Like most Americans, I've been closely following events in the Libya and the other Arab countries. Much has been made of the violence directed primarily toward American embassies (but English, French, and German as well), and the coldblooded murder of our Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens plus three others (the capture and murder were even shown live on Libyan TV).
The Obama White House attempted (and is still attempting) to link the violence to a previously unknown and poorly made movie "insulting" the Moslem prophet, Muhammad. At the same time, local media shows Moslems apologizing for their fellow Moslems and expressing how ashamed they are of the acts of barbarity, and all the while, their governments doing little to stop (and in some case, actually encouraging) the protests. We had our own President Obama actually apologize to those who stormed the walls of our embassy in Cairo.
Now, let's think about this for just a bit shall we? Our State Department allegedly claims the attack in Libya was "spontaneous". The Obama White House claims it was "spontaneous". However, the attack came on the 11th anniversary of the 911 terrorists attack. Reports out of our embassy indicated "strange behavior" days before by the locals, as well as by the Libyans security personnel working within the embassy compound. Ambassador Steve even tweeted a few hours earlier that he expected to be killed that night. None of our security personnel were allowed to carry live rounds. When the attack came, it came with RPGs, grenades, automatic weapons, and appeared to be well organized, especially since the compound was completely seized within a few hours.
Later, officials in Libya concluded this was a pre-planned staged attacked. Local Al Qaeda leaders said it was staged, and called for more protests (which they got), along with instructions to murder Americans where you find them. But Obama says it all has to do with the movie. I have to wonder why Obama would seem so insistent to deny the obvious? Could it be because they ignore the all the warning signs? Could it be because this was the promised revenge for taking out the chief thug, Osama bin Laden? Could it be because he has no plans for a response? Perhaps there's some other reason like campaigning and not doing his job to protect Americans. After all, embassies are considered "national soil" and an attack on an embassy carries the same diplomatic weight as an attack on that country. Why too would Obama snub one of our staunchest allies and the only democracy in the region, Israel, while at the same time, engage active conversation with the Moslem Brotherhood, who control Egypt and Libya?
Second, we're told repeatedly (usually after some act of bloodshed) that Islam is a religion of peace. Most of the Moslems I've known are very peaceful, reflective individuals. So who are these thousands of people burning American flags, beating up, jailing, or murdering Americans? Who are these people destroying property, throwing rocks, planting bombs, and blowing themselves and innocent men, women, and children up? Who are these people who are angry at perceived insults directed toward Allah and Mohammed but feel free to attack Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and destroy or burn their sacred structures and texts? Why are their governments unwilling (or unable) to stop it? Willing accomplices I often wonder. Why did we spend all this time, money, and lives, to save Afghan and Iraqi lives; rebuild both countries, only to see them cowardly murder their benefactors? Where are all the outranged non-extremists? Why are they always a few camera ready "apologizing" and not doing something to stop the violence?
Why do "peaceful" and "enlighten" Moslems still engage in "honor murders" of their wives, sisters, and daughters? What religious culture makes men so afraid of the women, they make the women hide themselves? Why are Moslem women still treated like property, with little or no rights? Why do girls going to school fear having acid thrown in their faces, and why don't their families or the local authorities do something about it? After all, the perpetrators are often well known by all. But, then, this is their responsibility, not ours.
Perhaps groups like Al Qaeda are right. All they want is for the West to leave them alone and party like it's 979. Frankly, I have no problem with that. We could stop the $11.6 billion in humanitarian and economic aid we send to the Arab/Moslem nations too. After all most of these nations don't even support us in the United Nations. The trip back to 979 won't take long. I'm sure we could find something to do with that money here at home. But there's the little matter of oil and of Israel. The West , for all its economic wealth and materialism, is a junkie; a bodybuilder on steroids. Our drug of choice is oil. Think of it as industrial grade opium. We have lots of other options---solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, thermo, battery, and more, but we like oil. The problem is that the world is quickly running out. Global oil production peaked about 15 years ago, but there's still lots of money to be made before the bottom falls out (and we're not even discussing global warming). Despite all the bluster from the US and the West about democracy and human rights, it's really all about the oil. President Jimmy Carter promised Americans in 1976 after OPEC's oil embargo that we would be energy independent in 20 years. We're more dependent than ever, and with Wall Street controlling Washington, not much is going to change until we break the link. China, India, and other emerging nations are trying to get their fix too. Mother Russia seems to be the most secure of the world powers with its vast and still largely untapped fields in Siberia. Global warming is proving to be a short term boon for the Bear.
