Profile picture
Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63
, 4 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
"Like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing in our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom." Sen. Barry Goldwater, 16 Sep. 1981. nytimes.com/1981/09/16/us/…
"I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in ''A,'' ''B,'' ''C'' and ''D.'' Just who do they think they are?"—ibid
"We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs of state separate from the uncompromising idealism of religious groups and we mustn't stop now."—ibid
"To retreat from that separation would violate the principles of conservatism and the values upon which the framers built this democratic republic."—ibid. Barry Goldwater, a devout man, but aware of the dangers of absolutists of any stripe.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Garry Kasparov
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Kasparov63 see all

Profile picture
A few things to listen for tonight. 1) The words "crisis," "threat," "emergency," & "enemies" without evidence or on "secret" evidence. 2) Framing Trump's base as victims of these threats. 3) Blaming predecessors & opponents for not dealing with the threats, or for causing them.
4) Attacking media for not blindly repeating his narrative. Saying "the fake news will tell you.." 5) Blaming shutdown & "crisis" on others while positioning himself as the only one who can fix it. (If you enter a debate about solutions, you have accepted there is a crisis.)
Of course, these things would also be said if there were a real crisis! So how to determine the difference? 1) Why now, & not during 2 years of GOP control? Can't blame Dem obstruction. 2) Emergency powers are for emergencies. Does he make a real case for desperate measures?
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Trump saying the USSR "was right" to invade Afghanistan isn't just ignorant, it's dangerous. It's the new revisionist Kremlin line to justify Putin's own invasions. My new column: nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
It's hard to tell if Trump is making things up for a purpose or simply to serve his narcissism, or if he believes what he's saying. But when the lies match Putin's propaganda, pay attention. My @NYDailyNews column today: nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
@NYDailyNews "Trump is a Russian matryoshka doll of ignorance, with numerous layers of cluelessness wrapped up inside a total lack of self-awareness." So where did he get his fake fact about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Trump's foreign policy is almost the same Obama's but with a much worse PR department & with a critical press. It's saying "Go to Hell!" and hoping Hell doesn't reach you before you leave office.
I think Obama sincerely believed the US retreat would lead to peace. Many of us said he was wrong and he was. Trump is much worse because we know the results already. The slaughter & chaos are here, the thugs and dictators are advancing.
Trump's betrayals are for his interests alone. He aligns the US with authoritarians because it suits him. He spreads the virus of illiberalism, which is more contagious & deadly than right or left ideology.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Not as a simple copy/paste - note that DfT has ostensibly tried this with GTR and... well... yeah.

Metro and long distance have very different passenger profiles, and that's before issues such as geography and historical service pattern requirements kick in /1
What TfL have been very clever at doing is making sure that they don't 'mix and match' - they have metros that can be run as metros and avoid overlap where possible. That engineers a level of (relative) simplicity into the franchises. /2
And simplicity is important because - again - the risk sits centrally. That's good in terms of minimising operator cost, but it's BAD if things do go wrong.

The simpler a franchise is, the easier risk is to quantify and avoid. /3
Read 11 tweets
Profile picture
Threadlet: A pre-Islamic basmallah at Dūmah? I'm enjoying the wonderful article of J. Norris (A survey of the Ancient North Arabian inscriptions from the Dūmat al-Jandal area (Saudi Arabia) and was struck by the opening formula in three new inscriptions in the local script.
Norris reads one of the texts as: / b-s¹mh / mrd / w ḏ wd / ndb / (/ = word divider). The language of the text is difficult to understand but based on its structure it is clearly a prayer. Norris translates it as: May be with S¹mh / Mrd / and the one whom he loved / Ndb /’
He takes s¹mh as 'sky, heaven', a name of a deity. While possible, I wonder if this word is better interpreted as /simi-hu/ 'his name', and the inscription begins with /bi-simi-hu/ 'in his name' and then a prayer. I suggest the following interpretation:
Read 8 tweets
Profile picture
Religious people use symbolic speech to explain beliefs that marginalize others, because it doesn't make sense using regular reasoning.
The most genius part of religion was assigning divinity to what cannot be explained.

Why is it this way if it harms others?

"God made it so"
Imagine if I wrote a book and in it I claimed that God created all sagittarus people to rule the world.

Q: How do you know God wanted just sagittaurus people to be in charge of the world?

A: Because it is written in the book I wrote.
Q: Reading your book, it also says Leos were created to help Sagittaurus and were made from their femurs and thus should be led by Sagittaurus for the rest of their days.

A: Yes, I wrote it in my book because I am a sagittarus so I know what God specifically wants for us all.
Read 12 tweets
Profile picture
God, our hearts are heavy, our minds filled w/ anxieties about the future & agony over injustices & atrocities being committed against children. We have faith YOU are already working in the world to ELIMINATE this evil forever. May our ears, eyes & hearts be open to YOU&YOUR will
God, please give #WeThePeople the strength to oppose this evil in Your name. Grant us wisdom & discernment to know the difference between truth & deception. Grant us compassion & understanding, so that we may have empathy for those who are unwittingly doing the bidding of evil.
God, please reveal every dark corner of our world so that #WeThePeople may shine Your light to eliminate the darkness that covers & protects those who commit these evils against Your children. Make the truth bright & clear so that ALL may see, not just those with eyes to see.
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
#Shavuot begins this Saturday night and celebrates the moment when the #Jewish people received the #Torah at Mt #Sinai. Today #God might have only had a 280-character Tweet, but thankfully we have threads! So here is an extended thought on the "Ten Commandments"...
What the Israelites heard at Sinai has become known as the “Ten Commandments.” But this description raises obvious problems.
First, neither the Torah nor Jewish tradition calls them the Ten Commandments. The Torah calls them aseret hadevarim (Ex. 34:28), and tradition terms them aseret hadibrot, meaning “the ten utterances.”
Read 30 tweets
Profile picture
1/ “Lite” product variants. Everyone says they want lite, but they so rarely get built. Product mgrs, what’s up? techcrunch.com/2017/10/02/fac…
2/ First, all software expands to fill available UI surface area. The only thing to do with software is add features. Don’t think otherwise.
3/ That’s ok. Everyone using a product always says “I love it but could you just add this one thing” or let me customize (also a feature!)
Read 18 tweets

Trending hashtags

#TBT #breakfast #Iraq #makeamericagreatagain #Abraham #cannabispolicy #zealotry #RightTime #God #Highest #Jewish #BM #River #dysphoria #names #firstlady #SOTU #ThePlan #Tarot #Twitter #USVIA #opemdata #OneUnitedVoice #smartcitirs #Apple

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!