posted
our prayers & sympathy go out to all those effected by the latest terrorist attack. i'm sure we will be by your side when this scum is hunted down & killed. like it or not this war has to be taken to their backyard or it will continue to end up in our own.
-------------------- "keep your stick on the ice & your cup firmly in place"
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posted
Very sad, so very tragic. We Americans certainly well understand the nature of this senseless and horrific tragedy. My first thought is of children.
As time passes, and I know those of Islam faith sincerely say it is a faith of peace, but as time passes I become more convinced Islam is a faith of inequity, repression, murder and hatred.
Quite the debate in my mind on this. I do know the majority of Islam followers are good people. Still, the Islam faith is the foundation of terrorism.
Some would argue I am wrong. I don't know and will most likely never know. However, I do know within the Islamic faith, women are treated as cattle, education is almost a sin, crimes of the heart are punished in cruel barbaric manners. Those customs and others of the same genre, do suggest a viewpoint of Islam as being a religion of hatred, is a valid point of view.
I am certain on this. God cannot be happy with some of these actions we take, in the Name of God.
posted
purl gurl and Bill, couldn't agree with both of you more. Having been there and done that I can only say that part of the problem is that the extremists that hide behind the banner of Islam are willing to do the things that most of us from the western world find incomprehensible. However, I feel we should stop focusing on the bad apples within a religion. We have religious zealots in our own ****ry that are willing to do the same thing that muslim zealots are doing now. Just look at Anthony Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh. Also, don't forget, there are sects within Christianity that hold the same beliefs about women as Islam does. I am not going to lie, while I was deployed I often found myself complaining about Islam and how bad muslims were. But when I forced myself to think more objectively (put that degree in sociology to use) I realized that 99% of the Iraqi's, Egyptians, Jordanians, etc that I met every day we're just like me, just from another place and culture. I remember almost giving myself heat stroke one day playing soccer with some Iraqis in my full battle rattle.....not smart but it was fun. I genuinely enjoyed the company of almost all of the Iraqis I met. They were smart funny and great to be around. My nickname, given to me by my one of my buddies and one of my interpreters was Shaadthi Agra (bald monkey). Well, one day they had about two hundred Iraqi workers chanting my nickname. I had to get out of my truck and give 'em all high fives and laugh with 'em. That is the one memory I have that offsets all of the bad. I have been to the Middle East multiple times and have seen lots of things that many never will. Good and bad. Remember, just because it is different doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. Some things are, but we need to remember not to impose our value system upon others. They may perceive us being backwards just as much we perceive the mas being backwards.
O.K. everyone, now it's open season on me. I'm ready for my lumps.
-------------------- If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
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posted
no lumps here Hilander... thanx for stepping up to the plate when we asked you to...
in my readings i have had a very dificult time finding anyone willing to give hard numbers on the number of al-queda members....
the highest estimate made by a professional that i could find is about 200,000..... that was during the afghan war... that's only the size of a small city, spread across half the world...
the bigger problem that i think PG, Bill and definitely myself are trying to communicate is that people of the moslem faith need to start policing their own MORE.
it sure appears to me that many good people are turning a blind eye to the terrorists in their midst...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.
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Regardless of religion, it would seem we become more faithful to God when we rise up out of, then free ourselves of dogmatic religion.
No religion is free of wrongful dictates. Our Western religions have and do commit horrific acts, in the Name of God; the Dark Ages are not all that removed by time.
Yesterday, during the course of taking in my daily overdose of news, twice reporters made reference to Islam being a fourteenth century religion, and there is some truth to that.
I would add to those commentaries born of events yesterday, Christianity is a nineteenth century religion, and there is some truth to that, as well.
Some of my rancor is brought about by reading news of Iran yesterday, with my having moved about in the news trying to make sense of those terrorists attacks yesterday.
In Iran, laws are abhorrent. You will read of both men and women being stoned to death for crimes which are nothing more than gossip here.
Written into Islamic laws in Iran are passages which state, paraphrased, "Stones will be used which are not so big to cause immediate death nor so small as to not cause death."
They bury men up to their waists, bury women up to their breasts, then townfolks are provided with just the right stones. No need to discuss what events come next.
Adding a note here, there are an estimated one-million orphans in Iran living on the streets, with most being enslaved into a life of prostitution, by wealthy Iranians who do exploit those children for profit and for their own perverse sexual pleasures.
Stone the unfaithful and screw the children; how very faithful of them.
