There is nothing more blind than the religious zealots in society. Now we have an associate Pastor at Dove World Outreach Center in America wanting to burn copies of the Qur’an on September 11th! Despite warnings from the White House and from the top US military officials and Commanders that this could have implications for soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, this mindless fool wants to go ahead.
Book burning is a practice started as early as the 3rd Century BC and was used as a tool by both secular and religious zealots to suppress dissenting and hierarchical views that were seen as a threat to the prevailing order. At its best it is seen as suppression, which is probably why this Pastor sees it as a good way to behave.
If this behavior happened in the school yard, the child would be reprimanded.
The vast majority of Christians and Islamic people are good people and have respect for each other. However, both sides have their radicals. Does this Pastor not see that his actions give the FEW radicals the oxygen they need to inflame the hearts and minds of other Islamic people? Did Jesus slap back and give them cause to behave worse towards him? This Pastor aligns himself with the equivalent radicals in Christianity that use religion to fight wars and undermine the world. Radicals on either side are few but most noticeable because they don’t worship their God in peace but rather worship themselves through publicity.
We are left to assume that this Pastor is seeking to make a name for himself…what was it that both Jesus and Prophet Mohammad said about this behavior?
The great Gandhi said, an eye for an eye only makes for a lot of blind people.
Many Islamic people died in the twin towers as well as Christians. It takes a big person to forgive and a bigger person to help the person that harmed them.
Paul Bridle
Posted on September 8th, 2010Tags: burning, Christian, Islam, Qur'an
in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
The French are spoiled for choice this year as to what they can go on strike for. In the annual round of national strikes, their President has given them a really good reason to get out on the streets. The pension age is to be raised to 67!!! This is still the lowest in Europe and no where near as radical as it should be, but the French guard their way of life and do not like change.
There is a lot of difference in holding on to traditional values and being inflexible for the sake of tradition. The French are keen to hang on to their traditions. An example is the way they safeguard their language at all costs. The reason English is the the language of business and so widely used is that it has adapted and evolves.
The world moves on and we need to move with it. Resisting it makes us rigid, and rigidity eventually snaps. Flexibility allows us to evolve and grow. The truth is, even if they could afford to retire, this generation is not seeking to retire in the traditional sense anyway, so retirement age is largely immaterial and certainly not something worth striking about.
Ahh….but then we would miss out on the annual strike which would be like missing the annual BBQ, and that would be another tradition lost!!!!
Paul Bridle
Posted on September 7th, 2010 in Uncategorized | Comment on this post »
There is no question that having an education is more important than ever and the demand for an education is increasing, especially from the east. With increased demand comes rising costs, and that is called ‘market forces’.
However, there is something very wrong with this picture. The cost of tuition is rising at three to four times the rate of inflation! In parts of the West it has tripled since 1990/91. But the system has not changed in nearly 100 years! The way we educate is still the same as it was at the time of industrialization. Schools still look like factories and are run in the same traditional manner with similar hierarchical structures as well. Not the way this generation wants to learn!
Britain, once seen as setting the standards in education for the world, is now increasingly seen as boring, stayed and not the place to go to university, by students from abroad. It is alarming to hear young people in India and China discounting UK as the place to go for an education.
We can’t go through an economic downturn and yet again see education not feeling the effects. The next ten years will see a radical shake up of education in the West, and the question is: will education lead the change or end up reacting to it? They will need to do a lot of rethinking and re-structuring if they are going to take the lead in creating change and stop defending their antiquated approaches.
As a result of the economic crisis, GM is now needing to produce 5million less cars to break even, compared to what it needed to do in 2006. GM was forced to rethink and restructure and as a result achieved a higher level of profitability. Universities will need to undergo a similar rethink and be prepared to forgo their expensive hierarchy that stunts innovation and is a massive overhead.
Paul Bridle
Posted on September 7th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »
At a speech in 2006 at Sun City, I described South Africa as walking into its future backwards. It was so focused on righting the wrongs of its past, that it wasn’t paying attention to what it needed to do to become a world player. Whilst there are a lot of good things happening in the post apartheid South Africa, at the time telecommunications was very poor, electricity was unreliable and travel was too expensive, to name a few. It was slow to respond and provide a sustainable environment for international business.
The recent strikes by Government workers asking for 8.5% pay increase is another damaging blow for South Africa. The Government is offering 7.5% (about double inflation) and seeking to settle. First the country can’t afford it, and second allowing the unions to win will create a rod for the countries back for years to come. But the real sin is that you can’t blame the people demanding unsustainable pay increases when Government officials and Politicians have given themselves 10% and more pay increases!!!
My attitude to South Africa has not changed in the five years since my speech in 2006. South Africa may not be walking backwards so much as walking whilst holding a mirror in front of itself to see if it looks good. Yes the Football World Cup was a success, but that is over and now and now it has to pay for it. It is not what is in the mirror that matters as much as what is the state of the body inside….and that is still disease ridden.
Put the mirror down, look forward and choose the role South Africa will have in the world and then start planning for it with haste.
Paul Bridle
Posted on September 6th, 2010Tags: South Africa
in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Isn’t is strange how stupid men are at times? Tony Blair highlights the problem by showing what happens when people detract from what is important and what their role really is.
We all knew that Gordon Brown was not leadership material and now we find out how poor he really was. Deliberately retaliating when things didn’t go his way is the behavior found in school playgrounds.
What jumps out at me is the comment Blair makes, saying that he believed that if New Labor steers a millimeter from its focus and what it stood for, it will lose, and he gives examples. As a leader it is necessary to remain focused on what is really important and what is needed and best for the circumstances. Real Leaders are there to achieve something and not to hold the position. There lies the fundamental position with Gordon Brown. The focus was on getting the position and not keeping New Labor on track with their reforms.
