tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43852059610375304462024-02-21T08:20:14.762-05:00Staring at the ViewPerspectives on life so far.Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.comBlogger263125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-40511385596643037172014-07-18T09:04:00.000-04:002014-07-18T09:04:09.365-04:00For SATV Readers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I probably (never say never) won't be posting more at Staring at the View. It was a great experience over a few years learning new things and posting as I learned, but as a wise sage noted, "Blogs are like relationships. They have a beginning and an end."<br />
<br />
But I would like to remain in contact with those of you who have been reading and expressing their appreciation for what I wrote. I do have a name, Ed Kauffman, which is where you can find me on Facebook. It would be a privilege to have SATV readers as my Facebook friends. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-4893937465739608422013-11-18T19:47:00.001-05:002013-11-18T20:33:55.327-05:00Dancing with Chaos and a Runaway Dog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Living-Originally-Spiritual-Practices-Transform-ebook/dp/B00DC5EPEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384819453&sr=1-1&keywords=living+originally">Living Originally</a> by Robert Brumet. On November 13 I read a chapter entitled Dancing with Chaos. I had no idea how soon I would be putting that message into practice.<br />
<br />
My son and his wife have two Rhodesian ridgebacks they love as children, and I was taking the dogs for a long walk. On our way back from Forsyth Park we passed the house of a friend whose lawn I had cleaned a few days before. I had lined the dozen or so lawn bags up against the house because the city only picked them up on Thursdays. It was now Wednesday afternoon, so I thought I would move the bags to the sidewalk for pickup. It would only take a few seconds, and I attached the dogs to a large garbage container that was already on the sidewalk.<br />
<br />
Something happened that caused the dogs to move, and the garbage can tipped over. The dogs panicked and ran down the street dragging the garbage can behind them. It looked almost comical, like the runaway Amish buggies I remembered from my childhood. Suddenly the garbage can caught on something that brought it to a sudden halt. The larger dog, Khiri, snapped his chain leash in half like a twig and took off down the street. He turned around after 100 yards to look at me but, unresponsive to my cries for him to return, continued like a rocket in the other direction.<br />
<br />
I took the second dog, Zara, with me as we tried to follow Khiri. He was now far out of sight. Numerous people looked at Zara and said that a dog just like her had run by a minute ago. One man told me he had turned the corner to the right and then added, "You do know where you're going, right?" It was a poorer black neighborhood and he was worried about my safety. I'd walked through that neighborhood many times with no concerns and, at any rate, had a bigger issue on my mind right now.<br />
<br />
There was no sign of the dog and I had to return home to inform my son and daughter-in-law I had lost their dog. I felt like the uncle who drives over the kid in the driveway. We posted signs all over the neighborhood, contacted the police and animal control, and put notices on craigslist. Three days went by and nothing happened. A few people called to say a dog fitting that description was wandering through their neighborhoods in the evenings, and I spent hours pedaling up and down streets and alleyways on my bicycle. Friends also got involved with putting up posters and a bicycle brigade, but to no avail. Someone called us after midnight to say he had just seen a dog looking like the picture on the posters. We drove to the address he gave us, but there was no sign of Khiri.<br />
<br />
I had already decided to post a blog about the experience, with the realization that no matter what the outcome was we would be OK. But I was still unprepared for the call that came Sunday morning. Khiri had entered someone's back yard and that person had closed the gate to fence him in. He then checked craigslist, saw our notice, and called us. My daughter-in-law, so stoic for three days, collapsed in tears when she heard the news. My son drove to pick Khiri up, who has been sleeping like a baby since he got home. Who knows what he went through during those three days. It is a story that ended well, even with the unexpected opportunity it gave me to dance with chaos.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-38383841891754601102013-10-14T05:22:00.001-04:002013-10-14T05:22:36.708-04:00Gentlemen of the Road Tour 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently had a great weekend with my daughter, son, and my son's wife at the final stop of the Gentlemen of the Road tour in St. Augustine, Florida. It was another reminder of how much I love live music, and why I need more of it in my life. Included among the many performers were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08WeoqWilRQ">Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros</a>, as well as the keynote act of Mumford & Sons.<br />
<br />
During his show, Edward Sharpe passed the microphone to the audience and asked for comments. One girl shouted into the microphone, "Thank you for giving me a wonderful spiritual experience."<br />
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And it was the next night as we were streaming off the field after the final show by Mumford & Sons that it hit me. Actually it was a three-fold revelation. First was that every one of those thousands of young people - at 65 I was probably one of the oldest people there - had had a profound and authentic spiritual experience. As they sang "Awake my soul" with Marcus Mumford their minds were opened, their hearts uplifted, and their souls refreshed. They realized instinctively that they were united by the power of the music, connected not only with themselves and each other but with the entire universe.<br />
<br />
My second realization was that very few of those young people would be sitting in church Sunday morning, and it wasn't just because of lack of sleep. Why should they be? Why should they listen to a traditional Christian message telling them they are sinful by nature, exiled from God and in need of salvation, doing battle every day with a devil who is trying to entice them off the straight and narrow path that will lead to paradise somewhere out in space? It is not a message that resonates with them because it doesn't fit in with their instinctive understanding of what they really are.<br />
<br />
The third thing that occurred to me was the most amazing of all. God itself, that great Power of Love that permeates the universe, individually created each of those attendees so that God - call it the Great Spirit, Divine Mind, Supreme Being or whatever you will - could experience that concert through them. Since God is Spirit and not a personality with emotions, it does not have the capacity to feel or have experiences. When it realized eons ago that it wanted to know more than it could in its formless spiritual state, it came up with the master plan of the ages. It would design a universe that 14 billion years later would include a planet called earth to be populated by people with minds and emotions to experience all the things God longed for but was unable to such as adventure, risk, loss, laughter, sadness, anger, desire, and ecstasy. God would live within them so that it could experience everything it had dreamed about but could not actually feel all those untold trillions of years.<br />
<br />
And it would all culminate on Saturday, September 14, 2013, with God tapping his feet, snapping his fingers, a broad smile across his ruddy face, dancing a jig with Jesus and the Holy Ghost as they joined in with thousands of their favorite people who were all singing along with the voice blaring out of the microphone,<br />
<br />
"But it was not your fault but mine,<br />
And it was your heart on the line,<br />
I really fucked it up this time,<br />
Didn't I my love?<br />
Didn't I my love?"<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-84932931376699222422013-08-26T08:14:00.001-04:002013-08-26T08:14:52.600-04:00Quantum Physics and the Death of a Marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Quantum physics includes the study of cause and effect in sub-atomic particles, things that are really small. It contrasts with Newtonian physics, which is the analysis of cause and effect in visible forces such as gravity. <br />
<br />
Some people take Quantum physics to the level of energy and thought. They say that our sub-conscious thoughts and motivations produce results that come to fruition in our lives. Just as a screenwriter writes the script for a movie, they say, we write the script for our lives, which turn out exactly according to the script we wrote. <br />
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I know it sounds crazy, but I'm thinking about it. Is is possible that the failed marriage I described yesterday was the result of a script I wrote years ago? Could it have been a full-immersion movie written and directed by me with me as the main character, a movie that turned out exactly according to my plan?<br />
<br />
**********<br />
I was in the ninth grade, sitting on the team bus for an away basketball game. The fact that I took the window seat tells you something about me. The person in the aisle seat chooses who climbs over them. The person in the window seat give anyone that choice.<br />
<br />
A cheerleader, beautiful as cheerleaders always are, sat next to me and tried to engage me in conversation. I was painfully shy and answered in monysyllables if at all. As we got off the bus I heard another player mock her attempts to talk to me. "So, what's your name?" he mimmicked. "How are you today?"<br />
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The next Sunday I got on my bicycle and pedalled four miles to my "girlfriend's" house. Brenda was overweight and unattractive. We walked to the woods behind her house where she took off her bra and let me touch her breasts. I wanted the cheerleader, but only saw myself as worthy of Brenda.<br />
<br />
Years later, I married the cheerleader. No, not that cheerleader but the beautiful woman I described in my last post. But did I really see myself as worthy of having a successful, joyful marriage with her, or did I only see myself as deserving Brendas?<br />
<br />
I remember a conversation I had with my mother when I was still single, in which she asked what kind of woman I wanted to marry. My response was an angry, "I don't know." Why did I feel that anger to my mother's question? Was it because I didn't really feel worthy to be a husband?<br />
<br />
Once when my wife told her father something unloving I had done he replied, "It wasn't because of who you are. He would have done that no matter who he was married to."<br />
<br />
I was furious. Everybody knows that men stop being loving because they are not satisfied at home. They become unhappy when their wives stop being their girlfriends. Just ask Dr. Laura.<br />
<br />
But now I'm not so sure. I didn't do that because of who my wife was. I did it because of who I was. And the screenplay that I wrote, the full-immersion movie in which my wife and I were the main characters, played out exactly as directed.<br />
<br />
"Be gentle with yourself," friends are telling me. I'm not taking full responsibility for the failure of the marriage. I'm not even saying it would have worked had I been the perfect husband. But I do realize that the feelings of unworthiness I had so many years ago played a role in how things turned out.<br />
<br />
The author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Busting-Loose-From-Money-Game/dp/0470047496">Busting Loose From the Money Game</a> describes a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 of life. In Phase 1, he says, we limit ourselves in innumerable ways. For me, this included the belief that I was not worthy of having a wonderful marriage with an amazing woman. In Phase 2 we come to understand that we really do have great potential and are infinitely worthy.<br />
<br />
Many people (I would even say the majority) live their entire lives without ever reaching Phase 2. For me it took 65 years. Most of the readers of this blog are much younger than that. I hope it doesn't take you as long as it did me.</div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-9863764740751283692013-08-23T10:43:00.000-04:002013-08-23T10:43:00.560-04:00A Legal Separation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My wife and I are now separated. Maryland law requires a 12-month period of no cohabitation before divorces are granted, and I've left the DC area to move to Savannah. It's an interesting law - one night spent together, a single slip-up, and the 12 months commences all over again. <br />
<br />
When I realized the divorce was probable (I would say inevitable but I don't like that word), I called Silent Unity at 1-800-669-7729 (816-969-2000 on Skype) and asked for a prayer. I was a first-time caller, but they have been answering millions of requests for over 120 years. I asked that we would be amicable and respectful to each other during the proceedings.<br />
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The woman who answered the phone prayed for that, but she prayed for much more. She prayed that there would be a fair distribution of financial assets. And she prayed that we would take a moment to remember what drew us together in the first place.<br />
<br />
I began there. I remember the first time I saw my wife as if it were yesterday, blond curly hair cascading over her shoulders, bright eyes, her snug blue sweater. She was fun and intelligent. She was interested in international culture and foreign travel, as was I. How many people can say their first date was watching a French movie?<br />
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She wished that we could have spent the first few years just the two of us getting to know and enjoy each other. Instead she was pregnant within four months and we had four children in the next five years. We went from being lovers to full-time parents.<br />
<br />
When we moved to a new city for my job, we began attending a church led by an emotionally and spiritually dysfunctional pastor (I recognize it now, I didn't then). He was misogynistic, although I didn't know what the word meant then. Each Sunday he would ask for a <em><strong>man</strong></em> to stand and lead the congregation in prayer. <br />
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I only realized decades later how much my wife was hurt by that experience. Why didn't we talk about it at the time? Did she try and I was unresponsive? Or was she afraid to try because she thought I would be? I don't know.<br />
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Couples often say their marriages "slowly drifted apart". Ours split apart at the seams and, like Humpty Dumpty, a plethora of ministers, counselors, and psychologists couldn't put it together again. But we were determined to stay married. I was a Pennsylvania Mennonite, and would have been the first person in my family to divorce. She was a Jersey girl, and she would have been the first person in her family not to. Each with their own reasons, we tried to make it last.<br />
<br />
We put on a good enough show to convince most people, but some saw through the haze. "It's obvious that you and your wife aren't close," a friend said to me years ago. "You are like two people on life support," said another. "Both terrified to pull the plug." <br />
<br />
Years turned into decades. There weren't many fights, not much shouting, just deadly silence. I can't remember the last time we laughed together. Didn't our friends notice that in social situations we never said a word to each other? <br />
<br />
And just like people on life support, towards the end our bodies started shutting down. Communication went first, followed by conversation and shared goals and vision. The last to go was touch.<br />
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"Take a year to be alone," a friend told me recently when I told her my wife and I were no longer together. "Connect with yourself. Grieve the end of a relationship that lasted 33 years."<br />
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Good advice. And listen to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3R7WFJRyt8">Back 2 Good</a> dozens of times, usually with the volume turned up loud. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-14930302210651519342013-07-20T19:24:00.000-04:002013-07-20T19:26:44.733-04:00There's Nothing to Forgive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently had the experience of - well, in order to keep this from getting too personal let's make it theoretical.<br />
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Imagine you have a neighbour you've lived next to for over 20 years. The relationship isn't good. Over the years you've done things to tick him off, and he's done the same. You finally decide you are tired of the resentments and grudges you are holding, and it's time to forgive him.<br />
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So you sit down with a pencil and sheet of paper and write out a list. Twenty years ago he did this - I forgive him. Fifteen years ago I did that, and I forgive myself. Twelve years ago he did that; now I let it go. Last year he did this, but I forgive him. Just last month I did that, and I forgive myself.<br />
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You finish the list and wait for the feeling of euphoria that is supposed to come with forgiveness, but nothing happens. You think maybe you didn't do it right, and try again. Still the same result. It just somehow seems that all those things that happened over the years aren't such a big deal.<br />
<br />
I was trying to figure this out when someone explained it to me in a way that made it all make sense. She said there are four steps to forgiveness.<br />
<br />
Step 1 - forgive the other person<br />
Step 2 - forgive yourself<br />
Step 3 - be grateful for the entire experience<br />
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So far so good. But I was totally unprepared for the final step.<br />
<br />
Step 4 - realize there is nothing to forgive, because you chose the experience.<br />
<br />
You chose to move next to your neighbor those many years ago, and stay in that location. Over the years, stuff happened. From where he was emotionally, he did things to irritate you, things to which you responded. And you did things to annoy him, to which he reacted. Now it's time to just let it all go. But there's nothing to forgive. <br />
<br />
</div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-84915536263267883682013-07-12T16:26:00.004-04:002013-07-20T19:30:45.411-04:00Muhammad's Last Sermon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A reader recently emailed me with a question. His fiancee is Muslim, he said, so he's been learning as much about Islam as he can. When he asked her about violence associated with the life of Muhammad, she had never heard of it and read him the following quotation from Muhammad's last sermon:<br />
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"All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. White has no superiority over black, nor does a black have any superiority over white (none have superiority over another) except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim, and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves."<br />
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Before getting to Muhammad's last sermon, I'm sure the reader knows that according to Islamic law he will need to convert to Islam before he can marry his fiancee. That's not in itself a problem - raising your right hand and proclaiming I testify there is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God to win the love of your life doesn't make you a convinced Muslim anymore than saying I accept Jesus into my heart as my Personal Savior makes you a good Christian, but it does illustrate in my viewpoint a lack of equality. Muslim men can marry Christian girls with the stipulation that the children are raised Muslim, but Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men.<br />
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(By the way, has anyone ever asked Anthony Weiner whether he converted to Islam before marrying Huma Abedin? What's that nice Jewish boy doing there in the mosque with his right hand raised to the sky? Again I have no problem with that - a man has to do what a man has to do - but it would be interesting if the former congressman's weiner tweets weren't his only secret). <br />
<br />
Back to Muhammad's final sermon. This Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farewell_Sermon">page</a> notes that the reference to equality between Arabs and non-Arabs and blacks and whites is first seen from sources writing in the 9th and 12th centuries CE, 200 and 500 years after Muhammad. It is impossible to know where these writers received this information, since it was not recorded by earlier historians. It also goes against both the Koran (which states that Arabs are the best of creation and non-believers are the worst of creation) and the earliest biography of Muhammad in which Abu Bakr traded a non-Muslim black slave in order to set free a Muslim slave who was not as dark in skin. It is impossible to know whether the quote about ethnic and racial equality is from Muhammad, or whether someone later made it up.<br />
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It's similar to the famous story of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree. When his father asked who cut down the tree, Georgie replied, "I did it Father. I cannot tell a lie."<br />
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It's a great story but it never happened. Later biographers introduced the story into their accounts of Washington's life to embellish his personality. I suspect the same happened with those who wrote biographies of Muhammad.<br />
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I did find this quote from Muhammad's final sermon quite interesting as quoted in Wikipedia:<br />
<br />
O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah's trust and with his permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well, and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.<br />
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The above was a direct quotation from Muhammad's first biography as written by Ibn Ishaq - with a few notable exceptions. The original version reads as follows:<br />
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You have rights over your wives, and they have rights over you. You have the right that they should not defile your bed and that they should not behave with open unseemliness. <b>If they do, God allows you to put them in separate rooms and to beat them but not with severity</b>. If they refrain from these things, they have the right to their food and clothing with kindness. Lay injunctions on women kindly, <b>for they are prisoners with you having no control of their persons</b>. You have taken them with the trust of God, and you have the enjoyment of their persons by the words of God.<br />
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Why would the Wikipedia article leave out the parts about beating your wives, and their being prisoners with no control of their persons? It's a rhetorical question of course - it is information the Muslim writers do not want you to have. At least my reader's fiancee will be fortunate enough to have a spouse who does not take her Prophet seriously when it comes to dealing with marital conflict. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-81125130326126125482013-07-12T15:31:00.003-04:002013-07-20T19:39:05.332-04:00Abundance and Prosperity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My brother-in-law recently passed. In many ways Marty's life was different than mine. He was a master craftsman, and I can scarcely hammer a nail. I've traveled the world, and I don't know if Marty had a passport. He was a legendary Little League coach, and I've not been able to hold a favorite team (until Bryce Harper came along, that is). Marty drank more than I do, and in the end it was complications from liver failure that took him away.<br />
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Because my residence has a few more square feet than Marty's did, and my bank account might contain a few more dollars, and I'm still here and he is gone, one could conclude that my life has been more abundant or blessed or prosperous than his. If so, that person would be making a serious miscalculation.<br />
<br />
Marty knew how to have fun. The night before his death, his family said he was laughing and joking and talking about baseball. I've never hung out at a bar with friends - one of his favorite pastimes - in my life. I spend most evenings watching Judge Judy and reading a book.<br />
<br />
I arrived early at the church for the memorial service, and was sitting in one of the front pews when I noticed a woman in jeans and a spaghetti-strap blouse come up to slowly examine the montage of photos collected there. Her clothing made her stand out from the somber attire worn by most of the other mourners. After the service was over I walked outside and noticed her standing alone. I greeted her and said I was Marty's brother-in-law. She said she lived in the apartment next to his for the last six months. "We all used to go out partying and drinking almost every night," she said. "We had some wild crazy times."<br />
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I told her I was glad she had come to the service. "I had to," she replied. "I couldn't have stayed away."<br />
<br />
If any of my kids are concerned that I too might be on the lookout for women wearing spaghetti-strap blouses to party hearty, have no fear. I wouldn't even know how to do it. At least not half as good as Marty. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-26703173276751170952013-07-09T09:11:00.000-04:002013-07-09T09:19:29.324-04:00Freedom and the Koran <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My last <a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2013/07/leaving-islam-by-reading-koran.html">post</a> reminded me of another conversation during my visit to Tunisia. It was after the Arab Spring, when hopes of change were still sweeping the Middle East, and I was in a taxi driving past a large mosque. Pointing towards it, the driver said to me, "We all want freedom. Let those who want to pray go to the mosque, and let those who want to drink go to the bar."<br />
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"There's only one problem with that," I replied. "Muhammad said you can't go to the bar. As soon as people are drinking there, others will tell them that is not allowed."<br />
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As he thought about my comment I continued, "Freedom is the most important word in the world. But the Arabic word for freedom, al-huriyah, isn't mentioned in the Koran a single time."<br />
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I repeated this conversation the following day to a merchant in the Old Souk. "Of course Islam is not about freedom," he responded. "It is about al-faraid (obligations). Muslims are commanded to obey the orders of Allah. There is no freedom in Islam."<br />
<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-29736757034477145842013-07-09T08:49:00.001-04:002013-07-09T08:52:24.807-04:00Leaving Islam by Reading the Koran<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In Tunisia a few years ago I met a young man who told me that, although born into a Muslim family, he no longer believed in Islam. When I asked how this had happened, he replied it was through reading the Koran.<br />
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Intrigued, I asked for more details. He said that as he read the Koranic descriptions of Allah as al-hakim (the Wise One), al-'aleem (the All-Knowing One), ar-rahman and ar-rahim (the Compassionate and Merciful One), it occurred to him that this sounded a whole lot more like someone 1400 years ago attempting to describe God than it did God describing himself. Allowing himself to do something that 97% (my guess, not a statistic) of Muslims never dare to do, which is question the sources of Islam, eventually led him away from the religion.<br />
<br />
Thinking about this afterwards I realized that many Christians, including the thousands who dedicate their lives to persuade Muslims to leave Islam for Christianity, would appreciate this young man's story. How many of them, however, have the courage to do the same thing he did? How many can read the early chapters of Genesis and conclude, "This sounds a whole lot more like some man looking up at the sky thousands of years ago and imagining how the universe came into existence than it does God dictating how he made the world."<br />
<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-58151685610975684382013-07-06T08:20:00.000-04:002013-07-06T08:20:03.462-04:00Does Biblicism Really Honor the Bible?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Biblicist Christians (those who think the Bible is literally and historically true in everything it says) believe their position is the only one that truly honors the Bible. Is it possible, however, that they actually detract from the value of the text by turning it into a book of magic tricks with God as the master magician?<br />
<br />
Here's an example, the familiar story of the Three Wise Men who came to worship Jesus. The gospel of Matthew records that a group of men in the east saw a star they identified as the star of the newborn king of the Jews. They were astrologers (astrology is condemned in the Old Testament, by the way) who believed that individuals had their own stars (not a Biblical teaching), and that destiny could be determined from these stars (again, not to be found in the Bible).<br />
<br />
Even from the beginning, the story raises interesting questions. How many other stars had the astrologers seen that they identified as stars of newborn kings and gone to present gifts? Had they the previous year seen the star of a newborn Persian king and travelled to Persia to honor him? Had they ever seen the star of an infant king in India, and gone there to pay homage to him? Was this how they spent their summer vacations, or was the trip to Jerusalem unique? We'll never know.<br />
<br />
At any rate, the astrologers knew that Jerusalem was the capital city of the Jews, so they came to Jerusalem to find and present gifts to this young king. Note that the Bible says nothing at all about their following the star to Jerusalem, as believed in Christian tradition. They simply saw a star in the sky, identified it as the star of the king of the Jews, and traveled to Jerusalem to honor him. It was only after the Roman ruler Herod sent them to Bethlehem that the star again appears in the Bible, guiding them to the very bed where Jesus was lying.<br />
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Imagine that you live in Apartment C, on 45 Oak Street in Philadelphia. How could a star possibly guide anyone directly to your apartment from Washington DC? It was a miracle, Christians reply. God actually brought this star down from its home millions of light years away in the universe to make it hone in on Jesus' bedroom. It was the opposite of those giant lights you can see at the County Fair. Instead of shining into the night, this one beamed down from the sky.<br />
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To the uninitiated, it sounds more like a magic trick than a miracle. The Biblicist insists, however, that it really happened as another piece of divine evidence given to prove the uniqueness of the birth of Jesus.</div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-15820505945994554462013-07-06T06:49:00.000-04:002013-07-06T06:55:41.206-04:00Adam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A local evangelical church recently hosted a debate between two competing groups of Christian scientists on the subject of creation and evolution. The first group, called <a href="http://www.reasons.org/">Reasons to Believe</a> or RTB among its devotees, is a "progressive creationist ministry that promotes day-age forms of old Earth creationism". They believe that God specifically created various forms of life over a long period of time. God made the dinosaurs in a special act of creation, they say, and then much later God made the first couple Adam and Eve. In this way they try to reconcile the Biblical account of the book of Genesis with modern science.<br />
<br />
The second group represents main-stream secular evolutionary theory with God thrown in at the beginning to start things off. They believe, as do non-religious secular scientists, that life evolved from a simple-cell organism billions of years ago. They accept the big-bang theory to describe the origin of the universe, but advocate intelligent design - things didn't just happen by chance, but God was there to get them going and guide them along.<br />
<br />
The leader of the second group caught my attention when he said he believed in "the historicity of Adam", although not in the sense of RTB. In other words, he believes in a historical person named Adam with a wife named Eve, although he does not believe this couple was specially created by God as the first human couple on earth. The scientist then went on to give his "personal testimony", as it is known in evangelical churches. He was a hard-partying young scientist whose life was falling apart until he had his come-to-Jesus moment. The love and forgiveness of Jesus flooded his heart with joy and peace and changed his life forever, he said. The result was he was now both an evangelical Christian (hence the belief in Adam) and an evolutionary biologist.<br />
<br />
It didn't make sense to me, and I raised my hand when the moderator called for questions. Addressing the born-again evolutionist I asked, "It seems to me that your scientific beliefs about evolution are no different than your secular coworkers at the university where you teach. But somewhere along the line you realized, "Oh crap, now I'm an evangelical Christian. I have to believe in a historical Adam who sinned to explain Jesus dying for the sins of mankind." At that point you threw all your scientific reasoning out the window and took a position based solely on faith."<br />
<br />
The question brought chuckles from the audience, probably due to my use of the expression "Oh crap" in church (I was going to say something else, but thought better of it). The scientist replied that belief in a historical Adam had nothing to do with his initial conversion experience. It was the love of Jesus, he repeated, that attracted him and changed his life. It was only later that he came to believe in a historical Adam.<br />
<br />
Other people had other questions and I couldn't follow up on mine, but it seemed to me that he both side-stepped my question and added fuel to my argument. The fact that he later decided to believe in Adam made it even more clear that it was a decision based not on scientific evidence but religious dogma. He was attracted to Jesus, and began to follow him. Later, as he came to understand the teachings of the church, he learned that Jesus died to pay the price for mankind's guilt. Since guilt for sin did not fit in his evolutionary training and worldview, he had to believe as an evangelical that at some point in mankind's evolutionary development he became guilty. He therefore chose to believe - based purely on faith and not on science - that there really was an Adam who once lived and sinned, and that somehow his sin affected everyone after him with the result that Jesus had to die.<br />
<br />
I still don't understand how he can reconcile the two. Wouldn't it make more sense to see Adam and Eve not as a historical couple but as an allegory representing the close relationship people can have with God? Is it possible their leaving the garden of Eden was not a punishment from God, but their stepping out into the real world to face life with all its tragedy, beauty, and mystery? And could the serpent, rather than being a historical Satan as interpreted thousands of years later, actually have been the friend who reminded them there was much more to knowing God than they already knew?</div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-89747321806391008932013-07-02T11:15:00.001-04:002013-07-02T11:15:32.325-04:00Was it God or Was it Fear?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Someone, I'll call him Exhibit A, recently attended a trade fair with his boss, Exhibit B. Their job was to manage the booth advertising the products of their company. Since it took two people to effectively run the table, they were inseparable all day long.<br />
<br />
As proceedings were winding down, Exhibit A noticed a former co-worker, Exhibit C, walking across the hall towards the exit. Exhibit B blamed Exhibit C for a contract that had been lost when he still worked for their company, and the two men were not on speaking terms.<br />
<br />
Exhibit A had not been involved in the original dispute and had nothing against Exhibit C. He wanted to walk up to him and say Hi, but immediately felt the discomfort of being on the horns of a dilemma. If he did so his boss would become angry with him, and Exhibit B's rage was both volatile and toxic.<br />
<br />
And so Exhibit A did what any self-respecting religious person would do - and God knows I'm one of them. He sent up a Hail Mary Prayer to the Magic God in the Sky, asking for a miracle. Please God, he said, Give me a chance to say Hi to Exhibit C. And pretty please, don't let my boss know about it.<br />
<br />
The answer came into his mind just a few seconds later. The bathroom! He excused himself, telling his boss he had to use the restroom. He crossed the hall but instead of entering the mens room ducked to the left, darted out the exit, and Voila! Exhibit C was just about to get into his car. Exhibit A ran up to him, they exchanged greetings, and Exhibit A got back to the booth without his boss having an inkling of what had just taken place.<br />
<br />
Exhibit A told me the story as proof that God answers prayer. I don't want to take away from the mystery of the moment - maybe he is correct - but isn't it possible that something else was going on? Wouldn't it have been much more emotionally healthy for Exhibit A to simply excuse himself from the table for a minute and greet Exhibit C in the presence of his boss, no matter what his response? It might have been followed by some unpleasant moments and a long silent ride home. But it wouldn't have been the end of the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-31246992415781350912013-07-01T10:16:00.004-04:002013-07-01T10:26:20.515-04:00How to Ace a Polygraph<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This began as an email to a friend, but I thought I'd expand it to include a larger audience. I think the steps are applicable to any potentially stressful situation, from interviewing for your first job at McDonalds to initiating a break-up in a relationship, or orally defending your PhD thesis.<br />
<br />
Step 1 - Take four deep breaths, breathing in your nose and out through your mouth. Feel the air going into your nose, and out through your lips. Observe your chest expand as you inhale, and contract as you breath out. Notice the short space of time between each breath. Do this right now, before you read the next paragraph.<br />
<br />
What were you thinking about as you were breathing? The answer is Nothing, because it is impossible to think about anything else while being aware of breathing. It's easy to think about things while breathing - we do it all day long - but you can't think about something else while you are conscious of your breathing. As you wake up on the morning of your polygraph, practice the above exercise.<br />
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Step 2 - From the moment you get out of bed until you leave the house, be aware of each thing that you do. Taste the toothpaste as you brush your teeth. Feel the brush running through your hair as you comb it. Feel your stockings against your legs as you put them on, and notice the touch of your shoes against your feet. Feel your feet against the stairs as you come down the steps, and really taste that first sip of coffee as it crosses your lips. This awareness will keep your mind from doing what it desperately wants to do, run to fearful anxious thoughts. If your mind does take off in that direction, pull it back to the present.<br />
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Step 3 - Continue this focused awareness on your way to the test location. Notice the colors of the cars as they pass you. Feel your hands on the steering wheel. Follow the lyrics or melodies of the songs you are listening to. Stay in the present, remembering to pull your mind back if it lunges off to anxious thoughts about the upcoming test.<br />
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Step 4 - As you sit in the waiting room, affirm positive qualities to yourself one after the other. For me it would be the form of I am Christ and I am confidence, I am Christ and I am strength. For a more evangelical Christian it could be in the the prayer, The spirit of God is within me and I am wisdom. For a Buddhist it might be, I am the Buddha and I am success. For someone else it could be, I am connected with the universe and I am freedom. Or you don't need a preamble at all - you can just repeat, I am peaceful, I am strong. You can also eliminate negative emotions by repeating, I remove fear, I reject anxiety. I think you get the point. By the way, you can begin this step even earlier to replace Step 3 if you like.<br />
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Step 5 - When you are called into the examination room, repeat Step 1 (well, your breaths can be through your nose this time, but be aware of them). Greet the examiner politely, without trying to please or humor him or her (in my experience, they have always been male). If he asks if there is anything you want to share before the test, allow a few seconds for any thoughts to come into your mind and if they do express them to him (Hopefully it won't be, I killed my mother-in-law last week, or Three men in black suits followed me into this building and I think they are after me!).<br />
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Step 6 - At the end of the text the examiner will probably ask you to wait while he leaves the room. Again relax, be aware of your breathing or the beating of your heart, perhaps notice the surroundings in the room. Pull your mind back if it begins asking itself how you did, or whether your answers were correct.<br />
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Step 7 - If the examiner comes back and says he needs to ask you a few more questions, or some parts of the exam were inconclusive, don't panic! Just say OK, and be aware of your breathing as he begins his questions. If he tells you they need to repeat the examination at a future date, again don't worry. It will just give you the opportunity to practice all the above steps on the second day! And I am sure you will do fine.<br />
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<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-81481524711253024062013-06-29T15:21:00.000-04:002013-06-29T22:25:08.286-04:00I Love You<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was an epiphany, an Aha moment as Oprah might say. I was driving to a class where for a week we had been seriously studying twelve abilities that exist in every person, learning how to develop them in ourselves. As happens in many small classes, an intimacy and closeness had developed among the 15 or so students. These twelve abilities include things such as understanding, zeal, the capacity to organize, faith, and love.<br />
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It was love that caught my attention that morning. It's a universal emotion, practiced by people the world over. Love one another, the Bible says. Even love your enemies, Jesus added. But why is it so hard for us to tell people that we love them? Is it because the word has been so misused, has so many levels of meaning, can be so easily misunderstood, that we are afraid to use it? I've never told anyone I love them, with the exception of close family members. What would happen if I simply said to people whom I have learned to trust and who trust me, I love you?<br />
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After reaching the class I told the person sitting next to me what I'd been thinking about and then added, I love you. Her response was, Thank you. I love you too.<br />
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This is great! I thought. I turned to the person on the other side of me and said, I love you. Again the response was, Thank you. I love you too.<br />
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A few hours later the class was finished and the students were all saying good-bye to each other. As I shook the hand or embraced each one I repeated the same phrase. I love you. The reply was always the same. Thank you. I love you too.<br />
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The thought came to me strong, like a river. You should tell the teacher that you love him. And I suddenly felt a strange resistance, a lack of comfort.<br />
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The teacher is gay. I'm a 65-year old straight guy. What was going to happen when I walked up to him and told him I loved him? And why was I suddenly feeling so uncomfortable?<br />
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I realized that his response no matter what was beyond my control, not my responsibility, but I needed to do what I was feeling an urge to do. I walked up to him, waited until he finished the text he was sending and looked up to me, and then said, Thank you. I love you.<br />
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I'm not always good at reading emotions on people's faces, but something came across his. He stood up and said to me, Is that worth a hug? And we exchanged a warm embrace.<br />
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At lunch a few minutes later, he came up and sat next to me at the picnic table where we were eating our sandwiches. With the other people sitting there, we had a good conversation.<br />
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Would he have felt as welcome to sit next to me at the table if I hadn't told him I loved him? I'm not sure, but I'm sure glad he did. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-3393031469338386552013-06-29T14:37:00.000-04:002013-06-29T22:17:21.115-04:00Snap! Crackle! Pop!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Where does your mind go when it's not in the present? To the future, or the past?<br />
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Some friends recently discussed that question in a small group setting. Most people said their minds went to the future. I was the lone dissenter, saying that mine wanders to events or conversations of the recent past. Here's a recent example:<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">It's a few minutes after six when I roll out of bed, pull on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and go downstairs to make a cup of coffee. Jake is waiting for me, tail wagging expectantly. He knows it is his favorite time of the day.</span><br />
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3781" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Ready to go for a walk, Jake? I ask. He literally leaps in the air, all feet off the ground, in anticipation.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3780" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3758" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
A few minutes later we are on the trail, ready for our four mile walk. I slow my pace, take a few deep breaths, and listen to the birds chirping. A few weeks ago I hadn't even realized the variety in the sound of a bird. Some have a high shrill tone, and others are melodious. Some have just a short single sound, repeated again and again, while others seem to carry out a melody. Some seem to sing only to themselves, while others are carrying on a conversation.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3779" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3830" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
So what's this Unitarian church you visited? </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3831" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
It's not Unitarian, I replied, it's called Unity.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3859" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3832" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Is it a denomination or what?</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3833" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Yes.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3834" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3835" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
How is it different than other denominations?</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3836" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3837" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Well, I think most denominations limit themselves to Jesus and the Bible. This church sees spirituality as having a wider range than that.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3838" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3839" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
So they think that Buddha is just the same as Jesus?</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3840" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3841" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I didn't say that. I just meant they might quote Buddha as well as Jesus. You don't hear Buddha mentioned in most churches.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3842" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3843" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
That's not true.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3844" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3845" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Well, I've never heard a pastor mention him before, at least not positively.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3860" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3846" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
So basically you are putting people like Eckhart Tolle on the same level as Jesus. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
No, I'm just saying that all truth is God's truth, no matter who says it. I mean, if Eckhart Tolle says two plus two equals four, and Jesus says two plus two equals four, they are both true.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3847" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3861" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
So you don't believe Jesus is the only way to God? Do you believe he died for our sins and rose from the dead?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I'm not sure what I believe about Jesus right now. But I don't want to argue about it.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3862" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I'm not arguing. I just want to understand.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3850" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I wanted to say that if you really wanted to understand, you would read the books yourself, or visit the church, and then draw your own conclusions. But I knew that conversation wouldn't go anywhere, and I felt myself becoming frustrated. I didn't respond.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3863" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3895" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
SNAP! </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3894" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3864" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I take a few deep breaths, and notice the green surrounding me. I'd never realized there were so many shades of green in the woods. Each tree, each bush, each clump of grass, seems to be a different color. Some are a deep green, others light and glossy, and some seem almost translucent.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3865" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3848" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Not only that, there are so many shapes. Each tree, bush, and flower has leaves of different shapes.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3893" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3866" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
A beautiful woman is jogging on the path towards me, shoulders back, head high, and chest out. We smile and nod as she passes.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3849" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3867" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
There are so many stories of women who get attacked and raped as they are jogging in the woods. What should we do to someone who does that? Kill him? No, that seems a little extreme. Put him in jail for 20 years costing taxpayers millions of dollars? At least he won't be raping while he's in jail, but who knows what he'll do as soon as he gets out. Maybe we should castrate rapists. No, that's probably not a good idea. There are sociopathic and vindictive women out there. It's easy to imagine an angry woman accusing a former boyfriend of rape just to see his balls cut off. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3868" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3869" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
CRACKLE!</div>
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3892" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Jake stops, totally focused on the deer standing less than 20 feet away. They glare at each other. Jake lifts his front paw. The deer lifts his right foot, stamps it on the ground, and does the same with his left. </div>
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3891" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
The beautiful jogger passes again, this time on her way back. Looks like your dog and that deer are having a real staredown, she says.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3890" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3871" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I give a tug on Jake's leash, and we continue down the path. A minute later, I hear a rustling and turn around. The deer is following us. She and Jake repeat their same routine, with the deer stamping her feet, and I again pull at his leash. A minute later I turn around, to see the deer still following us. She and Jake seem to be infatuated with each other.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3872" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3873" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Do you know what Obama did today?</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3874" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3875" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I replied that I didn't, knowing I was going to hear it now. A 60-minute commute on the Beltway listening to Fox News complain about the President is enough to put anyone in a combative mood. I wonder how to say that I actually like and respect him and his administration, and don't appreciate hearing an unending stream of negativity about him. But I don't say anything. I just listen, trying to pretend I'm interested.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3889" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3876" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
POP!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3877" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3878" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I notice the chaos of the woods. Dead trees and branches are lying everywhere in the midst of beautiful live trees and bushes. Sprouts are pushing their way upward from the ground. Birds that were alive yesterday are now dead, with Jake rustling in the bushes for their bones. The cycle continues of birth and death, chaos and beauty.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3879" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3880" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
I think of the phone call I received from my daughter yesterday. One of her friends was married last August. This weekend her husband of only a few months was hit and killed while riding his bicycle.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3881" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3882" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
What do you say in a situation like that? How do you try to explain that the universe - or God or whatever you call it - just pushes us into the world and then takes us back again? Some people get to live 90 good years. Others are taken at the beginning of a new, joyous life.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3883" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1372529976028_3884" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Jake's tongue is hanging out now - it's been almost two hours on the trail - so we stop at our favorite watering hole and he drinks from the fresh flowing stream. We come back to the house. He collapses on his bed, and I make a fresh fruit breakfast smoothie. </div>
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Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-84676243979876706892013-06-29T14:16:00.001-04:002013-06-29T22:31:24.309-04:00Judge Not<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was recently at the funeral of a relative. It's a family where an ancient incident has resulted in a complete estrangement between two sets of siblings. Neither side has spoken to the other for years.<br />
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I was never party to the conflict, and after the memorial service greeted one of the excommunicated brothers who had come with his girlfriend. I thought it was courageous and generous of him to attend a service where his own siblings completely ignored his presence.<br />
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As we were talking I looked over at my daughter, hoping she would join us. To my surprise, she didn't even glance in our direction.<br />
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I was heartbroken. I expected more of her. I couldn't believe she had been so influenced by the hostility and hatred in the family she wouldn't even come over for a greeting. But I took a deep breath, and chose to accept the reality of the situation. I won't judge her, I thought. This is where she is right now, and that's OK.<br />
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Easier said than done. As we were leaving the church a few minutes later I blurted out, "Honey, couldn't you even say hello to your uncle?"<br />
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Her response was immediate. "But I did, Daddy," she said. "You just didn't see me. I went over to him, gave him a big hug and told him I loved him." The relief I felt was palpable.<br />
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We discussed the incident the following morning. When I told her I had made the decision not to judge her, her response was again immediate but higher-pitched this time. "NOT JUDGE ME?! Daddy, the first thing you said was, 'Couldn't you even say hello to your uncle?'"<br />
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Judge not, lest ye be judged. I think Jesus said that. And as I learned that evening, it's easier said than done.<br />
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<br /></div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-26934835031199020382012-03-03T17:37:00.008-05:002013-06-29T22:16:59.372-04:00Zachery Chesser and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Zachery Chesser is a young man from Virginia serving a 25-year prison sentence for providing material support to an Islamic terrorist organization. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently published <b><em><a href="http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CHESSER%20FINAL%20REPORT(1).pdf">this</a></em></b> case study on his radicalization.<br />
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The committee began its report with a glossary of relevant terms in which it defined Jihad as follows: an Arabic word commonly translated as "struggle;" used in the Qur'an to mean either a struggle on the battlefield or an inner spiritual struggle. <br />
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How did the intelligent, highly-educated young Senate staffers conclude that the Qur'an describes Jihad as an "inner spiritual struggle"? Was it from their own study of Islam's sacred text and their analysis of its more than 150 "Jihad verses"? I don't think so; if they would have, they would have known that more than 95% of these verses were written when Muhammad was conducting wars from Medina, and almost every reference is to the primary meaning of Jihad which is effort exerted to ensure the victory and supremacy of Islam. <br />
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Chances are they watched<strong><em><a href="http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/inside_islam_what_a_billion_muslims_really_think"> this</a></em></strong> movie, What a Billion Muslims Really Think, perhaps at a government-sponsored conference on how to avoid offending Muslims in the workplace, and listened to Dalia Mogahed explain that <strong><em>to her</em></strong> Jihad is a wonderful word that expresses her desire to draw close to God. The fact that this has nothing at all to do with the Qur'an would be lost on them, because it is information Dalia and her many associates do not want them to have. <br />
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The report next defined Kafir as an "Arabic term used in Islamic doctrine and often translated as "non-believer", "disbeliever", or "infidel". The reality is that a Kafir in the Qur'an is anyone who did not accept Muhammad as a Prophet from Allah or the Qur'an as the word of Allah. In other words, a Kafir is simply a non-Muslim. <br />
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The glossary then defined Violent Islamist Extremism as "the ideology whose core goal is the establishment of a global state - or caliphate - by violent means in which the most radical interpretation of Shari'ah (Islamic religious law) will be enforced by the government."<br />
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The question to be asked, with just a slight rewording of the text, is this: does this define Violent Islamist Extremism, or is this nothing more than Islam as envisoned and practiced by Muhammad? Did the state established by Muhammad enforce "the most radical interpretation of Shari'iah", or did it simply enforce Qur'an-defined Shar'iah? Instead of calling this a definition of <b>Violent Islamist Extremism</b>, could it not simply be:<br />
<br />
<b>Islam as Envisoned and Practiced by Muhammad:</b> The ideology whose core goal is the establishment of a global state - or caliphate - by violent and non-violent effort (Jihad) in which Shari'ah (including the Qur'anic Hudud of amputations, floggings, and capital punishment) will be enforced by the Caliph (God's representative on the earth). <br />
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The Senate report then establishes a timeline to describe "The Rapid Radicalization" of Chesser in 2008. What I find amazing is that the report says absolutely nothing about <strong><em>how </em></strong>he became radicalized. It devotes a single sentence to his conversion to Islam, describes three sentences later his newly-developed conviction that voting in presidential elections is un-Islamic, and shortly afterwards notes his committment to violent Jihad. <br />
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Why would the report's authors not be interested in the process of Chesser's radicalization? Why would their report not include the verses from the Qur'an, the instructions of Muhammad in the Hadith, the examples from his life in the Sira, that caused Chesser to become in a short time someone who issued violent threats against the writers of South Park for showing Muhammad in a bear costume? <br />
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As government reports do, this one ends with "Findings and Recommendations". The Findings were that radicalization takes place over the Internet, is likely to increase, and Law Enforcement Agencies are unable to counter it. The reason for the latter is that Law Enforcement is not allowed to interfere in the two basic American values of freedom of belief and freedom of speech. If I believe that Islam must rule, and if I openly proclaim that conviction, Law Enforcement is powerless to stop me until I engage in criminal activity that puts my conviction into practice. <br />
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The recommendations were that "the U.S. Government needs a comprehensive Internet strategy to address online radicalization", and that the Government "should strengthen its ability to assist Muslim American communities seeking to address and counter radicalization online". <br />
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The problem is that the Government and Muslim American communities have nothing to counter the persuasive and powerful arguments of the Jihadists. Dalia Mogahed can tell us that Jihad is her effort to draw closer to God, but the Jihadist will recite hundreds of examples from the Qur'an and Hadith that Jihad is warfare in the way of Allah to spread and strengthen Islam. The moderate American Muslim can note with pride that Muslims serve in the U.S. military, but the Jihadist will challenge him to show a single verse in the Qur'an that allows a Muslim to serve in the armies of the Kuffar (non-Muslims) against the Mu'mineen (believing Muslims). The Muslim Colonel in the Marine Corps might be a good American, but he is not a good Muslim. <br />
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Zachery Adam Chesser is a 22-year old man, born three days before Christmas in 1989, now serving a 25-year sentence in a maximum security prison for attempting to follow the instructions of his Prophet to migrate from the land of the Kuffar and engage in Jihad among the Mu'mineen. In other words, he is just another young man whose life was tragically destroyed by Islam. </div>
Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-54976954785199076852011-12-18T10:42:00.006-05:002011-12-18T10:56:52.110-05:00The Koran and the Basmala<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The Arabic expression <b>Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem</b>, in the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful One, is one of the most famous in the entire language. It begins all but one of the Koran's 114 suras, and is commonly used among Arabic speakers when saying their prayers, before eating a meal, or giving a formal speech. It even has its own abbreviation and is known simply as "the Basmala". <br />
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Since the expression is the very first sentence of the Koran (surat Al-Fatiha, Koran 1:1) and is later repeated 113 times, Muslims believe it is an essential part of the revelation given by God to Muhammad. Is that true, or was the Basmala inserted into Islam and the Koran at a later date? That question was discussed on <strong><em><a href="http://islamexplained.com/UVG/UVG_video_player/TabId/89/VideoId/814/245-----.aspx">this</a></em></strong> Arabic TV program Daring Question, in which host Rashid presented the following evidence that this well-known expression was not a part of the original Koran.<br />
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1. The Basmala does not appear in the story of Muhammad's first revelation. According to Islam, an angel appeared to Muhammad and told him to recite. When Muhammad repeated several times he did not know what to recite, the angel squeezed him tightly and said in Surat Al-Alaq, "Recite 'In the name of your Creator who created humanity from a blood clot.' Recite 'Your Lord is generous, who with the pen taught men what they did not know." (Koran 96:1-5). <br />
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If the Basmala was part of the Koran, why did it not appear in the first revelation of Gabriel to Muhammad? Why did the angel not begin with, "In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful One, Recite..."? <br />
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2. Muhammad and his early successors did not pray using this expression. An authentic Hadith from Sahih Muslim recounts that Anas, a servant of Muhammad who was with him for many years, said, "I prayed with the Prophet, and with Caliph Abu-Bakr, and with Caliph Umar, and with Caliph Uthman (the first three leaders succeeding Muhammad). I never heard any of them say, "In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful One." <br />
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Muslims who perform the five daily prayers repeat the Basmala 17 times in one day. Why do they repeat thousands of times throughout their lifetime an expression Muhammad and his companions never used once in their prayers?<br />
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3. Except for Surat Al-Fatiha, the Basmala always appears in the Koran as an introduction to the chapter and not as the first verse. If the Basmala was in each sura as originally revealed, why is it merely an introduction and not the first verse of the sura?<br />
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4. The 114 suras of the Koran do not represent 114 revelations given by God to Muhammad; Muslims believe their Prophet received thousands of revelations that were combined in these chapters long after Muhammad's death. If revelation ceased with Muhammad, how could each chapter begin with the Basmala as part of the original revelation? <br />
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5. Muslim claim not a single letter has been added to the Koran. The Basmala, however, contains 4 words in Arabic. If that expression was affixed to 113 suras, does that not mean a total of 452 words have been added to the Koran? <br />
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As could be expected, these arguments are not new to Muslim scholars and Rashid next played a video from a Saudi Shaykh who offered his explanation. The Shaykh said that when the Basmala came within the verse, as in the first ayah of Al-Fatiha (Koran 1:1), it was part of the inspired text. When it appeared outside the text, as in 112 other suras, it was not part of the inspired text but a <strong>Tabarruk</strong>, a blessing or working aid given to separate the suras from each other. <br />
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Rashid noted in his response that even the Shaykh admitted that the Basmala was added to the Koran; who knows what else has been added? The problem with this explanation, continued Rashid, is the Shaykh's insistence that the Basmala in Koran 1:1 is the exception. Surat Al-Hijr (Koran 15:87) is interpreted by Muslim scholars to mean that the first chapter of the Koran, Surat Al-Fatiha, must contain seven verses. Since Al-Fatiha's first verse is the Basmala, was it not simply added to the sura to give it the required seven verses? <br />
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In another authentic Hadith, Anas continued, "I prayed behind the Prophet and his companions. They would always open their prayers with 'Praise God, the Lord of the Universe, but never mentioned the Basmala." <br />
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Why do Muslims not begin their prayers as Muhammad did? Was the Basmala added to Surat Al-Fatiha just to give it the required seven verses? When Muslims use it in their prayers today, are they repeating a phrase their Prophet never used in his prayers? <br />
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Apart from Koran 1:1, and appearing 113 times as a sura designator, the Basmala appears one other time in the Koran. This is in the chapter of the ant, Surat al-Naml (Koran 27:29, 30), in which the Queen of Sheba informs her cabinet, "Oh my ministers, I have received a letter from Solomon that begins, In the Name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful One." <br />
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Note that the Basmala in the above verse is not portrayed as revelation from God to Muhammad, but as simply the introduction of a letter from Solomon. Solomon was a Jewish king, and naturally began his letter with a common Jewish greeting. <br />
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Surat Al-Anfal (Koran 8:31) states that the Quraysh often responded to Muhammad's alleged revelations by saying they had heard these expressions before, with Surat As-Saffat (Koran 37:36) adding they were not prepared to leave their gods to follow "a mad poet". To his own people, Muhammad simply repeated religious expressions with which they were already familiar and claimed they were inspiration from God. <br />
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Why is the chapter entitled Repentance (Surat At-Taubah, Koran 9) the only one in the Koran that does not begin with the Basmala? <strong>Mufassir</strong> (Koranic expositor) Uthman claims it is a continuation of the previous chapter, The Spoils of War (Surat Al-Anfal), and therefore does not need the Basmala to separate it from the previous sura. Al-Qurtubi, on the other hand, claims that the beginning of Surat At-Taubah with its attached Basmala has been lost to history. <br />
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Since surat At-Taubah contains the famous "Verses of the Sword", in which Muslim warriors are commanded to fight unbelievers wherever they find them, it is perhaps poetic justice that this chapter does not begin with the usual reference to the mercy and compassion of God. <br />
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Rashid then introduced an Arabic scholar to explain the linguistic origin of the four words of the Arabic Basmala. The first word <strong>bism</strong> or "in the name of" is a contraction of the preposition "b" (in) and the noun (ism) "the name of". The Arabic word for "name", however, begins with an "a" that was deleted in the contraction of the preposition and the noun. This contraction is a feature of Aramaic and Syriac, not Arabic, giving evidence that the Basmala was an Aramaic/Syriac expression. These two languages were spoken by the Christians and Jews of the era. <br />
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The second word of the Basmala, <strong>Allah</strong>, also finds its origin in the word "Elohim", which is a common word for God in the Syriac and Aramaic languages. The following word <strong>Rahman</strong> is from the Syriac active participle <strong>Rahma</strong> meaing the Lover, with the "n" added in Arabic to turn it into an adjective. The final word <strong>Rahim</strong> also comes from Syriac and is a passive participle meaning the Beloved. The Basmala, according to the linguist, was a common expression used by Jews and Christians in Arabia at the time of Muhammad and as a result found its way into the Koran. <br />
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As noted in previous postings, comparatively few Muslims will have the courage to present the Imam at their local mosque with the evidence given above that the Basmala was not revelation given by Allah to Muhammad, but simply an expression their Prophet adopted from the religious vocabulary of the Christians and Jews of his day. Some individual Muslims, however, might seriously think about it on their own, and thinking is always a good thing.</div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-62410607883889652892011-12-12T17:37:00.010-05:002011-12-13T05:41:22.690-05:00The Koran and the Year of the Elephant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Scriptural literalists believe every word of their sacred texts is true historically as well as in every other way. For Christians and Jews, this means believing the sun was created four days after the earth as described in Genesis 1. And for Muslims, it includes believing in the battle of the elephant. <br />
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Surat Al-Fil, the chapter of the elephant (Koran 105), is considered to be an early Meccan sura and is one of the shortest in the Koran. Its text reads simply, "Have you seen what your Lord did to the owners of the elephant? Did not he ruin their plot when he sent flocks of birds to attack them with pellets of baked clay? He made them like the stalks of an empty corn field after its ears were devoured by the cattle." <br />
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<strong><em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zlY-lAdVrg">This short video</a></em></strong> gives the version of the story first recorded by Muhammad biographer Ibn Ishaq and taught to millions of young Muslim children around the world. In 570 AD, the year of Muhammad's birth, Abraha was the governor of Yemen which was part of the Ethiopian Kingdom ruled by the Negus. With the Negus' permission Abraha built in Sana "the greatest cathedral in the world at that time" (<strong><em>Al-Qullays</em></strong> in Arabic, the word is from the Greek word for church "ekklesia"). Abraha's reason for building the church, according to Ibn Ishaq, was not to establish a house of worship but to divert Arab pilgrims from going to the Kaaba in Mecca. When an infuriated Arab visitor from Mecca took revenge by urinating and defecating inside the church, Abraha decided to invade Mecca and destory the Kaaba. With a huge army that included elephants (although Ibn Ishaq says it was one elephant named Mahmud, other accounts give numbers varying from 13 to 1000), Abraha headed towards Mecca defeating every Arab tribe he met along the way. As he approached the city, his army was suddenly attacked by flocks of thousands of birds who hurled pellets of hardened clay that caused their flesh to explode and destroyed the entire army. "Such was the victory bestowed by Allah, the All-Majestic, All Powerful, to the people of Mecca and such was the protection provided by him for his house the Kabaa in Mecca," concludes early expositor Ibn Kathir.<br />
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Apart from bringing back memories of Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, the story poses the more basic question, Is is True? That question was recently discussed <strong><em><a href="http://islamexplained.com/UVG/UVG_video_player/TabId/89/VideoId/807/241---.aspx">here</a></em></strong> on the Arabic program Daring Question. <br />
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In addition to Islam's default position that anything in the Koran is true simply because the Koran says so, Muslim scholars have argued the story must be accurate because we have no evidence of Meccans contradicting Muhammad when he first recited it as revelation from God. But the fact is that no contradiction of Muhammad was allowed at all, with writers and poets such as <strong><em><a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2008/06/muhammad-and-poets.html">Asma bint Marwan</a></em></strong> killed simply for challenging him. There is no way of knowing, 14 centuries later, how the Meccans responded to Surat Al-Fil when they first heard it, because the voice of Islam is the only voice that remains from that time. <br />
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The description of the birds who attacked the army in the story suggests legend rather than fact. According to Ibn Ishaq and other Muslim historians, they had shoulders of dogs and each one carried three pellets with the bird's name written on each one. Many temples in Greek and Hindu mythology have similar stories of deities magically protecting them from attacks by their enemies. <br />
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The most famous Byzantine historian of this era was a scholar who lived in Palestine named Procopius. His volumes give many details of the rule of Abraha, but make no mention of a journey across the desert with an army containing elephants. Elephants graze most of the day and consume as much as 600 pounds of food and 60 gallons of water per day. They are not desert animals, and an elephant marching across the Arabian desert would require even more water. Although the Ethiopians used elephants for battle in areas where water and food was readily available, they never used them in the desert. The distance from Sana to Mecca is over 500 miles, and it would have been highly unlikely for an army of elephants to cross that distance.<br />
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Apart from the issue of whether Surat Al-Fil is accurate historically, another interesting question is when it was written. Muslim scholars have always claimed it was an early Meccan sura, but this was during the time when the Negus of Ethiopia welcomed Muslim refugees sent by Muhammad from Mecca because of the hardships they were experiencing there (described <strong><em><a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2011/03/yasir-qadhi-and-america-as-abyssinia.html">here</a></em></strong>). The relationship between Muhammad and the Negus was good, with the Muslims enjoying his hospitality. It is difficult to relate this hospitality with Islam's rendition of the Negus building a temple in Sana to detract from the Kaaba and then sending an army to destroy it. Had his entire army been destroyed by Muhammad's machine-gun firing birds, why would the Negus turn around and welcome the Muslims as guests to live in his country for years?<br />
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An additional point is that the Quraysh of Mecca sent emissaries to Ethiopia in an attempt to persuade the Negus to repatriate the Muslims who were living there. If the Koranic story of the elephant had been given by Muhammad before that time, it stands to reason the emissaries would have used it to inform the Negis of what Muhammad said about them. There is no evidence, however, that this story was used in their arguments to the Negus.<br />
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What makes more sense is that this sura was written later in Medina, perhaps when Muhammad was preparing to invade the Christians of Tabuk. It was during the Medinan period that Muhammad began to demonize regional Christians in his preparations to attack them. What better way to motivate his army than to create a story of a Christian general who wanted to destroy the Kaaba but whose army was destroyed by the miraculous power of Allah!<br />
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There are additional problems with the Islamic account of the story. According to Ibn Ishaq, the Christian Abraha built his church to divert Arab pilgrims from Mecca to Sana for economic reasons. When the Arab defecated in the church, Abraha determined to attack the Kaaba both for revenge and to destroy the competition to his church. The problem is that Muslims, from ancient historians to those alive today, view history and religion from an Islamic perspective. The idea of a Haj, or pilgrimage to a holy location where one's sins will be forgiven, is a Muslim and not a Christian concept. It is true that Christians visit revered sites, but not for the reasons Muslims do. Christians also do not try to entice non-Christians to visit their sites. The idea that Abraha would build a pilgrim site to attract non-Christian pilgrims is not a Christian concept and has never happened throughout Christian history. As noted above, it is more likely the story was created to increase antagonism against Christians attacked by the Muslims at the end of Muhammad's life and in the decades following.<br />
