Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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Question 1

Virtually-unanimously proclaimed the best boxer of all time and arguably the most influential African-American of all time (at least internationally), who changed his name from Cassius Clay in 1964 at the age of 22 after becoming the World Heavyweight Champion -- what was his new name and why did he change to it?

Answer 1

Muhammad Ali.

He changed his name upon his conversion to “The Nation of Islam” (aka the so-called “Black Muslim” movement which was widely viewed as a black separatist “hate religion”).

[Muhammad Ali converted from The Nation of Islam to mainstream Sunni Islam in 1975.]

Question 2

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer and virtually-unanimously proclaimed as the best basketball player (college or pro) of all time, Lew Alcindor (who continued to be called “Lewis” by his legendary college coach John Wooden until the latter’s demise in 2010) changed his name in 1971, two years after graduating from UCLA and three years after boycotting the 1968 Olympics over America’s treatment of African-Americans (the same year that African-Americans Tommie Smith and Johnny Carlos famously gave their Black Power Salutes from an Olympic Victory Stand) -- what was his new name and why did he change to it?

Answer 2

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He changed his name upon his conversion from Roman Catholicism to Orthodox Islam (i.e., NOT The Nation of Islam, aka the so-called Black Muslims).

Question 3

Who essentially preached 2,000 years ago “From Each According To Her/His Ability, To Each According To Her/His Need”?

Answer 3

Jesus Christ.

Christ famously said there are only TWO commandments -- (1) Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself (aka The Golden Rule), immediately following which is the Story of the Good Samaritan to drive home the point that every human being is your “neighbor.”

Many followers of Christ have concluded that giving away all your wealth to the poor until you are as poor as the world’s neediest person is required by The Golden Rule.

Which is probably the reason why so many Christian Religious Orders require their adherents to take a Vow of Poverty.

However, many clergy argue that poverty is not required. And they point to Christ’s injunction to “sell all that thou hast, and distribute it unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and take up the cross, and follow me.”

Even though Mark 10:17-22 and Luke 18:18-23 indicate that this is required, the clergy who argue that poverty is not required point to the only other version of this commandment in Matthew 19:16-22 which seems to be limited by the statement: “If thou wouldst be perfect.”

However, the clergy making such an argument are heretics.

SINCE PERFECTION IS ALREADY REQUIRED BY THE GOLDEN RULE, because how can you love the world’s poor as yourself until you have shared with them everything you have IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR AND THEIR NEEDS???

Such clergy are lucky that they cannot be prosecuted for fraud because it cannot be proved in a temporal court that there is such a thing as eternal life, so it is impossible to prove that there is something out of which anyone is being defrauded!!!

Question 4

Who, nearly 1900 years later, in establishing a movement based on “From Each According To Her/His Ability, To Each According To Her/His Need” called the religion founded by the earlier preacher of this principle “The Opiate Of The Masses”?

Answer 4

Karl Marx.

Question 5

Why did Karl Marx call Christianity “The Opiate Of The Masses”?

Answer 5

Because he was so frustrated that the proletariat would not rise in revolt because their Christian beliefs kept them busy “laying up for themselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”

Question 6

Was there quite a bit written in the national news media during the Vietnam War [from President Kennedy’s 11/2/1963 assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem only 20 days before Kennedy’s own assassination (“if you break it, you own it”) until America’s final withdrawal on 4/30/1975] about White America’s fear that African-Americans in general would convert to Islam and/or revolt against the Vietnamese War?

[NB: This question is NOT meant to imply that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s conversion to Islam in 1971 was related to the Vietnam War, though he has said in many interviews that he was profoundly influenced by Muhammad Ali whose opposition to the Vietnam War (for which he was stripped of his World Heavyweight Title and banned from boxing 1967-1971 while his criminal conviction for refusing to be inducted under the military draft worked its way to the U.S. Supreme Court) was central to his worldwide image/popularity.]

Answer 6

Yes indeed!!!