As for Israel. sorry folks but it isn't going anywhere. You better come to terms with it. The best the terrorists and other fanatics can hope for is a long drawn stalemate, but I'm afraid what will happen is a nuclear, chemical or biological strike against Israel. If that should happen, in its final act of defiance, Israel will take out every aggressor nation in the region. The Sons of Abraham will die with their hands around each other's throats. Embraced at last. There will be no messiah to deliverer the survivors, unless cockroaches have a messiah. They will be the meek who inherit the earth, or at least a portion of it. Just imagine. All three Abrahamic religions believe in a god of love, compassion, and peace, so what do we do? We hate and butcher in His name. Wouldn't He be proud of us, His creation? Apparently God does make some mistakes.
The West, along with China, India, and the rest of the world will finally be rid of its addiction like a junkie going cold turkey, but at least it will be free. It then will be forced to deal with the long cold nuclear nightmare of massive starvation, disease and radiation; all for greed. Greed is good, but Humanity is better.
Back home, Obama's agenda is nothing short of the social re-engineering of America. He claims our Founding Fathers were flawed, and therefore, our Constitution is flawed. He believes in social and wealth redistribution. He even said so. He believes is socialism at best, but we seem to be headed for an American version of Stalinism. I'm sure the end justifies the means. For the victor, it always does. But it's not just America, it's the rest of the world too. We are quickly moving away from the era of individualistic freedom and toward a corporate feudalism in America with a yet to be determined socialistic or fascist tilt. But there is still theocratic dictatorship or communism with a capitalist mask for the rest of the world too. So, what will it be folks? Tyranny by dollar? Tyranny by religion? Tyranny by dogma? Or will it yet be freedom for all? It's your call.
Showing posts with label Koran burning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Koran burning. Show all posts
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
US Sargeant Kills 16 Afghan Civilians
We can't seem to catch a break in Afghanistan. A few weeks ago, the US was apologizing all over itself over the accidental burning of some Koran copies left behind at a base in transaction (which resulted in several dead and tens of thousands of dollars in damage to property). Now, a 38 year old US Army Staff Sergeant named Robert Bales (with helmet) 
snapped and murdered approximately 16 innocent Afghan men; women, and children while they peacefully sat or slept in their homes. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked that US and NATO troops be restricted to base and added that his troops were capable of picking up the slack. He also asked the timeline for US troops withdrawal be moved one year (frankly, who can blame him?). The Taliban has withdrawn from "peace talks" (yeah, I didn't put much stock in it either) and now they are threatening to killing more US and NATO troops (as if they needed another excuse).
Now, before anyone goes off thinking this was "par for course" ; just another US serviceman going nuts and just starts killing everyone in sight, let's look at what we at least know (or think we know) at this point. The first thing to consider is that was his third tour of duty. No one likes to be away from home. No one. But here we have a soldier, who volunteered just two weeks after 9/11. He was willing to put life on hold for America, yet he's expected to turn off everything he was taught; forget everything he's seen and step back into society as if he'd simply gone to the local 7/11. Also, this same soldier had suffered a mild concussion last year at Ft. Bliss, and later was twice injured in Iraq, including the lost part of foot (yet another, very personal reminder of what he's been through). And in case you have any further other doubts about this man, let's remember that his job was providing protection to Special Operation Forces, in dealing with the often mercurial militias and he had no history of Islamophobia or disrespect for the Afghan People. By all accounts, he was another outstanding example of an American Soldier.
Servicemen and women have been struggling with this aspect of war since we started murdering each other in an organized fashion. War requires a specific mindset. One of the things you're taught in the service, beginning in boot camp is that you are not indestructible.; no one is. You can and may likely die. The individual counts for little. It's the team and unit that matters. Once you've come to accept that dirty little fact, everything else falls into place. But, with repeated deployments, you're asking the service member to turn their training off and on again like a light. Well, sooner or later, a light will stop functioning properly and so does the human mind, and when it does, you have heartbreaks like My Lai.
In the past, repeated tours of duty weren't that common (a few actually volunteered) but that went the way of the draft. Few ever did more than two tours. Unfortunately , our military has dropped the ball when it comes to reintegrating military personnel back into society now that we have a smaller military, which means more frequent rotation and longer deployment into and out of combat situations. You just can't go from be a cold blooded killer living and breathing in a highly stressful and intensive combat zone for a year at a time and then suddenly you're home and expected to be an average "soccer dad". As an aside, Congress has proposed to reduce our military even more, which will call for longer and more frequent tours of duty in the future.
