandinista insurgency with both money and arms, but the revolution was an indigenous Nicaraguan affair. The repressive and corrupt 40-year brutal dictatorship of the Somoza family inexorably alienated democratic elements and eventually impelled them to make common cause with the Marxist-dominated Sandinista front. This powerful, although inherently unstable, alliance overthrew Anastasio Somoza in 1979 to the acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans." [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The "Reagan Doctrine" and Its Pitfalls] by Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute </ref>

In the late 1980s, they were portrayed as heroes in the tradition of [[Che Guevara]], unselfishly dedicated to the well-being of the downtrodden masses.

Other reports show them as the worst [[human rights]] violators of the region, much worse than anything their supporters tried to pin on the [[Contras]] who opposed them.
*The problems began again in 1974, when Sandinista guerrilla groups began to mount very successful operations against Somoza. One popular example was the time when a group of Sandinistas took some elite people hostage at a party and received all of their demands from Somoza in exchange for their release. [http://members.tripod.com/PR0J3CT/somoza.htm]
*Unlike the [[Somoza]] regime, the Sandinistas did not leave the native populations on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in peace. All Nicaraguans had to take part in the Marxist experiment. Thus, in perfect Khmer Rouge style, the Sandinistas inflicted a ruthless forcible relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from their land. Like Stalin, they used state-created famine as a weapon against these "enemies of the people." The Sandinista army committed myriad atrocities against the Indian population, killing and imprisoning approximately 15,000 innocent people. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=180 Front Page magazine]

==Notes==
<references/>
==Source==
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=180 Remembering Sandinista Genocide] by a man who did his honor's thesis on Reagan's policy toward the Sandinista government

Contras

2007-05-24T00:14:10Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* External links */ this article is about the contras not the sandinstas

The Contras were a collection of guerilla groups and political parties dubbed "counter-revolutionaries" by the leftist [[Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] <ref> "After the Sandinistas took power, Carter authorized the CIA to provide financial and other support to their opponents." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html] </ref>
and [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras.

Revelations of this covert funding fueled the [[Iran-Contra_Affair|Iran-Contra affair]]. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the funding, is currently a senior correspondent at the [[Fox News Channel]].

The Contras were much more brutal than the [[Sandinistas]]. The Contras regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas. People caught in these assaults were often tortured and killed in the most gruesome ways. People had their testicles cut off, eyes poked out, throats slit, limbs chopped off, and heads chopped off.[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]

Despite their brutality, the Contras were called the "Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers" by President Reagan.

See: [[Boland amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0224.html#Nicaragua Cuba: State Sponsored Terrorism] Nicaragua 1979.
*[[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Ian Paisley

2007-05-23T23:59:22Z

DemocraticSocialist:

{{expand}}

[[Image:IanPaisley.gif|frame|Doctor the Reverend Ian Paisley MP]]

Dr. the Reverend '''Ian Richard Kyle Paisley''' MP, MLA (born April 6, 1926) is a [[Northern Ireland|Northern Irish]] politician and religious leader. Paisley uses the title "Doctor" on the basis of an honorary [[Doctor of Divinity]] degree awarded by [[Bob Jones University]].

He is the founder and head of the [[fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] [[Free Presbyterian Church]] and the head of the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]. He is a [[creationism|creationist]], strongly anti-[[abortion]] and supports the criminalisation of [[homosexuality]]. He also believes that the [[Pope|Bishop of Rome]] is the [[Antichrist]]<ref>[http://www.ianpaisley.org/antichrist.asp The Pope is the Antichrist]</ref>.

He and his party have been instrumental in delaying the [[Northern Ireland Peace Process]], and remain committed to its final destruction. However in spite of his opposition, [[terrorism|terrorist]] activities other than Loyalist outrages have now almost entirely ceased in the province and the [[IRA]] has largely disarmed. It has been speculated that the main reason that he was not [[assassination|assassinated]] during the long conflict, was that his extremist views and behaviour actually generated such substantial support for his opponents that his death would have been counter-productive to their cause.

He is a lifelong teetotaler and is known to frown upon dancing.

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paisley, Ian}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[Category:Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Creationist]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Ian Paisley

2007-05-23T23:59:02Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* References */

Israel Defense Forces

2007-05-23T23:58:38Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Links */

[[Image:IDFlogo.jpg|right|thumb|IDF Logo]]

The '''Israel Defense Forces''' (IDF) ([[Hebrew]]: צבא ההגנה לישראל) is the name of the [[Israel|Israeli]] military, including the Israeli Army, Air Force and Sea Corps.

Their general mission is to "To defend the existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Israel. To protect the inhabitants of Israel and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten the daily life." The quality of the IDF has become a legend as a result of many specific missions such as the 1976 [[Entebbe rescue]], the 1973 [[Operation Spring of Youth]] and the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], in which Israel fought off for the second time the armies of all four of its immediate neighbors -- [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]] -- as well as that of [[Iraq]] and token commitments from other Arab states. Even leaving aside its [[nuclear weapons]], the exact number and [[yield]] of which are unknown, Israel is definitely the world's best armed small country (its air force would give it an edge were it somehow to fight [[North Korea]]) and is orders of magnitude more capable in a military sense than any of its neighbors.

All citizens of Israel, male and female, except for the [[ultra-Orthodox]] are expected to serve a minimum of two years on [[active duty]] in the IDF upon graduating from [[high school]] and a number of years thereafter as [[reservists]], meaning that Israel probably has the world's most thorough system of [[conscription]]. The other major difference from the United States military is that the IDF are still segregated by [[religion]] -- [[Jewish]] soldiers serve with Jews, [[Druze]] with Druze, etc. Career soldiers have gone on to lead the country more frequently than in the [[United States]], particularly [[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Ehud Barak]] and [[Ariel Sharon]].

==Links==
[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/homepage.asp?clr=1&sl=EN&id=-8888&force=1 Official Site in English]

[http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/ Official Site in Hebrew]

[[category:Israel]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Sandinistas

2007-05-23T23:52:29Z

DemocraticSocialist:

Sandinistas

2007-05-23T23:51:41Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Sandinistas were socialist rebels of [[Nicaragua]].<ref>"Havana unquestionably assisted the Sandinista insurgency with both money and arms, but the revolution was an indigenous Nicaraguan affair. The repressive and corrupt 40-year dictatorship of the Somoza family inexorably alienated democratic elements and eventually impelled them to make common cause with the Marxist-dominated Sandinista front. This powerful, although inherently unstable, alliance overthrew Anastasio Somoza in 1979 to the acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans." [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The "Reagan Doctrine" and Its Pitfalls] by Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute </ref>

In the late 1980s, they were portrayed as heroes in the tradition of [[Che Guevara]], unselfishly dedicated to the well-being of the downtrodden masses.

Other reports show them as the worst [[human rights]] violators of the region, much worse than anything their supporters tried to pin on the "[[Contras]]" who opposed them.
*The problems began again in 1974, when Sandinista guerrilla groups began to mount very successful operations against Somoza. One popular example was the time when a group of Sandinistas took some elite people hostage at a party and received all of their demands from Somoza in exchange for their release. [http://members.tripod.com/PR0J3CT/somoza.htm]
*Unlike the [[Somoza]] regime, the Sandinistas did not leave the native populations on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in peace. All Nicaraguans had to take part in the Marxist experiment. Thus, in perfect Khmer Rouge style, the Sandinistas inflicted a ruthless forcible relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from their land. Like Stalin, they used state-created famine as a weapon against these "enemies of the people." The Sandinista army committed myriad atrocities against the Indian population, killing and imprisoning approximately 15,000 innocent people. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=180 Front Page magazine]

==Notes==
<references/>

Sandinista

2007-05-23T23:51:18Z

DemocraticSocialist: Redirecting to Sandinistas

#REDIRECT [[Sandinistas]]

Contras

2007-05-23T23:50:19Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Contras were a collection of guerilla groups and political parties dubbed "counter-revolutionaries" by the leftist [[Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] <ref> "After the Sandinistas took power, Carter authorized the CIA to provide financial and other support to their opponents." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html] </ref>
and [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras.

