Things That Prove My Insanity- The Misuse of History

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Autism, books, bullying, civil rights, He Was Weird, holocaust, Politics, race relations, schools, slavery, teachers, US history, World War II

18th Century battle formation

I have always loved history. In “He Was Weird,” Mark also loves history although when he imparts certain historical knowledge, he gets bullied for “showing off.” A second ago, I was going to write that my last statement was a digression from the intent of the post but it is linked. Throughout the ages, history has been misused. Often times it’s misused by the right to foster hate or promote patriotism and misused by the left as a stick to beat people with. Either way, history gets misused.

The right’s misuse of history is very straight forward. They want to use it to celebrate historical events that make their country look great. At the same time, they want events that don’t make their country look so good de-emphasized or not taught at all. Look at the holocaust deniers, which is why the best thing Dwight Eisenhower did in World War 2 was to order photos taken of the concentration camps. Because like he said, “In fifty years time, some bastard will say that this never happened.” He was right.

Back in the 1980s and I’m sure it still goes on, the American right wanted the Vietnam War de-emphasized where pupils were taught, that America didn’t really lose or that the protesters lost the war for America and we would have won if it wasn’t for that. Gee, when I was in the marines, some of my fellow marines said the army lost Vietnam for us. The right’s obsession with covering up Vietnam even got the point where Jello Biafra has a three minute tirade called, “Vietnam Never Happened.” It’s quite funny. Has it worked? Well, it did back in the 80s. I remember a teenager stating that America won Vietnam. Also, the greatest but little known success of the Reagan presidency was the vilification of the 1960s.

Other nations are the same. In my adopted home, the UK, British children are not taught about the American War of Independence and if mentioned, those on the right are quick to point out that Britain won most of the battles, they did. Then again, they aren’t taught about the French and Indian War which Britain did win. The only mention I’ve ever heard or seen was a history documentary about the decisive victory at the Battle of Quebec. I know that the right wing in other countries are the same way with the teaching of history.

Now to the left, which my Asperger’s mind has real  problems with. The left go totally the opposite way with the teaching of history, to the point where they want to portray their country as evil. The British Empire is a prime example of this. See, in principle, I agree that the Britain and some of the other European nations proclaiming parts of Africa and Asia as part of their empires was wrong. I know that a lot of atrocities were committed in the name of the Empire and I think that was terrible too. However, my question is, how long should the people today pay for the sins of their forefathers? The left uses this history as justification for letting all the world come settle in their country. While they may have a point, it’s not practical. The empires were more than 100 years ago and those nations now have independence. Yet the left wants to use events of over a century ago as a stick to beat the people of today with and this leads to my point. History is a learning tool used to point out where people went wrong or got it right and used to guide the future generations so they won’t make the same mistakes as their fathers did. I’m talking right and left here.

Before anyone on the left who is reading this starts calling me racist, I’m not. However, history is used by both left and right as a tool for racism. American history is full of examples, especially in regards to African Americans. Slavery was wrong, totally wrong. The right use it to point out to African Americans that they should be lucky they weren’t living back then if they think that they have it so bad now. What a load of hogwash! Furthermore, white people living in the North, have no right to use it as an excuse to lord it over the South and especially towards African Americans whom Northern whites on the right believe should feel grateful to them for freeing them from the bonds of slavery. I wonder is this the reason why I have met a good number of African Americans from the South who have “Southern pride.” And to Northern right wingers, it’s not Stockholm Syndrome. On the other hand, slavery should not be used as an excuse by African Americans to hate whites. This is also punishing the children for the sins of their fathers and why should I be hated for something that ended a century before I was born? And thanks to my step mother’s efforts in tracing my geneology, I can say with a good deal of certainty that none of my ancestors were involved in slavery while it was going on. Slavery in America is a perfect example of how the right uses history as a tool to oppress and how the left uses it as a stick to beat people with. In either case, the end result is hate.