Secondly, here was a soldier who had just witnessed a friend's leg blown off the day before. How would you respond, especially when you're in the "wind down" phase of turning the country over and getting out? Your first thought has to be "why"? Things like that aren't supposed to happen; not now. Supposedly our Afghan trained "allies" have everything under control, at least according to Karzai. Oh, and the Taliban? Well, as I mentioned, they were supposedly wanting to talk peace with US and the Afghan government. Doesn't sound too "peaceful" to me. How about to you?
We shouldn't forget that there have been several instances over the last year of Afghan soldiers shooting and either killing or wounded US or NATO troops. There has been at least 7 such killings over the past few weeks. How come we're not protesting ? Needless to say, this get little prime time coverage since it doesn't fit into the bigger picture and public image. Check out this article
Afghan's President Karzai has "requested" that US and NATO troops be confined to base and avoid any direct contact with the country's population after telling US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that we've "reached the end of rope". Really? I didn't realized American troops were ever on anyone's "rope". But, I suppose that's playing with semantics. The fact is, we didn't need a sustained presence in Afghanistan and most certainly not Iraq. Our role was to find and remove Bin Laden and anyone directly involved with 9/11. In that we were successful. However, I think we should stay out of the nation building business.
No Honor Here
There was an article I read recently which, frankly, horrified me (and I don't winch much folks). In this article, a young Moroccan girl of 16 by the name of Amina Filali
had been brutally raped. Under Islamic law (Article 475), she was required to marry her rapists. No, that's not a typo or mistake. The law, which essentially blames the woman, or girl in this case, for the rape and is a "dishonor" to family. No consideration is given to the individual in this case. To restore their familial honor, the girl must agree to marry her assailant. In exchange, the rapist avoids any form of punishment. No crime --- no punishment. Seriously. In her last courageous act, Amina swallowed rat poison. That's no way for a 16 year girl to die. If you'd like to read more, check out the article here
Change and Hope
I case you're wondering, yes, the design of AO has been changed. The goal was to make the design and color a little more easy on the eye. We've also changed out URL and email addresses. I've also expand the name of the blog from simply "Another Opinion" to "Another Opinion with Paul Hosse". Our new URL will be AnotherOpinionBlog.com and if you would like to write, our new email address is PaulHosse@aol.com. Hope you like the change!
snapped and murdered approximately 16 innocent Afghan men; women, and children while they peacefully sat or slept in their homes. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked that US and NATO troops be restricted to base and added that his troops were capable of picking up the slack. He also asked the timeline for US troops withdrawal be moved one year (frankly, who can blame him?). The Taliban has withdrawn from "peace talks" (yeah, I didn't put much stock in it either) and now they are threatening to killing more US and NATO troops (as if they needed another excuse).
Now, before anyone goes off thinking this was "par for course" ; just another US serviceman going nuts and just starts killing everyone in sight, let's look at what we at least know (or think we know) at this point. The first thing to consider is that was his third tour of duty. No one likes to be away from home. No one. But here we have a soldier, who volunteered just two weeks after 9/11. He was willing to put life on hold for America, yet he's expected to turn off everything he was taught; forget everything he's seen and step back into society as if he'd simply gone to the local 7/11. Also, this same soldier had suffered a mild concussion last year at Ft. Bliss, and later was twice injured in Iraq, including the lost part of foot (yet another, very personal reminder of what he's been through). And in case you have any further other doubts about this man, let's remember that his job was providing protection to Special Operation Forces, in dealing with the often mercurial militias and he had no history of Islamophobia or disrespect for the Afghan People. By all accounts, he was another outstanding example of an American Soldier.
Servicemen and women have been struggling with this aspect of war since we started murdering each other in an organized fashion. War requires a specific mindset. One of the things you're taught in the service, beginning in boot camp is that you are not indestructible.; no one is. You can and may likely die. The individual counts for little. It's the team and unit that matters. Once you've come to accept that dirty little fact, everything else falls into place. But, with repeated deployments, you're asking the service member to turn their training off and on again like a light. Well, sooner or later, a light will stop functioning properly and so does the human mind, and when it does, you have heartbreaks like My Lai.
In the past, repeated tours of duty weren't that common (a few actually volunteered) but that went the way of the draft. Few ever did more than two tours. Unfortunately , our military has dropped the ball when it comes to reintegrating military personnel back into society now that we have a smaller military, which means more frequent rotation and longer deployment into and out of combat situations. You just can't go from be a cold blooded killer living and breathing in a highly stressful and intensive combat zone for a year at a time and then suddenly you're home and expected to be an average "soccer dad". As an aside, Congress has proposed to reduce our military even more, which will call for longer and more frequent tours of duty in the future.