I cannot wrap my mind around people actually stoning a person to death. I suppose they face death if they do not stone a person to death. Nonetheless, I am of mind I would rather be stoned to death than to do that to another.
Western societies are not much different but we do add an air of civility through our usage of "humane" methods to put people to death.
I am a strong supporter of capital punishment, but feel we should be extremely careful about justification, and about being absolutely right.
For this topic, personally, I have much difficulty understanding and validating Islamic faith. Part of this is there are so many, millions of Islam followers who engage in such repression and acts of violence, more than would be expected as a percentage of faithful.
Working at being politically correct, there are just as many of the abhorrent in our Western Christian based faiths. Difference is really only one of degree of hypocrisy in expression.
They stone others to death, our priests molest young boys. Both are horrific acts.
A majority of people, however, regardless of religion, are good people evidenced by our success in survival, as cultures. We have a long ways to go in progress, though.
Lightly touching on a different topic, education is the key to a good life for all peoples.
I am intently watching this G8 meeting in progress to learn of how wealthy world leaders will address this problem of poverty. There is only one true longterm solution to poverty, education.
Each year over eight-million people die as a direct result of poverty, with most starving to death, and with most being children.
Starving to death in today's world is an event as abhorrent as stoning a person to death.
Interesting Islamic terrorists do not speak out against poverty, disease and lack of aid for those in dire need. Islamic terrorists only speak of hatred and death for others whom they label infidels. We Christians do not fair much better in holding true to Christian beliefs.
Religion is a gathering of the hypocritical.
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posted
Looking for positive counterpoint, there is a hero amongst the brave who outshines even the Vatican Pope; Billy Graham.
He is one of my personal heroes.
Sad to watch him grow old, sad to watch him come near to the end of his life. He is a man who has never waivered from his faith, has never waivered from his preaching of tolerance and of peace.
Billy Graham has never been tarnished by scandal nor by personal wealth. He is truly a man of God.
A single comment by him forever burns in my mind. When asked why God allows such tragic events in life, Billy Graham said, "I don't know why God does that." No hypocrisy there, just simple truth.
This is a short wonderful article about him which you should read,
posted
We in the USA are fortunate in having a fine Muslim population that largely rejects terrorism against anyone. Representatives of al Qaeda have tried to inflitrate and enlist the support of Islamic USA citizens without much success.
Europe is different - Muslims there are more frequently allied with al Qaeda (at least attitudinally) and thus present far more of a problem. They have more frequently refused to integrate into European culture and nationality and continue to identify with mideast nations that support terrorism.
-------------------- The light of truth is blinding to most.
More comforting to look only at the shadows of falseness.
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posted
Art, you appear to be toning down your rhetoric.
--
By Nasreddine Djebbi, IOL Correspondent
THE HAGUE, June15 , 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The court of appeal in Antwepen upheld on Tuesday, June14 , an earlier verdict endorsing a school right to prevent six hijab-clad Muslim students from attending classes.
The court said the ban was not targeting hijab in particular but rather all religious insignia to ensure co-existence among cultures.
The verdict exonerated the school of discrimination or racist charges.
Six Muslim students have sued their school in the state of Hasselt for banning them from attending classes while wearing their hijab....
...The issue of hijab has recently taken central stage in a number of European countries.
France triggered the controversy after adopting a bill banning hijab in state-run schools and public institutions as of March15 , which was branded by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) as "discriminatory"....
Because of Islamic terrorism, people around the globe are intimidated by those wearing traditional Muslim garb. I am as well having noticed I look with suspicion at those wearing Muslim clothing.
Today, I look for a dab of color on a forehead to distinquish between Hindu and Islamic. That dab of color, although representative of a discrimatory caste system, is a welcomed sight, much as is colorful attaire by Hindu as opposed to ominous black worn by Islamic.
Glassman comments on Islam needing to police its own. His comment is very true. Those of Islamic faith need to quit with such obvious separation from others, and need to work on tolerance by "fitting in" with other cultures.
I have noted our female dignitaries dress like Muslims when in the Middle-east. I have also noted Muslim dignitaries do not dress like westerners when here.
Rather hypocritical, that.
Our world would be a much better place, a more peaceful and equal world, if all simply discarded clothing and went nude, weather permitting.
Doing so, would also prompt many to lose weight and become more healthy although my notion is contradicted by most nudist colonies being well populated by very fat people, which is rarely an enjoyable sight.