Revelations of this covert funding fueled the [[Iran-Contra_Affair|Iran-Contra affair]]. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the funding, is currently a senior correspondent at the [[Fox News Channel]].

The Contras were much more brutal than the [[Sandinistas]]. The Contras regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas. People caught in these assaults were often tortured and killed in the most gruesome ways. People had their testicles cut off, eyes poked out, throats slit, limbs chopped off, and heads chopped off.[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]

Despite their brutality, the Contras were called the "Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers" by President Reagan.

See: [[Boland amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=180 Remembering Sandinista Genocide] by a man who did his honor's thesis on Reagan's policy toward the Sandinista government
*[http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0224.html#Nicaragua Cuba: State Sponsored Terrorism] Nicaragua 1979.
*[[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Contras

2007-05-23T23:47:34Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Contras were a collection of guerilla groups and political parties dubbed "counter-revolutionaries" by the leftist [[Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] <ref> "After the Sandinistas took power, Carter authorized the CIA to provide financial and other support to their opponents." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html] </ref>
and [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras.

Revelations of this covert funding fueled the [[Iran-Contra_Affair|Iran-Contra affair]]. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the funding, is currently a senior correspondent at the [[Fox News Channel]].

The Contras were much more brutal than the [[Sandinistas]]. The Contras regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas. [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]

Despite their brutality, the Contras were called the "Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers" by President Reagan.

See: [[Boland amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=180 Remembering Sandinista Genocide] by a man who did his honor's thesis on Reagan's policy toward the Sandinista government
*[http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0224.html#Nicaragua Cuba: State Sponsored Terrorism] Nicaragua 1979.
*[[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Contras

2007-05-23T23:46:25Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Contras were a collection of guerilla groups and political parties dubbed "counter-revolutionaries" by the leftist [[Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] <ref> "After the Sandinistas took power, Carter authorized the CIA to provide financial and other support to their opponents." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html] </ref>
and [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras.

Revelations of this covert funding fueled the [[Iran-Contra_Affair|Iran-Contra affair]]. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the funding, is currently a senior correspondent at the [[Fox News Channel]].

The Contras were much more brutal than the [[Sandinistas]]. The Contras regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas. [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]

Despite their reputation for brutality, the Contras were called the "Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers" by President Reagan.

See: [[Boland amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=180 Remembering Sandinista Genocide] by a man who did his honor's thesis on Reagan's policy toward the Sandinista government
*[http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0224.html#Nicaragua Cuba: State Sponsored Terrorism] Nicaragua 1979.
*[[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Contras

2007-05-23T23:44:44Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Contras were a collection of guerilla groups and political parties dubbed "counter-revolutionaries" by the leftist [[Sandinista]] government of [[Nicaragua]] in the 1980s. The [[United States of America|United States]] under Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] <ref> "After the Sandinistas took power, Carter authorized the CIA to provide financial and other support to their opponents." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html] </ref>
and [[Ronald Reagan]] covertly supported the Contras.

Revelations of this covert funding fueled the [[Iran-Contra_Affair|Iran-Contra affair]]. [[Oliver North]], who was intimately involved with the funding, is currently a senior correspondent at the [[Fox News Channel]].

Opponents of the Contras portrayed them as even more notorious brutes than the [[Sandinistas]]. According to this portrayal, the Contras "regularly destroyed health centers, schools, agricultural cooperatives, and community centers-symbols of the Sandinistas' social programs in rural areas." [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]

Despite their reputation for brutality, the Contras were called the "Moral Equivalent of our Founding Fathers" by President Reagan.

See: [[Boland amendment]].

==External links==
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=180 Remembering Sandinista Genocide] by a man who did his honor's thesis on Reagan's policy toward the Sandinista government
*[http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0224.html#Nicaragua Cuba: State Sponsored Terrorism] Nicaragua 1979.
*[[http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Nicaragua_KH.html]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Augusto Pinochet

2007-05-23T23:37:20Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* References */

[[Image:342px-Pinochet de Civil.jpg|right|thumb]]
General '''Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte''' (1915–2006) was a Chilean soldier and politician who served as Chile's head of state from 1973 to 1990. He came to power as a member of a council of military leaders after the overthrew the government of President [[Salvador Allende]] on 11 September 1973. Allende, a Marxist, had been elected to his position with a 36% plurality in 1970, but he had been accused of violating the Chilean constitution and condemned for his conduct by the Chilean legislature and by civil society organisations.

General Pinochet headed a military government for 16 years (1974-1990) as he fought and defeated [[communist]] opponents in Chile. Pinochet was at one time a military subordinate of [[Salvador Allende]]. After the [[coup]], Pinochet saw support from [[America]].

General Pinochet instituted free market reforms in Chile in the 1970s that resulted in lower [[inflation]] and an economic boom from 1976 to 1979. He held a [[plebiscite]] on his rule and 75% of the people affirmed their support for him. However, the plebiscite is widely reguarded as fraudulent. The Pinochet government is alleged to be one of the most repressive in the Americas. During his time in power over 3,000 people were killed or vanished.<ref>BBC profile http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6167237.stm</ref> In addition, over a quarter million Chileans were arrested. Universities were purged, books burned, and rival political parties banned. Thousands fled the country out of fear of the [[secret police]], which routinely tortured citizens.<ref>Augusto Pinochet Biography http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html</ref>

A new constitution was adopted in Chile in 1981, which authorized General Pinochet to serve as president for another eight-year term, to be followed by a plebiscite on his presidency.

Pinochet moved Chile into a market economy, privatizing many inefficient government businesses, and opening the country to foreign investment. The stability that his government gave encouraged foreign investors to come to Chile. He also started one of the first [[private pension accounts]] pension systems in the world, which has been highly successful.

As promised, President Pinochet held another plebiscite in October 1988 on the issue of whether he should continue as president. He was defeated by a vote of 55-43%, and subsequent free elections were won by the [[Christian]] [[Democrat]] Patricio Aylwin, who was installed as president on March 11, 1990.

General Pinochet was a graduate of the [[School of the Americas]] at Ft. Benning, [[Georgia]].

Pinochet died of a heart attack on December 10, 2006.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/world/americas/10cnd-pinochet-timeline.html?ex=1174449600&en=7b24f9d3e63ff60a&ei=5070 NYTimes</ref>

Pinochet is said to be responsible for the death of 3,200 of his opponents <ref>http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html</ref> One of the thousands arrested and murdered by Pinochet's forces was songwriter and musician [[Victor Jara]], who was tortured over a period of four days and then executed shortly after the coup.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/165363.stm</ref>

In 1998, Pinochet was arrested in [[London]] pursuant to a warrant issued in [[Spain]] for [[human rights]] violations during his time as Chilean president. Pinochet was subsequently returned to Chile on grounds of ill health, where he was indicted and charged with [[kidnapping]] 19 supporters of Salvador Allende during the 1973 coup in which Pinochet took power. The Chilean [[Supreme Court]] suspended the prosecution in July 2002 due to Pinochet's continuing poor health. [1]

== References ==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinochet, Augusto}}
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Kim Jong Il

2007-05-23T23:36:57Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:Bvdy76.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Kim Jong Il''' has been the dictator of North Korea since coming to power in 1994. He is also the leader of the [[Communist Party]] of [[North Korea]]. He has been criticized for the human rights abuses in North Korea.