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Although Muslim scholars claim that all the Arabs made pilgrimages to Mecca and its Kaaba, which they believe was built by Adam and restored by Abraham, non-Muslim history tells a different story. At least 21 regional cities are recorded as having temples called kaabas where people came for pilgrimages and religious practices. A Greek historian named Diodorus and other pre-Islamic historians described one such location in present day Tabuk in northern Saudi Arabia as being where "all the Arabs came for pilgrimage". The idea that Mecca was a famous religious center and that Abraha would come from Yemen to destroy its Kaaba because it provided competition to his church in Sana is nothing more than Muslim fiction.<br />
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Here is a short review of how Surat Al-Fil contradicts historical records:<br />
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1. Historians of the era including Procopius detail in history the reign of Abraha in Yemen. These details include how he came to rule, accounts of his wars, and his death in about 535 AD. They make no mention of his crossing the desert with elephants to attack Mecca, or of his death after being blitzed by Muhammad's magical birds. <br />
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2. These historians state that Abraha died about 545 AD, 25 years before Muslims claim he died during the year of Muhammad's birth, and that following his death his sons took over his kingdom. When the Persians invaded about 570 AD and defeated them, these sons had already been ruling many years. <br />
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3. The Muslim claim that Abraha built a cathedral to divert pilgrims from Mecca has no historical basis apart from the Quran-based claim of Muslim historians. Engravings found at Yemen's Dam of Marab, one of the eight wonders of the ancient world, detail various events of Abraha's kingdom, but none of them mention his cathedral or any attack against Mecca. <br />
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4. The Himyar Kingdom was at enmity with Abraha, and assisted the Persians in defeating him in 570 AD. The Himyars left extensive engravings of their battles with Abraha. Had he been killed by a magical bird attack following his raid against Mecca it is highly improbable this would not have been noted in their historical engravings. As can be expected, there is no mention of such an event. <br />
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5. The Ethiopian Kings of the time also left records of their territories and rulers. There is no mention in ancient Ethiopian history of Abraha attacking Mecca and dying as a result. <br />
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6. Ibn Ishaq is the only reference for the story as believed by Muslims. Even later Muslim historians acknowledge that Ibn Ishaq often exaggerated in some of the accounts he created surrounding Muhammad's life. These same historians, however, have no other source to authenticate the events described in Surat Al-Fil. <br />
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And here is a short list of why Muslim historians deliberately distorted the historical records concerning Abraha:<br />
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1. Their claim that he died during the year of Muhammad's birth gave added importance to the birth of Islam's Prophet.<br />
2. The story created animosity against Christians, in preparation for the attacks carried out against them by Muslims beginning near the end of Muhammad's life.<br />
3. The Koran says so.<br />
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For believing Muslims, "The Koran says so" is the most important reason of all. Very few have the courage to publicly question the historical accuracy of the Koran. </div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-47269468298094663852011-12-08T19:56:00.007-05:002011-12-19T17:30:38.018-05:00The Koran and the Samaritans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Arabic last names often indicate where someone comes from. Yahya al-Libi is known to be from Libya, Hasan al-Masri from Egypt (Masr is Egypt in Arabic), Rashid al-Maghrabi from Morocco (al-Maghrab in Arabic), and Yunis al-Iskandarani from the city of Alexandria (al-Iskandariya). <br />
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It follows logically that for an individual to bear the <strong><em>laqab</em></strong> (last name) of a location, that location must have been there when the person was named. If Alexandria was formed by the Greek emperor Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, it stands to reason that anyone with the name al-Iskandarani lived after that time and not before. If a folk tale claimed to be from the 10th century BC with a hero named al-Iskandarani, it would be easy to conclude the story was false. <br />
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Such self-evident fact was apparantly of no interest to the compilers of the Koran, as seen in the attention given to someone named "al-Samari" (the Samaritan) in the story of Moses and his brother Aaron. The city of Samaria, from which this person was named, was built in the 9th century BC. Moses, liberator of the Hebrews from Egypt, lived at least six centuries before. How does the Koran have a Samaritan speaking to Moses six centuries before the city was even created?<br />
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The story of Moses is found in surah Ta-Ha (Koran 20). On the trek across the Sinai desert from Egypt to what is now Palestine and Israel, Moses left his people and went to meditate for 40 days on Mount Sinai. The following conversations then took place (verses 83-97):<br />
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<strong>Allah</strong>: Why did you leave your people, Moses?<br />
<strong>Moses</strong>: They are always bothering me, and I wanted to be close to you, Allah.<br />
<strong>Allah</strong>: Well, we tempted them during your absense, and they failed the test.<br />
<strong>Moses</strong>: (rushes back to his people): Why did you melt all your gold jewelry to make a golden calf?<br />
<strong>People</strong>: It's not our fault. The Egyptians gave us all that gold just to get rid of us. The Samaritan put it in the fire, and out came this golden calf?<br />
<strong>Moses to Aaron</strong>: Why did you allow them to do this? <br />
<strong>Aaron</strong>: Don't blame me, it's not my fault. If I would have tried to stop them it would have started a riot. It's his fault (pointing to the Samaritan).<br />
<strong>Moses to the Samaritan</strong>: Why did you do this, Samaritan? <br />
<strong>The Samaritan</strong>: It's not my fault. I just threw some dust from the footprint of the angel Gabriel's horse into the fire after we threw in the gold and voila - out came this live golden calf! <br />
<strong>Moses</strong>: Get the hell out of here - and go to hell, by the way! We're going to burn this golden calf and scatter its ashes in the sea.<br />
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Like many stories in the Koran, it's an interesting read. But is it true? <br />
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Early Koranic expositor Qatada explained that the Samaritan in this story was a Israelite from the tribe of Samaria who lost his faith in Allah during the long trek across the Sinai. The Samaritan pretended to accept the monotheism of Moses, but retained his desire to worship the cow as his people had done in Egypt. <br />
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To protect himself from accusations of wrongdoing (such as the rumors that swirled when he married his daughter-in-law as described <strong><em><a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2009/12/muslims-and-muhammad-and-zainab.html">here</a></em></strong>), Muhammad invented the concept that prophets could not commit major sins. According to the Bible, Aaron is the one who instigated the making of the golden calf. Since Aaron as a Prophet in Islam could not have done this evil deed, Muhammad created the fictitious Samaritan to be the culprit. <br />
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The book of I Kings in the Bible describes a king of northern Israel named Omri who "bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill. He called it Samaria, after Shemer who was the former owner of the hill" (I Kings 16:24). This was in the 9th century BC, 600 years after Moses. <br />
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II Kings 17:1-6 describes the defeat of Samaria by the Assyrian emperor Shalmaneser V in 722 BC when he deported its residents to Assyria (present day Iraq) and brought people from Iraq to repopulate the city. This Biblical account was confirmed by an engraving discovered by French diplomat to Iraq and archeologist Paul Emil Botta in 1842 that reads, "In the first year of my reign I laid seige to the city of Samaria. I deported 27,290 of its citizens and replaced them with people from other areas." <br />
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The people Shalmaneser brought to Samaria from Iraq were not Jewish monotheists, but idol worshippers deported from areas conquered by the Assyrians. These Samaritans did not speak Hebrew, and never assimilated into the culture of their Jewish neighbors. They were hated even in the time of Jesus, and one of his most famous parables, The Good Samaritan, tells the story of a young man beaten and left to die by the side of the road. Religious rabbis passed by the young man without helping him, said Jesus, but a Samaritan outcast rescued him and nursed him back to recovery. <br />
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As early Koranic expositors such as Qatada realized that the Samaritan invented by Muhammad and described in the Koran did not even exist, they tried to cover his mistake by insisting this was the name of one of the ancient tribes of Israel. All the tribes of Israel are listed in the Bible, however, and there is no evidence that a tribe by that name ever existed.<br />
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Is there any historical figure to whom Muhammad could have referred when he described this Samaritan who pretended to be a follower of Moses but remained an idolater in his heart, and who had the magical power to create a live calf from gold and dust thrown in a fire? The New Testament book of Acts, chapter 8, describes a first century AD Samaritan named Simon the Magician popular in Samaria. Jealous of the miracles committed by the Apostle Peter when he visited the city, Simon offered him money for the same power. When Peter refused, Simon pretended to follow him but later recanted of his Christian faith and founded a heresy known as Simonianism which contained a mixture of Christian belief and magical practice. Members of the Ebionite sect, discussed <strong><em><a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2010/10/ebionites-muhammad-and-quran.html">here</a></em></strong> as having a direct influence on Muhammad, describe in available writings from the 4th century AD the considerable influence of Simon. One text, entitled The Recognitions of Clement, even recounts that Simon claimed he could bring statues to life. This is exactly the same as the Koranic account of the Samaritan bringing life to the golden calf. <br />
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Could Muhammad's relative Waraqa bin Naufal, himself probably an Ebionite priest in Mecca, been the one who first told Muhammad about this Samaritan with his magical powers? And could Muhammad, never one to quibble about historical details as evidenced <strong><em><a href="http://staringattheview.blogspot.com/2009/05/was-it-thamudians-or-nabateans.html">here</a></em></strong> when he confused tribes living soon after Noah with the Nabateans who lived milennia later, simply thrown al-Samari into his story of Moses and Aaron to prove his point that a real Prophet never commits great sins, thus distancing himself from any similar accusation? <br />
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Many Muslims who have read thus far will at this point simply grit their teeth and press their heels against the floor. <strong><em>There he goes again, attacking our Prophet and our Holy Book!</em></strong> Relatively few will seriously think the story through and try to find an answer that makes sense. It's much easier - and safer - to simply believe.</div><br />
The above material was adapted from <b><em><a href="http://islamexplained.com/UVG/UVG_video_player/TabId/89/VideoId/808/242----.aspx">this</a></em></b> Arabic TV show Daring Question</div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-53579722815172047582011-10-24T18:02:00.000-04:002011-10-24T18:02:59.068-04:00Hillary Clinton and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quick to respond when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested in a recent interview with Fareed Zakaria that Iran would be willing to train Iraqi troops after American forces leave.<br />
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We have bases and allies in the region, she blustered. Iran should think twice before it makes any plans to train Iraqi soldiers. <br />
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I thought it was the silliest statement I've heard a Secretary of State make since Condoleezza Rice stated that Sunnis and Shias needed to resolve their 1400 year old conflict by just "getting over it". Actually she was correct - they do - but to base American foreign policy on the hopes that they would was insane.<br />
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I understand that Secretaries of State are not allowed to think creatively and speak independently. If they want to keep their jobs they can only say things the Boss will approve. But the reality is that Iraq is now an independent Shia-majority nation and Iran is its closest ally. There is nothing America can do - except bluster - if it invites Iranian soldiers to train its own. America handed Iraq to Iran eight years ago on a silver platter and Iranian influence is now entrenched from Basrah to Beirut. Now is the time to experience the results. </div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-32484060360070314392011-10-02T19:34:00.002-04:002011-10-02T19:37:17.901-04:00The Machine Gun Preacher<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I knew I was listening to something unusual when I heard my drive-to-work buddies <strong><em><a href="http://www.broadmindedonline.com/">The Broads</a></em></strong> speak favorably of someone who had "got saved" in a church in Pennsylvania. They were talking about the movie <strong><em><a href="http://www.machinegunpreacher.org/movie/">The Machine Gun Preacher</a></em></strong>, based on the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Another-Mans-War-Battle-Children/dp/1595554246/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317598276&sr=1-2"><strong><em>Another Man's War</em></strong>.</a> It's the true story of a rough and tumble man whose life was turned around when he accepted the challenge to visit east Africa with a church construction team. That short-term trip turned into a life mission as author Sam Childers determined to build an orphanage and help rescue children in the south Sudan and northern Uganda. The movie tells the result of that decision. <br />
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I saw the movie this afternoon. The theater was almost empty, but I'm glad I went. The film probably won't win Oscars at next year's Academy Awards, but for me it was a gripping story that raised some uncomfortable questions. According to the movie and the author's own claims, he has killed soldiers in The Lord's Resistance Army to rescue children and stop others from being killed. To what extent does a Christian use violence to stop violence? How often does one kill to stop killing? Is the author correct when he says, "If your child is abducted by a brutal rapist and murderer and I bring her safely home, does it matter what I did to rescue your child?"<br />
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The words "evangelical" and "missionary" don't usually get good press in the American media, and it's easy to overlook activists like Sam Childers who really try to make a difference. I'm glad they made a movie of his life, and kudos to the Broads for promoting his movie. </div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-52458959407043508922011-09-25T17:26:00.007-04:002011-09-27T18:09:07.496-04:00Can We Call It Islamic Terrorism?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A debate is taking place across the political, academic, and religious spectrum about whether acts of terrorism committed by Muslims should be called Islamic Terrorism. I've recently attended conferences where I've heard alleged experts state that it should not be. If terrorism committed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka is not called Hindu Terrorism, they argue, and if the terrorism of Norwegian Anders Breivik is not Christian Terrorism, why are acts of terror committed by Muslims called Islamic Terrorism?<br />
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It is a good question deserving a thoughtful answer which was given, in my opinion, by Rashid and <strong><em><a href="http://www.meforum.org/">Middle East Forum</a></em></strong> director Magdi Khalil in <strong><em><a href="http://islamexplained.com/UVG/UVG_video_player/TabId/89/VideoId/774/233-----.aspx">this recent Arabic program</a></em></strong>. Rashid noted that terrorism could be described as religious terrorism if it fulfilled the following four criteria:<br />
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1. The individuals carrying out the operation were devoted to their religion.<br />
2. These individuals used religious texts to justify their operation.<br />
3. The individuals carried out their operation to achieve religious objectives.<br />
4. Religious leaders supported the operation and praised those who carried it out. <br />
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Rashid and Magdi then applied these four criteria to the perpetrators of 9/11, the Oklahoma Bombing, and the Norwegian Massacre. In his final testament, suicide pilot Muhammad Atta mentioned three times in four short pages that he would soon be meeting the virgins of paradise promised him by his prophet Muhammad. In his justification for 9/11, Osama bin Ladin did not inform his fellow Muslims it was intended to punish an imperialistic, political enemy. He did say that it was a blow against the <strong><em>rayyis al-kuffar</em></strong>, a religious expression meaning the leader of the infidels. The writings of bin Ladin, as well as Ayman al-Zawahiri and other al-Qaeda Sharia or religious leaders are filled with references to the Koran, the Hadith, and early Islamic history to justify their strategy. The 1500 page manifesto of Anders Breivik, in contrast, does not mention the teachings of Jesus or the Bible a single time. His only reference to Christianity is a generic one in which he envisions a Christian Europe being changed to a Muslim one. And Timothy McVeigh, rather than fantasizing about virgins in paradise, acknowledged that if there was a hell he would probably be going there. <br />
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What were the objectives of McVeigh and Breivik, as compared to Muslim terrorists? Again, the first two had nothing to do with achieving the goals of Christianity. McVeigh was angry at his government, and Breivik was fearful for his culture. Muslim terrorists, on the other hand, state again and again that their goal is to establish <strong><em>Deen Allah</em></strong>, the religion of God, throughout the earth as Islam was practiced by Muhammad and his early followers. <br />
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It was in the response of Muslim religious <strong><em>Shaykhs</em></strong> to the death of Osama bin Ladin that the contrast is most clear. Rashid played a montage of Arabic-speaking Imams across the Middle East eulogizing the death. Without exception they attacked and blamed the United States but praised bin Ladin. He was a sincere Muslim, they reminded their viewers, and it is our responsibility to pray <strong><em>Salat al-Ghaib</em></strong>, the prayers for departed souls asking God to receive them into <strong><em>Fardous</em></strong> or Paradise. We might have had our differences with him, they added, but these differences were only minor points of disagreement. What I find interesting is that the "minor points of disagreement" were the practice of al-Qaeda of declaring Muslim governments <strong><em>Takfir</em></strong> or infidel. It would understandably be difficult for an Egyptian, Moroccan, or Saudi Shaykh who only holds his position with the blessing of his government to join Ayman al-Zawahiri in condemning that government as apostate. <br />
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I've noted before that the difference between the public stated positions of Muslims in the West and their counterparts in the Arab World is striking. I've also noted that most Western non-Muslim academics and politicians, very few of whom know Arabic, have as their sources English-speaking Muslims who tell them what they want them to believe. Even those non-Muslim experts who claim to know Arabic, in my opinion, don't really know it well enough to listen to the Osama bin Ladin eulogies played by Rashid and really know what is going on. <br />
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Magdi Khalil then divided Islamic history into five stages. The first, he said, was the Islamic conquest of the 7th and 8th centuries, followed by the Crusades in which Europe attempted to regain the territory it had lost to Islam. The third stage was the Ottoman Empire in which Islam again tried to reconquer Europe and famously reached "the Gates of Vienna" in 1683, followed by the European imperialism and colonization of the next two centuries. The last forty years, said Magdi, have seen the beginning of the fifth stage, the revival of political Islam which again strives to reign throughout the world. <br />
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Perhaps the most interesting part of the show was when Khalid called in from Jordan. "Hello Rashid," said Khalid. "I was a terrorist. I left Jordan to go to Iraq in 2003. I had been a university student and a moderate Muslim but left university to devote myself to Islam. I first went to Syria, where all the incoming Mujahideen and Jihadists stayed together. We were given food and everything we needed until it was time to depart to Iraq. We travelled to Abu Kamal, which is a town on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and entered with no difficulty because we had been given passports and all the necessary travel documents. We first went to Al Qaim, then to Ramadi, and finally arrived in Baghdad where we were divided up into different groups. There were young Jihadists from all parts of the Arab World including Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. You name the country, they were there. We were all young extremists who had come for Jihad. We were not interested in politics, but based our beliefs upon the <strong><em>Asoul</em></strong>, the original texts of Islam. If the texts supported fighting and killing, we were prepared to fight and kill."<br />
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"But some Muslims argue," interrupted Rashid, "That you misinterpreted the texts of Islam."<br />
"That is incorrect," replied Khalid, "We followed the exegesis of Ibn Taymiyah. He said that when Muslims were living in a state of weakness they should follow the peaceful suras of the Koran that were written in Mecca, but when they became powerful they should follow the suras of Medina."<br />
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"Why did you change your mind about Jihad?" asked Rashid.<br />
"The reason I left Iraq and returned to Jordan was not for religious reasons or because I thought I had misinterpreted Islam," replied Khalid. "I returned because my family needed me. But after my return I began to ask myself why I was being told to hate and fight Christians and Jews. I discovered that the reasons were religious, not political." <br />
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When Rashid asked Khalid where he was now in his spiritual journey, Khalid replied he no longer believed in Muhammad but was beginning to investigate the teaching of Jesus. <br />
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I find stories like this very encouraging. When I say my goal is to convince Muslims that Muhammad was just a man and the Koran is just a book, I am often informed it will never happen. The experience of Khalid tells me that it can happen, although just one person at a time. I believe that is much more intellectually honest than trying to convince Khalid he merely misinterpreted the peaceful message of Muhammad and the Koran. And yes, I do believe it should be called Islamic terrorism.</div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4385205961037530446.post-11763074768928050062011-09-21T19:38:00.000-04:002011-09-21T19:38:38.251-04:00The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I'm embarrassed to admit that I am influenced by the media. The reason I watch neither Sean Hannity nor Rachel Maddow is not that I don't believe they are both gifted, charismatic individuals, but that I realize how easily I could be sucked into their respective and polarizing agendas.<br />
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I am one of millions of people who, a half dozen years or so ago, was captivated by James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces. And I am one of millions who was angered and disappointed when The Smoking Gun website followed by Oprah exposed him as "a liar and a fraud". Oprah was particularly incensed because she had both interviewed him and endorsed his book on her television show. She was merciless with him afterwards. Along with many others, I tossed James Frey into the rubbish bin never to think of him again. <br />
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Until last week that is, when I listened to an extensive recent interview between Oprah and Frey. She was apologetic, seeking his forgiveness (well, not in so many words) for her role in the hell he went through. She acknowledged that she had judged him. He explained he had written his book, which was loosely based upon his own life experiences, as a novel and only changed it to a "memoir" when publishers told him it was the only way they would publish it. He noted that he saw himself as an artist as much as an author. Just as Pablo Picasso painted "self-portraits" that in no way resembled himself except in his own imagination, James had written his book as a self-portrait only loosely connected to documented times and events. But unlike Picasso, James was exposed to a scrutiny of his life by the American media and public that could have destroyed a lesser man. One of the most poignant moments of the interview was when he described a painting in his house called Public Stoning. Every time he looked at the painting, said James, it reminded him of what he had gone through and exhorted him never to go through that again. <br />
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He then described a book he had just written, a reinterpretation of the life of Jesus called <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?field-keywords=the+final+testament+of+the+holy+bible+by+james+frey&url=search-alias%3Daps&x=0&y=0">The Final Testament of the Holy Bible</a></em></strong>. I'm reading and enjoying it. If reading about a bisexual, alcoholic Jesus who lives in the slums of New York City and impregnates a young Puerto Rican stripper is too much for your theological tastebuds, I wouldn't recommend it. But if you are open to new insights from a young, gifted author, this might be your kind of book. I'm reminded of a pastor friend who once told me he never formed his theology from the movies he watched. The same should hold true of books as well. </div>Quotable Quotes:http://www.blogger.com/profile/10875865758846571469noreply@blogger.com3