Posts tagged: Jainism Buddhism

Ask the important questions!

Question:

"anon" "Yogi" is just a word. N:)

Response:

yes. the act of being in yoga is more than a word.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – "anon" "Yogi" is just a word. N:)

Response:

the act of being in yoga is more than a word.

"Poems Expressing My Feelings" Long ago there was an immortal man who lived on the slope of Shooting Mountain riding clouds and commanding flying dragons he did his breathing and supped on precious flowers He could be heard, but not seen, sighing sorrows and full emotion self-tortured he had no companion grief and heartbreak piled upon him "Study the familiar to penetrate the sublime" But time is short and what’s to be done? Juan Chi (210-263 A.D) http://www.n0n.co.uk/han/taichi/juan.html

Response:

from  http://home.att.net/~meditation/soul.html Do you have a soul? Is it time to create a science based religion that does not promote belief in magic and the supernatural?

soul is just a word. yogis do not believe in anyone else’s truth. they find the truth for themselves. that is the definition of the yogi. and they keep the truth to themselves because it cannot be communicated anyway.

Response:

"yogis do not believe in anyone else’s truth. they find the truth for  themselves. that is the definition of the yogi." "and they keep the truth to themselves because it cannot be communicated anyway." ——- 1) The definition of a "yogi" is one who seeks or attains union with the universe through the methods of yoga. 2) 99.9999% of yogis follow the ancient scriptures and cultural teachings of India or the other Eastern cultures where yoga is practiced. 3)  Many yogis are motor-mouths who can’t stop talking about Hinduism and the Vedas and their path to enlightenment. I think if you make comments you should discipline yourself to talking about the real world.  Otherwise, what’s the point? Christopher Calder http://home.att.net/~meditation/  - home page

Response:

from  http://home.att.net/~meditation/soul.html Do you have a soul? Is it time to create a science based religion that does not promote belief in magic and the supernatural?        When I was a child I was an atheist and only believed in what I could see and touch.  By age nineteen I started to believe in the existence of souls and reincarnation as a result of my exposure to a number of famous Indian yogis and the majestic J. Krishnamurti, who once claimed to have remembered all of his past lives.  At age 21 my belief in soul was dramatically reinforced by explosive experiences with Acharya Rajneesh, later known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and Osho.  I never believed in any "God," but for 35 years I lived under the shadow of the great meditation masters and was fairly certain that we all possessed souls that would survive our physical death.      Unlike Hindus and Christians, most Buddhists believe in some mysterious and poorly defined personal karma that survives death.  I never believed in the Buddhist concept of immortal personal karma without soul, because when you reject soul you lose the vehicle for the transference of karma from one life to the next.  If soul goes, to my mind, so does any possibility of immortal personal karma and reincarnation.      When I met Acharya Rajneesh in 1970 he not only spoke of souls and reincarnation but also claimed to have the power of astral projection.  I believed his claim because of what I thought were authentic experiences I had with this "Master" astrally projecting himself, not just into my room, but into my body while he was physically several miles away.  After reading Matthew Alper’s excellent book, The "God" Part of the Brain, I wonder if those amazing experiences were really what I thought they were.  Alper’s book summarizes the latest scientific research into how the human brain functions while having religious experiences.  In this essay I have added my own personal experiences, observations, and theories to several of the main points of Alper’s book, which I consider one of the most important books I have ever read.      Medical research has shown that if you stimulate certain areas of the brain with a small electric current, you can give people the experience of spiritual visitation.  You may feel that Christ is touching your heart or that the soul of a dead relative is near you. There is no evidence to support a belief in authentic astral projection, however, as all studies indicate that consciousness only exists in the brain cells which create it.  You cannot remove consciousness from the physical body because consciousness is a physical phenomena created by chemistry, just as a firefly’s light is created by chemical reactions.  That is why you can turn consciousness on or off by injecting a person with drugs to wake them up or to put them to sleep.  Near death experiences or even certain drugs can give you the feeling of being outside of your body, but researchers say that is just an illusion of the holographic nature of the human brain.      While true astral projection may be impossible, there is credible scientific theory to suggest that telepathic communication is possible in human beings.  The human brain is an organic electro-chemical computer so complex that to match it with current silicon technology you would need a computer the size of a city.  Think of all the things your relatively simple cell phone can do.  There is plenty of computer power in the human brain to imagine that some portion of it could be allocated to broadcasting and receiving messages from other human brains.  This extra-communicative ability may be the reason why disciples feel the presence of their spiritual teachers so strongly.      The brain is the most metabolically active human organ and requires a steady supply of oxygen and glucose as fuel.  Although the brain represents less than 2% of the body’s mass, it utilizes 20% of the body’s oxygen consumption and 15% of its cardiac output.  Thus the brain produces an extraordinary amount of energy in the form of electrical wattage in relationship to the rest of the body.  The entire human body uses chemical reactions to produce both mechanical movements and electrical current which flows through all our living cells.  The brain is an analog computer, but amazingly the DNA code that creates it is digital.  The average human brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons connected by approximately 50 trillion synapses.  It is therefore not difficult to imagine that this fantastically complex device, the human brain-body, could have mysterious communication abilities beyond our current understanding.      Perhaps what I thought was astral projection was simply Rajneesh concentrating on me, sending me his super-mental energy via long distance.  That powerful jolt of energy may have caused my brain to supply the added illusion of personal visitation on top of the strong telepathic transmission.  Rajneesh had tremendous mental powers no doubt, but the question is was that power really supernatural or just a product of his unique brain structure and meditative skill.      If you inject any human being with enough sedative, enlightened or not, they will become unconsciousness.  If you damage certain areas of the brain you can drastically alter human behavior.  You can turn a conservative bank president into a garbage eating bum just by killing off some of the brain cells that contain the bio-computer program for his personality.  If you damage other areas of the brain you can erase all memory.      If consciousness, personality, and memory are all physical phenomena of brain cells, then when the brain dies there is nothing left of your individual identity.  Your permanent identity of time-energy-space continues unharmed (see The TES Hypothesis (http://home.att.net/~meditation/TES.html), but there is no soul, no reincarnation, and no Buddhist transference of personal karma.  If this is true it means that Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam are all wrong.  It also means that we all achieve "moksha" (liberation) at the time of death because there is no personal cycle of birth and death to escape from and no magical afterlife.  You are born once and you die once and you will never come back!      One theory states that we have personal souls and/or karma which transmigrates from one life to the next, and the other states that nothing survives death and only DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and the will of the living determines the future of our species.  Which theory is correct?   I use to believe in reincarnation with a high level of certainty.  After many years of seeing the rampant corruption of gurus, "enlightened" or not, the idiocy of disciples, cults, and organized religion, and with the new scientific evidence in hand, I find the soul-reincarnation-karma theory far less plausible.      You do not have to believe in anything supernatural to believe in cosmic consciousness (satori).  Anyone can take the drug psilocybin and get a cheap imitation of the natural religious experience. Clinical research shows that our brains are built to have religious experiences.  As time-energy-space is one singular phenomena, it is only natural that we occasionally experience the grand cosmic unity. I personally suspect that even animals have satoris, though they apparently have no ability to give it a name or understand its implications.      One of the most interesting concepts of Matthew Alper’s book concerns the rise of self-consciousness in human animals and how knowledge of our impending death has effected our brains and even our DNA.  If you put a dog in front of a mirror he will never figure out that he is looking at his own reflection.  If you put a higher primate in front of a mirror, such as a chimpanzee or a human child, he will use the mirror for grooming purposes because he recognizes himself in the reflection.  Because man’s self-consciousness is so highly developed, man has come to realize that our life expectancy is short and our personal demise inevitable.      Animals, like human children, fear death, danger, and pain, but they have no real understanding of time and the inevitability of their own destruction.  The time-death equation that adult humans understand becomes a constant source of anguish.  A strong survival instinct is built into our DNA code from our long evolutionary journey from bacteria to man.  When that survival instinct collides with self-conscious knowledge of our impending death, the brain itself needs both a neurological and psychological barrier to block the conflict and tension.  That barrier we call religious belief and "the God part of the brain."  The theory states that man has invented myths of God, soul, reincarnation, karma, and afterlife as a way to provide the brain with mental opium, a buffer to the constant ticking clock inside our heads that tells us our inevitable doom is getting closer every day.      The psychological need for a feeling of immortality is so great that our religious tendencies have become part of our DNA code. Humans who believe in the supernatural religions tend to be calmer, healthier, and thus live longer than the non-religious.  Believers also tend to show more bravery when courage is needed to protect their tribe.  Genetic tendencies to have religious feelings are fortified over thousands of years of evolution through survival of the religiously fittest.  If your religious beliefs feel intuitively right to you, it may be because your subconscious mind wants you to believe them so you will have a better chance for health and a long lifespan. If you intuitively sense that you have been alive on planet earth before, perhaps that feeling of d

This Vedanta Life Part 2

Question:

ColdBluICE wrote Adwait does not nor never had a brahman

<snip BRAHMA   Brahma originated from Brahman, or rather Brahman became Brahma, just as He became Vishnu and Siva. Compared to Vishnu and Siva, Brahma has never been popular in Hindu pantheon, although in name and functions he is closest to Brahman. The reason is not difficult to find. By virtue of his functions, Brahma cannot have many devotees, because his duty of creation demands introversion, complete concentration and undivided attention. Therefore as a personal God he is a least attractive option. http://hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/brahma.htm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip  -willytex..it is quite possible that Ms. Stein has taken the time to read my rebuttals of her assertions. The rebuttals are of course- the British in fact have admmitted to their "conspiracy" many times in the past. The British may well have engaged in some sort of conspiracy, for all I know, but it was not a conspiracy that somehow resulted in the creation of the Advaita concept of Brahman.  -the British are guilty of creating a new religious concept-’brahman’. Then the British attempted to force this new term backwards into the religious history of India. However, the British concept you describe is not the Brahman of Advaita. End of story.

That is all there is – the British concept of brahman. End of story Adwait does not nor never had a brahman End of story You are imposing the strictly western mistranslation of Brahma upon innocent Indians. End of story

Response:

That is all there is – the British concept of brahman. End of story Adwait does not nor never had a brahman End of story You are imposing the strictly western mistranslation of Brahma upon innocent Indians.

In ancient India there were two main religions – the  Brahman-Vedic-dharma (older) and the Sraman-dharma (mainly Buddhism and Jainism). Sraman derives from Shram (to work) – ie, they achieved moksha based on their individual effort. The brahman-dharma’s stress is on surrender of individual will to the Absolute (later called bhakti) – moksha was (supposedly) achieved as a divine gift after individual ego’s surrender.  Sraman-dharma’s method is via control of the thoughts. The Sraman dharma were atheistic, at least in practice. yes there is scope for confusion. Brahmaa – the creator (one of the trinity of hinduism) of the universe. for some reason he is not regarded highly in hinduism (aka Brahminism or Sanatan Dharma). Brahman (or brahmin) (caste order) – the priests. Brahman (the Absolute) – properly called Param Brahma or Paarbrahma. This is often found in the brahminical Upanishads. This concept is also found in the non-Brahminical traditions of Kabir, Guru Nanak and others. these words existed before the brits came to india. In indian scripts they are pretty distinct but in roman script they look confusing.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip  -willytex..it is quite possible that Ms. Stein has taken the time to read my rebuttals of her assertions. The rebuttals are of course- the British in fact have admmitted to their "conspiracy" many times in the past. The British may well have engaged in some sort of conspiracy, for all I know, but it was not a conspiracy that somehow resulted in the creation of the Advaita concept of Brahman.  -the British are guilty of creating a new religious concept-’brahman’. Then the British attempted to force this new term backwards into the religious history of India.

However, the British concept you describe is not the Brahman of Advaita. End of story.

Response:

<snip  -willytex..it is quite possible that Ms. Stein has taken the time to read my rebuttals of her assertions. The rebuttals are of course- the British in fact have admmitted to their "conspiracy" many times in the past.

The British may well have engaged in some sort of conspiracy, for all I know, but it was not a conspiracy that somehow resulted in the creation of the Advaita concept of Brahman. That’s what’s incoherent.  The concept of a unitary, impersonal, transcendent Absolute has been around for millennia  -yes this in fact correct. However this "Absolute" has always been known as Nirakar Brahma. and is the foundation of Advaita Vedanta;  -Only a very few minor sects of Advaita Vedanta. Not all of Adwait Vedant ascribes to the "concept of a unitary impersonal Asolute".

"Advaita" means "nondual." it is not something Western translators dreamed up only recently.  -the "brahman thingy" is in fact "something" that Western translators" did dreamed up recently.

Whatever they dreamed up, it was not the Advaita concept of Brahman, which is not a "thingy."  As I noted elsewhere, that’s pretty much the point.

Response:

It is apparent you know nothing of Sanskrit, nor the ancient religion of India.

Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental For new readers not yet acquainted with ColdBlueICE: what he proposes here is an incoherent "conspiracy"-type theory that has no basis in reality, his many citations notwithstanding.  The concept of a unitary, impersonal, transcendent Absolute has been around for millennia and is the foundation of Advaita Vedanta; it is not something Western translators dreamed up only recently.

Response:

<snip  -willytex..it is quite possible that Ms. Stein has taken the time to read my rebuttals of her assertions. The rebuttals are of course- the British in fact have admmitted to their "conspiracy" many times in the past. The British may well have engaged in some sort of conspiracy, for all I know, but it was not a conspiracy that somehow resulted in the creation of the Advaita concept of Brahman.

 -the British are guilty of creating a new religious concept-’brahman’. Then the British attempted to force this new term backwards into the religious history of India. IOW the Adwait Vedant term for Absolute Divine Truth has always been -Nirakar Brahma. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That’s what’s incoherent.  The concept of a unitary, impersonal, transcendent Absolute has been around for millennia  -yes this in fact correct. However this "Absolute" has always been known as Nirakar Brahma. and is the foundation of Advaita Vedanta;  -Only a very few minor sects of Advaita Vedanta. Not all of Adwait Vedant ascribes to the "concept of a unitary impersonal Asolute". "Advaita" means "nondual."

 -Sri Guru Devji whom was a great authority on Adwait Vedant never once mentioned or gave mantras to achieve any state of ‘brahman’ Here is a post by willytex, a translated lecture by Sri Guru Devji, He refers to Him as Paramatma. Forum: alt.meditation.transcendental Thread: Guru Dev   Author: willytex One can become a Mah

Organized religion bad?

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yes. What would unorganized religion be? Random spiritual thoughts? Maybe. Less dangerous, certainly. Less dangerous? You must be kidding. It would be 100% completely untrustworthy. .  Damn right.  Such people would doubtless be untrustworthy around children. You mean like how Catholic priests can be untrustworthy with choirboys? I was referring to how religion causes so much violence in the world. I also believe that if not for organized religion, people would find other reasons to kill each other. Many use religion as a weapon. …

Shirk: the ultimate crime

Question:

By this, Islam proves itself to be an Execrable Seduction, Antichrist in doctrine, Ignorant of the very nature of God and the concepts of human salvation.  This is an Enemy of Jesus Christ, His Church, His Testament, His Sacrifice on the Cross, His Ressurection,  and all that He ever stood for.  One believes in this "Shirk"  nonsense only at great spiritual peril if he or she is a baptized Christian.

Response:

Shirk: the ultimate crime

<snip In the previous issue we talked about Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah). Shirk is its exact opposite. Linguistically, shirk means a partnership or to share or associate. However, Islamically it is to give to other than Allah, that which belongs solely to Allah. This means that parts of Allah’s creation are given powers and attributes which belong to Allah, thus, ultimately sending worship to other then Allah alone. These parts of the creation therefore become partners with Allah. <snip You have hit the nail on the head : The arrogant assumption that Islam is the be all and end all. The sooner Islam fades back into the dark ages, where it belongs the sooner the World will live in peace.