He came into power in 1994, after his father [[Kim Il Sung]] died, and has remained the North Korean leader ever since. He is an intense persecutor of Christians and other organized religions.

[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Dictators]]

Category:Dictators

2007-05-23T23:36:35Z

DemocraticSocialist: New page: {{CatBrowser}}

Robert Mugabe

2007-05-23T23:36:16Z

DemocraticSocialist: New page: ''Robert Mugabe'' is the totalitatarian dictator of Zimbabwe. He violently oppresses anyone who opposses his government. He has cracked down on homosexuals and violently seized farms from ...

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-23T23:20:22Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for causes but not necessarily the methods of the terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. This is obviously not true because Chomsky has refered to the Soviet Union as a dungeon. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as a libertarian socialist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West According to Chomsky==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish ethnicity
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-23T23:19:43Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for causes but not necessarily the methods of the terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as a libertarian socialist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West According to Chomsky==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish ethnicity
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Pat Robertson

2007-05-23T03:30:09Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Other quotes */

'''Pat Robertson''' is an extremist [[conservative]] [[American]] [[evangelist]], [[spiritual]] leader and [[politics|political]] leader, also owner and presenter of the [[TV]] show ''[[The 700 Club]]''. Robertson sought the 1988 [[Republican]] Presidential nomination and even managed to carry [[Washington]] State in the primary caucuses by mobilizing his supporters. He also ran in 1992.

Robertson graduated from Washington and Lee university in 1950, served in the [[Marine]]s during the [[Korean War]], then earned a law degree from [[Yale]] (1955) and a masters degree from the New York Theological Seminary (1959).<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/patrobertson.html</ref>

He has called for the execution of the democratically elected President of Venezuela.

==Quotes on feminism ==

"The [[Feminism|feminist agenda]] is not about equal rights for women. It is about a [[socialist]], anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, [[abortion|kill their children]], practice [[witchcraft]], destroy capitalism, and become [[Homosexuality|lesbian]]s." <ref>Pat Robertson, fund-raising letter, 1992</ref>

"God's pattern is for men to be the leaders, both in the church and in the family... Women should listen and learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them."<ref>Pat Robertson, reciting a passage from I Timothy in his book, Bring It On.</ref>

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 8, 1992</ref>

==Quotes on [[homosexuality]]==

"Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals -- the two things seem to go together."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 21, 1993</ref>

He says this despite the fact that Hitler targetted gays for extermination.

==Quotes on government==

"I am bound by the laws of the United States and all 50 states...I am not bound by any case or any court to which I myself am not a party...I don't think the Congress of the United States is subservient to the courts...They can ignore a Supreme Court ruling if they so choose."<ref>Pat Robertson, Washington Post, June 27,1986</ref>

"I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights."
<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, March 18, 1992</ref>

==Other quotes==

"Just like what [[Nazi Germany]] did to the Jews, so [[liberal]] America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the [[liberal-based media]], and the [[homosexual]]s who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and [[discrimination]] and the worst [[bigot]]ry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." <ref>Pat Robertson, interview with Molly Ivins, 1993.</ref>

This demonstrates Robertson's extremism, Christian evangelicals aren't being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. In fact the medi isn't liberal base, its conservative based.

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, [[communist]]s, [[atheist]]s, [[Occult|New Age]] worshipers of Satan, [[secular humanist]]s, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, [[adulterer]]s, and homosexuals are on top?" <ref>Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p.227</ref>

==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Pat}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[category:christianity]]

Pat Robertson

2007-05-23T03:23:46Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Quotes on homosexuality */

'''Pat Robertson''' is an extremist [[conservative]] [[American]] [[evangelist]], [[spiritual]] leader and [[politics|political]] leader, also owner and presenter of the [[TV]] show ''[[The 700 Club]]''. Robertson sought the 1988 [[Republican]] Presidential nomination and even managed to carry [[Washington]] State in the primary caucuses by mobilizing his supporters. He also ran in 1992.

Robertson graduated from Washington and Lee university in 1950, served in the [[Marine]]s during the [[Korean War]], then earned a law degree from [[Yale]] (1955) and a masters degree from the New York Theological Seminary (1959).<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/patrobertson.html</ref>

He has called for the execution of the democratically elected President of Venezuela.

==Quotes on feminism ==

"The [[Feminism|feminist agenda]] is not about equal rights for women. It is about a [[socialist]], anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, [[abortion|kill their children]], practice [[witchcraft]], destroy capitalism, and become [[Homosexuality|lesbian]]s." <ref>Pat Robertson, fund-raising letter, 1992</ref>

"God's pattern is for men to be the leaders, both in the church and in the family... Women should listen and learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them."<ref>Pat Robertson, reciting a passage from I Timothy in his book, Bring It On.</ref>

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 8, 1992</ref>

==Quotes on [[homosexuality]]==

"Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals -- the two things seem to go together."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 21, 1993</ref>

He says this despite the fact that Hitler targetted gays for extermination.

==Quotes on government==

"I am bound by the laws of the United States and all 50 states...I am not bound by any case or any court to which I myself am not a party...I don't think the Congress of the United States is subservient to the courts...They can ignore a Supreme Court ruling if they so choose."<ref>Pat Robertson, Washington Post, June 27,1986</ref>

"I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights."
<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, March 18, 1992</ref>

==Other quotes==

"Just like what [[Nazi Germany]] did to the Jews, so [[liberal]] America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the [[liberal-based media]], and the [[homosexual]]s who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and [[discrimination]] and the worst [[bigot]]ry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." <ref>Pat Robertson, interview with Molly Ivins, 1993.</ref>

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, [[communist]]s, [[atheist]]s, [[Occult|New Age]] worshipers of Satan, [[secular humanist]]s, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, [[adulterer]]s, and homosexuals are on top?" <ref>Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p.227</ref>

==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Pat}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[category:christianity]]

Pat Robertson

2007-05-23T03:22:20Z

DemocraticSocialist:

'''Pat Robertson''' is an extremist [[conservative]] [[American]] [[evangelist]], [[spiritual]] leader and [[politics|political]] leader, also owner and presenter of the [[TV]] show ''[[The 700 Club]]''. Robertson sought the 1988 [[Republican]] Presidential nomination and even managed to carry [[Washington]] State in the primary caucuses by mobilizing his supporters. He also ran in 1992.

Robertson graduated from Washington and Lee university in 1950, served in the [[Marine]]s during the [[Korean War]], then earned a law degree from [[Yale]] (1955) and a masters degree from the New York Theological Seminary (1959).<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/patrobertson.html</ref>

He has called for the execution of the democratically elected President of Venezuela.

