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OP
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Before I start, personal condolences to any or all affected by the events in NY. It may be cliched, but there are times when words are not eough.......
Anyway, heard one commentator raise a good point. He felt that describing the perps as terrorists was incorrect - and that nihilism / nihilists was more appropriate.
Have included definitions of the latter for your consideration:
1. the philosophical rejection of any basis for present and previous moral values, laws, and institutions.
2. the belief that existence has no meaning or purpose.
3. the doctrine that all present governments and institutions should be dismantled in order to make way for better ones.
yours in sorrow
stales
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Nihilists? No. If they are religious fanatics, they might border on your third definition, but they still believe in some rule. The Puritains came to the American colonies to practice their own brand of fanaticism, Jim Jones took his groupies to Guyana for theirs, and the Taliban in Afghanistan has that country in its thrall. In all these cases, they had, or have, a very rough way of praising their diety, it seems to me.
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Religious fanatics? I don't know. Someone smart once said (and I paraphrase poorly) 'those who are the weakest and most fearful will always tend most toward fanaticism and be used as nothing more than a tool by a religious or political extremist in the wings'. After seeing a poor, confused, and horribly maimed man with no vision on television, explaining how his attempt at a suicide-bombing had gone wrong, it was easy to see how this simple man had been convinced to do this 'religious' act and how little it has to do with religion.
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Not that I'm an expert on such matters, but I tend to agree with B.Y. Specifically, I'm wondering if the crux of the matter is religious fanaticism - or is it moreso about an intense dislike of everything the US stands for (capitalism, free speech etc).
(In Ozspeak, I'd say, "Is religious fanaticism a furphy?" On that subject, I recall "furphies" getting a mention before; for those that don't recall, a furphy is a red herring. Now, where did that one come from?)
Hence the 3rd definition of nihilism given in my initial post may well apply.
stales
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addict
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Hi Stales:
According to Brewer: In WWI containers for sanitary purposes were supplied to Australian military camps by the firm of Furphy and Co., whose name appeared on all their products. Hence a 'furphy' was a latrine rumour or a report of doubtful reliability.
Aren't you glad you asked?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Whoa, my sweet paulb, what a neat post! Yes, this is a situation that cannot avoid being furphilized. As the fur flies.
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OP
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Being a good Aussie I knew about furphies (although I thought they were cast iron water containers). It was moreso the red herring that I started to wonder about. Nae doot there's something in the archives......
stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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Bingley
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There's a somewhat posh restaurant cum function centre in Perth called the Red Herring. Wonder if they realize how apt the name is....the restaurant is built on a pier over a muddy bank (of the Swan River) which is fairly pungent at low tide!!
stales
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