Secondly, here was a soldier who had just witnessed a friend's leg blown off the day before. How would you respond, especially when you're in the "wind down" phase of turning the country over and getting out? Your first thought has to be "why"? Things like that aren't supposed to happen; not now. Supposedly our Afghan trained "allies" have everything under control, at least according to Karzai. Oh, and the Taliban? Well, as I mentioned, they were supposedly wanting to talk peace with US and the Afghan government. Doesn't sound too "peaceful" to me. How about to you?
We shouldn't forget that there have been several instances over the last year of Afghan soldiers shooting and either killing or wounded US or NATO troops. There has been at least 7 such killings over the past few weeks. How come we're not protesting ? Needless to say, this get little prime time coverage since it doesn't fit into the bigger picture and public image. Check out this article
Afghan's President Karzai has "requested" that US and NATO troops be confined to base and avoid any direct contact with the country's population after telling US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that we've "reached the end of rope". Really? I didn't realized American troops were ever on anyone's "rope". But, I suppose that's playing with semantics. The fact is, we didn't need a sustained presence in Afghanistan and most certainly not Iraq. Our role was to find and remove Bin Laden and anyone directly involved with 9/11. In that we were successful. However, I think we should stay out of the nation building business.
No Honor Here
There was an article I read recently which, frankly, horrified me (and I don't winch much folks). In this article, a young Moroccan girl of 16 by the name of Amina Filali
had been brutally raped. Under Islamic law (Article 475), she was required to marry her rapists. No, that's not a typo or mistake. The law, which essentially blames the woman, or girl in this case, for the rape and is a "dishonor" to family. No consideration is given to the individual in this case. To restore their familial honor, the girl must agree to marry her assailant. In exchange, the rapist avoids any form of punishment. No crime --- no punishment. Seriously. In her last courageous act, Amina swallowed rat poison. That's no way for a 16 year girl to die. If you'd like to read more, check out the article here
Change and Hope
I case you're wondering, yes, the design of AO has been changed. The goal was to make the design and color a little more easy on the eye. We've also changed out URL and email addresses. I've also expand the name of the blog from simply "Another Opinion" to "Another Opinion with Paul Hosse". Our new URL will be AnotherOpinionBlog.com and if you would like to write, our new email address is PaulHosse@aol.com. Hope you like the change!
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Enough is Enough
Six dead US servicemen. 30 dead Afghan civilians. US flag burnings. Rioting. Stone throwing. Cars and buildings burned and destroyed. Roving mobs of protesters. The head of US troops in Afghanistan, US Marine General John Allen, US Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, and the US President have made repeated apologies, and the rioting continues, now entering its third week while the unstable and allegedly corrupt Afghani government of Hamid Karzi looks on; either powerless to stop it, or simply unwilling to do so. Enough is enough.
Look, we're sorry. No one ever intended to slight or insult Islam or the Afghan People. There were five US servicemen and one Afghan advisor who were instructed to dispose of material at the Parwan Detention Center. Typically military protocol is that you burn all paper products. They screwed up. They apologized. The head of US ground forces in the region, General Allen, apologized and promised the appropriate "punishment" (and when a Marine says he's going to do something, it gets done...pronto). That's what civilized people do. That's what supposed allies do. They accept responsibility and do something about it. Do you think that the US and Britain haven't accidentally stepped on each other's toes over the decades? Neither has murdered anyone; or looted anything; or burn buildings and cars. It's really time to knock it off.
We went to Afghanistan at the request Afghan People; not as conquerors did in the past, but as liberators. Sure, we were going after Bin Laden and his group of lunatics anyway, but that didn't require committing massive qualities of American material and manpower. However, it was the Afghan People who asked us to liberate them from the brutal and backwards Al Qaida and Taliban. Remember them? They were the ones throwing acid in the faces of your daughters who wanted to go to school. They were also the ones beating your wives and daughters with cane sticks for not following their version of the Islam while you did nothing. They were the ones who deprived you of modern technology and medicine. By the way, how did you like living in the Stone Age?
And something else Afghanis, we helped secure your freedom from the invading Russians, or did you forget that? We've built schools, roads, hospitals. We've helped you rebuild your infrastructure from the ground up...literally. We helped you form a new government of you choosing. To paraphrase our Benjamin Franklin, it's up to you to keep it or lose it. And from what I've seen over the past two weeks, maybe the Taliban weren't so bad after all. But, you see, Americans don't do that. We believe in peacefully protesting. We believe in peacefully challenging our elected officials, not murdering people and destroying property. When you burned our Bible, you don't see the same inbreed behavior did you? You don't see us freaking out when you burn our flag (although it makes us just as mad as you were. I think the two word combination where is "civilized restraint". Look it up if you all haven't burn all the dictionaries.