==Quotes on feminism ==

"The [[Feminism|feminist agenda]] is not about equal rights for women. It is about a [[socialist]], anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, [[abortion|kill their children]], practice [[witchcraft]], destroy capitalism, and become [[Homosexuality|lesbian]]s." <ref>Pat Robertson, fund-raising letter, 1992</ref>

"God's pattern is for men to be the leaders, both in the church and in the family... Women should listen and learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them."<ref>Pat Robertson, reciting a passage from I Timothy in his book, Bring It On.</ref>

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 8, 1992</ref>

==Quotes on [[homosexuality]]==

"Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals -- the two things seem to go together."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 21, 1993</ref>

==Quotes on government==

"I am bound by the laws of the United States and all 50 states...I am not bound by any case or any court to which I myself am not a party...I don't think the Congress of the United States is subservient to the courts...They can ignore a Supreme Court ruling if they so choose."<ref>Pat Robertson, Washington Post, June 27,1986</ref>

"I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights."
<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, March 18, 1992</ref>

==Other quotes==

"Just like what [[Nazi Germany]] did to the Jews, so [[liberal]] America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the [[liberal-based media]], and the [[homosexual]]s who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and [[discrimination]] and the worst [[bigot]]ry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." <ref>Pat Robertson, interview with Molly Ivins, 1993.</ref>

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, [[communist]]s, [[atheist]]s, [[Occult|New Age]] worshipers of Satan, [[secular humanist]]s, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, [[adulterer]]s, and homosexuals are on top?" <ref>Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p.227</ref>

==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Pat}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[category:christianity]]

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-23T03:02:32Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky */ these actually happened

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for the terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as a libertarian socialist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish heritage
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-23T02:32:42Z

DemocraticSocialist: remove quotations, whats the point of having them?

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for the terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as a libertarian socialist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish heritage
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Homo

2007-05-22T19:21:36Z

DemocraticSocialist: This article should be expanded, not deleted

In English, '''homo''' can refer to the biological genus ''Homo'' (as in ''Homo sapiens''), it can be derogatory slang for a [[homosexual]] man, or, as a prefix in compound words, it can mean "the same," as in ''homogenized'' or ''homophone.''

The classification of the genus ''Homo'' is controversial among scientists, because so much of what is usually thought to define humans is related to behavior and the use of language, which cannot be deduced from skeletal remains. It is also a point of controversy between evolutionists and creationists.

==Scientific Point of View==
The [[genus]] which includes modern humans - ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', the genus Homo species is thought to have been in existence for approximately two million years, while our species, including the archaic H. sapians, has occupied only the last 80,000 years or so, H. Hablis 2.1 to 1.7-1.5 million year, H. erectus 1.5 million years to circa 90,000 years and H. Sapians from 80,000 years to the present.

The genus seems to have begun in [[Africa]] with the advent of H. hablis from [[Olduvai Gorge]], [[Tanzania]] and as yet an undifferentiated species from [[Koobi Fora]], [[Kenya]]. It is believed that this or some other early species of Homo diverged from the [[Australopithecines]] more than two million years ago. The divergence is readily seen in the fossil record where significant differences in the cranial and post post-cranial skeleton can be seen.

What is not so easily seen, though of equal significance, is the emergence and further development of social and cultural traits that we commonly view as [[human]]. With respect to material culture, only members of the genus Homo can be confidently shown to have made and used stone tools and to have controlled the use of fire. These extra personal aids enabled Homo (H. erectus) to radiate out of East Africa to the more varied environments of the remainder of the [[Old World]] to produce a distribution of individuals far greater than that of the earlier Australopithecines. It is thought that a variety of Homo species may have existed at this point, including close relatives such as ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (Neanderthal man). DNA techniques seem to indicate that the original H. sapian community became very small, to the verge of extinction, before prospering.

The principle trends within the genus Homo through time can be summarized as an increase in brain size and complexity, an increase in the complexity of culture and social relationships and an increasing ability to modify the environment.

[[Category:Primates]]

Homo

2007-05-22T19:20:49Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* An evolutionist point of view */

{{Delete Notice}}
In English, '''homo''' can refer to the biological genus ''Homo'' (as in ''Homo sapiens''), it can be derogatory slang for a [[homosexual]] man, or, as a prefix in compound words, it can mean "the same," as in ''homogenized'' or ''homophone.''

The classification of the genus ''Homo'' is controversial among scientists, because so much of what is usually thought to define humans is related to behavior and the use of language, which cannot be deduced from skeletal remains. It is also a point of controversy between evolutionists and creationists.

==Scientific Point of View==
The [[genus]] which includes modern humans - ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', the genus Homo species is thought to have been in existence for approximately two million years, while our species, including the archaic H. sapians, has occupied only the last 80,000 years or so, H. Hablis 2.1 to 1.7-1.5 million year, H. erectus 1.5 million years to circa 90,000 years and H. Sapians from 80,000 years to the present.

The genus seems to have begun in [[Africa]] with the advent of H. hablis from [[Olduvai Gorge]], [[Tanzania]] and as yet an undifferentiated species from [[Koobi Fora]], [[Kenya]]. It is believed that this or some other early species of Homo diverged from the [[Australopithecines]] more than two million years ago. The divergence is readily seen in the fossil record where significant differences in the cranial and post post-cranial skeleton can be seen.

What is not so easily seen, though of equal significance, is the emergence and further development of social and cultural traits that we commonly view as [[human]]. With respect to material culture, only members of the genus Homo can be confidently shown to have made and used stone tools and to have controlled the use of fire. These extra personal aids enabled Homo (H. erectus) to radiate out of East Africa to the more varied environments of the remainder of the [[Old World]] to produce a distribution of individuals far greater than that of the earlier Australopithecines. It is thought that a variety of Homo species may have existed at this point, including close relatives such as ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (Neanderthal man). DNA techniques seem to indicate that the original H. sapian community became very small, to the verge of extinction, before prospering.

The principle trends within the genus Homo through time can be summarized as an increase in brain size and complexity, an increase in the complexity of culture and social relationships and an increasing ability to modify the environment.

[[Category:Primates]]

Old Earth Creationism

2007-05-22T19:20:12Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Lack of Any Clear Transitional Forms */

'''Old Earth Creationism''' is the belief that God created the universe and the world billions of years ago. Old Earth [[Creationism|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. Dr. [[Norman Geisler]] wrote that "both young- and old-earthers who are [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] hold to the historicity of the Genesis account: They believe that Adam and Eve were literal people, the progenitors of the entire human race." <ref>http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/science/SC0305W3.htm</ref>

Vocal proponents of Old Earth Creationism include [[Hugh Ross]], Greg Neyman, Francis Schaeffer, and Norman Geisler. {{fact}}

== Lack of Any Clear Transitional Forms ==

Dr. [[Norman Geisler]] stated that "Both young- and old-earthers believe that God supernaturally, directly and immediately produced every kind of animal and human as separate and genetically distinct forms of life." <ref>http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/science/SC0305W3.htm</ref> Accordingly, creationists point out that there are over one hundred million identified and catalogued [[fossils]] currently in the world's museums.<ref>http://www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/Encyclopedia/12fos06.htm</ref>
Creationist insists that if [[macroevolution]] happened, then there should be "transitional forms" in the fossil record that show the intermediate life forms. Another term for these "transitional forms" is "missing links". If creationism is true then there should be a lack of transitional forms or at the very least there should be merely a handful of disputed transitional fossils.

