The UN is trying to take away religious freedom. x.x

Rachie - I'm so sorry you feel so upset but I think you are feeling a bit overly got at - if you re-read the post, Squizita was not having a go at you ^^ I am the same when I feel got at ^^

From what I can tell, she was just pointing out that a lot of the papers over here are owned by the same corporations who are deliberately stirring up anti-foreign sentiments by publishing stories that make some people *feel* like they are second class citizens and that people who come here take advantage of our systems... This is not representative of the majority of people and really upsets me. Because really this is just using foreigners living in Britain as a scapegoat for the country's problems and dividing our communities. The article linked here is to a notoriously right wing paper which has a history of racism (it publicly supported the fascists right up to the start of the war) and it is quite correct to urge extreme caution when reading sources like that.

Pretty much everyone here is calling for freedom and tolerance. I hope we would speak out for any group that is being unfairly persecuted - it is the people who define a faith, not the other way around. There will always be a couple of people who act intolerantly from any group - whether they are Christians having a go at homosexuals or aethiests having a go at Christianity. Any intolerant attitude needs to be examined and countered so thank you for bringing the UN recommendation to our attention - I'm looking forward to reading more about it ^^

@Rawr.Rawr: If these people who are judging say they are Christian, I advise that you tell them to look up Luke 6:37. In fact, check this out:

http://www.openbible.info/topics/judging_others

It's a website dedicated to Bible verses that say NOT to judge others. I am ashamed by those who claim that they are Christian, yet do not act as such. I'm sorry you have to see these perverted actions in your country.

@Squizita: I said more afterward; idk if you read it or not. Again, I apologize if that was not your intent; I've merely gotten used to having to exaggeratedly and preemptively cover my tracks, merely because most Americans these days think that anyone who thinks conservatively can be verbally abused with no consequences. I mean, I've gotten attacked for my personal views on my own Facebook page before by people whose business did't belong there. You and I have normally seen eye-to-eye in the past, so I wasn't sure what the true intent there was.

Do you listen to BBC on the radio, watch them on TV, or both? The radio shows I have heard essentially demonize the modern state of Israel, condemning anything they do that will prevent the country from being annihilated by their enemies. It is no secret that the rest of the Middle East refuses to acknowledge them as a country, and in fact, their leaders regularly announce new plans to exterminate the country. From what I have heard off of BBC, they are much more supportive of the Arab states than the one tiny Jewish state. Personally, I think that it should be against the law for any news companies/stations to support ANY side over another. It's disgusting that the news has sunk to such a level that they will sensationalize, inspire fear, and take a "side" over another. Their job should be to report things EXACTLY how they happened--no more, no less.

I mean, I bet you don't hear in the news the constant threat of pretty much every Israeli city due to constant bottle rockets, suicide bombings, stones being thrown at non-Arabs by Arab CHILDREN, the daily threats from various other countries to Israel (new threats are mentioned daily on the nightly news), etc. However, we all know about how Israel was demonized by the world for protecting their country from being infiltrated by a flotilla that claimed to be peaceful, yet had weapons at the ready upon being inspected. (Inspection is something that happens when ANYTHING foreign enters ANY country--and if they were on a peace mission, WHY did they even HAVE weapons, let alone start offensively attacking those who were merely inspecting the goods they were bringing? If you watch the videos that were taken of the event, you can see that the inspectors were not adequately supplied to be offensive, but the people on the flotilla were, and started beating Israeli soldiers to death before they could even get on the boat.)

Yes, we all heard about how Israel is supposedly breaking international law by defending its own borders, but <i>nobody hears about how those of us who live here in Israel are under attack by bordering countries and foreign nationals on a daily basis.</i>

THAT is what I mean about antisemitism in the news.

Anyway, this entire thing has gotten way out of hand. I merely wanted to rant about something that was weighing heavily on my chest at the time, not debate. Too bad that I saw it coming; I honestly just wanted to get it off my chest. Now this thread has turned into another stressor for me instead of helping me relieve some of my stress.

Gigi--thanks for smoothing my feathers. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who can get this way when feeling ostracized.

Allright... I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I think me and Squizita were interpreting 'anti-semitism' as anti-Jewish sentiment. There is a massive anti-Israeli policy (but pro-Jewish) lobby over here.

The problem is that everyone gets their angle on current events from their media. None of us were present at the event you're discussing so we all get our version of events second hand.

The events from your media:
"Inspection is something that happens when ANYTHING foreign enters ANY country--and if they were on a peace mission, WHY did they even HAVE weapons, let alone start offensively attacking those who were merely inspecting the goods they were bringing? If you watch the videos that were taken of the event, you can see that the inspectors were not adequately supplied to be offensive, but the people on the flotilla were, and started beating Israeli soldiers to death before they could even get on the boat."

Are different from mine which recall the agression and death/injury count as one sided against the humanitarian groups.

The BBC has its biases but is seen as pretty pro-Israel in most places. It does report statements made by organisations like the UN and people such as world leaders. As there was so much condemnation of Israels actions on this occasion, I can see how reporting so many of these statements could be seen as one-sided.

I can imagine how hard it is to live in a place where you feel constantly under threat; my family lived in Ireland through the troubles. My mother was a teenager in Belfast in the 70s and 80s. She always taught me to look at where your perspective and information is coming from and to examine your views in this context. I try to do this as best I can and it's always really interesting to hear alternative viewpoints so thank you for sharing them with us ^^ Everyone here comes from such different backgrounds and viewpoints that it is difficult to remember this sometimes - but this is what makes this site such and interesting place

I hope you don't feel I'm having a go with this post - I'm just trying to put forward my perspective and background to put some of the issues here into context ^^

Rachie- sorry I caused you stress, it wasn't my intent- I did see the second thing you posted on it but I *sensed* you were still stressed, I just wanted to make it clear it was just a general comment! I wasn't being passive-aggressive, I was just saying what I believe to be the case from experience of working with media people.

I live in the UK, so have BBC TV, radio and website access for free (as well as all the commercial stuff). TBH I haven't seen programmes like you describe- I think the stuff they do overseas (via BBC World) might have a different bias and indeed could be made specially to be more politicised than the stuff we see here in the UK- ie. they'll not report things in certain places if it will ruffle feathers (either locally or back home if they offend a leader of a country that imports/exports to the UK). And I agree that's totally immoral- both sides of every issue (and more sides if it's complex) need to be shown equally, the truth doesn't change depending on who's the boss or where you are located.

It all depends in which political bed countries want to lie and who they want to make their sleeping partners.

Some take an anti Israel stance for polical and financial reasons to keep 'friends' with other countries.

I think it is a ridiculous childish 'I won't be your friend if you are friends with them' senario.

Pity some of the world leaders are still playing mindless games in their now larger play grounds.

The issue now is that their 'toys' are causing destruction of peoples lives and homes.....shame on them for using a cultural difference when the real problem is political policies.