Incidentally, the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Muhammad Ali’s criminal conviction was based on his argument that he was entitled to Conscientious Objector status because no religious leader of The Nation of Islam had issued a fatwā sanctioning participation in the Vietnam War.

An interesting parallel is that the Roman Catholic Church requires its members to refrain from participating in wars that are not “just.”

[Though, of course, many Catholics do not follow this requirement just like they famously refuse to follow many other requirements of the Roman Catholic Church such as NOT using any birth-control methods except the so-called “rhythm method” which is abstaining from sexual intercourse except during times when ovulation is unlikely to occur.]

The Roman Catholic Church’s “Just War Doctrine” was first enunciated by St. Augustine (354-430 AD).

Currently, it is enshrined in Paragraphs 2302-2317 of the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the middle of discussing the theological reasons for, and the implications of, The Just War Doctrine, its requirements are stated succinctly in Paragraph 2309 of the Catechism as --

“At one and the same time: (1) the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; (2) all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; (3) there must be serious prospects of success; and (4) the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.” [The numbers of the 4 conditions were added for clarity.]

Pope Francis officially pronounced fighting ISIS was/is a “Just War” approximately 6 month before President Obama declared that ISIS was no longer a “junior varsity squad” and that he would oppose it militarily.

However, Pope John Paul II officially pronounced that President George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq was NOT a Just War.

Question 7

If Karl Marx is right that “Christianity Is The Opiate Of The Masses” and long-time (1963-2008) Harvard Political Science Prof. Samuel Huntington (who was also the co-founder and long-time co-editor of Foreign Policy Magazine which he sold to the Washington Post upon his retirement) is right that Islam has “bloody borders” or, in other words, is an aggressive rather than passive religion, then why didn’t African-Americans by and large follow the example of Muhammad Ali in converting to Islam?

Answer 7

God only knows!!!

Question 8

Has The Establishment (as defined in Q&A-3 thru Q&A-6 of the First Short Quiz) effectively convinced America’s Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste to believe that the non-violence of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is more effective than the Militant Islam of Muhammad Ali’s “Nation of Islam” would have been?

Answer 8

So it would appear.

[NB: whether MLK’s non-violence philosophy has actually been more effective for America’s Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste since MLK’s 4/4/1968 assassination through the present time -- is a different issue.]

Question 9

Has The Establishment effectively conned America’s Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste into believing that its most important political cause should be “police brutality” since pitting the Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste against the police costs virtually nothing when compared to the cost of providing an effective education for our inner-city children in order to finally mainstream our Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste?

Answer 9

So it would appear.

Question 10

Has The Establishment effectively conned (among other Americans) Blue Collar Workers whose jobs have been exported into believing that their most important political cause is obtaining guns under the Second Amendment in order (in addition to hunting) to protect themselves from members of the Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste, since causing such division is a lot cheaper than halting the exportation of American jobs?

Answer 10

So it would appear.

Question 11

In response to the success of two current Presidential Candidates in championing the cause of blue-collar workers whose jobs have been exported and/or who are being forced to compete for jobs with illegal aliens, is The Establishment beginning to make the argument that using American workers will mean higher prices?

Answer 11

Yes. At least Republican Presidential Candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, has done so.

[Although everyone, including Ted Cruz, likes to pretend he is not a "owned" by The Establishment, Ted Cruz like all of the original 17 Republican Presidential Candidates except Donald Trump who is self-funding, are/were "owned" by The Establishment as a result of their campaign contributions. And, on the Democrat side, all of the original 5* Presidential Candidates are/were "owned" by The Establishment except Sen. Bernie Sanders who is funded by zillions of small contributions averaging $27 and who has no Super-Pac.]

* Most of us forget that Sen. Jim Webb and Gov. Lincoln Chafee participated with Gov. Martin O'Malley in the early debates alongside Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, because Messrs. Webb and Chafee dropped out before the Iowa caucuses.

Question 12

Isn’t this the same argument that was made by Slave Owners before the American Civil War?

Answer 12

Yes.