Charles Darwin himself stated that the evolutionary theory required the existence of "transitional forms." Darwin wrote: "So that the number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be true, such have lived upon the earth." <ref>http://www.thedarwinpapers.com/oldsite/number5/darwin5.htm</ref> However, Darwin wrote: "Why then is not every geological formation and every strata full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against my theory." <ref>http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html</ref> Darwin thought the lack of transitional links in his time was because "only a small portion of the surface of the earth has been geologically explored and no part with sufficient care...".<ref>http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Origin_of_Species/10.html</ref> Darwin's theory of evolution required that transitional forms exist. As Charles Darwin became older, however, he became increasingly concerned about this lack of evidence in regards to the fossil record. Darwin wrote, "“When we descend to details, we cannot prove that a single species has changed; nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”<ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html</ref>

Scientist Dr.[[Michael Denton]] wrote regarding the fossil record:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"It is still, as it was in Darwin's day, overwhelmingly true that the first representatives of all the major classes of organisms known to biology are already highly characteristic of their class when they make their initial appearance in the fossil record. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in the case of the [[Invertebrate|invertebrate]] fossil record. At its first appearance in the ancient paleozoic seas, invertebrate life was already divided into practically all the major groups with which we are familiar today.<ref>http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationist scientists state that evolutionists have had over 140 years to find a transitional fossil and nothing approaching a conclusive transitional form has ever been found and that only a handful of highly doubtful examples of transitional fossils exist.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/fossils.asp</ref><ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3001</ref> Noted anthropologist [[Edmund Ronald Leach]] stated, "Missing links in the sequence of fossil evidence were a worry to Darwin. He felt sure they would eventually turn up, but they are still missing and seem likely to remain so."<ref>http://www.evolutionisdead.com/quotes.php?QID=241</ref>

"Evolution requires intermediate forms between species and [[paleontology]] does not provide them…" wrote David B. Kitts of the School of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Oklahoma.<ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2088</ref>

David Raup, who was the curator of geology at the museum holding the world's largest fossil collection (the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago), observed:

:"[Darwin] was embarrassed by the fossil record because it didn't look the way he predicted it would .... Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn't changed much. ... [W]e have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin's time." - David M. Raup, "Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology," ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50 (January 1979): 22-23, 24-25.

One of the most famous proponents of evolution was the late Harvard paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]]. But Gould admitted, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life’s history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection, we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.<ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/modules.php?name=Read&cat=5&itemid=2080</ref> In a 1977 paper titled "The Return of Hopeful Monsters", Gould wrote: "All paleontologists know that the fossil record contains precious little in the way of intermediate forms; transitions between major groups are characteristically abrupt."<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v8/i2/punct.asp</ref>

This is the basis for there being two major divisions of evolutionary theory, ''[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuated equilibrium]]'' and ''[[Gradualism|gradualism]]''. Gould is the best known proponent of the theory of punctuated equilibrium, [[Richard Dawkins]] is a advocate of gradualism.

The senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History, Dr. Colin Patterson, put it this way: "[[Stephen Gould|Gould]] and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils."<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/fossils.asp</ref>

One of the more famous alleged transitional fossils claimed by evolutionists is [[Archaeopteryx]]. Dr. [[Alan Feduccia]], a world authority on birds and an evolutionist himself, has stated the following regarding Archaeopteryx:

“Paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound, feathered dinosaur. But it’s not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no amount of ‘paleobabble’ is going to change that.”<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref>

However, evolutionary biologists counter that Archaeopteryx shares many traits with small therapod dinosaurs which they believe Archeaopteryx evolved from. Archeaopteryx also had teeth, something that modern birds do not have.

Creationist scientists have a number of arguments against Archaeopteryx being a transitional fossil find.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v1/i1/archaeopteryx.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.icr.org/article/321/]</ref><ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/]</ref>

A second famous alleged transitional fossil claimed by evolutionists is [[Tiktaalik]]. Creationists have a number of arguments regarding the fossil find of Tiktaalik not being a transitional find. <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4250</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/article/2962/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2007/0307tiktaalik.asp</ref>

== The Fossil Record and the Creationist Position ==

Creationist can cite quotations which assert that no solid fossil evidence for the [[macroevolution]]ary position exists and also show that the fossil record supports creationism:

"In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuationist]], uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation." Mark Ridley (Professor of Zoology at [[Oxford University]]), 'Who doubts evolution?', New Scientist, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831

"...I still think that to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favour of special creation." - E.J.H. Corner (Professor of Botany, Cambridge University, England), “Evolution” in Anna M. MacLeod and L. S. Cobley (eds.), Contemporary Botanical Thought (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1961), p. 97 <ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/creation/orb-fossil-ref.html</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes23.html</ref>

"We then move right off the register of objective truth into those fields of presumed biological science, like extrasensory perception or the interpretation of man's fossil history, where to the faithful anything is possible - and where the ardent believer is sometimes able to believe several contradictory things at the same time." - Lord Solly Zuckerman (professor of anatomy at Birmingham University in England and chief scientific adviser to the British government from the time period of 1964 to 1971), Beyond The Ivory Tower, Toplinger Publications, New York, 1970, p. 19. <ref>http://www.detectingdesign.com/earlyman.html</ref><ref>http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jzuckerman.htm</ref>

"Fossil evidence of human evolutionary history is fragmentary and open to various interpretations. Fossil evidence of chimpanzee evolution is absent altogether". Henry Gee, “Return to the Planet of the Apes,” Nature, Vol. 412, 12 July 2001, p. 131. <ref>http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v412/n6843/full/412131a0.html</ref>

For more fossil record quotes please see: [http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/fsslrcrd.html Fossil record quotes]

== Mutations, Natural Selection, and the Life Sciences in General ==
Creationist scientists believe that [[mutation|mutations]] and [[natural selection]] would not cause macroevolution to happen. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/mutations.asp</ref><ref>http://www.trueorigin.org/mutations01.asp</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v12/i1/improbable.asp</ref><ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3831</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/selection.asp</ref> Additionally, creationist scientists state that the life sciences as a whole support the creation model and do not support the evolutionary model. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/LifeSciences2.html</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/news/Lerner_resp.asp</ref>

== Creationism, Macroevolutionary Theory, and Experimental Data ==

Noted creationist Dr. [[Henry Morris]] in order to show that the macroevolutionary position is not verified by experimental data quoted a leading evolutionist regarding this matter.

Dr. Morris wrote the following:

"Even [[Ernst Mayr]], the dean of living evolutionists, longtime professor of biology at [[Harvard University|Harvard]], who has alleged that evolution is a "simple fact," nevertheless agrees that it is an "historical science" for which "laws and experiments are inappropriate techniques" by which to explain it. One can never actually see evolution in action." - The Scientific Case Against Evolution by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. <ref>http://www.icr.org/home/resources/resources_tracts_scientificcaseagainstevolution/</ref>

== Implausibility of [[Materialism|Materialist]] Explanations ==

Dr. Norman Geisler wrote concerning young earth creationist and old earth creationist the following: "Both groups are also agreed in their opposition to [[naturalism]], which they see as the philosophical presupposition of evolution." <ref>http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/science/SC0305W3.htm</ref> Accordingly, creationist scientists often assert that evolutionary scientists regularly employ extremely implausible explanations to support their position and have done this since at least the time of Charles Darwin.