Now, what are you planning on doing about the six murdered US servicemen? How's that criminal investigation going? Any arrests? Same questions about the murdered Afghanis. Who's responsible for the destroyed property? Who's paying for that? I suspect the answer is "nobody", which is what most of the world now expects.
Now it's time for us to go. We did all you asked of us and much much more. We're not looking for any praise or even "thank you for saving our collective tuckus". I guess it's just what a freedom loving people with the greatest men and women in uniform do. We would, however, hope you stop killing people and breaking things. It's like watching a nation throwing some sort of collective three year old temper tantrum. If you want to remain medieval, that's fine; it's your business. But you keep biting the hand of the people who've repeatedly saved your country on your behalf, and we may decide to leave you to your collective fate next time, which would be a terrible loss to the world. Your call.
Look, we're sorry. No one ever intended to slight or insult Islam or the Afghan People. There were five US servicemen and one Afghan advisor who were instructed to dispose of material at the Parwan Detention Center. Typically military protocol is that you burn all paper products. They screwed up. They apologized. The head of US ground forces in the region, General Allen, apologized and promised the appropriate "punishment" (and when a Marine says he's going to do something, it gets done...pronto). That's what civilized people do. That's what supposed allies do. They accept responsibility and do something about it. Do you think that the US and Britain haven't accidentally stepped on each other's toes over the decades? Neither has murdered anyone; or looted anything; or burn buildings and cars. It's really time to knock it off.
We went to Afghanistan at the request Afghan People; not as conquerors did in the past, but as liberators. Sure, we were going after Bin Laden and his group of lunatics anyway, but that didn't require committing massive qualities of American material and manpower. However, it was the Afghan People who asked us to liberate them from the brutal and backwards Al Qaida and Taliban. Remember them? They were the ones throwing acid in the faces of your daughters who wanted to go to school. They were also the ones beating your wives and daughters with cane sticks for not following their version of the Islam while you did nothing. They were the ones who deprived you of modern technology and medicine. By the way, how did you like living in the Stone Age?
And something else Afghanis, we helped secure your freedom from the invading Russians, or did you forget that? We've built schools, roads, hospitals. We've helped you rebuild your infrastructure from the ground up...literally. We helped you form a new government of you choosing. To paraphrase our Benjamin Franklin, it's up to you to keep it or lose it. And from what I've seen over the past two weeks, maybe the Taliban weren't so bad after all. But, you see, Americans don't do that. We believe in peacefully protesting. We believe in peacefully challenging our elected officials, not murdering people and destroying property. When you burned our Bible, you don't see the same inbreed behavior did you? You don't see us freaking out when you burn our flag (although it makes us just as mad as you were. I think the two word combination where is "civilized restraint". Look it up if you all haven't burn all the dictionaries.
Now, what are you planning on doing about the six murdered US servicemen? How's that criminal investigation going? Any arrests? Same questions about the murdered Afghanis. Who's responsible for the destroyed property? Who's paying for that? I suspect the answer is "nobody", which is what most of the world now expects.
Now it's time for us to go. We did all you asked of us and much much more. We're not looking for any praise or even "thank you for saving our collective tuckus". I guess it's just what a freedom loving people with the greatest men and women in uniform do. We would, however, hope you stop killing people and breaking things. It's like watching a nation throwing some sort of collective three year old temper tantrum. If you want to remain medieval, that's fine; it's your business. But you keep biting the hand of the people who've repeatedly saved your country on your behalf, and we may decide to leave you to your collective fate next time, which would be a terrible loss to the world. Your call.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A Global War: Deliverance from Intolerance?
This week is one of the holiest for Jews and Christian. Passover, which celebrates the Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and Easter, when Christians of all denominations and sects come together to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus following his crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. Indeed, Easter can be said to be the crux of Christianity. Both events celebrate good over the evil; of faith in God so save the righteous. Yet, today, both religions, along with Hinduism, Buddhism, and numerous others, are under threat again. This time it’s by radical Islam, which calls for the establishment of a global Caliphate and worldwide enforcement of the extremist interpretation of Sharia law. While most religions would choose to live in peace, radical Islam has literally declared a “jihad” or “holy war” on anyone, including non-conforming Moslems that don’t accept their rule. The penalty is death. There is no “compromise”. There is no “negotiation. After all, in their eyes, how do you “negotiate” with God?