Robert E Lee, this statue should not be torn down

I’d like to raise a point about the American Civil War here. This is directed to the Southerners I’ve met in my lifetime who haven’t dealt with the fact that the South lost. First, if the South had won, the United States would be two separate nations and not as strong as it is now. A Southern victory would have made the Monroe Doctrine unenforceable and the nations of Europe would have expanded their empires to South America. That is why during the war, France went in and took over Mexico. Furthermore, Germany might have won World War 1 and God knows what would have happened with World War 2. So, maybe it was good for the US and the world that the Union won the Civil War. I am not trying to lord the North’s victory over the South, in fact, I am dead against the tearing down of Robert E Lee’s statues. He was a great general and should be honoured as such. After all, Rommel fought on the side that promoted genocide but I’ve heard no claims against him. I’m just using history in hindsight to show the good things that came out of that war.

I guess what I am doing is trying to make sense of the use of history in my own mind. The teaching of it has often times been misused to further some political agenda, both by the left and right. It should be taught that while most historical events have been for the best, there are some which haven’t. The only tool history should be used for is a learning one so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past and build on the successes of that past in the hope of building a better future.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505813006&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

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Attention UK! It Could Now Happen in Your Country

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Americans, bullying, Great Britain, guns, mental health, school shootings, schools

Here I was ready to write my next post in the series of “Things That Prove My Insanity” when my Google Alerts pointed me to a story which definitely aroused my interest. The article, which I am now going to share, was about a fifteen year old boy who was sentenced to six years in jail for plotting to carry out a school shooting. If it wasn’t for the title, most of you would probably be thinking, “Where in America did this occur?” The answer was that it didn’t, it occurred in the UK, a country where guns are much more difficult to get and where many people living there like to point an accusing finger at the United States for all the school shootings that happen there.

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Boy, 15, sentenced to six years in prison for planning mass school shooting in Nuneaton http://bit.ly/2gSs2Qg  #UK #UKBiz

9:50 PM – Sep 9, 2017

Boy, 15, sentenced to six years in prison for planning mass school shooting in Nuneaton

The youth was ‘seconds away’ from carrying out the attack at Higham Lane school, a court heard.

ibtimes.co.uk

 

The teenager was reportedly just second away from opening fire on his fellow students when he made a call to the police. An emergency call handler then “averted disaster” by convincing the teen to disassemble his weapon, while officers headed to the scene. The school was placed on lockdown at approximately 9:15 a.m., while the police took the teenagerinto custody.

The International Business Times quotes Judge Andrew Lockhart QC of the Warwick Crown Court as saying the teenager had been a moment away from committing a heinous crime.

The judge spoke to the teenager, saying he had his face covered, a knife and shotgun in hand and was preparing to shoot at anyone in the school. Lockhart said that anyone who would have been his target would have been a “wholly innocent victim.”

Impossible to predict how many would have been shot

The judge went on to tell the teenager that if he had opened fire, he had no doubt death and serious injury would have occurred, while saying it was impossible for him to predict how many victims would have been affected. Lockhart said only a “moment in time” had separated both students and school staff from being a victim of a “terrible event” and a crime that would have been added to the history of wicked crimes committed in the U.K.

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Lockhart went on to praise the emergency call handler who talked the teenager down from his plans, saying his actions had been “exemplary.” The judge added that the call handler acted in such a way that a potential disaster was averted.

Defense said incident caused by ‘loss of good sense’

In the teenager’s defense, Delroy Henry said that the boy’s plans to launch a #Shooting Spree resulted from a “loss of good sense,” adding that a prison term would not benefit his mental health. He added that the teenager had ultimately cooperated with police and taken the decision not to proceed.

Fellow students at Higham Lane School claimed at the time that the teenager had been the subject of bullying and believed this may be why he made the decision to bring a shotgun into the school. The teen is receiving mental health treatment to aid in his rehabilitation.

The 15-year-old will serve at least half of his six-year sentence in jail, followed by release on license for the remainder of his sentence. According to the Offenders’ Families Helpline, this means the teen must adhere to certain rules and will not be allowed to travel outside of the U.K.”