Response:

May people use this post to finally understand how the mind of a Muslim works.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful Shirk: the ultimate crime from the ‘Invitation to Islam’ Newsletter Murder, rape, child molesting and genocide. These are all some of the appalling crimes which occur in our world today. Many would think that these are the worst possible offences which could be committed. But there is something which outweighs all of these crimes put together: It is the crime of shirk. Some people may question this notion. But when viewed in a proper context, the fact that there is no crime worse then shirk, will become evident to every sincere person. There is no doubt that the above crimes are indeed terrible, but their comparison with shirk shows that they do not hold much significance in relation to this travesty. When a man murders, rapes or steals, the injustice which is done is directed primarily at other humans. But when a man commits shirk, the injustice is directed towards the Creator of the heavens and the earth; Allah. When a person is murdered, all sorts of reasons and explanations are given. But one thing that the murderer cannot claim, is that the murdered was someone who provided him with food, shelter, clothing and all the other things which keep humans aloft in this life. But when a person commits shirk, they attempt to, willingly or unwillingly, direct an injustice towards the one who has provided them with all these necessary things – and often a whole lot more. This Being who provides us with all our needs and wants is of course Allah, the Lord of this universe. So is it right for us to commit this offence against the one who has provided us with all that we could possibly need? This is the ultimate form of ingratitude which humans display, and will eventually cause many people eternal pain. The severity of this crime has been established inshallah, but until now you may have been wondering ‘what exactly is shirk?’ The Reality of Shirk In the previous issue we talked about Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah). Shirk is its exact opposite. Linguistically, shirk means a partnership or to share or associate. However, Islamically it is to give to other than Allah, that which belongs solely to Allah. This means that parts of Allah’s creation are given powers and attributes which belong to Allah, thus, ultimately sending worship to other then Allah alone. These parts of the creation therefore become partners with Allah. The purpose of our creation is outlined in the Qu’raan when Allah says: "I did not create the Jinn[1] and mankind except to worship Me" (Surah Ad-Dhariyat 51:56) Our very existence on this earth is to worship Allah alone. By committing shirk, a person ends up denying this very purpose of our creation. To Allah, this is the gravest of sins and thus unforgivable. Allah says: "Surely Allah will not forgive the association of partners (shirk) with Him, but He forgives (sins) less then that to whomever He wishes" (Surah An-Nisa 4:48) This means that everything can be forgiven except shirk. However we should not misunderstand this into thinking that those who commit shirk are totally doomed. Allah calls himself by al-Gaffoor (The Most Forgiving), and truly he is the Most Forgiving. If a person commits shirk and then wishes to make repentance, Allah accepts his repentance and wipes the slate clean. But if the person does not make repentance during his lifetime, then Allah will not forgive this person on the day of judgement. Hellfire will be made eternal and he/she will never come out. It must also be remembered that Allah through his justice, has not discriminated in the punishment of this crime. If a Muslim commits shirk during his lifetime, and does not make repentance, he too will face the eternal fury of the Hellfire. It is this thought which helps Muslims from becoming too complacent and arrogant like some of the previous nations.[2] Some people say that eternal Hellfire is unjust. But indeed Allah is the Most Just. While some will go to Hell forever for committing shirk, there will be others who will go to Paradise forever for upholding Tawheed. Those who say that Allah is unjust for sending some to Hell forever, should therefore also say that Allah is unjust for sending others to Paradise forever! But we know that those who claim this, would never themselves refuse an everlasting reward such as Paradise, thus showing the weak human understanding of this argument. By committing shirk we should not fool ourselves into thinking that we harm Allah in anyway. Rather we harm ourselves with the threat of Allah’s punishment. It is as if humans stick two fingers up at Allah after He has favoured them with so much. Thus a crime is committed against Allah, yet it does not harm him – Such is the magnitude and greatness of our Creator. In order to understand how shirk manifests itself in our world, we need to look at how it relates to the categories of Tawheed (mentioned in the last issue). Shirk in Allah’s Lordship (Ruboobeeya) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i)- Shirk by Association – As Muslims we believe that it is Allah alone who Controls and Sustains the universe. Those who commit shirk by association believe that Allah is the Creator, but other parts of the creation also play a role in the running of the world. A classic example of this is the Christian concept of Trinity. Christians believe that God (Allah) alone does not regulate the affairs of mankind. They believe that the other two parts of the Trinity, Jesus (as) and the Holy spirit, also play a part in worldly affairs e.g Jesus pronounces judgement on the world and the holy spirit helps Christians through their daily lives. Qualities such as these should only belong to Allah. The Hindus also commit this kind of shirk, with them having hundreds of different Gods for different aspects of their lives. Unfortunately some Muslims have also fallen prey to this shirk. There are many from the Indian subcontinent who often call out for help upon saints and holy men who have passed away. One of the main saints whom they invoke is ‘Abdul-Qadir al-Jeelanee’[3] whom they call ‘AI-Ghawth-e-Azam’ (the greatest source of help). (ii)-Shirk by Negation – Over the centuries many philosophies and ways of life have denied the existence of God. Buddhism and Jainism are amongst the major world religions which assert this belief. During the 18th and 19th centuries the advancement of scientific knowledge led many philosophers and scientists to claim that God was a figment of mans imagination. By cancelling the role of a supreme legislator, those who claim that God does not exist, ultimately attempt to make themselves masters of their own destinies. Some atheists also give Allah’s attributes to his creation. By denying Allah, they say the world is eternal with no beginning and no end. And we know that this is only for Allah. Shirk in Allah’s Names and Attributes (Asma wa Sifaat) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i) -Shirk by Humanisation – The Tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes demands that we believe Allah to be free from any human likeness. Those who commit shirk by humanisation give attributes to God which are more appropriate for human beings than an all-powerful Creator. Christianity is again guilty of this shirk. In the Bible we find countless examples of God being given human attributes. In the book of Genesis, God is said to have created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh!! In other places God is said to have repented for his bad thoughts and felt sorry because of his actions! This form of shirk has even taken some people beyond the limits of sanity. In India there are many Hindus who worship the Shiva Lingam Deity. This is an idol which is shaped and sized to represent the male genitals. For the Hindus it represents the reproductive powers of God, and they display their affection by massaging the deity with milk, water and butter! These examples of humanisation are indeed an injustice to the almighty, who responds clearly by saying in the Qu’raan: "There is nothing like Him and He sees and hears all things" (Surah Ash-Shoora 42:11) (ii) – Shirk by Deification – This form of shirk occurs when created beings are given the names or attributes of Allah and thus become deities. This form of shirk is especially popular with humans, with many people being given a God-like status by ignorant followers. Jesus, Buddha, Rama, Zoroaster and many other famous religious figures of the past have been held to be incarnations of the all mighty. The twentieth Century has also seen many cults emerge, from which many leaders have claimed divinity. Sai Baba [4], David Koresh [5], Guru Rajnishi [6] and many more have all claimed this attribute which only belongs to Allah. Shirk in the Worship of Allah (Eebaadah) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i) – Major Shirk (Shirk-al-Akbar)- As Muslims we believe that alI forms of worship should be for Allah alone. Those people who physically direct their worship at other then Allah, commit this major shirk. By doing this action, mankind commits the greatest act of rebellion and places himself at the doors of eternal hellfire. Worship in Christianity is usually devoid of God’s name, and Christians often bow down in front of statues of Christ, Mary and many other saints of Christendom. The Muslims have also fallen foul to this evil. Thousands, if not millions, of ignorant Muslims make

… read more »

Response:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful Shirk: the ultimate crime from the ‘Invitation to Islam’ Newsletter Murder, rape, child molesting and genocide. These are all some of the appalling crimes which occur in our world today. Many would think that these are the worst possible offences which could be committed. But there is something which outweighs all of these crimes put together: It is the crime of shirk. Some people may question this notion. But when viewed in a proper context, the fact that there is no crime worse then shirk, will become evident to every sincere person. There is no doubt that the above crimes are indeed terrible, but their comparison with shirk shows that they do not hold much significance in relation to this travesty. When a man murders, rapes or steals, the injustice which is done is directed primarily at other humans. But when a man commits shirk, the injustice is directed towards the Creator of the heavens and the earth; Allah. When a person is murdered, all sorts of reasons and explanations are given. But one thing that the murderer cannot claim, is that the murdered was someone who provided him with food, shelter, clothing and all the other things which keep humans aloft in this life. But when a person commits shirk, they attempt to, willingly or unwillingly, direct an injustice towards the one who has provided them with all these necessary things – and often a whole lot more. This Being who provides us with all our needs and wants is of course Allah, the Lord of this universe. So is it right for us to commit this offence against the one who has provided us with all that we could possibly need? This is the ultimate form of ingratitude which humans display, and will eventually cause many people eternal pain. The severity of this crime has been established inshallah, but until now you may have been wondering ‘what exactly is shirk?’ The Reality of Shirk In the previous issue we talked about Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah). Shirk is its exact opposite. Linguistically, shirk means a partnership or to share or associate. However, Islamically it is to give to other than Allah, that which belongs solely to Allah. This means that parts of Allah’s creation are given powers and attributes which belong to Allah, thus, ultimately sending worship to other then Allah alone. These parts of the creation therefore become partners with Allah. The purpose of our creation is outlined in the Qu’raan when Allah says: "I did not create the Jinn[1] and mankind except to worship Me" (Surah Ad-Dhariyat 51:56) Our very existence on this earth is to worship Allah alone. By committing shirk, a person ends up denying this very purpose of our creation. To Allah, this is the gravest of sins and thus unforgivable. Allah says: "Surely Allah will not forgive the association of partners (shirk) with Him, but He forgives (sins) less then that to whomever He wishes" (Surah An-Nisa 4:48) This means that everything can be forgiven except shirk. However we should not misunderstand this into thinking that those who commit shirk are totally doomed. Allah calls himself by al-Gaffoor (The Most Forgiving), and truly he is the Most Forgiving. If a person commits shirk and then wishes to make repentance, Allah accepts his repentance and wipes the slate clean. But if the person does not make repentance during his lifetime, then Allah will not forgive this person on the day of judgement. Hellfire will be made eternal and he/she will never come out. It must also be remembered that Allah through his justice, has not discriminated in the punishment of this crime. If a Muslim commits shirk during his lifetime, and does not make repentance, he too will face the eternal fury of the Hellfire. It is this thought which helps Muslims from becoming too complacent and arrogant like some of the previous nations.[2] Some people say that eternal Hellfire is unjust. But indeed Allah is the Most Just. While some will go to Hell forever for committing shirk, there will be others who will go to Paradise forever for upholding Tawheed. Those who say that Allah is unjust for sending some to Hell forever, should therefore also say that Allah is unjust for sending others to Paradise forever! But we know that those who claim this, would never themselves refuse an everlasting reward such as Paradise, thus showing the weak human understanding of this argument. By committing shirk we should not fool ourselves into thinking that we harm Allah in anyway. Rather we harm ourselves with the threat of Allah’s punishment. It is as if humans stick two fingers up at Allah after He has favoured them with so much. Thus a crime is committed against Allah, yet it does not harm him – Such is the magnitude and greatness of our Creator. In order to understand how shirk manifests itself in our world, we need to look at how it relates to the categories of Tawheed (mentioned in the last issue). Shirk in Allah’s Lordship (Ruboobeeya) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i)- Shirk by Association – As Muslims we believe that it is Allah alone who Controls and Sustains the universe. Those who commit shirk by association believe that Allah is the Creator, but other parts of the creation also play a role in the running of the world. A classic example of this is the Christian concept of Trinity. Christians believe that God (Allah) alone does not regulate the affairs of mankind. They believe that the other two parts of the Trinity, Jesus (as) and the Holy spirit, also play a part in worldly affairs e.g Jesus pronounces judgement on the world and the holy spirit helps Christians through their daily lives. Qualities such as these should only belong to Allah. The Hindus also commit this kind of shirk, with them having hundreds of different Gods for different aspects of their lives. Unfortunately some Muslims have also fallen prey to this shirk. There are many from the Indian subcontinent who often call out for help upon saints and holy men who have passed away. One of the main saints whom they invoke is ‘Abdul-Qadir al-Jeelanee’[3] whom they call ‘AI-Ghawth-e-Azam’ (the greatest source of help). (ii)-Shirk by Negation – Over the centuries many philosophies and ways of life have denied the existence of God. Buddhism and Jainism are amongst the major world religions which assert this belief. During the 18th and 19th centuries the advancement of scientific knowledge led many philosophers and scientists to claim that God was a figment of mans imagination. By cancelling the role of a supreme legislator, those who claim that God does not exist, ultimately attempt to make themselves masters of their own destinies. Some atheists also give Allah’s attributes to his creation. By denying Allah, they say the world is eternal with no beginning and no end. And we know that this is only for Allah. Shirk in Allah’s Names and Attributes (Asma wa Sifaat) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i) -Shirk by Humanisation – The Tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes demands that we believe Allah to be free from any human likeness. Those who commit shirk by humanisation give attributes to God which are more appropriate for human beings than an all-powerful Creator. Christianity is again guilty of this shirk. In the Bible we find countless examples of God being given human attributes. In the book of Genesis, God is said to have created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh!! In other places God is said to have repented for his bad thoughts and felt sorry because of his actions! This form of shirk has even taken some people beyond the limits of sanity. In India there are many Hindus who worship the Shiva Lingam Deity. This is an idol which is shaped and sized to represent the male genitals. For the Hindus it represents the reproductive powers of God, and they display their affection by massaging the deity with milk, water and butter! These examples of humanisation are indeed an injustice to the almighty, who responds clearly by saying in the Qu’raan: "There is nothing like Him and He sees and hears all things" (Surah Ash-Shoora 42:11) (ii) – Shirk by Deification – This form of shirk occurs when created beings are given the names or attributes of Allah and thus become deities. This form of shirk is especially popular with humans, with many people being given a God-like status by ignorant followers. Jesus, Buddha, Rama, Zoroaster and many other famous religious figures of the past have been held to be incarnations of the all mighty. The twentieth Century has also seen many cults emerge, from which many leaders have claimed divinity. Sai Baba [4], David Koresh [5], Guru Rajnishi [6] and many more have all claimed this attribute which only belongs to Allah. Shirk in the Worship of Allah (Eebaadah) This category of shirk has two aspects: (i) – Major Shirk (Shirk-al-Akbar)- As Muslims we believe that alI forms of worship should be for Allah alone. Those people who physically direct their worship at other then Allah, commit this major shirk. By doing this action, mankind commits the greatest act of rebellion and places himself at the doors of eternal hellfire. Worship in Christianity is usually devoid of God’s name, and Christians often bow down in front of statues of Christ, Mary and many other saints of Christendom. The Muslims have also fallen foul to this evil. Thousands, if not millions, of ignorant Muslims make pilgrimages to the graves of saints and holy men. At the graves they perform acts which clearly violate the principles of Tawheed. They perform prayers (literally!) at the graveside, they sacrifice in the name of the dead saint and they make tawwaf (circumbulation) of the grave. Many of them even ask the dead saints to grant them children and to forgive them of their sins! All this contradicts the statement of Allah when he commands us to: "Say; Truly my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, Lord of … read more »

Response:

Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;)

Question:

Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;)

Get rid of religion (hate, descrimination, evil, massive death, war, racism, sex crimes) and the world could be a peaceful society. Organized religion is truely the root of all evil. Look around you and tell me I’m wrong.

Response:

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington D.C. told the gathering that lasting peace will never be achieved until the world addresses the "root causes of war and conflict." He listed these as the rich-poor chasm, oppression of minorities and the "social evils of globalisation."

    In this case he missed the most important root cause, simple old-fashioned colonialism perpetrated by America and its agents against natives in Arabia. All those who kill natives and drive them into refugee camps should be prosecuted by the World Court, but aren’t.     We see Biblical prophesy fulfilled, for Arabs will never give up their land and they will obtain nukes from the impoverished and corrupt Russians and use them in an effort to regain it. We will reply in kind and thus the world ends with a bang not a whimper. — Pastor Frank  Jesus in Jn:15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;) Sun January 19, 2003 02:36 PM ET  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Leaders of world religions appealed to believers in all faiths to work to avert a conflict in Iraq as anti-war protests gathered pace around the world. "As conflicts divide neighbors and nations and the threat of war hangs over us like a shadow, too many people see and employ religion as a force of divisiveness and violence, rather than a force for unity and peace," the representatives said in a concluding statement issued Saturday at the end of a symposium.

This present generation can’t have any peace because Israel isn’t at peace. Zechariah Chapter1. This world’s generation cries for peace and will not have the peace that surpasses all understanding until it fully accepts the Prince of Peace. This generation has a form of Godliness, but as a whole denies the power of Jesus Christ. This generation can’t have any peace until the Prince comes back. No peace. No peace without the Prince.

Response:

Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;) Get rid of religion (hate, descrimination, evil, massive death, war, racism, sex crimes) and the world could be a peaceful society. Organized religion is truely the root of all evil. Look around you and tell me I’m wrong.

    Religion is whatever people believe in faith, not because of objective evidence. If you believe people will stop believing because you trash everything they might want to believe, you got a wake-up call coming. They will rather kill you, than stop believing. All you can do is direct their beliefs into wholesome (holy) directions. — Pastor Frank Jesus in Jn:4:24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 1Jn:4:8: He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1Jn:4:16: And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Acts:17:28: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Response:

Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;) Sun January 19, 2003 02:36 PM ET  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Leaders of world religions appealed to believers in all faiths to work to avert a conflict in Iraq as anti-war protests gathered pace around the world. "As conflicts divide neighbors and nations and the threat of war hangs over us like a shadow, too many people see and employ religion as a force of divisiveness and violence, rather than a force for unity and peace," the representatives said in a concluding statement issued Saturday at the end of a symposium. The Vatican-sponsored meeting was attended by representatives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Sikhism. <SNIP "Opting for peace does not mean a passive acquiescence to evil or compromise of principle. It demands an active struggle against hatred, oppression and disunity, but not by using methods of violence. Building peace requires creative and courageous action," the statement said. <SNIP Pope John Paul has put the Vatican on a diplomatic collision course with the United States by condemning the possibility of a war, saying it was avoidable and would be a "defeat for humanity." In an address to diplomats last week, the leader of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics said conflict always had to be considered the very last option. IRAQ WAR NOT SEEN AS ‘JUST’ Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington D.C. told the gathering that lasting peace will never be achieved until the world addresses the "root causes of war and conflict." He listed these as the rich-poor chasm, oppression of minorities and the "social evils of globalisation." http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZVALOUHGYUQBKCRBA… type=topNews&storyID=2070381 — Take SPAMSTOP out of email to reply http://www.cosmicosis.itgo.com *** Even if you don’t believe,      You’re still within the;      World Wide Weave

Response:

Organized religion is truely the root of all evil. Look around you and tell me I’m wrong.

*** Religion — from latin meaning "read again"       Organised read again How the heck we stuffed up such a simple precept is mind boggling, but hey that is why we are the children and GOD is the Father. ;) Darren – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Give Peace a Chance, World Religions Say — Its about time ;) Get rid of religion (hate, descrimination, evil, massive death, war, racism, sex crimes) and the world could be a peaceful society. Organized religion is truely the root of all evil. Look around you and tell me I’m wrong.

Response:

Israeli Rabbis Demand the United States Attack Iran

Question:

And the muck below has what to do with what I said? WH

Are you calling the words and actions of a prophet .. ‘muck’? Tsk, tsk, tsk. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Try reading it from a REAL history book Like the Quran By Mohammed? ROFL!!!! Mohammed married a 6 year old girl named AISHA ,many a hadiths(a series of compilations of mohammed’s life) go to great lengths explaining his sexual encounters with her. (Al-Hadis, Vol. 3, p. 137) Abu Sayeed al-Khodri reported that Mohammed was talking to a group of women when he said, "… I see the majority of you will go to Hell." The women asked why, to which Mohammed responded, "You often curse and are ungrateful to your companions." He then told them they had a basic defect in their nature, to which they responded, "How?" Mohammed answered, "Is not the attestation (knowledge and witness) of a women only worth half of a man’s? And that is on account of her short intelligence." This quote really brings out Mohammed’s "shining" views on women. He automatically condemns the majority of them to hell. According to him a woman’s intellectual capacity is only half that of a man and that is why two women are required as witnesses as compared to one man. He was so scared of women’s intelligence that he said, "a man should not walk between two women" (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 586) as that would mean that the man was taking a risk of being on equal turf according to Mohammed. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 692) Ibn Ma`sud reported from the Messenger of Allah who said, "A woman is like a private part (sex organ). When she goes out (walking) the devil casts a glance at her (in lust)." Well, this clearly gives us an insight into Mohammed’s "pure" mind. To him women were nothing but walking vaginas to be used as objects for sexual fulfillment. No wonder he required women to be completely covered from head to toe. He had to have some way to control his lust! (Koran, 4:34) …Guard in (the husband’s)absence what Allah would have them guard… This verse is demanding that the women should guard their private parts for the sake of their husbands. Again, this tells us the low opinion that Mohammed held for women– objects to be used for sexual fulfillment. Nowhere in the Koran or the Hadiths does it say that a man should guard his private parts or abstain from sex in the absence of their wives. A man can even engage in sexual intercourse with young boys/men without much rebuke from Allah. This is supported by the verses stated below: (Koran 4:15) If two men among you commit indecency (sodomy) punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be. Allah is forgiving and merciful. (Koran 4:16) If any one of your women is guilty of lewdness …confine them until death claims them. As you can see, for women any sort of sexual exploration is punishable by death. Whereas for a man, any form of perversion is pardoned by the all merciful Allah. Such fairness can only be found in the "holiest of the holiest books", the Koran. (Koran 4:34) …As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds and BEAT THEM… Mohammed was an old perverted nutcase. He was so insecure about himself that he thought that showing physical prowess over women would serve as a reminder to him of his manliness. Thus, he encouraged wife beating! In Islam equality between a man and a woman is a far cry. A man needs only to be suspicious to justify the bestial act of beating his wife. (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 215) Omar reported from the Holy Prophet who said, "No man shall be questioned for beating his wife." In the very next Hadith a woman complained to Mohammed that her husband beat her while she prayed. Mohammed told her to change her time of prayer or pray shorter prayers so that her husband could get on with the joy of beating her. (Reported by Abu Sayeed al-Kodri, Attest by Abu Daud) Could Mohammed degrade women any further? If you are asking yourself this question then surprisingly you have not yet grasped the true nature of this "great Prophet" . He allowed the utterly inhuman practice of circumcision for females. In this type of circumcision a girl’s clitoris is carved away, so that she may never experience climax during sexual intercourse and her vulva is sewn shut until it is cut open at the time of marriage! Such "great" practices can only be sactioned by Islam– the religion for all women to embrace! (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 738) Abul Malih reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Circumcision is Sunnat (required by Islamic law) for males and optional for females." OK, enough of looking at the negative side of Islam. Now lets look at the positive side of this religion. Mohammed said that a man before marrying a woman has to pay her a dowry. Surely, as the many devout muslims would say, you can’t criticize that. Ah, but they are mistaken, then again, that’s not anything new. Read the quote below from Al Hadis. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 657) Oqbah-b- A`mer reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "The most equitable of the conditions of marriage is that you should fulfil that (dowry) with which you have made private parts lawful." So, according to Mohammed and his Allah a man has to pay the woman before he can use her private parts. Which means that the man is supposed to treat his wife as a prostitute by paying her before he gets a legal permit for having sex. This implies that the foundation for marriage in Islam is to provide a man with legal sexual gratification and nothing else matters. Now, hold on! Doesn’t Islam say that prostitution is not allowed? Of course, it does! It’s right there in Sahih Muslim Hadith: (Sahih Muslim Hadith Chapter 619) Selling a cat, selling a dog (unless it is a working dog), and earning of prostitutes(unless they are non-muslims),… are all forbidden. Here we have a contradiction! But, again, that is nothing new for the Koran. It is full of contradictions. But I digress, a separate article will be devoted to this in the coming weeks. Back to the dowry issue. Mohammed was not a man who would have people speculate on what he has said. He had to specify what he meant by dowry and specify he did in Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 659 (57). He said that, "a handful of barley or dates is enough." Not only are the wives supposed to be treated as prostitutes, but as prostitutes who only deserve "a handful of barley or dates". Another quote from the Hadith gives total control of women’s lives to men. (Al Hadis, Vol 2, p. 651) Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "No woman shall give a woman in marriage, nor shall a woman give herself in marriage. Verily, the fornicatress is she that marries by herself." Here Mohammed takes away the right of a woman to choose her husband. She has no right to decide how to live her life. This basic right is snatched away from her and given to a man. Furthermore, this implies that a widow has no final authority over her daughter in Islam. As if men didn’t already have the legal freedom to control and degrade women’s lives that they were granted further control to degrade women. During a Jihad expedition (holy war) Mohammed’s men came to him very frustrated. As seen in the quote below: (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 686) Ibn Masud reported, "We were fighting with the Messenger of Allah, and our wives were not with us. We asked the Messenger of Allah, ‘Should we castrate ourselves?’ The Holy Prophet forbade us from that, and then he allowed us Muta (temporary) marriage. So, we all married wives for a fixed time (usually three days) for the dowry of a piece of cloth." Here Mohammed clearly tells the muslims to forget about the prostitutes they had purchased for a handful of dates back home and to have fun with these new victims who come even cheaper. They can be bought and violated for only a piece of cloth. Allah is truly merciful! Praise be to Allah! In other civilized countries this is called rape–plain and simple. The mullahs happily approve this dastardly deed by quoting from the Koran. (Koran, 5:87): "…Make not unlawful the good things Allah hath made lawful for you." Thus this heinous crime is still committed by muslims as attested by the Indo-Pak war, Arab-Israeli war, Iraq- Iran war, Iraq-Kuwait war, etc. Sometimes Mohammed’s lust was so great that he conveniently forgot all the Koranic verses invented by him and did not have time to come up with an ammendment. One instance of this is noted when he married Safiya, a Jewish girl, after killing her father and her betrothed husband. He did not want to go through the long laborious procedure of finding a sponsor, paying the dowry, sending out invitations, or preparing a wedding feast. In fact, Mohammed skipped over the usual law of waiting until her next monthly was passed. He consummated his "marriage" to her on a sand dune with the blood and gore of Jihad still covering him, even Safiya’s father’s blood, no doubt. This is another case of rape, but for Mohammed it was just a beautiful marriage sanctioned by the All Perverted Allah! It is

… read more »

Response:

You live in a fantasy world. You’ve either been hosed by Zionist propanda, or you are a Zionist propagandist yourself. The Jews have ALWAYS been a tiny minority of people in the Mid-East, or anywhere else for that matter. Before Islam they were Arabs, and not Jewish ones. They were pagans. Which is why they were converted to a belief in ONE GOD.

You are a total idiot who has never touched a history book. Even in the Quran and the Hadith which came into being at the inception of Islam there are innumerable references to Jews.  Like these which show that the religion of Islam was bigoted from the very beginning. From the Quran: [5.51] O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. [5.82] Certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the Jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly. [9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away! [4.160] Wherefore for the iniquity of those who are Jews did We disallow to them the good things which had been made lawful for them and for their hindering many (people) from Allah’s way. [5.18] And the Jews and the Christians say: We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones. Say: Why does He then chastise you for your faults? From the Ahadith: Sahih Muslim Book 019, Number 4366: It has been narrated by ‘Umar b. al-Khattib that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say: I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim. Sahih Muslim The Book of Faith (Kitab Al-Iman) Book 001, Number 0033: It has been narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer, and pay Zakat and if they do it, their blood and property are guaranteed protection on my behalf except when justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah. Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 53, Number 392: Narrated Abu Huraira: While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews" We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle." 40% of the Arabian Peninsula? What have you been smoking? The Muslims and the Jews lived in peace until recent times.

Again, you show your complete ignorance.  When the prophet Mohammed left Mecca and moved to Medina there were three tribes of Jews living in Medina at peace with the local pagan Arabs.  Mohammed kicked the first two tribes out of town and stole all of their property.  He went to war with the third tribe and they surrendered to him.  After they had completely surrendered he beheaded all 800 men and made slaves out of their women and children.  He committed similar attrocites against other Jewish tribes in Arabia.  The only peace that ever existed between the Muslims and the Jews was when the Jews had completely surrendered and were willing to live as second class citizens in complete subjegation to the Muslims.  Under Islamic law the Jews were required to pay special taxes and they were denied the same legal rights and protections as Muslims. It was the Roman Empire (Europeans) who threw the Jews out of the Mid-East.

You have got to be the biggest moron on the net. It was European Catholics who instigated one program of slaughter after another against the Jews, not the Muslims.

No dumb shit.  The Muslims had innumerable purges where all accross the middle east where slaughtered huge numbers of Jews. It even happened in Spain under Muslim rule. Anti-Semitism is a Catholic-based, European thing. The fucking British came into the Mid-East and used the trick of divide and conquer to turn Jew against Muslim, so that it would be easier for them (British) to build their empire there.

Crap!  The British tried to give everybody a piece of land and keep things quite.  Many of the current Islamic states were created by the British.  And the British forced the Muslims to give up slavery.  Although many of them kept it up when the British left.  The Saudis didn’t repeal slavery until the 1960s.  The Muslims in Mauritania still practice it. They even did this during the Crusades, when Jew and Arab fought WITH each other against the invaders.

The Jews did try to help the Muslims during the crusades. At that time, the Europeans slaughtered Jew AND Muslim, it didn’t matter.

That is because Muslims had been attacking Christiandom for several hundred years.  Muslims invaded all the way into southern France.  They largely wiped out the eastern orthodox church in the middle east.  The Christians finally got tired of it and gave them a dose of their own medicine. You don’t know anything about history, you f’in moron.

Your’re too stupid to find your ass with both hands.  You believe any piece of crap propaganda that the Muslims feed you. TR – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Muslim world (Pan-Arabia) has declared a Fatwa against Israel and the United States.  This is a war to the death.  And there can never be any peace so long as there are radical Islamists and their supporters (Pan-Arabia). But there can be if they just lie down and give in tto the zionist expansionists? You are a complete moron.  Judaism existed long before Islam.  Look at the area of the world that is controlled by Islam and the area of the world that is controlled by Judaism and then tell me who the expansionists are?  And the vast majority of that land that is occupied by the Muslims was won by the sword.  The Jews once occupied 40% of the Arabian peninsula.  Then the Muslims came along and started annihilating them.  And they have kept up the process ever since. Is that what you mean? The fact that the Israeli’s are occupying Palestinian land doesn’t come into the equasion? There is no Palestine.  There never has been a Palestine.  Before the British controlled the area and gave part of it to the Jews it was controlled by the Ottoman empire.  Before the Jews started to move into the area there were some local people there, but by and large it was empty.  After the Jews began to move in the Palestinians also moved in.  The vast majority of the people who live there now have no real history of living there, whether they be Jews or Palestinians. One of the reasons that the Jews found it so desirable to have their own state was because they have been persecuted and murdered for centuries by Europeans and Muslims. Furthermore, there would not be one inch of Palestinian land occupied if the Palestinians hadn’t chosen again and again to try to destroy Israel.  The Israelis have been far to forgiving of the Palestinians 50 year attempt to wipe them out.  If the Palestinians had the power and the ability there wouldn’t be a Jew left alive in Israel.  As a reward for their endless aggression the Palestinians should be driven completely out of the West Bank and Gaza. TR

Response:

Try reading it from a REAL history book then and you’ll find that yours and the real one’s tell different stories! WH

Want some real history?  Here is a piece from the award winning historian Will Durant.  This is from his book, "Our Oriental Heritage". TR VI THE MOSLEM CONQUEST The weakening of India-Mahmud of Gbazni-The Sultanate of Delhi-Its cultural asides-Its brutal policy-The lessson of Indian history The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within. The Hindus had allowed their strength to be wasted in internal division and war; they had adopted religions like Buddhism and Jainism, which unnerved them for the tasks of life; they had failed to organize their forces for the protection of their frontiers and their capitals, their wealth and their freedom, from the hordes of Scythians, Huns, Afghans and Turks hovering about India’s boundaries and waiting for national weakness to let them in. For four hundred years (6oo-1ooo A.D.) India invited conquest; and at last it came. The first Moslem attack was a passing raid upon Multan, in the western Punjab (664 A.D.) Similar raids occurred at the convenience of the invaders during the next three centuries, with the result that the Moslems established themselves in the Indus valley about the same time that their Arab co-religionists in the West were fighting the battle of Tours (732 A.D.) for the mastery of Europe. But the real Moslem conquest of India did not come till the turn of the first millennium after Christ.         In the year 997 a Turkish chieftain by the name of Mahmud became sultan of the little state of Ghazni, in eastern Afghanistan. Mahmud knew that his throne was young and poor, and saw that India, across the border, was old and rich; the conclusion was obvious. Pretending a holy zeal for destroying Hindu idolatry, he swept across the frontier with a force in-spired by a pious aspiration for booty. He met the unprepared Hindus at Bhimnagar, slaughtered them, pillaged their cities, destroyed their tem-ples, and carried away the accumulated treasures of centuries. Returning to Ghazni he astonished the ambassadors of foreign powers by displaying "jewels and unbored pearls and rubles shining like sparks, or like wine congealed with ice, and emeralds like fresh sprigs of myrtle, and diamonds in size and weight like pomegranates."" Each winter Mahmud descended into India, filled his treasure chest with spoils, and amused his men with full freedom to pillage and kill; each spring he returned to his capital richer than before. At Mathura (on the Jumna) he took from the temple its statues of gold encrusted with precious stones, and emptied its coffers of a vast quantity of gold, silver and jewelry; he expressed his admirationfor the architecture of the great shrine, judged that its duplication would cost one hundred million dinars and the labor of two hundred years, and then ordered it to be soaked with naphtha and burnt to the ground." Six years later he sacked another opulent city of northern India, Somnath, killed all its fifty thousand inhabitants, and dragged its wealth to Ghazni. In the end he became, perhaps, the richest king that history has ever known. Sometimes he spared the population of the ravaged cities, and took them home to be sold as slaves; but so great was the number of such captives that after some years no one could be found to offer more than a few shillings for a slave. Before every important engagement Mahmud knelt in prayer, and asked the blessing of God upon his arms. He reigned for a third of a century; and when he died, full of years and honors, Moslem historians ranked him as the greatest monarch of his time, and one of the greatest sovereigns of any age." Seeing the canonization that success had brought to this magnificent thief, other Moslem rulers profited by his example, though none succeeded in bettering his instruction. In 1186 the Ghuri, a Turkish tribe of Afghanistan, invaded India, captured the city of Delhi, destroyed its temples, confiscated its wealth, and settled down in its palaces to establish the Sultanate of Delhi-an alien despotism fastened upon northern India for three centuries, and checked only by assassination and revolt. The first of these bloody sultans, Kutb-d Din Aibak, was a normal specimen of his kind-fanatical, ferocious and merciless. His gifts, as the Mohammedan historian tells us, "were bestowed by hundreds of thousands, and his slaughters likewise were by hundreds of thousands." In one victory of this warrior (who had been purchased as a slave), "fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery, and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus."" Another sultan, Balban,. punished rebels and brigands by casting them under the feet of elephants, or removing their skins, stuffing these with straw, and hanging them from the gates of Delhi. When some Mongol inhabitants who had settled in Delhi, and had been converted to Islam, attempted a rising, Sultan Alau-d-din (the conquerer of Chitor) had all the males-from fifteen to thirty thousand of them-slaughtered in one day. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlak acquired the throne by murdering his father, became a great scholar and an elegant writer, dabbled in mathematics, physics and Greek philosophy, surpassed his predecessors in bloodshed and brutality, fed the flesh of a rebel nephew to the rebel’s wife and children, ruined the country with reckless inflation, and laid it waste with pillage and murder till the inhabitants fled to the jungle. He killed so many Hindus that, in the words of a Moslem historian, "there was constantly in front of his royal pavilion and his Civil Court a mound of dead bodies and a heap of corpses, while the sweepers and executioners were wearied out by their work of dragging" the victims "and putting them to death in crowds."" In order to found a new capital at Daulatabad he drove every inhabitant from Delhi and left it a desert; and hearing that a blind man had stayed behind in Delhi, he ordered him to be dragged from the old to the new capital, so that only a leg remained of the wretch when his last journey was finished.’ The Sultan complained that the people did not love him, or recognize his undeviating Justice. He ruled India for a quarter of a century, and died in bed. His successor, Firoz Shah, invaded Bengal, offered a reward for every Hindu head, paid for 180,000 of them, raided Hindu villages for slaves, and died at the ripe age of eighty. Sultan Ahmad Shah feasted for three days whenever the number of defenseless Hindus slain in his territories in one day reached twenty thousand. These rulers were often men of ability, and their followers were gifted with fierce courage and industry; only so can we understand how they could have maintained their rule among a hostile people so overwhelmingly outnumbering them. All of them were armed with a religion militaristic in operation, but far superior in its stoical monotheism to any of the popular cults of India; they concealed its attractiveness by making the public exercise of the Hindu religions illegal, and thereby driving them more deeply into the Hindu soul. Some of these thirsty despots had culture as well as ability; they patronized the arts, and engaged artists and artisans-usually of Hindu origin-to build for them magnificent mosques and tombs; some of them were scholars, and delighted ‘in converse with historians, poets and scientists. One of the greatest scholars of Asia, Alberuni, accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni to India, and wrote a scientific survey of India comparable to Pliny’s Natural History and Humboldt’s Cosmos. The Moslem historians were almost as numerous as the generals, and yielded nothing to them in the enjoyment of bloodshed and war. The Sultans drew from the people every rupee of tribute that could be exacted by the ancient art of taxation, as well as by straightforward robbery; but they stayed in India, spent their spoils in India, and thereby turned them back into India’s economic life. Nevertheless, their terrorism and exploitation advanced that weakening of Hindu physique and morale which had been begun by an exhausting climate, an inadequate diet, political disunity, and pessimistic religions. The usual policy of the Sultans was clearly sketched by Alau-d-din, who required his advisers to draw up "rules and regulations for grinding down the Hindus, and for depriving them of that wealth and property which fosters disaffection and rebellion."’ Half of the gross produce of the soil was collected by the government; native rulers had taken one sixth. "No Hindu," says a Moslem historian, "could hold up his head, and in their houses no sign of gold or silver . . . or of any superfluity was to be seen…. Blows, confinement in the stocks, imprisonment and chains, were all employed to enforce payment." When one of his own advisers protested against this policy, Alau-d-din answered: "Oh, Doctor, thou art a learned man, but thou hast no experience; I am an unlettered man, but I have a great deal. Be assured, then, that the Hindus will never become submissive and obedient till they are reduced to poverty. I have therefore given orders that just sufficient shall be left to them from year to year of corn, milk and curds, but that they shall not be allowed to accumulate hoards and property."’ This is the secret of the political history of modem India. Weakened by division, it succumbed to invaders; impoverished by invaders, it lost all power of resistance, and took refuge in supernatural consolations; it argued that both mastery and slavery were superficial delusions, and concluded that freedom of the body or the nation was hardly worth defending in so brief a life. The bitter lesson … read more »

Response:

And the muck below has what to do with what I said? WH – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Try reading it from a REAL history book Like the Quran By Mohammed? ROFL!!!! Mohammed married a 6 year old girl named AISHA ,many a hadiths(a series of compilations of mohammed’s life) go to great lengths explaining his sexual encounters with her. (Al-Hadis, Vol. 3, p. 137) Abu Sayeed al-Khodri reported that Mohammed was talking to a group of women when he said, "… I see the majority of you will go to Hell." The women asked why, to which Mohammed responded, "You often curse and are ungrateful to your companions." He then told them they had a basic defect in their nature, to which they responded, "How?" Mohammed answered, "Is not the attestation (knowledge and witness) of a women only worth half of a man’s? And that is on account of her short intelligence." This quote really brings out Mohammed’s "shining" views on women. He automatically condemns the majority of them to hell. According to him a woman’s intellectual capacity is only half that of a man and that is why two women are required as witnesses as compared to one man. He was so scared of women’s intelligence that he said, "a man should not walk between two women" (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 586) as that would mean that the man was taking a risk of being on equal turf according to Mohammed. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 692) Ibn Ma`sud reported from the Messenger of Allah who said, "A woman is like a private part (sex organ). When she goes out (walking) the devil casts a glance at her (in lust)." Well, this clearly gives us an insight into Mohammed’s "pure" mind. To him women were nothing but walking vaginas to be used as objects for sexual fulfillment. No wonder he required women to be completely covered from head to toe. He had to have some way to control his lust! (Koran, 4:34) …Guard in (the husband’s)absence what Allah would have them guard… This verse is demanding that the women should guard their private parts for the sake of their husbands. Again, this tells us the low opinion that Mohammed held for women– objects to be used for sexual fulfillment. Nowhere in the Koran or the Hadiths does it say that a man should guard his private parts or abstain from sex in the absence of their wives. A man can even engage in sexual intercourse with young boys/men without much rebuke from Allah. This is supported by the verses stated below: (Koran 4:15) If two men among you commit indecency (sodomy) punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be. Allah is forgiving and merciful. (Koran 4:16) If any one of your women is guilty of lewdness …confine them until death claims them. As you can see, for women any sort of sexual exploration is punishable by death. Whereas for a man, any form of perversion is pardoned by the all merciful Allah. Such fairness can only be found in the "holiest of the holiest books", the Koran. (Koran 4:34) …As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds and BEAT THEM… Mohammed was an old perverted nutcase. He was so insecure about himself that he thought that showing physical prowess over women would serve as a reminder to him of his manliness. Thus, he encouraged wife beating! In Islam equality between a man and a woman is a far cry. A man needs only to be suspicious to justify the bestial act of beating his wife. (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 215) Omar reported from the Holy Prophet who said, "No man shall be questioned for beating his wife." In the very next Hadith a woman complained to Mohammed that her husband beat her while she prayed. Mohammed told her to change her time of prayer or pray shorter prayers so that her husband could get on with the joy of beating her. (Reported by Abu Sayeed al-Kodri, Attest by Abu Daud) Could Mohammed degrade women any further? If you are asking yourself this question then surprisingly you have not yet grasped the true nature of this "great Prophet" . He allowed the utterly inhuman practice of circumcision for females. In this type of circumcision a girl’s clitoris is carved away, so that she may never experience climax during sexual intercourse and her vulva is sewn shut until it is cut open at the time of marriage! Such "great" practices can only be sactioned by Islam– the religion for all women to embrace! (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 738) Abul Malih reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Circumcision is Sunnat (required by Islamic law) for males and optional for females." OK, enough of looking at the negative side of Islam. Now lets look at the positive side of this religion. Mohammed said that a man before marrying a woman has to pay her a dowry. Surely, as the many devout muslims would say, you can’t criticize that. Ah, but they are mistaken, then again, that’s not anything new. Read the quote below from Al Hadis. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 657) Oqbah-b- A`mer reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "The most equitable of the conditions of marriage is that you should fulfil that (dowry) with which you have made private parts lawful." So, according to Mohammed and his Allah a man has to pay the woman before he can use her private parts. Which means that the man is supposed to treat his wife as a prostitute by paying her before he gets a legal permit for having sex. This implies that the foundation for marriage in Islam is to provide a man with legal sexual gratification and nothing else matters. Now, hold on! Doesn’t Islam say that prostitution is not allowed? Of course, it does! It’s right there in Sahih Muslim Hadith: (Sahih Muslim Hadith Chapter 619) Selling a cat, selling a dog (unless it is a working dog), and earning of prostitutes(unless they are non-muslims),… are all forbidden. Here we have a contradiction! But, again, that is nothing new for the Koran. It is full of contradictions. But I digress, a separate article will be devoted to this in the coming weeks. Back to the dowry issue. Mohammed was not a man who would have people speculate on what he has said. He had to specify what he meant by dowry and specify he did in Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 659 (57). He said that, "a handful of barley or dates is enough." Not only are the wives supposed to be treated as prostitutes, but as prostitutes who only deserve "a handful of barley or dates". Another quote from the Hadith gives total control of women’s lives to men. (Al Hadis, Vol 2, p. 651) Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "No woman shall give a woman in marriage, nor shall a woman give herself in marriage. Verily, the fornicatress is she that marries by herself." Here Mohammed takes away the right of a woman to choose her husband. She has no right to decide how to live her life. This basic right is snatched away from her and given to a man. Furthermore, this implies that a widow has no final authority over her daughter in Islam. As if men didn’t already have the legal freedom to control and degrade women’s lives that they were granted further control to degrade women. During a Jihad expedition (holy war) Mohammed’s men came to him very frustrated. As seen in the quote below: (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 686) Ibn Masud reported, "We were fighting with the Messenger of Allah, and our wives were not with us. We asked the Messenger of Allah, ‘Should we castrate ourselves?’ The Holy Prophet forbade us from that, and then he allowed us Muta (temporary) marriage. So, we all married wives for a fixed time (usually three days) for the dowry of a piece of cloth." Here Mohammed clearly tells the muslims to forget about the prostitutes they had purchased for a handful of dates back home and to have fun with these new victims who come even cheaper. They can be bought and violated for only a piece of cloth. Allah is truly merciful! Praise be to Allah! In other civilized countries this is called rape–plain and simple. The mullahs happily approve this dastardly deed by quoting from the Koran. (Koran, 5:87): "…Make not unlawful the good things Allah hath made lawful for you." Thus this heinous crime is still committed by muslims as attested by the Indo-Pak war, Arab-Israeli war, Iraq- Iran war, Iraq-Kuwait war, etc. Sometimes Mohammed’s lust was so great that he conveniently forgot all the Koranic verses invented by him and did not have time to come up with an ammendment. One instance of this is noted when he married Safiya, a Jewish girl, after killing her father and her betrothed husband. He did not want to go through the long laborious procedure of finding a sponsor, paying the dowry, sending out invitations, or preparing a wedding feast. In fact, Mohammed skipped over the usual law of waiting until her next monthly was passed. He consummated his "marriage" to her on a sand dune with the blood and gore of Jihad still covering him, even Safiya’s father’s blood, no doubt. This is another case of rape, but for Mohammed it was just a beautiful marriage sanctioned by the All Perverted Allah! It is sickening to read the Koran and the Hadiths and the low and inhuman opinion that this so called despicable Mohammed has on women. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2. p. 638) Abdur Rahman- b-Salem reported that the Apostle of Allah said, "You should marry virgins, and verily they are sweeter in tongue, more prolific in wombs, and easily satisfied with little." I don’t think

… read more »

Response:

Try reading it from a REAL history book

Like the Quran By Mohammed? ROFL!!!! Mohammed married a 6 year old girl named AISHA ,many a hadiths(a series of compilations of mohammed’s life) go to great lengths explaining his sexual encounters with her. (Al-Hadis, Vol. 3, p. 137) Abu Sayeed al-Khodri reported that Mohammed was talking to a group of women when he said, "… I see the majority of you will go to Hell." The women asked why, to which Mohammed responded, "You often curse and are ungrateful to your companions." He then told them they had a basic defect in their nature, to which they responded, "How?" Mohammed answered, "Is not the attestation (knowledge and witness) of a women only worth half of a man’s? And that is on account of her short intelligence." This quote really brings out Mohammed’s "shining" views on women. He automatically condemns the majority of them to hell. According to him a woman’s intellectual capacity is only half that of a man and that is why two women are required as witnesses as compared to one man. He was so scared of women’s intelligence that he said, "a man should not walk between two women" (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 586) as that would mean that the man was taking a risk of being on equal turf according to Mohammed. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 692) Ibn Ma`sud reported from the Messenger of Allah who said, "A woman is like a private part (sex organ). When she goes out (walking) the devil casts a glance at her (in lust)." Well, this clearly gives us an insight into Mohammed’s "pure" mind. To him women were nothing but walking vaginas to be used as objects for sexual fulfillment. No wonder he required women to be completely covered from head to toe. He had to have some way to control his lust! (Koran, 4:34) …Guard in (the husband’s)absence what Allah would have them guard… This verse is demanding that the women should guard their private parts for the sake of their husbands. Again, this tells us the low opinion that Mohammed held for women– objects to be used for sexual fulfillment. Nowhere in the Koran or the Hadiths does it say that a man should guard his private parts or abstain from sex in the absence of their wives. A man can even engage in sexual intercourse with young boys/men without much rebuke from Allah. This is supported by the verses stated below: (Koran 4:15) If two men among you commit indecency (sodomy) punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be. Allah is forgiving and merciful. (Koran 4:16) If any one of your women is guilty of lewdness …confine them until death claims them. As you can see, for women any sort of sexual exploration is punishable by death. Whereas for a man, any form of perversion is pardoned by the all merciful Allah. Such fairness can only be found in the "holiest of the holiest books", the Koran. (Koran 4:34) …As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds and BEAT THEM… Mohammed was an old perverted nutcase. He was so insecure about himself that he thought that showing physical prowess over women would serve as a reminder to him of his manliness. Thus, he encouraged wife beating! In Islam equality between a man and a woman is a far cry. A man needs only to be suspicious to justify the bestial act of beating his wife. (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 215) Omar reported from the Holy Prophet who said, "No man shall be questioned for beating his wife." In the very next Hadith a woman complained to Mohammed that her husband beat her while she prayed. Mohammed told her to change her time of prayer or pray shorter prayers so that her husband could get on with the joy of beating her. (Reported by Abu Sayeed al-Kodri, Attest by Abu Daud) Could Mohammed degrade women any further? If you are asking yourself this question then surprisingly you have not yet grasped the true nature of this "great Prophet" . He allowed the utterly inhuman practice of circumcision for females. In this type of circumcision a girl’s clitoris is carved away, so that she may never experience climax during sexual intercourse and her vulva is sewn shut until it is cut open at the time of marriage! Such "great" practices can only be sactioned by Islam– the religion for all women to embrace! (Al Hadis, Vol. 1, p. 738) Abul Malih reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Circumcision is Sunnat (required by Islamic law) for males and optional for females." OK, enough of looking at the negative side of Islam. Now lets look at the positive side of this religion. Mohammed said that a man before marrying a woman has to pay her a dowry. Surely, as the many devout muslims would say, you can’t criticize that. Ah, but they are mistaken, then again, that’s not anything new. Read the quote below from Al Hadis. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 657) Oqbah-b- A`mer reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "The most equitable of the conditions of marriage is that you should fulfil that (dowry) with which you have made private parts lawful." So, according to Mohammed and his Allah a man has to pay the woman before he can use her private parts. Which means that the man is supposed to treat his wife as a prostitute by paying her before he gets a legal permit for having sex. This implies that the foundation for marriage in Islam is to provide a man with legal sexual gratification and nothing else matters. Now, hold on! Doesn’t Islam say that prostitution is not allowed? Of course, it does! It’s right there in Sahih Muslim Hadith: (Sahih Muslim Hadith Chapter 619) Selling a cat, selling a dog (unless it is a working dog), and earning of prostitutes(unless they are non-muslims),… are all forbidden. Here we have a contradiction! But, again, that is nothing new for the Koran. It is full of contradictions. But I digress, a separate article will be devoted to this in the coming weeks. Back to the dowry issue. Mohammed was not a man who would have people speculate on what he has said. He had to specify what he meant by dowry and specify he did in Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 659 (57). He said that, "a handful of barley or dates is enough." Not only are the wives supposed to be treated as prostitutes, but as prostitutes who only deserve "a handful of barley or dates". Another quote from the Hadith gives total control of women’s lives to men. (Al Hadis, Vol 2, p. 651) Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "No woman shall give a woman in marriage, nor shall a woman give herself in marriage. Verily, the fornicatress is she that marries by herself." Here Mohammed takes away the right of a woman to choose her husband. She has no right to decide how to live her life. This basic right is snatched away from her and given to a man. Furthermore, this implies that a widow has no final authority over her daughter in Islam. As if men didn’t already have the legal freedom to control and degrade women’s lives that they were granted further control to degrade women. During a Jihad expedition (holy war) Mohammed’s men came to him very frustrated. As seen in the quote below: (Al Hadis, Vol. 2, p. 686) Ibn Masud reported, "We were fighting with the Messenger of Allah, and our wives were not with us. We asked the Messenger of Allah, ‘Should we castrate ourselves?’ The Holy Prophet forbade us from that, and then he allowed us Muta (temporary) marriage. So, we all married wives for a fixed time (usually three days) for the dowry of a piece of cloth." Here Mohammed clearly tells the muslims to forget about the prostitutes they had purchased for a handful of dates back home and to have fun with these new victims who come even cheaper. They can be bought and violated for only a piece of cloth. Allah is truly merciful! Praise be to Allah! In other civilized countries this is called rape–plain and simple. The mullahs happily approve this dastardly deed by quoting from the Koran. (Koran, 5:87): "…Make not unlawful the good things Allah hath made lawful for you." Thus this heinous crime is still committed by muslims as attested by the Indo-Pak war, Arab-Israeli war, Iraq- Iran war, Iraq-Kuwait war, etc. Sometimes Mohammed’s lust was so great that he conveniently forgot all the Koranic verses invented by him and did not have time to come up with an ammendment. One instance of this is noted when he married Safiya, a Jewish girl, after killing her father and her betrothed husband. He did not want to go through the long laborious procedure of finding a sponsor, paying the dowry, sending out invitations, or preparing a wedding feast. In fact, Mohammed skipped over the usual law of waiting until her next monthly was passed. He consummated his "marriage" to her on a sand dune with the blood and gore of Jihad still covering him, even Safiya’s father’s blood, no doubt. This is another case of rape, but for Mohammed it was just a beautiful marriage sanctioned by the All Perverted Allah! It is sickening to read the Koran and the Hadiths and the low and inhuman opinion that this so called despicable Mohammed has on women. (Al Hadis, Vol. 2. p. 638) Abdur Rahman- b-Salem reported that the Apostle of Allah said, "You should marry virgins, and verily they are sweeter in tongue, more prolific in wombs, and easily satisfied with little." I don’t think I need to explain the quote above. It is quite clear. The list of legalized inhuman acts continues on. For example, a man has a right to divorce his wife by uttering the word, "Talaq" only three times, whereas a woman has no such right, a man can have upto four wives. No such "privilege" exists for a woman in Islam. A man may practise sodomy and in fact, it is even encouraged as it is legal in the muslim Paradise. But any sort of lewdness for women is punishable by death. Some would now think that there is absolutely no hope for … read more »

Response:

Doesn’t bother me.   One has to get  used to being called and "anti-semite" or bigot when they challenge any actions of our 51st state. The question I have, is how do we in the good old USA defend ourselves against terrorism now?  The cat’s out of the bag, but I don’t want to live as they do in these high secuirity countries like Israel.  Uzzi’s everywhere at airports, …. and many other public places.   Looks to me that our best defense would be to try to not make these enemies in the first place.  These Arab countries are making a lot of   dough selling us their oil and from an economic standpoint, you don’t want to go around killing your best customrs.  They have a lot of incentive to just leave us alone as long as we don’t meddle in their internal politics. Doesn’t look like we are going down that path, though. Next stop:  Baghdad.   What’s next?   Does anyone think that there will not be repurcussions after we fight this war with Iraq?  Does anyone truly think we will not have terrorism in our lands then?   How do you stop it in a free sosciety such as ours?  Metal detectors and chips planted in our butts and cars and phones might help, but does anyone want to give up the freedoms we have in order to have some perceived safety? Right now, it appears that our best defense against terrorism  (assuming we continue moving toward war with Iraq and we continue to support Israel), is the stupity of the terrorist.   Hopefully, we eventually catch them before they do too much damage.  Or how bout we just start bulldozing houses of families of suspected terrorists.   Geo. Orwell’s 1984, might just end up being a better place than where we end up. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The very fact that you even ask these kinds of questions presumes in the sheeps’ minds in the US that you are part of the Axis of Evil, Anti-Semite, etc. You aren’t supposed to ask any questions that potentially challenges the US’s status quo with Israel. At some point even such an innocent question may cause you to end up in jail, the way the US is currently headed (Fascism). Sure looks to me like our good friends the Israeli’s have a lot to do with putting the US at risk.    Will someone please tell me what is the "national interest"? They are independant and strong and probably the world’s 4th or 5th strongest nuclear threat. (that info is 15 years old)…… many consider Israel to be the 3rd or 4th strongest nuclear power. What the F%$# we still need to be sucking $10 Billion from our citizens and handing it over to Israel? There isn’t much doubt we are going to be the victims of more and more terrorism as a result of our close connection with Israel.  I don’t think it’s worth it.  Time to start doing what is best for the US and not Israel.   If any US citizen has strong feelings for Israel, well give them a 3 yr pass to go fight with/for them if that’s what they want.   WH a ecrit : The Muslim world (Pan-Arabia) has declared a Fatwa against Israel and the United States.  This is a war to the death.  And there can never be any peace so long as there are radical Islamists and their supporters (Pan-Arabia). But there can be if they just lie down and give in tto the zionist expansionists? Yep. Is that what you mean? The fact that the Israeli’s are occupying Palestinian land doesn’t come into the equasion? Nope. J. WH

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Scarlotti a

My sister is to marry an Arab Muslim…HELP!

Question:

It’s interesting to note the story of a Barhraini Princess-16 yer or so, eloped to the US with the intention of marrying a US Marine she met there. The press presented this story as a case of ‘freedom of choice’ this girl could only exercise by escaping from Bahrain, so she could marry the one she wanted in her heart. They even made a TV movie of this story. In view of this, it is highly interesting to see that how this person Jay is desperately trying to talk his sister out of marrying a Bahraini man she apparently has her heart set on. Simply because the man is an Arab Muslim? Clearly, this is a case of double standards. A foregone conclusion drawn apparently from ignorance or bias. I think the same thoughts and feelings should be applied–let there be ‘freedom of choice’. I’m sure the lady is smart and adult enough to make her choices.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve taken some time looking through the responses to your letter, Jay. If you are that worried about this why don’t you go to Bahrein and see for yourself. Go and see the culture you know so little about. Go and meet the guy, meet his family. Just don’t interfere; let your sister make her own educated decision, based on solid information about her intended, in the same way that a young lady in Indiana, Texas or Virginia would a similar decision. It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

I’ve taken some time looking through the responses to your letter, Jay. If you are that worried about this why don’t you go to Bahrein and see for yourself. Go and see the culture you know so little about. Go and meet the guy, meet his family. Just don’t interfere; let your sister make her own educated decision, based on solid information about her intended, in the same way that a young lady in Indiana, Texas or Virginia would a similar decision. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

If divorce were a legal and cultural option for women in Moslem countries, chances are very strong that, the divorce rate would be more than 90 percent. If women were not forced into marriages (very often at very young ages, like as young as 11-12 years old), in other words, if women had legal right and protection against forced marriages, they would not marry any of the abusive men to start with. This is a well-known fact which every single person knows; not a "racism and propaganda". But no Moslem says anything about it, because it is "Islamic". – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have seen young American women merried Moslem Arab, Persian men. If she merries him, chances are strong to very strong that she will regret that later on. SV At least four out of ten marriages in the US end in divorce so the chances are strong that "young American women" who marry will regret it. Women who marry Muslim Persian or Arab men are probably no more or less happier than women who marry white men. There appears to be some racism and propaganda involved in the circulation of a few "nightmare" scenarios.

Response:

Well, if you can, have her watch the movie or read the book "Not without my daughter".  It’s the true story of a muslim medical doctor in Detroit, who an American woman married because he seemed to be a professional and a good man. He convinced her to visit Iran, along with their daughter.  Once there, his true character came out -due to the pressure of his family and muslim values, he completely changed -beating his wife, forcing her to wear a burka, denying her the ability to leave Iran (which she succeeded in doing, against his wishes, but think of how many other foreigners are still trapped there…). Muslims can appear normal to get what they want, but once they have control, their true barbaric substance comes out.  Islam is to the intelligent mind what rabies is to the physical brain.  It’s true, as the above demonstrates, and has been shown over and over again.  I pray your sister wakes up before she too is imprisoned.

Response:

hello, a good book to read is: Daughters of Another Path : Experiences of American                  Women Choosing Islam                  by Carol Anderson Anway, Carol L. Anway http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0964716909/ they have some sample pages up for reading at amazon. Daughters of Another Path: Experiences of American Women                  Choosing Islam reflects Carol Anway’s experiences as a mother                  whose daughter became a Muslim convert and the journey of                  reconciliation and acceptance of her daughter’s change in tradition.                  Daughters of Another Path includes portions of stories from fifty-three                  American born women who have chosen to become Muslim. Why and                  how they came to Islam; what their lives are like as a result of that                  choice; How non-Muslims can relate to Muslims that are relatives,                  friends, co-workers, and acquaintances.

Response:

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  

Sir, if she were marrying a professional bungy jumper I’d be concerned, but people are the same all over the world: Awful or worse. Unless you know this fellow is particularly awful, your sister will be marrying the usual homo sapiens. They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline.

Lucky her: Maybe he’s a millionaire. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  

He has bad breath, he eats without the benefit of utensils, he chews his toenails in public… things like these and I wouldn’t marry the guy either. As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  

All superstitions are the same. If he were a faithful member of Jim Jones’s cult would it make it easier on you? No

There, you see: You agree already. one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

It’s no better than marrying a drunken wife-beater (but let’s not get too mechanical): And not all Muslims abuse women (I’m sure).  My own old man, who was not a Muslim, tried MANY times to get the better of my old lady BUT he never quite understood that she was Cuban (and Cuban women don’t let nobody get the better of’em even if they have to kill somebody… which means I don’t have to tell you how he died). Seriously: Since the dawn of history women have been marrying strange men (instead of normal ones). There: Doesn’t that help explain your father! Do you really think when you walked into your wife’s parents’ house that first time… they thought: "Well, now here’s an upstanding chap!" …?!?! No they did not. They thought: "Well lookee what the cat’s just dragged in!" Bet on it. You can’t live other people’s lives for them. Simple as that. So if you wanna be happy: Smile. S D Rodrian poems.sdrodrian.com physics.sdrodrian.com

Response:

shared with usenet this thought: If your sister is Christian, Jewish, or Sabian she will not have to convert.

        But the children have to be brought up as Muslims.  And your sister can be divorced on the flimsiest pretext, but is essentially trapped if she herself wants out.    Salaam       G. PS: We don’t all blow up buildings.

        Right–many millions more just watch atrocities on TV and applaud. — bruce The dignified don’t even enter in the game. –The Jam

Response:

I have seen young American women merried Moslem Arab, Persian men. If she merries him, chances are strong to very strong that she will regret that later on.

SV At least four out of ten marriages in the US end in divorce so the chances are strong that "young American women" who marry will regret it. Women who marry Muslim Persian or Arab men are probably no more or less happier than women who marry white men. There appears to be some racism and propaganda involved in the circulation of a few "nightmare" scenarios. — Wasalaam, Saqib Virk

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If your sister is Christian, Jewish, or Sabian she will not have to convert.     Salaam        G. PS: We don’t all blow up buildings. It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. <snip

Hi Jay, Generally, all religions would teach one to be good, but, being taking charge of your ownself, one got to understand further on what you are treading with. Let me give you an insight on what these religions were made of. Islam : The usual teaching of being good, but, come with the ‘extras’ such as, tit-for-tat attitude ie. ‘jihad’ or ‘holy war’ if, confronted. Worse still, the majority of muslims are mostly illiterate, that is the problem where they behaved like a herd of sheep, following blindly. Christian: Quite similiar to Islam, afterall, in actual fact, they share the same teachings. In christianity, Jesus is being pronounced by Muslim as Isa, Moses as Musa, Abraham as ibraham and so on. It is common to see sticker pasting at the back of car, by muslim owner, they would pasted ‘Islam is the way’ same as the christian ‘Jesus is the way’. Over at middleeast, they claimed ‘jihad’ whereas. over at Ireland, those IRA would claimed ‘freedom fighter’. Buddhism: Beside the usual teaching of being good, it is a religion, that teaches on the ‘Path to Enlightenment’ or ‘emptiness/infinity’. They don’t believe in creating trouble to themselves or anyone around them. If, someone is nasty, a buddhist would ‘avoid’ or leave this nasty fellow alone. In fact, the taching of buddhism do not have the tit-for-tat attitude as ‘enjoy’ by Isalm or Christian. Taoism: It is a religion that teaches one to understand ’surrounding element’ and how to apply it, in order to live peacefully and have a better life. Hinduism: Teaching quite similar to Taoism. Jainism: Teaching quite similiar to Buddhism, all practising ‘loving kindness’ So make your pick. Christian

Response:

My mother married a Moslem after my dad’s death in a car accident (alcohol intoxication).  My dad was a white American of Irish descent.  He was funny and entertaining to his friends, but he used to beat my mom every night, and made our life like hell.  Soon after his death she met a Moslem gentleman from Iraq .  First, I was extremely embarrassed to an extent that I couldn’t sleep at night.  This man has been married to my mom for more than 12 years. I’ve never seen my mom so happy and self confident before.  He treats me and my sister exactly like his kids.  Most importantly, I’ve never seen him doing anything inappropriate to my mom or us, and he’s well liked by his co-workers and neighbors. I’m not saying that all Muslims are like my him, but many of them are. Diana Spenser and Dody Fayed’s story is another example. Just pray for your sister, and wish her good luck.  You’d never know!

American, Thank you for sharing your sad story at first but happy in the end for your mother marrying a Muslim.  I sense that they reside in the USA. I think that would take a lot of fear out of this marriage b/c they’re going to live in Middle East.  I have Muslim friends in San Fran that I worked with and they are cool and liberated Muslims and come to think of it we never hear about Muslims behaving badly in USA.  But my God nothing good seems to come out of Middle East and I’m not just watching  CNN or reading NYT I get on the websites of most Arab countries news and it’s all so political and no color in their daily life. Thanks again. -Jay – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

If your sister is Christian, Jewish, or Sabian she will not have to convert.     Salaam        G. PS: We don’t all blow up buildings.

My sister is Buddhist, she is from Bangkok, Thailand. She is 27 years old. Thank you. -Jay – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. <snip

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay Excuse my directness, but seeing as how your sister is an adult, perhaps you should mind your own business and let her lead her own life. If, as a loving brother, you really want to help your sister make a good decision, the first two thing you need to do is to learn something concrete and accurate about Islam and get to know the man in question and his family. If you sister is a Christian or a Jew, Islamic law allows her to marry a Muslim man. Afterward, she has the right to remain a Christian or a Jew and under Islamic law may not be forced to convert or prevented from practising her religion. In some places and in some families, she might come under extreme pressure from the man or his family to convert. That is a reality that should not be dismissed but it would be contrary to Islamic law. Until you learn something about Islam, about the man in question, about his family and about the cultural and social conditions in the Muslim country where they may be living after marriage, you really cannot help your sister and you may just be creating unnecessary tensions and conflicts that will not be good for her, for you or for the rest of your family. Whether or not she might have a miserable life ahead of her depends on her own maturity and  understanding of what she is doing, on the man’s character and personality and on the nature of the society in which they would be living. Life for a Christian woman married to a Muslim man could vary greatly depending on where they are. Bahrain is not like Iran, is not like Syria, is not like Morocco is not like Tunisia, etc. etc. Your first obligation, if you really want to advise your sister properly, is to gain the knowledge that you have not yet acquired. If not, you will be acting out of ignorance and prejudice.

Abdelkarim, Thank you for your directness.  Even though my sister is an adult and able to ‘lead her own life’ we aren’t going to just turn a blind eye to her interest in marriage to a Muslim or anyone else for that matter just as I would expect you to be interested and investigative if your sister or daughter is to marry someone too…I think it’s called love for family without violence. I’ve also learned from this forum that she may not have to give up her own religion after all if she chooses not too.  It’s comforting to her you write that Bahrain is not like some of the hardcore Islamic states either.  The guy apparently presents himself as a white knight (don’t we all) but I’m worried about weather he’ll get really involved in his religion later in life and start interrupting the Koran differently than he does now which could spell hardship for my sister later.  Why is the Koran so susceptible to misinterpretations?  The Bible is just as difficult I think but they don’t have so many nut balls interpreting it so as to justify multiple wives, beatings blah blah blah, in their religion it seems.  Thanks for you words. -Jay

Response:

Thank you for your comments. I suppose I should be more specific. Indeed I am concerned that she might have to give up her religion, Buddhism, as well as the comfortable lifestyle she was accustomed to here in Bangkok, driving her new BMW car, fancy French handbags, eating any food she liked including pork that she enjoyed here in Thailand.  I’m sure the Middle East has it’s share of luxury cars and upscale restaurants but the thing is she got to choose these things herself over here and there were no govt restrictions against the women doing it on their own such as having the husband or father sign a waiver form allowing her to purchase and drive the bloody car! Perhaps I’m exaggerating but I think there is some truth in other aspects of life over there. That aside, it seems that this ‘future’ husband is okay gentlemen for now, but what concerns me is that once he gives up or loses his cushy job that exposes him to the real and modern world out side Middle East.  They then end up settling permanently there and he takes over some little family store or business and shortly the comments will come from his buddies who he’ll begin to hang around with more who criticize him for letting his wife carry on not as a FULL Muslim (which he has promised he would let her do).  He arrives home one night for instance, dinner is not so good perhaps and they begin to argue.  Every couple argues wherever you are but this time it’s different, he has the weight of his buddies, laughing at him b/c he has got control of his wife blah blah blah.  All hell brakes lose, she is beaten, passport is hidden and life begins being miserable. Unlikely? Maybe this guy is a different breed as I have some normal Muslim couples I worked with in San Francisco for years but the key word there is USA.  Don’t mean to anger anyone but this is how many of us perceive things for your loved family member. -Jay – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This is an odd request. It is unclear to me what aspect(s) of her intentions you find objectionable and wish to dissuade her from? If you are opposed to her having to give up her current faith, you need to sit and have a discussion with her, to convince her that it is not a good idea. What magical quotes do you expect us to provide to jolt her out of the spell she might be under? If you are primarily concerned about the miserable life she might end up having, you should instead meet with the gentleman and try to investigate and evaluate for yourself, whether or not your concerns are well grounded. If they are, then again you have a basis of discussion with your own sister. Viqar Ahmed As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

Well people make their own decisions, even if these are mistakes. Tell her that she does not have to get married now, and ask her just to think.   Ask her about divorce laws (often very easy for the man) or multiple wives (often new wives added without old wive’s permission).   Ask her if she is taking for granted freedom of US citizen!

Response:

If your sister is Christian, Jewish, or Sabian she will not have to convert.     Salaam        G. PS: We don’t all blow up buildings.

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline.

<snip

Response:

If your sister is Christian, Jewish, or Sabian she will not have to convert.     Salaam        G. PS: We don’t all blow up buildings.

That’s an odd statement to make since most terrorists are muslem and do blow up buildings, busses, street corners, restraunts and any place else where there are innocent civilians. ..

Response:

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

For a worst-case scenario, read and give her the book _Not Without My Daughter_, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312925883/ Or see the film of the same name.  Also, run down to the library and xerox the section on women in the book _The Closed Circle: an Interpretation of the Arabs_.  YMMV, of course, in real life.

Response:

I have seen young American women merried Moslem Arab, Persian men. If she merries him, chances are strong to very strong that she will regret that later on. If she has to live in his Moslem (Arab, Persian, Pakistan, Bengaldesh, etc) country, she should never merry him at all; her life would be even much more miserable there than in the USA. At least in the USA she has the law to protect her. If she merries him and have childeren with him, sooner or later he will want to move to his country. If she will not want to move with him to his country, then he will kidnap the kids and take them to his country with him. The it would be impossible for her to get her kids back. Is she moves to his country, she will have to live  miserable life. Yes, there are exceptions. But exceptions do not make the norms. One guy says his Irish father was a drunk and abused his mom. That is also an exception, not a norm. If his mom was so abused by his Irish drunk father, it was partially her fault that she put up with him and did not divorse him. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

This is an odd request. It is unclear to me what aspect(s) of her intentions you find objectionable and wish to dissuade her from? If you are opposed to her having to give up her current faith, you need to sit and have a discussion with her, to convince her that it is not a good idea. What magical quotes do you expect us to provide to jolt her out of the spell she might be under? If you are primarily concerned about the miserable life she might end up having, you should instead meet with the gentleman and try to investigate and evaluate for yourself, whether or not your concerns are well grounded. If they are, then again you have a basis of discussion with your own sister. Viqar Ahmed As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

–                     Usenet Newsgroup Service

Response:

My mother married a Moslem after my dad’s death in a car accident (alcohol intoxication).  My dad was a white American of Irish descent.  He was funny and entertaining to his friends, but he used to beat my mom every night, and made our life like hell.  Soon after his death she met a Moslem gentleman from Iraq .  First, I was extremely embarrassed to an extent that I couldn’t

sleep at night.  This man has been married to my mom for more than 12 years. I’ve never seen my mom so happy and self confident before.  He treats me and my sister exactly like his kids.  Most importantly, I’ve never seen him doing anything inappropriate to my mom or us, and he’s well liked by his co-workers and neighbors. I’m not saying that all Muslims are like my him, but many of them are. Diana Spenser and Dody Fayed’s story is another example. Just pray for your sister, and wish her good luck.  You’d never know!

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Excuse my directness, but seeing as how your sister is an adult, perhaps you should mind your own business and let her lead her own life. If, as a loving brother, you really want to help your sister make a good decision, the first two thing you need to do is to learn something concrete and accurate about Islam and get to know the man in question and his family. If you sister is a Christian or a Jew, Islamic law allows her to marry a Muslim man. Afterward, she has the right to remain a Christian or a Jew and under Islamic law may not be forced to convert or prevented from practising her religion. In some places and in some families, she might come under extreme pressure from the man or his family to convert. That is a reality that should not be dismissed but it would be contrary to Islamic law. Until you learn something about Islam, about the man in question, about his family and about the cultural and social conditions in the Muslim country where they may be living after marriage, you really cannot help your sister and you may just be creating unnecessary tensions and conflicts that will not be good for her, for you or for the rest of your family. Whether or not she might have a miserable life ahead of her depends on her own maturity and  understanding of what she is doing, on the man’s character and personality and on the nature of the society in which they would be living. Life for a Christian woman married to a Muslim man could vary greatly depending on where they are. Bahrain is not like Iran, is not like Syria, is not like Morocco is not like Tunisia, etc. etc. Your first obligation, if you really want to advise your sister properly, is to gain the knowledge that you have not yet acquired. If not, you will be acting out of ignorance and prejudice. — Peace to all who seek God’s face. Abdelkarim Benoit Evans

Response:

I am not Muslim and not Arab, but have had friends who were both.  I would welcome a better understanding from the Muslims on the board, but I see no reason that your sister would need to convert from her current faith (assuming she is Christian or Jewish).  Qu’ran 5:5 appears to specifically permit the marriage of Muslim men to women who are of the "People of the Book" (Christians or Jews).  While there seems to be a debate about whether Muslim women may marry outside the Islamic faith, and while many Muslim authorities appear to advise Muslim men to marry Muslim women, this does not appear to be a requirement. I understand your concern about your sister marrying someone from another country, another culture and another religion, but I have known a number of people with successful interfaith marriages (including at least one marriage of a Muslim and a Christian, although I did not know them that well). Perhaps a more productive course than searching for arguments to use in talking your sister out of this marriage to someone you admit is "probably OK as a person" (which will probably be futile in any event) would be to learn something objective about Islam in its many varieties (which are at least as varied as those of Christianity). One thing I do know is that what I would characterize as the oppression of women is many Islamic countries has much more to do with the culture of those countries than with Islam itself.  For example, at least as I understand it, a woman is permitted to enter into a marriage contract which precludes her husband from marrying additional wives, and which guarantees her significant rights beyond those specified by the general marriage laws. There are many married Muslim women who are well-educated, successful in careers outside the home, quite assertive, and who do not at all fit the image in the popular press. Good luck to you and your sister.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

Response:

It seems that my sister is considering marrying an Arab Muslim and I wish to talk her out of it.  They currently reside in Bahrien where he is originally from and where she’s based as a flight attendant for a reginal airline. Please provide me with some dialog notes on why it is not a good idea to marry this guy (who is probably ok as a person).  As I understand she’ll have to give up her current religion and convert to Islam.  No one in our family really knows much about Islam or Arab life but, from what little we do know we believe, she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her.  Thanks in advance. Jay

If she will convert to stay married to him, then you should talk her out of it by saying that she should not say that she believe in a particular religion just to stay married to the guy.  But, as far as I know, she is NOt required to convert if she is a Christian or Jew but the children will have to be brought up by the father’s religion.  By the way, he could eb an Arab and not a muslim even if he’s brought up as a muslim. You never know.   Have they talked about where they would settle?   If he is a muslim and she wants to marry him even though she doesn’t believe in Islam, then your sister needs to get some counselling to make her understand that her worthiness does NOT depend on getting a husband.   Marriages that do NOT base on common belief RARELY last especially in countries where human rights are at top priorties and people ahve more social and religious freedom; it’s a fact.

Response:

What is your religion?

Question:

Even the word ‘Moral Majority was a lie because his bunch was not the Majority. Big holier-than-thou mentality. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – [...] Your attempts at sectarian hinduism might play in India for the BGP, but here they’re only the facile arguments of a man looking to be regarded as the Jerry Falwell of alt.yoga. Dear Jody, may you enlighten me on who Jerry Falwell is / was? Thank you! :-) Sat Nam – Hari Har Singh Jerry Falwell is a famous fundamentalist christian minister who seeks to control morality through political power.  He was the leader of the so-called ‘Moral Majority,’ an attempted cultural reform movement. Like Inlight, he carted a "my way or the highway" rhetoric, mostly in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  His movement lost most of its support after the election of Bill Clinton, and now exists only as a ghost of its former self.

Response:

And neither were they "Moral" except in their own eyes.

Even the word ‘Moral Majority was a lie because his bunch was not the Majority. Big holier-than-thou mentality.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – [...] Your attempts at sectarian hinduism might play in India for the BGP, but here they’re only the facile arguments of a man looking to be regarded as the Jerry Falwell of alt.yoga. Dear Jody, may you enlighten me on who Jerry Falwell is / was? Thank you! :-) Sat Nam – Hari Har Singh Jerry Falwell is a famous fundamentalist christian minister who seeks to control morality through political power.  He was the leader of the so-called ‘Moral Majority,’ an attempted cultural reform movement. Like Inlight, he carted a "my way or the highway" rhetoric, mostly in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  His movement lost most of its support after the election of Bill Clinton, and now exists only as a ghost of its former self.

Response:

The real issue is way above this all. Inlight surely has a point, but his view too is limited by dogmatic thinking, i.e. Hindu, etc. thing… :-)

… Think about it… There is name and form and there is something beyond. Yes. I agree! :-) To deny either is to have only half an understanding. It is just a dogmatic (and extremist) to deny chosen forms (of course not to the exclusion of all others) as it is to get stuck in a form.

Yes. As i said, people tend to do that. The real issue is way above this… Yoga–its a Hindu thing–but not the only thing :)

That is your opinion. It does not matter what you call it. But, I don’t fully get what you are hinting at? Shanti. :-) )

Response:

[...] Your attempts at sectarian hinduism might play in India for the BGP, but here they’re only the facile arguments of a man looking to be regarded as the Jerry Falwell of alt.yoga.

Dear Jody, may you enlighten me on who Jerry Falwell is / was? Thank you! :-) Sat Nam – Hari Har Singh

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – [...] Your attempts at sectarian hinduism might play in India for the BGP, but here they’re only the facile arguments of a man looking to be regarded as the Jerry Falwell of alt.yoga. Dear Jody, may you enlighten me on who Jerry Falwell is / was? Thank you! :-) Sat Nam – Hari Har Singh

Jerry Falwell is a famous fundamentalist christian minister who seeks to control morality through political power.  He was the leader of the so-called ‘Moral Majority,’ an attempted cultural reform movement. Like Inlight, he carted a "my way or the highway" rhetoric, mostly in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  His movement lost most of its support after the election of Bill Clinton, and now exists only as a ghost of its former self.

Response:

In Patanjali’s Astanga Yoga, a vital step is Isvara Pranidhana or devotion to "Lord" Isvara who of course, to this Saivite Hindu was Siva.

"Isvara" has linguistic connections with "Iaweh", and simply means "God"… Anyone who has studied just a bit of Patanjali (or any Hindu Yogi) knows his devotion to the Hindu God Siva.

… or, the same "God", which has been named Siva here… Anyone who has been to Patanjali’s "home" Chidambaram Temple would understand the profound connection.

I have ben there. Impressive place. I understand and felt the connection. But, it is said that the God said: "Any Name is Mine, and any Form is Mine!" The Hindu spiritual disciplines of Yoga are just that. There are many great religions but not respecting their common sense differences, demonstrates neither respect nor common sense.

That is your opinion, with all respect, but I know Yoga is way beyond the ‘limitation’ of (exclusive) hinduism…. That is what i realized not only in Chidambaram. Shanti

Response:

You may choose to study Buddhism or Jainism but Patanjali, who is said to be the originaator of Yoga, has based his Yoga Sutras on Sankhyism, which is atheist.  Patanjali’s teachings can be used alongside any religion. This is simply not true. In Patanjali’s Astanga Yoga, a vital step is Isvara Pranidhana or devotion to "Lord" Isvara who of course, to this Saivite Hindu was Siva.

There is little definite information about Patanjali.  While he may be regarded as the historical author of the Yoga Sutras, this is by no means a fact. While casting him as sectarian might suit your purposes, the rest of the yoga community sees the work attributed to him as being above any sectarian influences. Anyone who has studied just a bit of Patanjali (or any Hindu Yogi) knows his devotion to the Hindu God Siva.

Even if Patanjali were a Shivate, it doesn’t necessarily mean he was sectarian.   Anyone who has been to Patanjali’s "home" Chidambaram Temple would understand the profound connection.

Seeing as we know very little about the historical Patanjali, this claim has little merit outside the interests of the temple owners. The Hindu spiritual disciplines of Yoga are just that. There are many great religions but not respecting their common sense differences, demonstrates neither respect nor common sense. Inlight

Your attempts at sectarian hinduism might play in India for the BGP, but here they’re only the facile arguments of a man looking to be regarded as the Jerry Falwell of alt.yoga.

Response:

Theistic views often lead to religions which are basically separatistic and dogmatic because it is by people… Patanjali as well as Samkhya say that everything is One – God or Brahman – you name it. And that is what people tend to do: name it. And then claim that their chosen name is the only one… The real issue is way above this all. Inlight surely has a point, but his view too is limited by dogmatic thinking, i.e. Hindu, etc. thing… :-) Shanti

p.blau, Think about it… There is name and form and there is something beyond. To deny either is to have only half an understanding. It is just a dogmatic (and extremist) to deny chosen forms (of course not to the exclusion of all others) as it is to get stuck in a form. Yoga–its a Hindu thing–but not the only thing :)

Response:

You may choose to study Buddhism or Jainism but Patanjali, who is said to be the originaator of Yoga, has based his Yoga Sutras on Sankhyism, which is atheist.  Patanjali’s teachings can be used alongside any religion.

This is simply not true. In Patanjali’s Astanga Yoga, a vital step is Isvara Pranidhana or devotion to "Lord" Isvara who of course, to this Saivite Hindu was Siva. Anyone who has studied just a bit of Patanjali (or any Hindu Yogi) knows his devotion to the Hindu God Siva. Anyone who has been to Patanjali’s "home" Chidambaram Temple would understand the profound connection. The Hindu spiritual disciplines of Yoga are just that. There are many great religions but not respecting their common sense differences, demonstrates neither respect nor common sense. Inlight

Response:

You may choose to study Buddhism or Jainism but Patanjali, who is said to be the originator of Yoga, has based his Yoga Sutras on Sankhyism, which is atheist.  Patanjali’s teachings can be used alongside any religion. Is Sankhyism the same as Samkhya philosophy system ? (I am always wary with those orthographic thinks :-) ) Then you are mostly right, but yoga is theist (Icvara (or Isvara) is god) while Samkhya is atheist. Maybe we can agree Yoga is a theistic Samkhya ?

Theistic views often lead to religions which are basically separatistic and dogmatic because it is by people… Patanjali as well as Samkhya say that everything is One – God or Brahman – you name it. And that is what people tend to do: name it. And then claim that their chosen name is the only one… The real issue is way above this all. Inlight surely has a point, but his view too is limited by dogmatic thinking, i.e. Hindu, etc. thing… :-) Shanti

Response:

You may choose to study Buddhism or Jainism but Patanjali, who is said to be the originaator of Yoga, has based his Yoga Sutras on Sankhyism, which is atheist.  Patanjali’s teachings can be used alongside any religion.

Is Sankhyism the same as Samkhya philosophy system ? (I am always wary with those orthographic thinks :-) ) Then you are mostly right, but yoga is theist (Icvara (or Isvara) is god) while Samkhya is atheist. Maybe we can agree Yoga is a theistic Samkhya ? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If your studying any aspect of Yoga, you are learning the religion of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism and its related sects; i.e., Buddhism, the Jain and Sikh. See

Response:

You may choose to study Buddhism or Jainism but Patanjali, who is said to be the originaator of Yoga, has based his Yoga Sutras on Sankhyism, which is atheist.  Patanjali’s teachings can be used alongside any religion. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If your studying any aspect of Yoga, you are learning the religion of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism and its related sects; i.e., Buddhism, the Jain and Sikh. See

Response:

If your studying any aspect of Yoga, you are learning the religion of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism and its related sects; i.e., Buddhism, the Jain and Sikh. See

Response:

Muslims Behaviour

Question:

Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet- For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence.

Only when compared to Christianity. When one compares the history of Islam to the history of Christianity, Islam seems very tolerant. Compare the history of Islam to the history of Buddhism, or the history of Jainism, and you get a completely different picture… Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them "fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society.

That’s not true. Islam shows a high intolerance towards polytheism, idolatry, and anthropomorphism. This sort of hatred for other people’s beliefs is rooted in the central texts of the religion. Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions.

Based on what? Muslims are often very intolerant, and the orthodox seem to be exact replicas of orthodox Jews (only they have the missionary zeal of Christians). There is the homophobia, the sexism, the discrimination against more polytheist/pantheist forms of worship. Some Muslims, like Jews and Christians, even resort to violence if their mythology is questioned! When’s the last time you heard about Jains running out and killing someone for saying something poor about their religion? I know someone who is into Santeria, and some of the people in New York that are into Santeria have been into tracing the roots of the religion, and going back to Nigeria. This friend of mine has been to Nigeria several times, but can no longer go, because the area he went to has recently adopted a semblance of Islamic law (after the Muslim majority voted it to be that way), and now the religion from which Santeria is derived cannot be practiced in the open in that area. That’s intolerance, and it is based in the roots of the religion! If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop.

Where is the line between criticism and defamation/degradation? For example, if I think that the stories Christians tell me (like Jesus was God, born of a virgin, et cetera) are mere myths, can I say so? Or is a Christian allowed to inflict violence against me for disrespecting his religion? Just the same, can I call Islam a myth, or is the not allowed?   Peace and blessing be on who follow the true Path ……

How does one determine what the "true path" is? Please enlighten us. -Dionisio Visit the Freethought Mecca! http://www.geocities.com/freethoughtmecca Secular Criticism of Islam with a Sense of Humor! Before you buy.

Response:

Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet- . For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence. Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them " fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society . Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions . If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop . Peace and blessing be on who follow the true Path ……

Response:

 Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet- .For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence. Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them " fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society . Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions . If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop .   Peace and blessing be on who follow the true Path ……

Response:

Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet- . For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence. Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them " fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society . Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions . If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop . Peace and blessing be on who follow the true Path ……

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jaza kellah! Thanks! Anjum Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet-  . For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence. Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them " fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society . Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions . If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop .

Is there such a person as a lapsed Muslim – or, better, a lapsed Muslim who dares to openly declare his disaffection ??

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jaza kellah! Thanks! Anjum Respecting each and every person and nation has been the behaviour of Muslims since its revival through the hands of the – Holy Prophet-  . For centuries the Muslims practised these principles in their essence. Never the less Muslims have been mocked at by calling them " fundamentalists" while the fundamental concepts of Islam basically provoke peace and love among the different sects of society . Every non Muslim should kept in mind that even in these days Islam is the religion and its followers are the best among the followers of other religions . If they do not like it or its followers , they are free to dislike them , but degrading the religion and defaming the beleivers is a practice they should stop . Is there such a person as a lapsed Muslim – or, better, a lapsed Muslim who dares to openly declare his disaffection ??

   Who want’s to know ?and What do you want to proof ?

Response:

Direct From _____ to You

Question:

Actually, the prevailing scientific opinion is NOT that man evolved from apes, but that man and apes both evolved from a common ancestor (which was not an ape)

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. As a result of _____, all we know to exist, exists. So you’re saying that natural causes are a sufficient explanation of all that we know to exist… Now, simple question, [...] Great. Now, demonstrate how your question (which we undeniably know exists) is sufficiently explained by natural causes. And if it’s sufficiently explained by natural causes, and if both "correct" and "incorrect" answers are equally explicable by natural causes, then on what grounds are answers to your question arbitrated? Wouldn’t any ground of arbitration be *equally* explained, sufficiently, by natural causes? How can you transcend natural causes beyond your comprehension in order to gain confidence that your beliefs about the world correspond to that world? Or perhaps you’d care to explain the *immanent* grounds of your confidence? What exists extant naturalism? Supernaturalism is an interesting theory, concocted by evolved apes, but where’s the evidence that supernatural entities exist or matter? Where is the indisputable evidence that Mankind are evolved from the apes? If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes?  My friend, the statistical odds of macroevolution are beyond astronomical.  The fossil record is rife with holes.  Thus, your logic, guided by the preconceived notion of the religion of Evolution is at best specious. Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth, freedom, and maxing out this one and only experience we all know and share on this earth, at this time, in this life. http://x63.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=677641243 FREELOVER? Freethinking Realist Exploring Expressive Liberty, Openness, Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality (also, pro-love, free from state and church authorities) Origins: http://x54.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=687518828 Top 100: http://x61.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=685683580 Books: http://x73.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=704384538 – Scott

Response:

Macroevolution simply does not and can not occur. Ah, but it does, as fossil records clearly indicate. The fossil record again, huh?  Check your facts, Tick,

Er, that’s Wolf.  The Tick is a wonderful cartoon which provided me with my .sig quote. if you look a little closer, and you can ask the leading evolutionary scientists if you so choose, no transitory fossils exist.

Oh yes they do.  Archaeopteryx, for one.  We also have a fossil record showing transitional forms leading to the modern horse.  We have fossils for Hydracotherium, Mesohippus, Merychippus, Pliohippus, and Equus.  Within these transitional forms, a trend can clearly be seen toward reduced number of toes (Hydracotherium had four, Mesohippus had three, Pliohippus had one), teeth modified for grazing, and an overall larger size.  There are also two transitional forms (Ambulocetus and Basilosaurus) of the modern whale. Please don’t insult people’s intelligence with your "creation science" rhetoric.  It simply is not supported by the facts. I would wager that if you would actually take the time, though I doubt you will for fear of being wrong, to check the scientific data from sources such as answersingenesis.org or the Creation Research Institute you will find that the science that these researchers have done is extremely thorough and their findings not only plausible, but probable.

I investigated these sources long before this particular thread ever came up.  Suffice it to say that I was not terribly impressed. 1. As to covering the mountains to a depth of 15 cubits the face of the earth was vastly different before the flood.  Not nearly so severe and the depth of the oceans and the height of the mountains are not as great as they are today.

And where does your information on this come from? Furthermore, the firmament, a vast layer of either water vapor or more likely ice crystals collapsed and fell as rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

Is this meteorologically sound?  I’d be curious to see some data on this from both sides of the argument. I must say, though, your explanation is fascinating.  I don’t recall ever hearing the flood process described in quite this much detail before. Yes, it is.  However, a key aspect of science is parsimony.  In other words, if there are two theories which can explain a certain phenomenon, the simpler of the two theories is considered to be the more valid.  Creation, because it necessitates many assumptions in order to be valid, is the less parsimonious of the two theories. Interesting argument, but a bit disingenuous.  If anything, considering the mathematical probability of life and the intelligent order of nature coming from nothing, it takes far more faith in the unknown to believe Darwin’s Theory than it does to believe that the world and all that is in it was formed whole by an intelligent supernatural being.

First off, there *are* inherent problems with the whole beginnings-of-the-universe thing.  As for the beginnings and evolution of life, it’s the Infinite Monkey Theorem:  put an infinite number of monkeys at typewriters and eventually they’ll pound out the entire works of Shakespeare.  In this case, take an arbitrarily large number of planets where life can theoretically thrive and it will do so on one of them sooner or later. For what it’s worth, I do agree with you on this point.  There is no greater evidence to me of the existence of God than the beauty and complexity of the natural world. The world of science, however, cannot accept your argument.  While the probabilities of the Universe and life springing into being ex nihilo are extremely tiny, the fact remains that the Universe and life do indeed exist and are observable.  Because we have no empirical proof that God exists or that he created Earth, it is still the less parsimonious of the two explanations. Secondly, I think you misunderstand Darwin’s theory.  Simply put, it states that allele frequencies change over time ("descent with modification"), and postulates natural selection as the method by which this takes place.  (An allele is defined as "an alternative form of a gene".) The canonical example illustrating this theory involves moths and factories in England.  Before the factories came, the moths were predominately white, with a few darker ones interspersed.  The white moths blended in well with the trees, and thus had a better margin of safety from predators.  Then the factories sprung up, and the black smoke that billowed out of them fell upon the trees, darkening them. The white moths that were once so well-hidden from predators were quickly discovered and eaten.  But now the darker-colored moths had the advantage.  Better hidden from predators and thus able to survive longer, these moths were able to reproduce and thrive.  Within a short time, almost all of the moths in the area were dark–the exact opposite of the way it was before.  This is Darwin’s theory in action. On a somewhat related note, I should point out that I was mistaken in my description of sympatric speciation.  This form of speciation in actuality deals with any changes that cause genetic isolation without accompanying physical isolation.  This includes selective (i.e. non-random) mating patterns, changes in the mating cycle, etc. Another problem for evolutionists is that the entire theory flies in the face of the first law of thermodynamics which states basically that all things move toward chaos while evolution and natural selection say that we are moving toward more organization.

Not at all.  This argument makes the implicit assumption that evolution has some sort of "plan", or that evolution equals a generalized improvement or shift toward the superior.  This isn’t the case.  A species can only evolve to better thrive in its own environment.  Evolution *is* in fact chaotic, and rests upon random mutation.  It is thus in complete keeping with the First Law of Thermodynamics. Of the nine definitions for "religion" provided in my copy of Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, a belief in macroevolution fits into exactly none of them. Belief and emotion do not a religion make. The followers of Darwin and his humanist theory are taking many things on faith rather than evidence.  Taking the faith aspect and the religious fervor with which Darwinists defend that faith you have at least a pseudoreligion.

Religions by definition have practices as well as beliefs.  There are no evolutionist practices.  Feel free to call it a faith, but it’s not a religion. Any way you slice it this is a debate between two religious, or perhaps better stated, a religious and an irreligious position.

That is indeed a better way to put it. While accepting that theory may not preclude theistic religious beliefs it IS entirely incompatible with both Judaica and Christianity. Nonsense.  This is only true if you hold that in order to be a Jew or a Christian one must take every verse of the Torah or the Bible literally, even when the contradictions and errors are painfully obvious after they have been exposed. Here you are entirely wrong.  You have to remember what type of literature you are reading, depending on the book of the bible at which you are looking.  Genesis, for example, is a book of history. As such, it must be interpreted in a literal manner.

You mean the Earth is flat, and the sun revolves around it? What of the odd circumstance surrounding the creation story in which Adam and Eve are the first two humans and their descendents are clearly named, yet when Cain is exiled he goes east to the land of Nod to take a wife? What about the conflict between Gen. 1:25-26 and 2:18-19, in which the former states that animals were created before man and the latter states exactly the opposite?   This is just the tip of the iceberg.  I’ll continue if you like. The Psalms, however, are poetic in nature and have a large amount of figurative language in them.

That’s a given. Moreover, Genesis is the foundation for the faith, if it is not literally true and evolutionists are correct death preceded sin into the world.  If death preceded sin, death is simply natural and not the wages of sin.  If death is not the wage of sin, the death of Christ in our stead was unnecessary as the death of even a perfect man would have no payment effect on our behalf.

You assume that the Old Testament necessitates a sacrifice for sin a la Jesus’ crucifixion.  Why is it, then, that Jews do not believe that an external saviour is needed?  Sacrifices haven’t been performed since the destruction of the temple.  Salvation in Judaism comes from following the Law and seeking forgiveness when you transgress against God or another person.  In their theology, Christ was completely superfluous. — "Because you can’t cotton to evil.  No sir.  You have to smack evil  on the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of justice and say, ‘Bad  evil. Bad, BAD evil.’"                           – The Tick

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes? <snip explanation of allopatric speciation All very interesting, yet only theory, Yep.  Just like gravity and the model of the atom. there is no empirical evidence for the above, either type. As with almost all scientific theories, the theory of evolution is an attempt to explain a given set of known facts given the best information that we have available to us at the time. We know that species evolve:  we have fossils showing what are clearly transitional forms.  We also know that natural selection takes place, and is easily observable.  At the moment, the best possible inference is that this evolution has taken place through a process of natural selection carried out over millions and millions of years. This theory is not infallible.  Just as the model of the atom has been refined…what is it now, three or four times? it may be that sometime in the fugure new information will be available to us which will point to a somewhat different process. Macroevolution simply does not and can not occur. Ah, but it does, as fossil records clearly indicate.

The fossil record again, huh?  Check your facts, Tick, if you look a little closer, and you can ask the leading evolutionary scientists if you so choose, no transitory fossils exist. Special Creation as found in the Bible has far more evidences in the natural world than any other theory. BZZT!  Wrong!  Would you like to try again? Please don’t insult people’s intelligence with your "creation science" rhetoric.  It simply is not supported by the facts.