For example, Darwin in his Origin of the Species wrote a chapter entitled "Difficulties on Theory" in which he wrote the following:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"In North America the black bear was seen by Hearne swimming for hours with widely open mouth, thus catching, like a whale, insects in the water. Even in so extreme a case as this, if the supply of insects were constant, and if better adapted competitors did not already exist in the country, I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale." <ref>http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-origin-of-species/chapter-06.html</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationist often quote the prominent evolutionist and geneticist Professor [[Richard Lewontin]] admitted the following:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfil many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to [[materialism]]. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door." - Richard Lewontin, ‘Billions and billions of demons’, The New York Review, January 9, 1997, p. 31 <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0228not_science.asp#r1</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationist scientist Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding the implausibility of evolutionary explanations:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
...supporters of ‘jerky’ evolution ([[Saltationism|saltationism]] and its relative, [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuated equilibria]]) point out that the fossil record does not show gradualism, and that the hypothetical transitional forms would be disadvantageous. But supporters of gradual evolution point out that large, information-increasing changes are so improbable that one would need to invoke a secular miracle. Creationists agree with ''both'': punctuational evolution can’t happen, and gradual evolution can’t happen—in fact, particles-to-people evolution can’t happen at all!<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/news/scientific_american.asp</ref>
</blockquote>

Dr. Safarti continues:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
The same logic applies to the [[dinosaur]]-[[Bird|bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite Feduccia’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!
<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/news/scientific_american.asp</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationists commonly point to the following in nature as being implausibly created through evolutionary processes: the [[Bacteria|bacterial]] [[flagellum]]<ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2331</ref>,
[[homing]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i2/ants.asp</ref>, the origin of flight in the animal kingdom<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i1/planes.asp</ref>, [[migration]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v23/i4/migration.asp</ref>, the [[whale]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v8/i1/whale.asp</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/re1/chapter5.asp</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v27/i2/whale.asp</ref>, the [[Venus flytrap]]<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4340</ref>, the [[Bombardier beetle]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v17/i1/beetle.asp</ref>, the [[Woodpecker|woodpecker]]<ref>http://www.creationism.org/heinze/Woodpecker.htm</ref> and various [[Symbiosis|symbiotic relationships]] found in nature.<ref>http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/booklets/evolution/cooperat.html</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/article/146/</ref>

Lastly, creationists often quote biochemist [[Michael Behe]] who wrote the following:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"Molecular evolution is not based on scientific authority. There is no publication in the scientific literature—in prestigious journals, speciality journals, or book—that describes how molecular evolution of any real, complex, biochemical system either did occur or even might have occurred. There are assertions that such evolution occurred, but absolutely none are supported by pertinent experiments or calculations. Since no one knows molecular evolution by direct experience, and since there is no authority on which to base claims of knowledge, it can truly be said that—like the contention that the Eagles will win the Super Bowl this year—the assertion of Darwinian molecular evolution is merely bluster." - Michael J. Behe, [[Darwin’s Black Box]] (New York: The Free Press, 1996), p. 186<ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html#wp1033719</ref>
</blockquote>

== Statements of Design ==

Creationist often cite the work of [[intelligent design]] proponents who assert the biological world has the strong appearance of being created as can been below:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"One of the world's most famous scientists, probably the most famous living biologist, is Sir [[Francis Crick]], the British co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, a Nobel Prize winner... Crick is also a fervent atheistic [[materialism|materialist]], who propounds the particle story. In his autobiography, Crick says very candidly biologists must remind themselves daily that what they study was not created, it evolved; it was not designed, it evolved. Why do they have to remind themselves of that? Because otherwise, the facts which are staring them in the face and trying to get their attention might break through. What we discovered when I developed a working group of scientists, philosophers, et al., in the United States was that living organisms look as if they were designed and they look that way because that is exactly what they are." - Evolution And Christian Faith by [[Phillip E. Johnson]] <ref>http://www.ldolphin.org/ntcreation.html</ref>
</blockquote>

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"During the last forty years, [[molecular biology]] has revealed a complexity and intricacy of design that exceeds anything that was imaginable during the late-nineteenth century. We now know that organisms display any number of distinctive features of intelligently engineered high-tech systems: information storage and transfer capability; functioning codes; sorting and delivery systems; regulatory and feed-back loops; signal transduction circuitry; and everywhere, complex, mutually-interdependent networks of parts. Indeed, the complexity of the biomacromolecules discussed in this essay does not begin to exhaust the full complexity of living systems. As even the staunch materialist [[Richard Dawkins]] has allowed, "Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose." Yet the materialistic science we have inherited from the late-nineteenth century, with its exclusive conceptual reliance on matter and energy, could neither envision nor can it now account for the biology of the information age." - The Origin of Life and the Death of Materialism by [[Stephen C. Meyer]], Ph.D.<ref>http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer/sm_origins.htm</ref>
</blockquote>

== Scientific Journals ==
Advocates of the macroevolutionary position have often claimed that those who oppose the macroevolution position don't publish their opposition to the macroevolutionary position in the appropriate scientific literature (creationist scientists have peer reviewed journals which favor the creationist position).<ref>http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2640</ref><ref>http://creationresearch.org/crsq.html</ref><ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3873/</ref> Believers in the Abrahamic faiths believe that the the natural world has been designed by God. Recently, there has been articles which were favorable to the [[intelligent design]] position in scientific journals which traditionally have favored the macroevolutionary position.<ref>http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2640</ref>

==Controversy==
=== Creationism and Intelligent Design ===
Believers in the Abrahamic faiths believe that the the natural world has been designed by God. Recently, there has been articles which were favorable to the [[intelligent design]] position in scientific journals which traditionally have favored the macroevolutionary position.<ref>http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2640</ref> Believers in the Abrahamic faiths have points of agreement and disagreement with the intelligent design movement. They agree that the natural world has an intelligent cause and was designed but some also believe that the intelligent design movement divorces the Creator from creation by not explicitly stating that the cause of creation is a supernatural being and also failing to state explicitly who that supenatural being is.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/intelligent-design-movement</ref>

There is considerable disagreement on whether or not [[Intelligent Design]] amounts to a form of creationism and if so, where to place it in comparison to the other forms of creationism. This is due to the concept having many different definitions and proponents espousing different ideas.

For example, one major proponent of Intelligent Design is Young Earth Creationist [[Paul Nelson]], while [[Michael Behe]], another major proponent, accepts common descent. [[William Dembski]] has stated unequivocally that Intelligent Design is not theistic evolution and they should not be considered the same<ref>''What every theologian should know about creation, evolution, and design'' Center for Interdisciplinary Studies Transactions 3(2), William Demsbki</ref>. Dembski has also asserted that Intelligent Design is the [[Logos]] in terms of information theory<ref>[http://touchstonemag.com/archives/issue.php?id=49] ''Signs of Intelligence:
A Primer on the Discernment of Intelligent Design'' Touchstone Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 4 July-August 1999</ref>, while Dembski and others have given other definitions that do not include any specific theological references. Arguably, intelligent design can be summarized as the notion that at some point in the past, in some way, some entity (possibly God) created life, or altered life at some point, or created the universe to be compatible with life.

Behe and others have stated that Intelligent Design is not religious in nature but in the [[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District|Dover trial]], Judge John E. Jones III, a [[Republican]] and a [[US Federal District Judge]], ruled as a one of his findings that Intelligent Design was essentially religious in nature. The opinion met with wide accolades, but some criticism that it borrowed too heavily from the ACLU's briefs. <ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53330]</ref> Nonetheless, it has been embraced by the legal community, and has quickly become the subject of renewed scholarship on the scope of the First Amendment.<ref>Richard B. Katskee, "Religion in Public Schools," 5 First Amend. L. Rev. 112 (2006)</ref>

==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/>

[[Category:Creationism]]

Sandinistas

2007-05-22T03:22:40Z

DemocraticSocialist:

The Sandinistas were socialist rebels of [[Nicaragua]].<ref>"Havana unquestionably assisted the Sandinista insurgency with both money and arms, but the revolution was an indigenous Nicaraguan affair. The repressive and corrupt 40-year dictatorship of the Somoza family inexorably alienated democratic elements and eventually impelled them to make common cause with the Marxist-dominated Sandinista front. This powerful, although inherently unstable, alliance overthrew Anastasio Somoza in 1979 to the acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans." [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The "Reagan Doctrine" and Its Pitfalls] by Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute </ref>

In the late 1980s, they were portrayed as heroes in the tradition of [[Che Guevara]], unselfishly dedicated to the well-being of the downtrodden masses.