Amish, though, are ok. I find their dress and customs to be rather sexy. I enjoy undressing them with my eyes; such a healthy fit lot, both male and female!
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posted
not against muslims here. i live in detroit ( just outside of it) and we have a serious arabic population here. in short & yes i'm generalizing, they dont like us. i of course do not mean all of them here but a large number. they may not cheer at terrorist acts but they don't condem them either. this is the problem, in iraq, you dont hear about the average iraqi turning in the bad guy. this may be happening but we don't hear about it. (possible selective media problem) this leaves a bad taste in ppl mouths. our men & women are dying to 1) change their country & 2) take the fight to the bad guy. when you see the dislike for us here, its much easier to believe its stronger there. it's true that when given a choice ppl will take the freedoms we enjoy over what they have lived with for hundreds of yrs. its also true that those that held back those freedoms will fight to keep that power, thus our biggest job is to remove the fear. but when they come here & are handed those freedoms & then give back hate its hard to see how the same group of ppl over there will in the end return freindship & goodwill.
-------------------- "keep your stick on the ice & your cup firmly in place"
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quote:Originally posted by Purl Gurl: Looking for positive counterpoint, there is a hero amongst the brave who outshines even the Vatican Pope; Billy Graham.
He is one of my personal heroes.
Sad to watch him grow old, sad to watch him come near to the end of his life. He is a man who has never waivered from his faith, has never waivered from his preaching of tolerance and of peace.
Billy Graham has never been tarnished by scandal nor by personal wealth. He is truly a man of God.
A single comment by him forever burns in my mind. When asked why God allows such tragic events in life, Billy Graham said, "I don't know why God does that." No hypocrisy there, just simple truth.
This is a short wonderful article about him which you should read,
posted
I thought that after the British bombings that people world wide would wake up and realize that this is a war, that the Al Quida's are not Freedom Fighters as the New York Times referred to them, but that they are killers of innocent civilians and that their targets include children. And then the (Texas) Fort Worth newspaper posts the following:
Apparently there's no limit to the level of obscenity that the leaders of England and the United States will stoop. After the bombings they grabbed the opportunity to print the same lies they made after 9-11. They perpetuate a war for oil and greed all in the name of fighting terrorism which people are starting to realize is a lie. Only the conscience of our media can prevent the spread of this lie and its use to continue the crippling loss of innocent lives (in the Middle East) and increase poverty across the globe. They say that the bombings were done to associate them with the G-8 summit where the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is trying to help the impoverished nations, but the World Bank and IMF are doing just the opposite of "alleviating poverty". The vivid history of this group of theives proves their actions accomplish just the opposite.
Of course the newspaper could have just published this in the spirit of showing all sides of what happened, but I think that it is sad that there are people with such warped views of what is happening. - - - - -
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posted
I too, love Billy Graham, Purl Gurl! He is the main person, that led me to become a Christian! When I was twelve, I went to see a movie called Left Behind, that Billy Graham was narrating, in the very beginning of the movie, and at the very end. There was an altar call at the end, where he led people to the Lord, just as he does on his TV crusades! That is the day, that I accepted Jesus as my Savior! He also took the time to write to my mother, when she was dying, to comfort her! His life is spent, trying to share his love, and faith with others, just as I try to do!
Hilander, thank you for sharing your story! Too many times, people get labeled as being evil, just because of a few! It is not just in Iraq, but in every country! I'm glad they gave you a wonderful memory to blot out some of the bad ones!
-------------------- As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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Yes, Kate, there are none who can discredit our loved Billy Graham. He is and always will be the faithful country boy.
What I love about Billy Graham the most is his quick admission of those few times he thought himself to be wrong. He openingly talks about mistakes he "thinks" he made, and affords the faithful reasons for changes he makes in his life and preachings.
Billy Graham is one of the most truthful people in modern history and most compassionate to boot. He is already a saint in my mind.
My life is richly better from having Billy Graham around, from birth to this day and into the future. I am not alone; millions enjoy a better spiritual life thanks to Billy Graham.
It is sad so many religious leaders elected to ignore his teachings and common sense. I have no doubt when he is gone, more will mourn for him than the Pope.
"I don't know why God does that."
No better nor more truthful words could be spoken.
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He is the main person, that led me to become a Christian! When I was twelve, I went to see a movie called Left Behind, that Billy Graham was narrating, in the very beginning of the movie, and at the very end. There was an altar call at the end, where he led people to the Lord, just as he does on his TV crusades! That is the day, that I accepted Jesus as my Savior! 