Question 13

Isn’t The Establishment even more despicable than the Ante-Bellum Slave Owners because the lower prices that America currently enjoys are not only based on “slave wages” of third-world workers and “slave wages” of illegal aliens, but also America IS NOT EVEN PAYING THE SLAVES THEIR WAGES because we are buying their products ON CREDIT?

Answer 13

Of course!!!

In 2015, according to http://www.CIA.gov’s World Factbook, we imported $749 billion more than we exported and in 2014, we imported $741 billion more than we exported.

NB: Our failure to pay for our imports should not be confused with the annual budgetary deficits of the U.S. government.

Question 14

Is The Establishment likely to show any allegiance to the U.S. (vs. taking their “Moveable Feast” elsewhere) once they have bankrupted America?

Answer 14

Although Yours Truly was an Unrestricted Line Officer in the U.S. Navy for three years during the 1960’s, I am reluctant to label any other American as unpatriotic.

But what do you think they will do??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 15

In the meantime, is The Establishment trying to con Americans into believing that the only way to deal with the exportation of their jobs is to chop their Social Security, Medicare, etc., etc.???

[In this regard, please recall the discussion of “Tax-Paid Cost” in Q&A-15 through Q&A-18 of the First Short Quiz.]

Answer 15

Yes, as incredible as that may seem!!!

And they won’t stop until the wages and benefits of Americans sink to third-world poverty levels!!!

Question 16

And when all else fails, does The Establishment seem to delight in distracting Americans from the destruction of their economy with social issues such as abortion?

Answer 16

Of course!!!

Question 17

Are either of the two current Presidential Candidates referenced in Q-11 likely to be The Messiah described in Q&A-13 of the First Short Quiz?

Answer 17

Q&A-13 of The First Short Quiz said FIVE miracles would be required for Messiah status -- a person:

(1) who is NOT “owned” by the billionaires, (2) who is willing to champion blue-collar workers and, hopefully also, America’s Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste, (3) who is able to win a major-party nomination for President, (4) who is then able to win the Presidential election, and (5) who is then willing (instead of being “bought off” at that point by the billionaires) and able to re-make one of the existing political parties, or willing and able to create the New-Majority Party from, in probably-minor part, whatever/whomever can be salvaged from the existing major parties.

There are only two candidates who are NOT “owned” by the billionaires --

(1) Bernie Sanders who is financing his campaign with zillions of donations averaging $27 and who does NOT have any Super-PAC’s.

(2) And Donald Trump who is self-financing.

However, that still leaves 4 miracles to go.

And the Roman Catholic Church only requires 2 miracles for sainthood.

So, no, the possibility that either will be The Messiah is probably a forlorn hope.

Question 18

So (referring back to Q&A-11 of the First Short Quiz) why are the members of the American News Media busy “telling each other that America does NOT have the same problem that Europe has in being unable to assimilate minorities”???

Answer 18

God only knows!!!

Question 19

Isn’t the sad reality that, unlike the European Union’s challenges in assimilating its 2% Muslim population, America has refused to lift a finger for well more than half a century to assimilate its Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste which constitutes 30% of the U.S. population???

Answer 19

Unfortunately!!!

Question 20

And rather than permit incurring the expense of providing an effective education for our inner-city children which is the only way to mainstream the Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste, The Establishment has conned African-Americans for well more than half a century to stick with “The Opiate Of The Masses” (aka Christianity) instead of converting in large numbers to Militant Islam???

Answer 20

So it would appear.

Question 21

So that The Establishment can continue to concentrate on its War on Workers and its War on The Permanent “Untouchable” Under-Caste???

Answer 21

So it would appear.

Question 22

And isn’t The Establishment “laughing all the way to the bank” as it views our focus book “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right” as nothing more than a good way to distract some Americans, similar to the distractions available by “stirring the pot” with social issues such as abortion, by getting the followers of The Left-Hand Puppet of the Establishment worked up over what The Right-Hand Puppet of the Establishment is doing???

Answer 22

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!