For the record, I am in no way baiting British people because a near school shooting happened in their country. In fact, this can provide an opportunity for Britain not to repeat the same old mistakes that never get sorted in American school shootings. We know the boy who planned the massacre was bullied, this should definitely need to be addressed. Plus, he had mental health issues, this must not be ignored either. These are both reasons that cause young people to ‘snap’ and carry out or plan to carry out large scale atrocities. In this case, we need to be thankful that the boy contacted the authorities and asked for help. While, I don’t question the punishment handed out by the judge, (in America it would have been more severe), what this boy needs is help while he is serving his sentence. Plus, bullying needs to be looked at even more because British schools can no longer assume that a victim will not have access to guns.

Shameless link to “He Was Weird”: In the story, a boy from Worcester, Great Britain posts on Mark’s Facebook page that he wishes he could get a hold of guns in the UK so he could teach his bullies a lesson. We now see that this has become a frightful reality.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505154992&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Things That Prove My Insanity- Creation v Evolution

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Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Bible, christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, films, Jesus Christ, Mormons, religion, solar system

Edge of Space

Let’s begin with one that has been swirling around in my mind for many years, my thoughts on the origin of our world. True, I was brought up in a Christian household and attended Sunday School nearly every Sunday as a child and went to church on most Sundays as well. Therefore, I have been taught all about how God created the Earth, sun and moon and everything else. However, I did receive a good education and attended college and therefore have heard non religious theories about how our world was formed and evolved. Having absorbed all of this information and processed it around my strange but wonderful mind, I am now ready to put forward my own theory. We’ll call it Mike’s Theory.

First of all, evolutionists and some creationists as well have the wrong view of how God might have created the world. They think of God as some sort of cowboy builder going around the space with a big cigar in his mouth, okay I’m kidding about the cigar, and saying, “Ooh, I think we’ll put a planet here and maybe if we hook it up with that star over there, we can get light for it” I could go on but I won’t. Here’s the thing people on both sides of the argument forget. If God created everything, he also created the laws of science and would have used those laws in forming our world. Therefore, he would have sent heavenly bodies flying across the solar system and crashing into each other. The moon could very well have been formed by a smaller body crashing into our Earth and then breaking off with the bit which would become our moon stuck in Earth’s gravitational pull. In any case, would have been much easier for God to use these scientific laws as opposed to creating a world out of nothing. After all the resources required would have already been there for him.

God the cowboy builder and I suppose that’s his companion Jesus behind him.

Of all the religious theories about creation I have heard, my best conclusions came during my decade in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. They don’t believe that the world was created out of nothing either. In fact, their belief says that matter was already floating around in space where God would have wanted to make a world so he just went there and organised the matter into something. Again, he would have used the laws of science to help him in organizing his world.

Now comes the length of time it took for our world to form. I don’t think the world was made in six 24 hour long days. While, I’m not trying to convert anyone to Mormonism here, I do think their interpretation of day works for me. There are several definitions of the word day. First, there’s the 24 hour period we all know. Then the Bible says a day is like 1000 years but the meaning of day I use here is the unspecified amount of time. Right now, we are living in the day of technology. Can anyone say when that day began or when it will end? I can’t. So, each of those six ‘days’ where God created the world were unspecified times. Any of those days could have lasted millions of years for all we know. It would have taken time for the Earth to heat and cool and then for oceans to form and then plants, animals and finally humans. The length of time of each of those days is not known to us.

Now onto humans. Even the Bible says that animals were around before humans. Again, animals could have been around for millions of years and many species, including the dinosaurs, would have come and gone. Eventually ape type creatures would have also appeared and they being the closest relatives to man, would have been the springboard to which man was created. There could have been Neanderthals and Crow Magnon people before modern humans were on the Earth and even co existed with them. We don’t know and while religious literature gives us no indication of this, it is wrong to discount that they were never there.

So I guess I am a creationist however, I believe that biblical and other religious accounts of how our world came to be aren’t complete. Maybe the ancient writers thought we wouldn’t understand all the science or more probably, didn’t understand it themselves. Whether or not you believe in God creating the world or evolution, you have to admit, whoever did it did an amazing job. It’s just a damn shame that humans seem intent on messing it up.

If you think I’m weird for my theories, then you should read He Was Weird, here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541929&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird