Culture Clash

Responsibility Hypocrisy

Six days after the destruction of the world trade center towers, President Bush visited the Islamic Center in Washington “to denounce incidents of prejudice against Muslim Americans.” He was attempting to defuse the national outrage against the attackers and prevent a violent backlash against Muslims living in America.

Since then, government leaders and the media have worked hard at establishing in our minds that most Muslims are peace-loving and the terrorists are fringe extremists.

But the line between the two remains very blurred. “Unfortunately, it is not so easy to find Muslim leaders who have genuinely renounced violent jihad and any intention, now or in the future, to impose Sharia (Muslim Law) on non-Muslim countries,” writes Robert Spencer, author of several books on Islam. (From some random post on Myspace.com)

The thing about this is that Muslims speak out against terrorism all the time but what more do we want them to do? It's like we expect them to form their own anti-terrorist terrorist group to terrorize the terrorists because after all Muslims are supposed to be violent so why can't the moderates be violent against the extremists...sounds ridiculous when you actually say it out loud but I believe this is what a lot of people are thinking.

Also on the other hand, when the shoe is on the other foot and Christians are fucking shit up no one expects the Christians to stand up against their extremist compatriots because when it comes to Christians we can draw a distinction between the two sides but with Muslims we tend to think of them as all one congruent group.

The facts are that a lot of moderate Christians actively detest extremist Christianity as do many Muslims detest extremist Islam (and even die for it) but the difference is that we as a society don't expect the Christians to be obligated to do so but feel that it is absolutely the Muslims responsibility to do so.

Re: Good Old Christian Terrorism

This is a response to a blog...actually it is more of a response to the responses of that blog...Click title above for original blog...

I follow Abrahamic scripture. I am not Jewish, Christian or Muslim yet at the same time, in a sense, I am all three. I know, sounds contradictory, but it works for me.

With that said, it astonishes me how so many of the faithful from any religion can claim to be so tolerant and yet in actions and words prove that they are not?

It amazes me how when someone from one’s own religion commits a heinous act that somehow they must not be true believers of that religion…yet when someone from another religion commits a heinous act that is just proof of what the other religion is really about?

It is a false belief that any one religion is about peace or violence. When it comes to the Abrahamic faiths it is both about peace and violence. It is obvious from the Torah, Bible and Qur’an that God states there is time for peace and time for violence. Destroying whole towns? Soddom & Gomorah? That was terrorism right there! Right and wrong is a human invention separate from God. Yahweh/Allah is a God of peace and violence as it serves His purposes.

As I have stated, I believe in the God of Abraham but I do not believe that my way is the only way and I derive this belief from scripture…the same scriptures that many that believe in the same God as I seem to miss. God works in mysterious ways so who am I to question?

At one time I was an agnostic with atheist leanings…I did not appreciate back then when the religious would try to convert me. As now as a religious person I still do not appreciate it…you see, no matter how religious you are, even if you are of the same basic belief system as them they will still try to convert you to their exact way of believing. I do not try to convert others so do not try to convert me…I am open to sharing and if what you have to say is truly the one and only way then your attempts at conversion would not be necessary…I would be compelled to believe, wouldn’t I?

Christiane Amanpour; Radical Muslim

Reporter Christiane Amanpour worked on a three-part documentary series last year titled "God's Warriors". The program was basically about extremism within the three major Abrahamic religions, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Well, of course after this program aired all the racist, prejudiced and xenophobic bloggers came out of the woodwork to condemn her work. Mrs. Amanpour and CNN (the station that aired the program) were criticized for having an Arabic Muslim, who by ethnicity and religion must be biased and why did they not have a Jew report on Jewish extremism and a Christian report on Christian extremism (although they believe there is no such thing and is only inherent in the Muslim religion!)

The funny thing here is, and this is where the prejudice comes in, i.e. to PRE-JUDGE, in this case based on skin color (racism) and geographic origin (xenophobia). Christiane Amanpour is neither Arabic nor Muslim, she is PERSIAN by ethnicity and a CHRISTIAN by faith. In fact being among the Christian minority in Iran she knows first-hand about Islamic extremism from the victims' side of the fence. And she undoubtedly knows now all too well about Christian prejudice, ignorance and intolerance!

These people will claim that they are not racist, xenophobic or in any other way prejudice, however, their ignorant assumptions shows them as otherwise. Don't get me wrong! We are all human and prone to make mistakes and assumptions about others based on past experience or when there is insufficient evidence to the contrary. BUT! In this case there are plenty of clues to her real ethnicity and her true religion.

Let us look at a few of these clues, shall we?

1. Her first name is not Arabic/Islamic it is FRENCH and IN FACT is a variation of CHRISTIAN, as in CHRIST!

2. Her last name is not Arabic or Islamic, it is PERSIAN!

3. She attended the CHRISTIAN schools Holy Cross Covenant & New Hall which is a Roman CATHOLIC school.

4. Her family was forced to flee Iran when it BECAME AN ISLAMIC STATE.

5. If she was Muslim, as a woman she would only be allowed to marry a Muslim man, HOWEVER, she is married to a man who has a decidedly UNISLAMIC name.

6. Her child has a curiously UNISLAMIC name.

7. Her sister has a curiously UNISLAMIC name.

8. Her mother is a CHRISTIAN.

I mean, nothing about her says "I am a Muslim" other than the fact that her father is a Muslim, who was evidently such an extremist radical that he married a Christian woman and allowed his children to be raised Christian. Those damn Muslims won't stop until we've all converted to Christianity!

Sorry, Jesus...But Christmas Sucks.

Christmas time is perhaps the worst time of the year. Besides the fact that it's cold and wet it's also the time of year when poor people become more poor because we are expected to give and give. We not only have to give to friends and relatives but also to the landlord, the electric company, the phone company, the grocery store and to a whole host of others who want our money. Shit, now they even got us buying gifts for our co-workers with these semi-forced gift exchanges, secret Santas, white elephants and what ever else cute and clever names they can come up with. I feel bad because I don't have enough money to buy a decent present (not even at the $20 limit!) so I re-gift some bullshit gift I got from another bullshit gift exchange. And then what do I get in return? A bullshit gift! Now, I don't blame the other person, they're probably in the same boat I'm in...but wouldn't it have been much better to save our money and use it to buy perhaps a slightly better gift for someone we actually give a shit for?

Now, don't get me wrong! I'm all for giving...in fact I enjoy giving. But I prefer to give meaningfgul gifts to people that mean something to me and to the occasional stranger or random acquaintance in need. But I am poor. I don't make a lot of money and it is really a strain on me to have to buy EVERYONE gifts ALL at the SAME TIME. Man, it's harsh...you spend all this money and you know they aren't going to even like the gift...I mean, people are hard to shop for aren't they? Especially when you are pressured to get them something by a certain date...I have found GREAT gifts for people when I wasn't even shopping for them or for any particular holiday. Anyways, enough on the gifting tangent...I think we all get it.

The crazy thing is that I am not even a Christian, neither are most of the people I "celebrate" it with YET somehow we all get sucked into it! Christmas is bigger than Christianity. It was here BEFORE Christianity and other than a few superficialities it has very little to do with Christ or anything about him. I said I am not a Christian but Jesus the Christ fits prominently into my belief system and I have a LOT of respect for him and in many ways I feel that Christmas is a disrespect to him and his teachings. That's another reason why Christmas sucks but I won't get into all the theological details here.

Another reason why Christmas sucks is the so-called "War on Christmas" and the war on the "War on Christmas". Give me a loud motherfucking break! Why can't Santa say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" again? Are you serious???? I should pimp slap you. What's so wrong with saying "Happy Holidays"???? Isn't Christmas a holiday??? And isn't it just ONE of the MANY holidays this time of year??? So what's the fucking problem, man??? The idiots on both sides of this "war" all need to be nailed to a cross upside down by their genitals.

Eye For An Eye...

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU!

Exodus 21:22 - Exodus 21:25
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Leviticus 24:17 - Leviticus 24:21
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.

Deuteronomy 19:16 - Deuteronomy 19:21
If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Matthew 5:38 - Matthew 5:39
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

_________

These are passages from the books of the Bible but these are universal truths...We are within our rights to deliver equal justice to those that have wronged us. "An eye for an eye", This literally means that if one was to damage our eye that it is our right to damage thiers in return...but this is also meant to be taken figuratively, as in if one was to take our eye then we have the right to collect equal compensation for that eye in the form of either money, material possession or service. The latter is obviously a more "civilized" approach. But the MOST civilized approach of all, as stated in the last chapter, is to turn the other cheek...

A RIGHT man will take an eye for an eye...but a RIGHTEOUS man will turn the other cheek...me, I am not a righteous man, I will reciprocate any unjust action taken against me. So do unto me as you would have me do unto you! If I am in the wrong then turn your other cheek and I will reply in kind and turn mine. I will do unto you as you have done unto me...If you have treated me with respect and compassion I will treat you the same.

A Message to My Christian Brothers & Sisters

Something I found along the way...


A Message to My Christian Brothers & Sisters

I am not anti-Christian I just feel sorry for the 85% of Christians who are too deaf, dumb & blind to do anything but to just sit, listen and believe what the other 10% of Christians tell them...wait, there's still 5% left you say? Well those are the one's who know and accept the truth of so-called "Christianity" and do not lie to the people yet they go unheard...your so-called "Jesus" is coming back to bring His people to the kingdom of Heaven but more than likely you're not going with Him...

The answers are right in front of you, they are not hidden, they are in plain sight within the Holy Scriptures yet you refuse to look...sure, you read the Bible every Sunday but you fail to comprehend...you let your pastor, deacon, preacher, priest or pope interpret the meaning for you. God's word is simple, you do NOT need an intermediary, if you are of average intelligence and read with an open mind the meaning will become crystal clear! The Bible is not a book - it is a collection of books. The Bible you hold in your hand today is incomplete. Certain truths and historical facts have been purposefully left out so that certain concepts will remain unclear or even unknown except by the few...the 10% and the 5% of which I spoke of earlier.

You can become of the 5% and hopefully someday the 5% will grow into the 100%. There will no longer be a separation of Christians, Muslims and Jews. Each of these faiths are the same...they all believe in the Messiah. I offer you no proof here for it is time for you to stand up and shake the shackles of your church leaders from your person. For you to grow in Spirit you must first know the Spirit on your own terms and not on the terms of those who wish to keep the Spirit within you subdued. The funny thing is that Truth is universal...sure we all have our own opinions and often times even the "facts" do not agree but as we seek and dig deeper we find that we all come closer to the same Truth...even those of us who begin on opposite sides of the spectrum. It's as if a person on one side of the World begins to dig into the Earth as another begins to dig on the opposite side...they will both eventually make it to the center or the "Truth". Now I know many of you reading this might be saying to yourselves that it is impossible to dig to the center of the Earth, well in essence, that's the point! At our current level of technology it is impossible as it is impossible for the majority of the population to reach the absolute Truth until they can remove these obstacles and defilements that clutter the mind which does not allow them to be truly "thinking" and fully sentient beings rather than robots who are programmed with only the information their masters wish them to have. You say you are no robot and you are fully capable to make up your own mind and form your own opinions??? This may be true, however, more than likely you are making up your own mind and forming your own opinions off of incomplete or altogether false information. It's not that the information is hidden or under lock and key it is for the most part easily accessible but like with most things in life you have to put forth at least a minimal amount of effort to retrieve it! Do you hear something or read something and automatically believe it or disbelieve it based on the author or the subject matter without first trying to gather more information from alternate sources or even sitting back and opening your mind and meditate on the answer before coming to your conclusions? Be honest with yourself now. This is what I mean by digging deeper.

Your religion is not wrong. Your so-called "Christ" is real. God is real. Salvation is real...it is all real. It's just that the meanings of these things have been blurred by the need for money, power, lust and fame. Do not rely on your religious leaders to show you the Truth it is up to you to find the Truth for yourself. We were made in 'His' image so 'He' is within Us...the knowledge is already there...you just need to dig deeper to find it.

In conclusion it is not my intent to sway you from your religious leaders as many of them are just like you...they have been misguided as well, and even though many of them are very knowledgeable on these matters, what they say must be taken with a grain of salt...these people are meant to be guides not authorities...only you are the authority of your own knowledge and understanding. At the end of the day it is what you believe that counts and not those of others no matter what kind of accreditation they may have.

May peace be with you all...


- signed, "A Son of Abraham".

RE: Is Islam a religion of peace?

Ever since 9/11 this question has been asked over & over again. Asked rhetorically and sarcastically by the Right and others who believe Islam is a religion absolutely founded in violence. Asked by the Left and other Liberals as a set-up to espouse their "Why can't we all get along?" inter-faith, cross-cultural ideology. And many Muslims answer, in blind defense of their religion, that Islam is indeed absolutely a religion of peace.

The honest truth is that Islam is a religion of peace and violence...just like Christianity and Judaism and just about any other religion in the World. Yet why is Islam singled out for such scrutiny? I understand that recent events, including 9/11, has put Islam in the spotlight so it is understandable that it would be scrutinized. My question, though, is why the hypocrisy and the double-standards when speaking on Islam? Why are all the atrocities commited in the name of Christianity not allowed in the discussion as if they have no bearing on what true Christianity is? Yet when it comes to Islam any and every heinous act commited by a Muslim is to be taken as indicative of what true Islam is all about?

Why?