Over the past several years, dozens of churches have been destroyed. Christians have been beaten, threatened, harassed, and murdered. Just last week, Moslem troops in the African state of Ivory Coast, murdered 1000 Christians. Yes, you read that number correctly. Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists have fared little better. Who doesn’t remember the brutal assault of radical Moslem attacking Mumbai India in 2008 or the destruction of Buddhist statues, hundreds of years old in 2003? Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, not to mention Zoroastrians, Taoists, and others have often faced the same fate as Christians with beatings, murders, and the ubiquitous decapitations.
We are at war. This war has little to do with geopolitics, Afghanistan, or Iraq. It has to do with God. It’s a global religious war, and whether or not we want to accept it make little difference to do those who are waging it. Perhaps, from their perspective, it’s even better. Taking a lesson from Sun Tzu, its good strategy to talk peace or be seen as promoting peace while engaging in war. What better way to expand your influence?
What can we do? First, we have to acknowledge it. We can expect our current administration to do nothing. Washington is not just leaderless, it’s clueless. We must build a grassroots movement of interfaith to not just focus on religious tolerance, but demand it. We should encourage and support moderate or liberal/sectarian Moslems to speak up and speak out. After all, it’s ultimately their faith being hijacked. For those living in the West, we should encourage the adoption of western dress, values, and language. If they don’t “buy into” Western Culture, how they can be expected to defend it? This is, of course, the near opposite of multiculturalism which wants to be everything to everybody while undermining the essence of what it means to be an American, or German, or English, or French, or Russian. Multiculturalism is ultimately cowardice.
The West, and I include Eastern Europe and Russia as well, must come together with a zero tolerance of radicalism in their own countries. Radicals must be dealt with swiftly. Prisons are the fastest breeding ground for radical Islam. It must stop. Moderate Islam must be introduced and encouraged in the world’s prisons. India too must take the same steps to curtail the growth of extremists groups. The World must not just protest acts of atrocity, they must demand swift action. These countries, which allow churches and temples to be burned, and the murder innocents depend on the West for their economic survival. Perhaps we should flex our economic might by demanding immediate and public justice. The fact that most of these acts happen in poor and often illiterate countries, shows why education (especially of females) is so feared by radicals. Education requires empirical thought---reason and logic. That’s something radicalism can’t tolerate any more than cockroaches can tolerate the glare of light.
My hope is the realization of the meaning of both Passover and Easter, which is namely the celebration of freedom from intolerance, fear, and tyranny, be it from a Pharaoh, the Romans, religious fascism, or globalism.
Over the past several years, dozens of churches have been destroyed. Christians have been beaten, threatened, harassed, and murdered. Just last week, Moslem troops in the African state of Ivory Coast, murdered 1000 Christians. Yes, you read that number correctly. Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists have fared little better. Who doesn’t remember the brutal assault of radical Moslem attacking Mumbai India in 2008 or the destruction of Buddhist statues, hundreds of years old in 2003? Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, not to mention Zoroastrians, Taoists, and others have often faced the same fate as Christians with beatings, murders, and the ubiquitous decapitations.
We are at war. This war has little to do with geopolitics, Afghanistan, or Iraq. It has to do with God. It’s a global religious war, and whether or not we want to accept it make little difference to do those who are waging it. Perhaps, from their perspective, it’s even better. Taking a lesson from Sun Tzu, its good strategy to talk peace or be seen as promoting peace while engaging in war. What better way to expand your influence?
What can we do? First, we have to acknowledge it. We can expect our current administration to do nothing. Washington is not just leaderless, it’s clueless. We must build a grassroots movement of interfaith to not just focus on religious tolerance, but demand it. We should encourage and support moderate or liberal/sectarian Moslems to speak up and speak out. After all, it’s ultimately their faith being hijacked. For those living in the West, we should encourage the adoption of western dress, values, and language. If they don’t “buy into” Western Culture, how they can be expected to defend it? This is, of course, the near opposite of multiculturalism which wants to be everything to everybody while undermining the essence of what it means to be an American, or German, or English, or French, or Russian. Multiculturalism is ultimately cowardice.
The West, and I include Eastern Europe and Russia as well, must come together with a zero tolerance of radicalism in their own countries. Radicals must be dealt with swiftly. Prisons are the fastest breeding ground for radical Islam. It must stop. Moderate Islam must be introduced and encouraged in the world’s prisons. India too must take the same steps to curtail the growth of extremists groups. The World must not just protest acts of atrocity, they must demand swift action. These countries, which allow churches and temples to be burned, and the murder innocents depend on the West for their economic survival. Perhaps we should flex our economic might by demanding immediate and public justice. The fact that most of these acts happen in poor and often illiterate countries, shows why education (especially of females) is so feared by radicals. Education requires empirical thought---reason and logic. That’s something radicalism can’t tolerate any more than cockroaches can tolerate the glare of light.
My hope is the realization of the meaning of both Passover and Easter, which is namely the celebration of freedom from intolerance, fear, and tyranny, be it from a Pharaoh, the Romans, religious fascism, or globalism.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Burning of the Koran: Fuel for Thought
“Where they have burned books, they will in the end burn human beings---Heinrich Heine.
As hard as it is to believe, a Pentecostal minister had proposed the burning of a religious text. The pretext was over his opposition to the ill-conceived building of a mosque at Ground Zero; near the site of where the Twin Towers stood (the mosque is to be named the “Victory Mosque”). Didn’t that go out of fad in the West during the end of the Middle Ages?
Reverend Terry Jones had planned on using the anniversary of 9/11 to create a media event by burning copies of the Koran outside his small 50 member church located in Gainesville, Florida. According to Jones, the Koran “espouses evil” because it teaches something other than “biblical truth” in accordance to Reverend Jones’ beliefs.
The minister has come under intense pressure not to follow through with “stunt” as President Obama put it, and claimed that it would put US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in additional harm’s way. US Secretary of State Robert Gates made a personal phone call to Jones and asked that the event be cancelled. Even the Pope weighed in and suggested the reverend reconsider.
After meeting with Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, and praying for a sign from God, the minister agreed to postpone, for now, the fiery demise the Moslem’s holy text, in exchange for moving the Ground Zero Mosque. Reverend Jones has agreed to fly to New York with the Imam to meet with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the Islamic Center building the mosque. Jones had commented that an agreement was reached to relocate the mosque away from the site where Moslem terror-cowards hijacked two passenger planes and rammed them into the Twin Towers.
Imam Rauf said, however, that no such agreement had been reached. If fact, the imam rather defiantly said, "I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony." Jones stands by his claim, and said "I verified that three or four times with witnesses. I trust that man who gave me that. I believe he is a man of integrity, a man of his word, I do not believe that he lied to me. If the mosque is not moved, Jones added "then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that."
Word of the planned burning spread rapidly in the Moslem World with counter burnings proposed amid mass protests and chants of “Death to Christians” throughout even the most moderate of Moslem countries. So what are we to make of all this?
First, I think this was a nothing more than a publicity stunt to promote Jones and his church. Sure, his disgust over the building of the mosque at Ground Zero is probably real enough. Who isn’t ticked off at its audacity? Historically, a mosque has always been erected at or near the site major victories. Is it any wonder the Ground Zero Mosque is unofficially known as the “Victory Mosque”? Of course, the new offical name is Park51. It was changed from Cordoba House. But, having said that, Jones was successfully in getting some attention for his church and perhaps, some donations from some well meaning souls. Will he be successful in getting the mosque moved? Of course not. Nevertheless, after the book burnings of Nazi Germany, how can anyone call for the burning or for that matter, even the banning of books, especially a religious text? In the end, you only destroy paper and cardboard while the ideas contained in the books are only inflamed by the fire.
Secondly, if Reverend Jones, or someone else, stages a Koran burning now or in the future, would it put US troops in danger? I think the answer is obvious, and not only US troops, but civilians as well as Westerners in general. Remember, non-Moslems are allowed to practice their religions only as courtesy of the host nation not as right. There is no such thing as religious freedom there. Non-Moslems are afforded little legal recourse against discrimination or even attacks based on religion. Christian churches, as well as Hindu and Buddhist temples (some centuries old) had been vandalized and even destroyed with no punishment of the perpetrators. The occasional public “anti-West’ demonstrations and burning of the Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah, and well as other sacred texts are not that uncommon. So, we certainly have a double standard that the West, at least, seems to be willing to play along with.
So, what’s the solution? Obviously global religious freedom, tolerance, and sensitivity would be a good place to start, but don’t look for that to happen as long as some religions have an “all or nothing” mentality and are quietly (and not so quietly) working to bring about their version of the Armageddon. While the Islamic Center in New York has a Constitutional right to build a mosque wherever zoning ordinances permit in this country, something their own religion denies to others, their insensitively to the location barely masks an arrogance and contempt for America.
Suggested Articles:
Religious Police Destroy Temple
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/mar/26/20050326-111002-8593r/
Moslems Attack Hindus
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15923&size=A
Muslims Deny Buddhist Majority
http://hinduexistence.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/malay-muslims-denies-thailands-buddhist-majority-6-buddhists-gunned-down-in-south-thailand-by-islamic-insurgents-for-pan-islamic-jihad/
Moslems Destroy Christian Church
http://hinduexistence.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/malay-muslims-denies-thailands-buddhist-majority-6-buddhists-gunned-down-in-south-thailand-by-islamic-insurgents-for-pan-islamic-jihad/
As hard as it is to believe, a Pentecostal minister had proposed the burning of a religious text. The pretext was over his opposition to the ill-conceived building of a mosque at Ground Zero; near the site of where the Twin Towers stood (the mosque is to be named the “Victory Mosque”). Didn’t that go out of fad in the West during the end of the Middle Ages?
Reverend Terry Jones had planned on using the anniversary of 9/11 to create a media event by burning copies of the Koran outside his small 50 member church located in Gainesville, Florida. According to Jones, the Koran “espouses evil” because it teaches something other than “biblical truth” in accordance to Reverend Jones’ beliefs.
The minister has come under intense pressure not to follow through with “stunt” as President Obama put it, and claimed that it would put US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in additional harm’s way. US Secretary of State Robert Gates made a personal phone call to Jones and asked that the event be cancelled. Even the Pope weighed in and suggested the reverend reconsider.
After meeting with Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, and praying for a sign from God, the minister agreed to postpone, for now, the fiery demise the Moslem’s holy text, in exchange for moving the Ground Zero Mosque. Reverend Jones has agreed to fly to New York with the Imam to meet with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the Islamic Center building the mosque. Jones had commented that an agreement was reached to relocate the mosque away from the site where Moslem terror-cowards hijacked two passenger planes and rammed them into the Twin Towers.
Imam Rauf said, however, that no such agreement had been reached. If fact, the imam rather defiantly said, "I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony." Jones stands by his claim, and said "I verified that three or four times with witnesses. I trust that man who gave me that. I believe he is a man of integrity, a man of his word, I do not believe that he lied to me. If the mosque is not moved, Jones added "then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that."
Word of the planned burning spread rapidly in the Moslem World with counter burnings proposed amid mass protests and chants of “Death to Christians” throughout even the most moderate of Moslem countries. So what are we to make of all this?
First, I think this was a nothing more than a publicity stunt to promote Jones and his church. Sure, his disgust over the building of the mosque at Ground Zero is probably real enough. Who isn’t ticked off at its audacity? Historically, a mosque has always been erected at or near the site major victories. Is it any wonder the Ground Zero Mosque is unofficially known as the “Victory Mosque”? Of course, the new offical name is Park51. It was changed from Cordoba House. But, having said that, Jones was successfully in getting some attention for his church and perhaps, some donations from some well meaning souls. Will he be successful in getting the mosque moved? Of course not. Nevertheless, after the book burnings of Nazi Germany, how can anyone call for the burning or for that matter, even the banning of books, especially a religious text? In the end, you only destroy paper and cardboard while the ideas contained in the books are only inflamed by the fire.
Secondly, if Reverend Jones, or someone else, stages a Koran burning now or in the future, would it put US troops in danger? I think the answer is obvious, and not only US troops, but civilians as well as Westerners in general. Remember, non-Moslems are allowed to practice their religions only as courtesy of the host nation not as right. There is no such thing as religious freedom there. Non-Moslems are afforded little legal recourse against discrimination or even attacks based on religion. Christian churches, as well as Hindu and Buddhist temples (some centuries old) had been vandalized and even destroyed with no punishment of the perpetrators. The occasional public “anti-West’ demonstrations and burning of the Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah, and well as other sacred texts are not that uncommon. So, we certainly have a double standard that the West, at least, seems to be willing to play along with.
So, what’s the solution? Obviously global religious freedom, tolerance, and sensitivity would be a good place to start, but don’t look for that to happen as long as some religions have an “all or nothing” mentality and are quietly (and not so quietly) working to bring about their version of the Armageddon. While the Islamic Center in New York has a Constitutional right to build a mosque wherever zoning ordinances permit in this country, something their own religion denies to others, their insensitively to the location barely masks an arrogance and contempt for America.
Suggested Articles:
Religious Police Destroy Temple
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/mar/26/20050326-111002-8593r/
Moslems Attack Hindus
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15923&size=A
Muslims Deny Buddhist Majority
http://hinduexistence.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/malay-muslims-denies-thailands-buddhist-majority-6-buddhists-gunned-down-in-south-thailand-by-islamic-insurgents-for-pan-islamic-jihad/
Moslems Destroy Christian Church
http://hinduexistence.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/malay-muslims-denies-thailands-buddhist-majority-6-buddhists-gunned-down-in-south-thailand-by-islamic-insurgents-for-pan-islamic-jihad/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)