Biased reports show them as the worst [[human rights]] violators of the region but the Contras were much worse than the Sandinistas ever were and were known to brutally maim and kill people [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Amy_Goodman/Reagan_Liteky_DNinterview.html]
*The problems began again in 1974, when Sandinista guerrilla groups began to mount very successful operations against Somoza. One popular example was the time when a group of Sandinistas took some elite people hostage at a party and received all of their demands from Somoza in exchange for their release. [http://members.tripod.com/PR0J3CT/somoza.htm]
*Unlike the [[Somoza]] regime, the Sandinistas did not leave the native populations on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in peace. All Nicaraguans had to take part in the Marxist experiment. Thus, in perfect Khmer Rouge style, the Sandinistas inflicted a ruthless forcible relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from their land. Like Stalin, they used state-created famine as a weapon against these "enemies of the people." The Sandinista army committed myriad atrocities against the Indian population, killing and imprisoning approximately 15,000 innocent people. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=180 Front Page magazine] (This is a questionable source, more research will need to be done)

==Notes==
<references/>

Sandinistas

2007-05-22T03:19:57Z

DemocraticSocialist: removed POV

The Sandinistas were socialist rebels of [[Nicaragua]].<ref>"Havana unquestionably assisted the Sandinista insurgency with both money and arms, but the revolution was an indigenous Nicaraguan affair. The repressive and corrupt 40-year dictatorship of the Somoza family inexorably alienated democratic elements and eventually impelled them to make common cause with the Marxist-dominated Sandinista front. This powerful, although inherently unstable, alliance overthrew Anastasio Somoza in 1979 to the acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans." [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The "Reagan Doctrine" and Its Pitfalls] by Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute </ref>

In the late 1980s, they were portrayed as heroes in the tradition of [[Che Guevara]], unselfishly dedicated to the well-being of the downtrodden masses.

Biased reports show them as the worst [[human rights]] violators of the region but the Contras were much worse than the Sandinistas ever were and were known to brutally maim and kill people [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Amy_Goodman/Reagan_Liteky_DNinterview.html]
*The problems began again in 1974, when Sandinista guerrilla groups began to mount very successful operations against Somoza. One popular example was the time when a group of Sandinistas took some elite people hostage at a party and received all of their demands from Somoza in exchange for their release. [http://members.tripod.com/PR0J3CT/somoza.htm]
*Unlike the [[Somoza]] regime, the Sandinistas did not leave the native populations on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in peace. All Nicaraguans had to take part in the Marxist experiment. Thus, in perfect Khmer Rouge style, the Sandinistas inflicted a ruthless forcible relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from their land. Like Stalin, they used state-created famine as a weapon against these "enemies of the people." The Sandinista army committed myriad atrocities against the Indian population, killing and imprisoning approximately 15,000 innocent people. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=180 Front Page magazine]

==Notes==
<references/>

Sandinistas

2007-05-22T03:16:06Z

DemocraticSocialist: the sandinistas were socialists, not communists, they did allow private property rights

The Sandinistas were socialist rebels of [[Nicaragua]].<ref>"Havana unquestionably assisted the Sandinista insurgency with both money and arms, but the revolution was an indigenous Nicaraguan affair. The repressive and corrupt 40-year dictatorship of the Somoza family inexorably alienated democratic elements and eventually impelled them to make common cause with the Marxist-dominated Sandinista front. This powerful, although inherently unstable, alliance overthrew Anastasio Somoza in 1979 to the acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans." [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The "Reagan Doctrine" and Its Pitfalls] by Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute </ref>

In the late 1980s, they were portrayed as heroes in the tradition of [[Che Guevara]], unselfishly dedicated to the well-being of the downtrodden masses.

Other reports show them as the worst [[human rights]] violators of the region, much worse than anything their supporters tried to pin on the "[[Contras]]" who opposed them.
*The problems began again in 1974, when Sandinista guerrilla groups began to mount very successful operations against Somoza. One popular example was the time when a group of Sandinistas took some elite people hostage at a party and received all of their demands from Somoza in exchange for their release. [http://members.tripod.com/PR0J3CT/somoza.htm]
*Unlike the [[Somoza]] regime, the Sandinistas did not leave the native populations on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in peace. All Nicaraguans had to take part in the Marxist experiment. Thus, in perfect Khmer Rouge style, the Sandinistas inflicted a ruthless forcible relocation of tens of thousands of Indians from their land. Like Stalin, they used state-created famine as a weapon against these "enemies of the people." The Sandinista army committed myriad atrocities against the Indian population, killing and imprisoning approximately 15,000 innocent people. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=180 Front Page magazine]

==Notes==
<references/>

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-22T03:11:11Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky */

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for terrorist organizations such as [[Hamas]] and [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as an anarcho-syndicalist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras). (See [[Iran-Contra Affair]])
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish heritage
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Noam Chomsky

2007-05-22T02:41:00Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky */

[[Image:Chomsky3.gif|right|thumb|130px]]
'''Noam Chomsky''' (born December 7, 1928) is a linguist who is best known for his writings on politics. He is an institute professor & professor of linguistics (Emeritus) at the [[MIT|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) <ref>http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/chomsky/index.html</ref>.
He has always been very critical of [[America]]n and [[Israel]]i foreign policy and sympathizes with [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and has shown support for terrorist organizations such as [[Hamas]] and [[Hezbollah]]<ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=11&x_article=1151</ref>. He has also been criticized for [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>http://www.jbooks.com/interviews/index/IP_Dershowitz.htm</ref>.

His opponents accuse him of expressing admiration for governmental systems such as the Soviet Union, Chinese and Cambodian governments which are characterized by central control, xenophobia, and rejection of free expression. Chomsky counters that he is merely pointing out the West's own crimes and not condoning authoritarian governments that the West opposes. Chomsky identifies himself as an anarcho-syndicalist who is opposed to both neoliberalism and authoritarianism. <ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19446</ref>

==List of Terrorist Atrocities committed by the West according to Chomsky==
#The overthrow of democratic and secular leader Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and replacement with the Shah, a brutal dictator in 1953 (Done by the US and the UK)
#The overthrow of social democrat Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954
#The overthrow of democratic socialist Salvador Allende in Chile on 9/11 in 1973
#The Dirty War against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s
#The backing of a brutal military dictatorship in El Salvador during the same time period
#Selling weapons to a terror-state ([[Iran]]) to fund another terrorist group (The Contras).
#Selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.
#Supporting the mujahideen which later became al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s
#Invading Iraq in 2003 against the ruling of the UN
#Blatant Support of Israel which Chomsky believes is a terror state despite his Jewish heritage
(Source: Hegemony or Survival)

However, it should be noted that Chomsky's books are riddled with factual inaccuracies <ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/100chomskylies.pdf</ref>. Despite this, all of the above are documented historical events.