The big question is….why do Politicians continue to make the same mistakes again and again and again? We saw it with the Tory Party in UK and the Thatcher/Major era. They lost it by steering off just a little, and then New labor arrived and they steered off as well. In United States we see the same thing, the Republican Party are making the same mistake!!
Leadership is about doing what is right and staying on course within the framework of what is right. It is unfortunate that Tony Blair will be remembered for Iraq and his association with Bush rather than for the things he got right.
Good lessons in the book and probably the most honest bit of writing by a Politician we have seen for a while.
It surprises me how some Americans are reacting to the proposal to build a Mosque in New York near Ground Zero. The part that surprises me is the ignorance of the facts.
First of all, Islam is not a terrorist organization and does not condone terrorism within its beliefs. A radical group of people that use the sacred religion of Islam as a justification for their cause, does not mean Islam is bad. Secondly, the Iman is a Suffi Islam which is a liberal sector and a mortal enemy of Al Qaeda. Even George Bush worked to promote this sector of Islam when he was President!!!!
There is some irony in the way America supported the IRA for so many years and now gets so angry about anything that appears like supporting terrorists…even when there is no connection.
The war on terrorism has to be fought for the hearts and minds of the people. Every bit of evidence shows that where poverty is allowed to happen, it becomes fertile ground to recruit people to an ideology. The West is responding so slowly to Pakistan’s need for aid at the moment…leaving it open for major issues in the future.
The extreme right wing element in America that believes that it is a sin to provide for people who don’t work, is creating fertile ground that will come back and bite us in the future. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people should work and support themselves, but they should also not be allowed to sink into a position where they are desperate. Poverty is the scourge of the modern world and more deadly than Aids, Cancer and other forms of disease.
There is an excellent article today about not winning the fight against terrorism but also winning the argument. Have a look at The Vancouver Sun.
Christianity and Islam are equally not blameless both in history and today. However, it is not the religions that are the problem, but rather the radical elements that use the religions for their own agenda. The IRA used religion to justify and focus people on their cause. Al Quada use Islam to justify and focus people on their cause. We need to separate the real terrorists from the sacred religions and educate people in the sanctity of the religion so they are not fertile minds for radical elements to plant their radical thinking into.
The war on terrorism is on many fronts and not just on the ground in Afghanistan. I would even argue that the war on the ground is a small part of the real war. If we spent as much money on the winning the argument and winning the hearts and mind of people, we would not even need the physical war!
Paul Bridle
Posted on August 27th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
This article is based on a recent speech by Lee Kuan Yew, is an excellent insight into the approach that has been taken in this amazing country. There are a number of approaches that can be picked out from this that would be an excellent model for many countries (especially in the West).
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/08/16/four-key-reasons-behind-singapore-success-mm-lee/
I encourage you to read it and explore the approaches taken
On this day, John Lennon announced that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus while Martin Luther King Jr was being stoned at a march in Chicago!!! Wow, that must have been a busy day for Christians
Paul Bridle
Posted on August 6th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Today I walked through the crowded London underground and then through the crowded airport where people walk aimlessly about trying to make sense of a world that they do not know or understand. I queued to get through the security checkpoint and make my way to a moment of near peace in the Executive Lounge. Here I eat processed food until it is time to make my way through the crowds who are now aimlessly walking around the departure area and I join a queue to board my plane. I sat in my seat next to everyone else regimentally positioned in the aircraft waiting to be given more processed food. I cannot face it so opt for a drink instead (the stewardess seems offended)
Upon landing, we queue to board the bus to Frankfurt terminal and then once again walk through the crowds who have now turned from aimless to desperate….desperate to know if their luggage has arrived. I pass them all until I find the aimless ones again, looking for their flight and trying to make out all the signs while standing in the middle of the walkway (or even better straddling their luggage cart across the walkway to maximise congestion while looking skywards and reading every sign individually). I make my way through them to once again stand in a longer queue for security and make my way to another lounge for something to drink quickly before I go and find my Gate and wait for my delayed onward flight to Nice.
I get on the bus to the plane and then board the plane and find my seat. As I settle down and watch the passengers (the aimless people in the departure lounge are now wondering down the isle aimlessly trying to see which seat will jump out at them and say “Hi, I am your seat, please sit in me”)….and I reflect on why am I doing this?
Yes the money can be quite good sometimes and whilst I love travelling, there comes a point when you can have too much of a good thing, so these are not the main reasons. As I smile at the lady in front of me that actually hears her seat speak to her and goes to it with far too much excitement, and I realise that there is a combination of reasons why I do this.
I do it because I am quite good at it and I can challenge myself to be better at it. In other words, it is a space I can grow and develop myself while making a meaningful contribution. But the real reason I do it is because I love working with my loving wife and my friend and son. It is so much fun applying our talents and skills in different ways, combining those talents and skills to try and develop new things. Knowing that we could apply those talents and skills in many ways to many things, and we would always manage to achieve what we all wanted…because we can.
So, while at the moment it provides what we all want, I am happy to amuse myself watching the rest of the world do what they do whilst we do what we do (the stewardess on this flight has given me a processed sandwich and when she sees my reluctance, she tells me it is her favourite!!!!…she needs to get out more). Who knows, one day we may pack all this in and start something new and seek an alternative lifestyle. If that happens, I will enjoy that because of what we can achieve together and the fun along the way.
I love my life because of what we make of it. I love it because it is filled with special people that add to it in ways that make it special.
Paul Bridle
Posted on July 1st, 2010 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Steve Jobs writes an article replying to his critics about Flash not being used on the iPhone and iPad. Fascinating response taking the issue head on.
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/
Paul Bridle
Posted on June 28th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
