Free speech, David Ben-Ariel, Christmas, New Year, and Iraq

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Free speech, David Ben-Ariel, Christmas, New Year, and Iraq

One of the features highlighted by the current debate about free speech (cartoons et al) is that the principle allows people to say a lot of things that you may not agree with. And if you're uncomfortable about that, then I fear that the only advice I can offer is, Get used to it. Or, better yet, make use of the now-numerous opportunities to put forward your own two pennorth.

It is in that spirit that I offer a connection to a writer whose views I by no means share, but who illustrates rather nicely what can be done through the internet and by the use of such companies as PublishAmerica.

David Ben-Ariel is a 46-year-old with extremely strong views on religion, and he uses various blogs and books to express his views in forcible terms. You might start, for instance, by looking at his eponymous blog, David Ben-Ariel, on which he plugs his book Beyond Babylon. This is a book that you can read online if you wish. There are also links to countless other articles and blogs.

David also has a blog called Christmas is an Abomination. (I agree with that bit, by the way.) He provides considerable evidence to make the point (which was grumpily referred to here in 2004) that, whatever else it may be, 25 December is certainly not the day when Jesus Christ was born. David quotes a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon, preached on 24 December 1871, in which the Rev. declares that 'if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Savior was born, it is the 25th of December.'

Neither does the New Year celebration meet with David's approval. It is, he declares, a pagan abomination in which the Devil takes a delight. Wrong time of year entirely.I could go on. If you are puzzled by the war In Iraq and the mysteries of the Middle East, then David's links will prove useful, because without too much trouble you can find a book written by 18-year-old Ryan Mauro, Death to America -- the Unreported Battle of Iraq. In this book, the 'secret agendas of Europe, Russia, and all the world's powers' are explained by 'one of the nation's youngest geopolitical analysts.'Such is the power of ideas, which can now be made readily available for the enlightenment of all through the digital media at our disposal.

Good luck, kids.
Posted by Michael Allen at 8:58 AM