"Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves." - Robert Anton Wilson
***
CNA's account of Blair's lecture:
"In a speech to some 600 people from around Asia, his key message is the importance of interfaith dialogue... To promote interfaith dialogue, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation is working to link students from different parts in the world in discussions."
Eisen's (interspersed with my comments):
"Why is the décor so cheap?
Dude, you've aged. Visibly
four minutes into his speech, he finally quotes from the bible. I predicted five. Damn
he finally quotes from Samuel Huntington... "clash of civilizations". I knew he can't resist that, heheheh
tsk tsk, unlike Obama, he does not mention atheists in the roll call of religions. Tsk tsk tsk
I wished he had shared more with us about his work as envoy in the middle east, rather than pad his speech with vague rhetoric
"religion sometimes comes under attack from a very aggressive secularism..." hello, look who's talking
[Me: The moment you criticise religion, you're 'aggressive'; http://gssq.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-i-think-of-whenever-people.html (What I think of whenever people complain about militant/aggressive atheists/secularists)]
"I am for freedom of speech... But only if it doesn't affect interfaith harmony" ah, hence the sedition act
[Me: If you stare at a gang member on the bus,he'll beat you and your friends up. Therefore, I am for jailing those who stare at gangsters]
tan cheng han is beaming as Blair talks about jesus... Confirm he is a Christian too
[Me: Most pple in our socio-demographic group are Xtian, and I always see pple reading Xtian stuff. Move to a more secular society lah :)]
Q and A - "you said 'love thy neighbour', sir, but only for people of the same faith?" GOOD QUESTION
[Me: He and Karen Armstrong would have a great time talking politically-correct feel-good rubbish to each other]
[Eisen: HAHAHA Blair just recommended we read Karen's book]
blair effectively replied that you should ignore scripture or choose selectively from it so as not to kill each other
[Me: i.e. Use religion when it suits your needs and ignore it when it doesn't. Bah, humbug.]
ah, Blair finally does the right thing and attacks those who are devout outside but have no faith inside... Good tactic
Q and A - "how do you involve atheists?" don't force them into group prayer la"