==Linguistic Works==
===Generative Grammar===
Noam Chomsky advocates the view that the human brain has innate ability to generate gramatical sentences, thus all utterances which is deemed sensical to the speaker is necessarily grammatical, and the only role the liguist should play is to decipher its grammatical structure. This view has been criticized by many linguists as [[nihilism|nihilistic]] in that it rejects the notion of ungrammatical sentences. Noam Chomsky also pointed to instances of infants utter grammatical sentence fragments they have not been taught before as evidence for Generative Grammar.

===Universal Grammar===
Noam Chomsky also proposed the theory that a kind of universal grammar, a grammar that underlies all human languages, is hard-wired in the human brain. Thus all human languages are fundamentally the same, with only superficial differences. This theory of universal grammar has been criticized by linguist Geoffrey Sampson as being not falsifiable, arguing that the grammatical generalizations made are simply observations about existing languages and not predictions about what is possible in a language. To this day, the search for such universal grammar has been fruitless.

For decades, Noam Chomsky and his followers have been trying to make sense of sentences such as:
<blockquote>
''Who will be easy for us to get his mother to talk to?''
</blockquote>
which are deemed to be ungrammatical by a lot of linguists; by using techniques such as linking theory, anti-c-command requirement, A-positions, Bijection Principle, weakest crossover configurations, bound variable anaphora, asymmetric linking, licensing conditions, index of apronoun, null operator analysis, variable binding, configurational conditions, inappropriate and appropriate antecedents, etc.

== See Also ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8pxyAWTBk Chomsky Speaks about American Politics] Chomsky believes the Democrats and Republicans are a single entity
*[http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1136# Video of Noam Chomsky with Hezbollah Leaders in Lebanon]
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/chomskyhoax.html The Chomsky Hoax] by Paul Bogdanor
*[http://www.grsampson.net/AGwg.html Grammar Without Grammaticality] by Geoffrey Sampson
*[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23543 Chomsky's New Blood Libel] by Alan Dershowitz
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXMZZCvFtlw Chomsky on Middle East Television] Chomsky speaks about American Imperialism

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Noam}}
[[category:scientists]]
[[category:political people]]
[[category:authors]]
[[category:Liberal activists]]

Palestine

2007-05-20T20:37:31Z

DemocraticSocialist: remove POV

'''Palestine''' is the name given to the land of [[Israel]] by the [[Roman]]s.<ref>http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_name_origin.php</ref>.

Palestine (from Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשת‎ Pleshet, פלשתינה Palestina; Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filastīn, Falastīn) is one of many names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. Many different definitions of the region have been in usage in the past three thousand years.

Worth mentioning that the Philistines who at one time lived in part of the area were completely conquered by [[King David]].

Other English names for this region include: Canaan (Hebrew: כנען‎), Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל‎ Erets Yisrael), Judea (Hebrew: יהודה‎ yehuda), Holy Land (Hebrew: ארץ הקדש Erets Ha-Kodesh‎; Latin: Terra Sancta; Arabic: الأرض المقدسة‎ (Ard-al-Muqaddasah)and Cisjordan.

The Hebrew scriptures call the region Canaan when referring to the pre-Israelite period,(Hebrew: כּנען‎) and afterwards Israel (Yisrael). The name "Land of the Hebrews" (Hebrew: ארץ העברים‎, Eretz Ha-Ivrim) is also found. The wide area appears to be the habitat of the ancient ethnic Hebrews, though perhaps shared with other ethnic groups. The land of Canaan is part of the land given to the descendants of Abraham, which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). This land is said to include an area called Aram Naharaim, which includes Haran in modern Turkey, from where Abraham the ancestor of the Israelites departed.

The events of the Four Gospels of the Bible take place entirely in Israel.

In the Qur'an, the term الأرض المقدسة ("Holy Land", Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21)

Currently, the Palestinians living in the occupied territories, according to international law, are working to create a state called Palestine, whose creation is supported by a broad international consensus.

As one of the names for this region over the years has been "Palestine," but that name never referred to a sovereign country. However this is the case prior to the creation of any state. Those who use this point in order to undermine the Palestinians claim to the land their ancestors have lived in for many generations never seem to apply this argument to any other Arab country that has been recently created, or any country for that matter.
The area Palestine is the home of many [[terrorist]] organizations, such as the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade]] (related to [[Fatah]] [[Arafat]] & [[Abu Mazen]]), [[Hamas]], [[Islamic Jihad]]

== References ==
<references/>
== See also ==

[[Yasser Arafat]]

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T20:15:16Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Early Life */

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally 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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.
==Early Life==
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was very religious but his father was a freethinker and wasn't as constricted by the repressive religious beliefs that existed at that time. Despite his lack of religious belief, Darwin's old man allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church. Darwin's mother died when Charles was very young. After his mother died, Charles attended a nearby Anglican school in 1818. In 1825 he helped his father treating poor people in Shopshire and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was turned off by the brutality of surgery and neglected his medical studies. At the university he learned taxidermy from a free black slave named John Edmonstone. John also told the young Charles exciting tales about the South American Amazon and also about the brutalities of slavery. Because of this experience, Darwin went on to hate slavery.

==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T19:38:47Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Early Life */

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally 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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.
==Early Life==
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was very religious but his father was a freethinker and wasn't as constricted by the repressive religious beliefs that existed at that time. Despite his lack of religious belief, Darwin's old man allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church. Darwin's mother died when Charles was very young. After his mother died, Charles attended a nearby Anglican school in 1818. In 1825 he helped his father treating poor people in Shopshire and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was turned off by the brutality of surgery and neglected his medical studies. At the university he learned taxidermy from a free black slave named John Edmonstone. John also told the young Charles exciting tales about the South American Amazon and the brutalities of slavery. Because of this experience, Darwin went on to hate slavery.

==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T19:37:40Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Early Life */

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally 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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.
==Early Life==
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was very religious but his father was a freethinker and wasn't as constricted by the repressive religious beliefs that existed at that time. Despite his lack of religious belief, Darwin's old man allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church. Darwin's mother died when Charles was very young. After his mother died, Charles attended a nearby Anglican school in 1818. In 1825 he helped his father treating poor people in Shopshire and went on to study medicine in University. He was turned off by the brutality of surgery and neglected his medical studies. He learned taxidermy from a free black slave named John Edmonstone. John also told the young Charles exciting tales about the South American Amazon and the brutalities of slavery. Because of this experience, Darwin went on to hate slavery.

==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T19:33:07Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally 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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.
==Early Life==
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was very religious but his father was a freethinker and wasn't as constricted by the repressive religious beliefs that existed at that time. Despite his lack of religious belief, Darwin's old man allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church.
==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T19:25:30Z

DemocraticSocialist:

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]
'''Charles Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally 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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.

==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]

Charles Darwin

2007-05-20T19:21:40Z

DemocraticSocialist: /* Religious Beliefs */

[[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 being credited with discovering how coral atolls were formed.

==Religious Beliefs==
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Charles Darwin in 1880 at the age of 71.]]
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 an agnostic (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.

There is a false rumor that on his deathbed Darwin recanted his theory. This is a myth supposedly started by Sir James Hope's widow. Darwin's daughter, Henrietta, said that, "Darwin never recanted any of his scientific views, either then [on his deathbed] or earlier. <ref> [[Exploring Creation with Biology]], by Dr. Jay L. Wile and Marilyn F. Durnell, Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc., 2005. </ref>

== 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)
# Kevles, B., Females of the Species: Sex and Survival in the Animal Kingdom, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 8, 1986.
<references/>
[[Category:Naturalists|Darwin, Charles]]
[[Category:Biologists|Darwin, Charles]]