I would wager that if you would actually take the time, though I doubt you will for fear of being wrong, to check the scientific data from sources such as answersingenesis.org or the Creation Research Institute you will find that the science that these researchers have done is extremely thorough and their findings not only plausible, but probable. The same goes for the Genisis worldwide flood which provided exactly the conditions requisite for fossilization. If the waters covered the entire surface of the earth, covering the mountains to a depth of fifteen cubits as Genesis 7:19-20 states, this flood would have had to lay water over the earth to a depth of five miles above sea level.  Now, I have neither the mathematical knowledge nor the desire to calculate how much volume that would be, but suffice it to say that we’re talking massive quantities of water.  Where did all of that water come from?  Exactly where did it all go to after the flood was over?

1. As to covering the mountains to a depth of 15 cubits the face of the earth was vastly different before the flood.  Not nearly so severe and the depth of the oceans and the height of the mountains are not as great as they are today. 2.  Where did the water come from?  The bible clearly states that it came both from the fountains of the deep and the collapse of the firmament. Water deep within the earth was released drastically raising sea levels. Furthermore, the firmament, a vast layer of either water vapor or more likely ice crystals collapsed and fell as rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights.  This was a downpour like nothing we have ever seen even in short heavy rain showers, the torrent of falling water would have been unimaginable. 3.  Where did all that water go?  God caused the waters to subside by deepening the ocean basin and pushing up the mountains. I am not a scientist and will not go into detail of the evidences as I am not qualified to do so adequately. Yet you will still argue that special creation has more scientific validity than any other theory?

Yes.  I have read a lot on the subject and know that the science underlying creation research is solid.  However, I do not have the time on my hands to go back and search out the specific scientific evidence that supports the theory and being imperfect as anyone else, I will not try to relate that evidence from memory. Unfortunately, as true science is the observation and recreation of events, the field is unequipped to unequivicably prove either the theory of evolution or special creation.  It can only find evidences that either fit with one theory or the other and make inferences. Therefore, to believe in either theory as fact is a leap of faith Yes, it is.  However, a key aspect of science is parsimony.  In other words, if there are two theories which can explain a certain phenomenon, the simpler of the two theories is considered to be the more valid.  Creation, because it necessitates many assumptions in order to be valid, is the less parsimonious of the two theories.

Interesting argument, but a bit disingenuous.  If anything, considering the mathematical probability of life and the intelligent order of nature coming from nothing, it takes far more faith in the unknown to believe Darwin’s Theory than it does to believe that the world and all that is in it was formed whole by an intelligent supernatural being.  Another problem for evolutionists is that the entire theory flies in the face of the first law of thermodynamics which states basically that all things move toward chaos while evolution and natural selection say that we are moving toward more organization. making both positions religious in nature as evidenced by the emotional responses and defenses on both sides. Of the nine definitions for "religion" provided in my copy of Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, a belief in macroevolution fits into exactly none of them. Belief and emotion do not a religion make.

The followers of Darwin and his humanist theory are taking many things on faith rather than evidence.  Taking the faith aspect and the religious fervor with which Darwinists defend that faith you have at least a pseudoreligion.  This is a debate essentially between two world views.  On the one hand you have those who see man as the final authority on all things and on the other those who see God as the final authority.  Any way you slice it this is a debate between two religious, or perhaps better stated, a religious and an irreligious position. While accepting that theory may not preclude theistic religious beliefs it IS entirely incompatible with both Judaica and Christianity. Nonsense.  This is only true if you hold that in order to be a Jew or a Christian one must take every verse of the Torah or the Bible literally, even when the contradictions and errors are painfully obvious after they have been exposed.

Here you are entirely wrong.  You have to remember what type of literature you are reading, depending on the book of the bible at which you are looking.  Genesis, for example, is a book of history.  As such, it must be interpreted in a literal manner.  The Psalms, however, are poetic in nature and have a large amount of figurative language in them.  Moreover, Genesis is the foundation for the faith, if it is not literally true and evolutionists are correct death preceded sin into the world.  If death preceded sin, death is simply natural and not the wages of sin.  If death is not the wage of sin, the death of Christ in our stead was unnecessary as the death of even a perfect man would have no payment effect on our behalf.  So you see, without a literal Genesis the rest of the Bible ceases to have any meaning or application in the world.  This is the reason that many atheist evolutionists look with contempt on Christians who subscribe to the day-age theory or any other theory that supports Darwin’s theory.  These atheists are well aware that without the foundation of Genesis, the Bible falls.

Response:

If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

<snip explanation of allopatric speciation All very interesting, yet only theory,

Yep.  Just like gravity and the model of the atom. there is no empirical evidence for the above, either type.

As with almost all scientific theories, the theory of evolution is an attempt to explain a given set of known facts given the best information that we have available to us at the time. We know that species evolve:  we have fossils showing what are clearly transitional forms.  We also know that natural selection takes place, and is easily observable.  At the moment, the best possible inference is that this evolution has taken place through a process of natural selection carried out over millions and millions of years. This theory is not infallible.  Just as the model of the atom has been refined…what is it now, three or four times? it may be that sometime in the fugure new information will be available to us which will point to a somewhat different process. Macroevolution simply does not and can not occur.

Ah, but it does, as fossil records clearly indicate. Special Creation as found in the Bible has far more evidences in the natural world than any other theory.

BZZT!  Wrong!  Would you like to try again? Please don’t insult people’s intelligence with your "creation science" rhetoric.  It simply is not supported by the facts. The same goes for the Genisis worldwide flood which provided exactly the conditions requisite for fossilization.

If the waters covered the entire surface of the earth, covering the mountains to a depth of fifteen cubits as Genesis 7:19-20 states, this flood would have had to lay water over the earth to a depth of five miles above sea level.  Now, I have neither the mathematical knowledge nor the desire to calculate how much volume that would be, but suffice it to say that we’re talking massive quantities of water.  Where did all of that water come from?  Exactly where did it all go to after the flood was over? I am not a scientist and will not go into detail of the evidences as I am not qualified to do so adequately.

Yet you will still argue that special creation has more scientific validity than any other theory? Unfortunately, as true science is the observation and recreation of events, the field is unequipped to unequivicably prove either the theory of evolution or special creation.  It can only find evidences that either fit with one theory or the other and make inferences. Therefore, to believe in either theory as fact is a leap of faith

Yes, it is.  However, a key aspect of science is parsimony.  In other words, if there are two theories which can explain a certain phenomenon, the simpler of the two theories is considered to be the more valid.  Creation, because it necessitates many assumptions in order to be valid, is the less parsimonious of the two theories. making both positions religious in nature as evidenced by the emotional responses and defenses on both sides.

Of the nine definitions for "religion" provided in my copy of Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, a belief in macroevolution fits into exactly none of them. Belief and emotion do not a religion make. While accepting that theory may not preclude theistic religious beliefs it IS entirely incompatible with both Judaica and Christianity.

Nonsense.  This is only true if you hold that in order to be a Jew or a Christian one must take every verse of the Torah or the Bible literally, even when the contradictions and errors are painfully obvious after they have been exposed. — "Because you can’t cotton to evil.  No sir.  You have to smack evil  on the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of justice and say, ‘Bad  evil. Bad, BAD evil.’"                           – The Tick

Response:

If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

That was a question I used to have also until I studied some biology in college and methods of speciation were discussed.  Thing is, evolution from one species to another doesn’t require the extinction of the "parent" species.  There are two types of speciation: allopatric and sympatric.  The latter is thought to be relatively uncommon, and is caused by reproductive barriers.  The former is caused by geographic barriers.  In other words, a portion of the members of a species are cut off from the others, and find themselves in a new environment.  Through natural selection, they adapt to this environment over time.  In doing so, they become more genetically distinct from the members of the population from which they were separated.  Eventually, this genetic dissimilarity may grow to the point that the organisms can no longer be considered to be of the same species.  Thus, it would not be reasonable to expect that apes become extinct simply because humans evolved from them. My friend, the statistical odds of macroevolution are beyond astronomical.

Feel free to present a scientific theory which is more parsimonious, and which can be justified by empirical evidence. The fossil record is rife with holes.

There are a lot of conditions that have to be met very precisely in order to form a fossil.  The fulfilment of these conditions is in and of itself improbable.  For anyone who understands the process by which fossils are created and the likelihood thereof, it’s unreasonable to expect that the fossil record would be anything *but* rife with holes. Thus, your logic, guided by the preconceived notion of the religion of Evolution is at best specious.

I will not share with you my opinion of the intelligence of those who believe evolution to be a religion.  Rather, I will simply state that acceptance of the scientific theory of evolution in no way precludes the holding of theistic religious beliefs. — "Because you can’t cotton to evil.  No sir.  You have to smack evil  on the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of justice and say, ‘Bad  evil. Bad, BAD evil.’"                           – The Tick

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes? That was a question I used to have also until I studied some biology in college and methods of speciation were discussed.  Thing is, evolution from one species to another doesn’t require the extinction of the "parent" species.  There are two types of speciation: allopatric and sympatric.  The latter is thought to be relatively uncommon, and is caused by reproductive barriers.  The former is caused by geographic barriers.  In other words, a portion of the members of a species are cut off from the others, and find themselves in a new environment.  Through natural selection, they adapt to this environment over time.  In doing so, they become more genetically distinct from the members of the population from which they were separated.  Eventually, this genetic dissimilarity may grow to the point that the organisms can no longer be considered to be of the same species.  Thus, it would not be reasonable to expect that apes become extinct simply because humans evolved from them.

All very interesting, yet only theory, there is no empirical evidence for the above, either type.  Macroevolution simply does not and can not occur. My friend, the statistical odds of macroevolution are beyond astronomical.

Special Creation as found in the Bible has far more evidences in the natural world than any other theory.  The same goes for the Genisis worldwide flood which provided exactly the conditions requisite for fossilization.  I am not a scientist and will not go into detail of the evidences as I am not qualified to do so adequately.  However, you might go to http://www.answersingenisis.org to find out more about what I am referring to in terms of scientific evidence.  Unfortunately, as true science is the observation and recreation of events, the field is unequipped to unequivicably prove either the theory of evolution or special creation.  It can only find evidences that either fit with one theory or the other and make inferences.  Therefore, to believe in either theory as fact is a leap of faith making both positions religious in nature as evidenced by the emotional responses and defenses on both sides.  I personally believe, again faith, that the theory of special creation has a larger proponderance of evidence supporting it and thus religiously hold to it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Feel free to present a scientific theory which is more parsimonious, and which can be justified by empirical evidence. The fossil record is rife with holes. There are a lot of conditions that have to be met very precisely in order to form a fossil.  The fulfilment of these conditions is in and of itself improbable.  For anyone who understands the process by which fossils are created and the likelihood thereof, it’s unreasonable to expect that the fossil record would be anything *but* rife with holes. Thus, your logic, guided by the preconceived notion of the religion of Evolution is at best specious. I will not share with you my opinion of the intelligence of those who believe evolution to be a religion.  Rather, I will simply state that acceptance of the scientific theory of evolution in no way precludes the holding of theistic religious beliefs.

While accepting that theory may not preclude theistic religious beliefs it IS entirely incompatible with both Judaica and Christianity. "Because you can’t cotton to evil.  No sir.  You have to smack evil  on the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of justice and say, ‘Bad  evil. Bad, BAD evil.’"                           – The Tick

Kurt

Response:

How can you transcend natural causes beyond your comprehension in order to gain confidence that your beliefs about the world correspond to that world? Or perhaps you’d care to explain the *immanent* grounds of your confidence? What exists extant naturalism? Supernaturalism is an interesting theory, concocted by evolved apes, but where’s the evidence that supernatural entities exist or matter? Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth, [...]

If you care so deeply about truth, stop tossing out red herrings about superNATURALism, and explain how, without suprarational resort, you have any grounds for confidence that your mind processes reality with any hope of actual correspondence between your thoughts and that reality. – Scott

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. As a result of _____, all we know to exist, exists. So you’re saying that natural causes are a sufficient explanation of all that we know to exist… Now, simple question, [...] Great. Now, demonstrate how your question (which we undeniably know exists) is sufficiently explained by natural causes. And if it’s sufficiently explained by natural causes, and if both "correct" and "incorrect" answers are equally explicable by natural causes, then on what grounds are answers to your question arbitrated? Wouldn’t any ground of arbitration be *equally* explained, sufficiently, by natural causes? How can you transcend natural causes beyond your comprehension in order to gain confidence that your beliefs about the world correspond to that world? Or perhaps you’d care to explain the *immanent* grounds of your confidence? What exists extant naturalism? Supernaturalism is an interesting theory, concocted by evolved apes, but where’s the evidence that supernatural entities exist or matter?

Where is the indisputable evidence that Mankind are evolved from the apes? If man is evolved from apes, why are there still apes?  My friend, the statistical odds of macroevolution are beyond astronomical.  The fossil record is rife with holes.  Thus, your logic, guided by the preconceived notion of the religion of Evolution is at best specious. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth, freedom, and maxing out this one and only experience we all know and share on this earth, at this time, in this life. http://x63.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=677641243 FREELOVER? Freethinking Realist Exploring Expressive Liberty, Openness, Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality (also, pro-love, free from state and church authorities) Origins: http://x54.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=687518828 Top 100: http://x61.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=685683580 Books: http://x73.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=704384538 – Scott

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1. As a result of _____, all we know to exist, exists. So you’re saying that natural causes are a sufficient explanation of all that we know to exist… Now, simple question, [...] Great. Now, demonstrate how your question (which we undeniably know exists) is sufficiently explained by natural causes. And if it’s sufficiently explained by natural causes, and if both "correct" and "incorrect" answers are equally explicable by natural causes, then on what grounds are answers to your question arbitrated? Wouldn’t any ground of arbitration be *equally* explained, sufficiently, by natural causes? How can you transcend natural causes beyond your comprehension in order to gain confidence that your beliefs about the world correspond to that world? Or perhaps you’d care to explain the *immanent* grounds of your confidence?

What exists extant naturalism? Supernaturalism is an interesting theory, concocted by evolved apes, but where’s the evidence that supernatural entities exist or matter? Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth, freedom, and maxing out this one and only experience we all know and share on this earth, at this time, in this life. http://x63.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=677641243 FREELOVER? Freethinking Realist Exploring Expressive Liberty, Openness, Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality (also, pro-love, free from state and church authorities) Origins: http://x54.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=687518828 Top 100: http://x61.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=685683580 Books: http://x73.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=704384538 – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – - Scott

Response:

1. As a result of _____, all we know to exist, exists.

So you’re saying that natural causes are a sufficient explanation of all that we know to exist… Now, simple question, [...]

Great. Now, demonstrate how your question (which we undeniably know exists) is sufficiently explained by natural causes. And if it’s sufficiently explained by natural causes, and if both "correct" and "incorrect" answers are equally explicable by natural causes, then on what grounds are answers to your question arbitrated? Wouldn’t any ground of arbitration be *equally* explained, sufficiently, by natural causes? How can you transcend natural causes beyond your comprehension in order to gain confidence that your beliefs about the world correspond to that world? Or perhaps you’d care to explain the *immanent* grounds of your confidence? – Scott

Response:

1. As a result of _____, all we know to exist, exists. 2. As a result of _____, humans created and manifested the concepts of Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Atheism, Gnosticism, Christianity, Barbarism, Sikhism, Mormonism, Agnosticism, Shintoism, Islam, Confucianism, Spiritism, Mithraism, Theism, Shaoism, Paganism, Creationism, Naturalism, Baha’ism, Voodooism, Humanism, Pantheism, Deism, Jainism, nazism, fascism, freethought, democracies, authoritarianism, dictatorships, communism, socialism, tribalism, naturism, totalitarianism, torture, peace, slavery, war, theocracies, philosophy, theology, science, and myths. – - – Now, simple question, what is the most probable and most logically reconcilable answer, by far, as to what _____ is and how _____ was involved in all of the aforementioned activities? – - – For me, "a natural world" would seem to be, by far, the most logical, complete, existentially supportable, and reasonable answer for _____, and in the knowing of "a natural world" is the resolution of all mystery. In that knowledge is the way to prevent anti-humanism and promote pro-humanistic behaviors which can preserve, protect, and perpetuate the welfare of the human species. In that knowledge is the path to verity and in verity, along with good hearts and sound minds, resides the best that humankind can ever hope to be. Dan Fake, FREELOVER #1, who cares deeply about truth, freedom, and maxing out this one and only experience we all know and share on this earth, at this time, in this life. http://x63.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=677641243 FREELOVER? Freethinking Realist Exploring Expressive Liberty, Openness, Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality (also, pro-love, free from state and church authorities) Origins: http://x54.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=687518828 Top 100: http://x61.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=685683580 Books: http://x73.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=704384538

Response: