INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: Saudi Arabia on Sunday beheaded a Yemeni man for rape, the Interior Ministry said. Mohammed bin Abdul-Raheem bin Ahmed was convicted of attacking the wife of a resident of the capital Riyadh in her home and raping her, the ministry said in a statement.Mark Alexander
He was beheaded in Riyadh. Yemeni beheaded in Saudi Arabia for rape
Sunday, September 10, 2006
David Selbourne, author of The Losing Battle with Islam writes a chilling prognosis of why the West will be defeated in this war with Islam.
THE SUNDAY TIMES: LET US SUPPOSE, for the sake of argument, that the war declared by al-Qaeda and other Islamists is under way. Let us further suppose that thousands of “terrorist” attacks carried out in Islam’s name during the past decades form part of this war; and that conflicts that have spread to 50 countries and more, taking the lives of millions — including in inter-Muslim blood-shedding — are the outcome of what Osama bin Laden has called “conducting jihad for the sake of Allah”.Mark Alexander
If such war is under way, there are ten good reasons why, as things stand, Islam will not be defeated in it. Can the West defeat the Islamist threat? Here are ten reasons why not by David Selbourne
Spare me the maudlin observances of the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, the ringing bells and the weeping widows.Mark Alexander
The most meaningful way to mark the date is with a national renewal of our commitment to confront and wipe out the evil ideology that spawned the attacks.
Gathering on the spot of the missing towers to sob and read aloud names will only cheer those who remember Sept. 11 as a victory for their insane cause.
I'd rather see us honor the anniversary by watching the powerful documentary "Obsession," an expose of the jihadist culture's true aims.
This movie ought to be shown Monday in every community center, every school, every church, synagogue and mosque, every living room in America. Mark 9/11 by declaring jihad on jihadists by Nolan Finley
One cannot help but wonder whether the Muslims in this new upsurge in immigrants from Muslim countries will help swell the call for Shari'ah law in America! Are the authorities really paying attention? Their apparent insouciance is rather unsettling! Shouldn't Americans be worried? The New York Times seems to be proud of the development! In view of the fact that Muslims worldwide are waging the jihad against the US and the rest of the West, isn't it rather reckless for the authorities to go ahead with such a policy on immigration? What is even more puzzling is this: Try and immigrate to the US as a Brit, or a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and you'll likely be given the cold shoulder! So why this discrimination in favour of Muslims at a time when the West cannot trust them to be loyal to the Western values and ideals of tolerance and democracy and freedom?
America’s newest Muslims arrive in the afternoon crunch at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Their planes land from Dubai, Casablanca and Karachi. They stand in line, clasping documents. They emerge, sometimes hours later, steering their carts toward a flock of relatives, a stream of cabs, a new life.Mark Alexander
This was the path for Nur Fatima, a Pakistani woman who moved to Brooklyn six months ago and promptly shed her hijab. Through the same doors walked Nora Elhainy, a Moroccan who sells electronics in Queens, and Ahmed Youssef, an Egyptian who settled in Jersey City, where he gives the call to prayer at a palatial mosque.
“I got freedom in this country,” said Ms. Fatima, 25. “Freedom of everything. Freedom of thought.”
The events of Sept. 11 transformed life for Muslims in the United States, and the flow of immigrants from countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco thinned sharply.
But five years later, as the United States wrestles with questions of terrorism, civil liberties and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers, according to statistics collected by the Department of Homeland Security and the Census Bureau.
Immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia are planting new roots in states from Virginia to Texas to California. More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 Dip
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Danish exports to Muslim countries have been hit hard by a row over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, officials in Denmark say.Mark Alexander
A Muslim boycott of Danish goods led to a 15.5% drop in total exports between February and June. Trade to the Middle East fell by half, statistics show.
An industry chief said there was little doubt the cartoons row was to blame. Cartoon row hits Danish exports
TOWNHALL: Seventy years ago this month, Adolf Hitler began seizing the assets of German Jews. He had waited until the summer Olympics in Berlin were finished and the world had seen the might of the Third Reich. Already, Hilter had established concentration camps for "undesirables" and forced many Jewish professionals out of their jobs. He had also harassed Catholics and Protestants who dared speak against his racist policies. The return of lethal fascismMark Alexander
Photo courtesy of EUObserver
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed radical EU reforms such as getting the European Commission president to pick his own commissioners and cross-border European Parliament elections - but first he wants a new EU "mini treaty." Sarkozy keen on radical shake up of EU institutionsMark Alexander
Friday, September 08, 2006
ISLAM REVIEW: Muslims often claim that Islam is the world's fastest growing religion. This boast empowers them with increased fervor as they race down the road for conquest of the New World. They argue that the number of new adherents embracing Islam is an indication of Allah's vindication and Islam's appeal as the only true religion. They ask, "How could so many people be wrong?" Hand in hand with this, Muslims cite another equally important claim, that Islam has a lower attrition rate than other faiths. ON THE ROAD TO THE NEW WORLD: Examining Islam's Expansionist History by Abdullah al-ArabyMark Alexander
These people want to kill us. The 'War on Terror' is a war for America's (and the rest of the free world's) FREEDOM, SECURITY, and SURVIVAL. NEVER forget! THE VIDEO: PROGRESS FOR AMERICAMark Alexander
THE JERUSALEM POST: Saudi Arabia's religious police, normally tasked with chiding women to cover themselves and ensuring men attend mosque prayers, are turning to a new target: cats and dogs.Mark Alexander
The police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence. Saudi Arabia: Sale of pet cats and dogs banned
RADIO NETHERLANDS: On Saturday, the radical Pakistani Muslim Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui is fronting an international conference in Amsterdam. In the Dutch parliament, though, eyebrows have been raised about why the man - who is considered a radical - has even been given a visa. Row as radical cleric arrives in the NetherlandsMark Alexander
... but ever since, he, and all the rest of the Church leaders, have been remarkably silent. One can therefore but ask oneself one simple question: If the former Archbishop of Canterbury could speak with such clarity and precision in 2004, why is he so silent today? And why are no Church leaders speaking any sense about Islam anymore? Clearly, the voice of sanity in the Church has been silenced. The sad reality is this: Political correctness dominates even in the Church of England today.
Address given by Lord Carey of Clifton at the Gregorian University, Rome, on Thursday, March 25 in which he criticised Islamic culture and regimes: 'Christianity and Islam: Collison [sic] or convergence?'Mark Alexander
"However, wherever we look, Islam seems to be embroiled in conflict with other faiths and other cultures. It is in opposition to practically every other world religion- to Judaism in the Middle East; to Christianity in the West, in Nigeria, and in the Middle East; to Hinduism in India; to Buddhism, especially since the destruction of the Temples in Afghanistan.
We are presented therefore with a huge puzzle concerning Islam. Why is it associated with violence throughout the world? Is extremism so ineluctably bound up with its faith that we are at last seeing its true character? Or could it be that a fight for the soul of Islam is going on that requires another great faith, Christianity, to support and encourage the vast majority of Muslims who resist this identification of their faith with terrorism?"
...
"Thus, believers are told, because they have come direct from Allah they are not to be questioned or revised. As it happens, in the first few centuries of the Islamic era, Islamic theologians sought to meet the challenge this implied, but during the past five hundred years critical scholarship has declined leading to strong resistance to modernity." ... "Saudi Arabia will not allow Christian worship and Christian priests and ministers are not allowed to function as such in that land. Muslim leaders often tell Christians and Jews that 'there is no compulsion in religion'. This sadly is only half true. If non-Muslims are not compelled to become Muslim, Muslims are not free to choose another faith. There is, we find, some compulsion, after all." Carey speech on Islam in full
Carey's Islam comments condemned
Muslim culture has contributed little for centuries, says Carey by Jonathan Petre
Carey defends 'anti-Islam' speech
WARNING: This video is NOT for the faint-hearted!
Video courtesy of YOU TUBE
Mark Alexander
BBC: Arabic TV channel Al-Jazeera has broadcast what it says is unseen footage of Osama Bin Laden meeting some of the 9/11 hijackers.Mark Alexander
The channel said it showed al-Qaeda leaders "preparing for the attacks and practising their execution". Bin Laden '9/11 video' broadcast
You can watch some of the video courtesy of the BBC HERE
AL-JAZEERA: A new videotape aired on Aljazeera television has shown Osama bin Laden and senior Al-Qaeda members meeting with some of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks against the US in 2001.
The 90-minute video apparently shows Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, taking part in the planning and preparation of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Al-Qaeda video takes credit for 9/11
Thursday, September 07, 2006
BBC: As part of his series on the fifth anniversary of the 11 September attacks, the BBC's Stephen Evans talks to Muslims in New York to see how they have been affected by the tragedy.Mark Alexander
Many Muslims in New York have been through a period of reflection since 11 September 2001, looking out at the wider US and wondering where they fit into it. NY Muslims keep the faith post 9/11
DAILY MAIL: How long will it be before Christianity becomes illegal in Britain? This is no longer the utterly absurd and offensive question that on first blush it would appear to be.Mark Alexander
An evangelical Christian campaigner, Stephen Green was arrested and charged last weekend with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.
So what was this behaviour? Merely trying peacefully to hand out leaflets at a gay rally in Cardiff. How Britain is turning Christianity into a crime by Melanie Phillips
Antony Thomas is the reporter and director of "Death of a Princess." In this interview, he talks about the reasons he turned his reporting into a docu-drama, the multiple sourcing that he had for it, the film's most controversial scenes and some of the pressures put on him and on others to prevent its broadcast. And, he discusses what he came to learn about the young princess herself and the basic facts behind her execution. This interview was conducted on March 21, 2005.Mark Alexander
Please note: "This film cannot be video streamed because Internet rights are not available."
Interview: Antony Thomas
Reflecting on "Princess" 25 Years Later
Interviews
Press Reaction
ISLAM REVIEW: Islam, in the West, is fighting its battle of acceptance and legitimacy. Muslim activists are working fervently trying to improve Islam's image. Their goal is to create an environment in which Islam can be easily propagated. Their tool is as old as Islam itself, but they have just rediscovered it. This tool is telling Christians that Islam and Christianity have a lot in common. They cite Islam's belief in the Bible, God, Jesus, Mary, the prophets, the day of judgment and Paradise. Nothing In Common by Abdullah Al ArabyMark Alexander
ASIA TIMES: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the definitive presence of traditional Shi'ite Islam, has warned that he "no longer has power to save Iraq from civil war", and has withdrawn from politics (see Iraq loses its voice of reason, Asia Times Online, September 6). Ayatollah al-Sistani and the end of Islam by SpenglerMark Alexander
ASIA TIMES: DAMASCUS - The saddest news coming from Iraq is the decision of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to cease all political activity and restrict himself to his religious duties in Shi'ite Islam. He said this weekend: "I will not be a political leader anymore. I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters." Iraq loses its voice of reason by Sami Moubayed
CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER: THE BRITISH media needs to be more balanced in its coverage of Islam, according to members of Christian-Muslim dialogue groups. On the fifth anniversary of the atrocities of 9/11 in New York, suspicion of Islam in the UK is higher than ever, as shown in a recent YouGov poll in which 53 per cent of respondents felt they thought Islam was a threat to Western liberal democracy. Media is warned over its coverage of Islam by Ed BeavanMark Alexander
FORBES: Iran's hard-line president urged students Tuesday to push for a purge of liberal and secular university teachers, another sign of his determination to strengthen Islamic fundamentalism in the country.Mark Alexander
With his call echoing the rhetoric of the nation's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad appears determined to remake Iran by reviving the fundamentalist goals pursued under the republic's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Iran Head Wants Liberal Teachers Ousted
TOWNHALL.COM: The month of September brings not only the fifth anniversary of the horrific terror attacks of 2001, but also marks the passage of 67 years since the beginning of World War II. An accurate, unflinching recollection of that incomparably destructive conflagration remains indispensable in understanding some of the key issues of the bloody conflicts of our own time. In particular, the course of World War II demonstrates the complete folly of the currently trendy notion that a just war somehow must qualify as “proportional.” Why seek "proportional" warfare? by Michael MedvedMark Alexander
GULF NEWS: Washington: US President George W. Bush vowed on Tuesday to prevent Al Qaida from setting up a violent, radical Islamic empire based in Iraq, which he said was Osama Bin Laden's ultimate goal.Mark Alexander
Bush said Al Qaida's vision was to create a "unified totalitarian Islamic state that can confront and eventually destroy the free world."
Bin Laden has declared Iraq "the capital of the caliphate," said Bush, who has often faced criticism for trying to tie Iraq into the broader "war on terrorism. Bush warns of Al Qaida plan for 'Caliphate' based in Iraq
BARNABUS FUND: Once there were tens. Then there were hundreds. Now Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, speaks of thousands of militant British Muslims, indoctrinated and radicalised in British mosques and madrassas.Mark Alexander
This is not, primarily, because of the influence of a handful of a few “preachers of hate”. Islamic extremism has spread in Britain thanks to a particular brand of multiculturalism encouraged by this Government. And until ministers tackle it - especially the influence of Muslim faith schools - all their new efforts to build cohesion will come to very little.
The context goes far beyond Britain. Contemporary Islam has burst out of its colonial restraints. Once colonialism removed power, jihad and territorial control from Islam, it was left a benign force focusing on prayer and good deeds. But contemporary Islam has reverted back to early Islam, with all its theological rage against the non-Muslim world. Issues like Iraq and Afghanistan have become valves for expressing this anger and hatred against Britain and the West. THE SCHOOLS THAT DIVIDE THE NATION by DR PATRICK SOOKHDEO
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
NIS NEWS BULLETIN: THE HAGUE, 07/09/06 - The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) will present a controversial report on Islam to European Commission vice president Franco Frattini next week. Released in the Netherlands in April, it was criticised by both the Lower House and Foreign Minister Bot. EU Discusses Controversial Dutch Report On islamMark Alexander
The beheaded body of a Sudanese newspaper editor has been found on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum. Kidnapped Sudan editor beheadedMark Alexander
REUTERS FOUNDATION - ALERTNET: (New York, September 6, 2006) Saudi Arabia should immediately end its discrimination against its 100,000 Chadian residents, most of whom were born in the kingdom but are increasingly denied the rights to basic education and emergency healthcare, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi Arabia's decision to target Chadian children for expulsion from school is arbitrary and discriminatory.Mark Alexander
For the past two years, the Saudi government has stopped renewing one- to two-year residency permits for all Chadians in Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch learned through telephone interviews with six Chadian nationals in and around Jeddah. Thus by the end of August, nearly all of the estimated 100,000 Chadian residents of Saudi Arabia will lack valid permits. The overwhelming majority of them were born in Saudi Arabia and have never lived in Chad; many have never even visited the African country. Under Saudi naturalization laws, it is nearly impossible for Chadians to acquire Saudi citizenship because they generally do not fulfill the educational and financial requirements. Saudi Arabia: Chadians Barred From Schools, Hospitals [Source: Human Rights Watch]
BBC: Israel says it will lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon on Thursday, at 1800 local time (1500 GMT). Israel to lift Lebanon blockadeMark Alexander
LE FIGARO: Le blocus aérien et maritime, imposé au Liban depuis le 13 juillet, sera levé à 17 heures, heure de Paris. Après le départ de l’armée israélienne, des navires français, grecs et italiens surveilleront les côtes libanaises. Israël lèvera son blocus sur le Liban jeudi
NZZ: Israel will seine See- und Luftblockade gegen den Libanon am Donnerstagabend aufheben. Wie das Büro von Ministerpräsident Olmert am Mittwoch mitteilte, soll die Uno-Friedenstruppe die bisher von israelischen Soldaten besetzten Kommandopositionen am Flughafen Beirut sowie vor den Seehäfen übernehmen. Israel kündigt Aufhebung der Blockade an
EL MUNDO: EL CAIRO.- Un comunicado difundido por la oficina del primer ministro israelí, Ehud Olmert, confirma que Israel levantará el bloqueo impuesto en el Líbano y cederá el control de los puertos, aeropuertos y otros puntos de entrada a las fuerzas internacionales el jueves a las 17.00 (hora española). Israel asegura que levantará el bloqueo al Líbano el jueves por la tarde
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: GERUSALEMME - Israele ha comunicato la revoca per giovedì alle 18 (ora locale, le 17 in Italia) del blocco aereo e navale imposto da settimane sul Libano. L'annuncio è stato dato dall'ufficio del primo ministro israeliano. La notizia giunge dopo l'ultimatum lanciato dal ministro degli esteri libanese, Fawzi Salloukh, che aveva annunciato l'intenzione di Beirut di forzare il blocco aereo e navale imposto da Israele alla scadenza delle 48 ore annunciate dal Segretario dell'Onu Kofi Annan. Israele annuncia la fine del blocco
TheAge.com in Australia reports that anti-Semitism is on the rise across university campuses in the country. Grahame Leonard, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, says July had the most anti-Semitic incidents - no fewer than 141 - since records began in 1945. Never before had there been more than some 90. The July attacks included phone calls, hate e-mails and graffiti, as well as violent incidents - with the big jump being on campuses in Victoria. Anti-Semitic Hate Wave Rolls Across Britain and Australia by Hillel FendelMark Alexander
BBC: President George W Bush has compared Osama Bin Laden to Lenin and Hitler in a speech to US military officers.Mark Alexander
"Underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake," he said as he quoted extensively from Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures.
He said the world had ignored the writings of Lenin and Hitler "and paid a terrible price" - adding the world must not to do the same with al-Qaeda. Bush compares Bin Laden to Hitler
This is a very interesting video clip. The discussion takes place in Arabic, but it has English subtitles. The discussion is on the problem of female circumcision in the Islamic world:
Mark AlexanderVideo courtesy of YOU TUBE
I should like to remind my visitors that where name-calling and other forms of hate speech are used in comments, they will be deleted forthwith. This form of writing is neither acceptable nor appropriate.
All people regardless of creed, or of no creed at all, are welcome to take part in the discussions. But please leave name-calling out of your comments. It is primitive and totally unacceptable.
I repeat: Where inappropriate language is found, the comments will be deleted.
Mark Alexander
Islam is deeply anti-woman. Islam is the fundamental cause of the repression of Muslim women and remains the major obstacle to the evolution of their position. Islam has always considered women as creatures inferior in every way: physically, intellectually, and morally. This negative vision is divinely sanctioned in the Koran, corroborated by the hadiths, and perpetuated by the commentaries of the theologians, the custodians of Muslim dogma and ignorance.Mark Alexander
Far better for these intellectuals to abandon the religious argument, to reject these sacred texts, and have recourse to reason alone. They should turn instead to human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted on December 10, 1948, by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Paris and ratified by most Muslim countries) at no point has recourse to a religious argument. These rights are based on natural rights, which any adult human being capable of choice has. They are rights that human beings have simply because they are human beings. Human reason or rationality is the ultimate arbiter of rights - human rights, the rights of women. Islam's Shame, Lifting the Veil of Tears by Ibn Warraq
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BERLIN Public elementary schools in a southern German state will begin offering classes on Islam, and an education official in Baden-Wuerttemberg described the program as part of an effort to better integrate Muslims, many of whom are immigrants. German state to teach Islam in public schoolsMark Alexander
In American al Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn’s convert to Islam-or-die message to America released last Saturday, he extends a special invitation to the President, as well as to Daniel Pipes, Michael Scheuer, Steve Emerson -- and me:
If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush’s crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else W. has sent you to die. Al Qaeda Operative Invites Me to Islam by Robert SpencerMark Alexander
EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - Turkey should recognize the Armenian genocide as a condition for its EU accession, MEPs argue in a highly critical report adopted by a broad majority in Strasbourg on Monday (4 September).Mark Alexander
The parliamentarians in the foreign affairs committee strongly criticised Turkey's slow pace on reforms and urged clear progress in solving the Cyprus issue. MEPs back Armenia genocide clause in Turkey report by Lucia Kubosova
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: COPENHAGEN — Nine people who had acquired materials to make explosives and were suspected of plotting a terror attack in Denmark were arrested Tuesday, intelligence officials said. Denmark arrests nine in terror sweep by Jan M. OlsenMark Alexander
Monday, September 04, 2006
Ingrid Mattson, a Canadian convert to Islam, is new president of ISNA. Photo courtesy of BBC
BBC: The sessions at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention had a little something for everyone. Some people came to ask questions about Islamic banking, others wanted tips on Muslim dating. N American Muslims debate role in society by Ian BrimacombeMark Alexander
Dear AdamIn the Name of Jesus, the Truly Compassionate, the Truly Merciful!
This weekend, I had the dubious pleasure of watching you rant and rave about the beauty of Islam on video, inviting the Americans to convert to Islam. You berated Western culture and civilization, and had the audacity to tell people that the only route to Paradise (Heaven) lay in conversion to “the one true faith” – Islam.
You went on and on about the beauty of Islam, and you went on and on about the wonderful characteristics of your prophet, the prophet Muhammad. It was sickening to hear you ranting on about that prophet and his ‘religion, the 'death cult' that is Islam.
I observed you very closely. You look like and Arab, talk like an Arab, dress like an Arab, and use an Arab’s gestures. Even your hand movements and your gesticulations were redolent of an Arab! Yet you had the audacity to tell us that Islam is NOT an Arabo-centric religion! If this is the case, then why do you have to dress like an Arab, and behave like one, too?
You went on to speak of the ignorance of the Kufaar (the infidels) of the faith that is Islam. Have you never asked yourself the opposite question? Why are Arabs so ill-informed about the religion of Christianity? They keep on calling Christians polytheists, simply because they believe in the Trinity. You guys just can’t get your heads around it, can you? The Trinity, I mean. Yes, the Trinity is but ONE God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But that’s beyond your limited comprehension, isn’t it?
It’s as if you guys were arrested in your development! Piaget, the specialist in child development, spoke of FOUR stages of development: the Sensori-motor stage; the Pre-operational stage; the Concrete operational stage; and the Formal operational stage.
The Formal operational stage - 11-15 years - distinguishes itself in the child's ability to relate to ideas.I realize full well that it might be difficult for you to think in the abstract. It is difficult for many Muslim Arabs to do so. After all, Arabs are taught to think in terms of the literal and the concrete. But do try to make the quantum leap forward to being able to think in abstract terms, please. The safety of the world depends on it!
You see, Adam, it is really quite simple. The body has three parts: the mind, the body, the spirit. Similarly, the Godhead also has three parts: God the Father; God the Son; God the Holy Spirit. My body is ONE, despite its three parts; similarly, the Godhead is also ONE, despite its three parts.
I really wish you guys down there would begin to understand abstract ideas. You must find life rather hard without the ability to understand them. In a few words, it means that you are challenged! Mentally challenged!
Having THREE parts does not mean that God is three; rather, it means that God is One, but with three parts! Now surely that is not too difficult to understand, is it? Try getting your head around the concept. You might be surprised just how easy it is to understand, once you get the hang of abstract ideas!
You stated in the video that God (I think you meant Allah) describes the ignorance of unbelievers throughout the Qur’an, for they neither think nor understand. Well, it’s a funny thing, but we unbelievers think the same about you folks. To us, it is so obvious that you people don’t use the grey matter God has given you! I mean, how far have you ignorant people come in the past 1400 years?
If the Qur’an is made up of the inimitable words of Allah, then why on earth is the Qur’an replete with grammatical errors? Surely God knows His grammar, doesn’t He? And by the way, what is so inimitable about the Qur’an? Why, even I could write a sentence like the ones I have read in the Qur’an. But perhaps I wouldn’t be able to copy the grammatical mistakes. That, I grant you.
In that long, drawn out video, you accuse Christianity of being “anthropomorphic”. That means to say, ladies and gentlemen, that one attributes human qualities or form to God. Now that really is a big word to use for Adam. After all, he hasn’t reached the abstract phase of life yet. Good one, Adam!
Adam, please hear me out, will you? If Christians attribute human form or characteristics to God, then it is nothing more than symbolism. Man is limited in his comprehension. He has to have something to pin his ideas to. That’s all! I wouldn’t read too much into this if I were you.
It was interesting to note that you guys reject man-made governments and man-made laws. Now we have it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. So this obviously means that Westerners can expect nothing from Muslims who live in the West. They, too, will disobey man-made laws, and man-made governments, because the laws are not based on the Shari’ah. How sick you guys are! We allow you to come and live in civilized countries, but at the first opportunity, you kick your hosts in the teeth. Do you really think that your co-religionists deserve to be allowed to stay here in the West? ‘Cause I don’t. If you can’t respect our laws, then you guys have no business being here. Period! You go find countries where you can obey the primitive laws of the Qur’an and your prophet!
One thing I must agree with you on, however: Your dislike of ‘interfaith dialogue’. There is no place for interfaith dialogue with you guys. It’s a waste of time. In fact, I even wrote an essay recently, entitled, You ‘interfaith’ if you want to. This gentleman is not for ‘interfaithing’! I think you might enjoy reading it, Adam. It will show you that not all Westerners think alike; and it will show you, too, that many of us also think that it is a waste of time to engage in dialogue with blockheads.
You went on to state that democracy does not equal freedom. Indeed, you showed nothing but contempt for the concept of democracy. So, my friend, stay there, exactly where you are and live in slavery, in slavery to your god, Allah. Worship the Ka’aba, that stone edifice which you believe is the ‘house of god’. May you find peace and fulfillment in your prayers. But please, please, don’t bring your barbaric practices here to the West. We don’t want them. Further, we don’t need them. It should be obvious to you – but it is probably not – that the West has got along very nicely without you guys for many, many centuries now. We haven’t needed you to show us the way at all. In fact, were you not to be so blind, then you would see that the West has surpassed the Islamic world: in ideas, in material goods, in medicine, in art, in music, in everything. You guys are so, so backward. If you really are Allah’s chosen people, then why has he kept you from achieving success in this life? Why? Answer me that simple question, please?
You see, Adam, the fact remains that you Muslims think about one thing, and one thing only: your religion. There are only twenty-four hours in a day. Every minute you spend thinking about Islam is one minute less you can spend thinking about achievement and worldly success.
You say that God recognizes no separation of religion and state. Speak for your god, will you? My God does. He makes a big separation between the two. That’s why my world – the West – is so civilized, and your world is not. Where there is no separation between religion and state, then everything becomes the business of the state, even being critical of religion. Hence you get people being beheaded for the minor crime of renouncing their faith.
You asked the West to convert to Islam. Well, I dare say that you will get a few crackpots (both Americans and other Westerners) here and there converting to your backward faith. But the vast majority will have more sense. Then you went on to say that if we don’t wish to convert, then we should keep our poison to ourselves. Now, Adam, you’re speaking some sense at last! I go along with that. But there is ONE proviso: You keep your poison to yourselves, too! We don’t want Islam here in the West, no more than you want Christianity there in the East.
You said that “Christianity is a hollow shell of a religion”. You went on to say that “Pauline Christianity” is the worst form of Christianity of all, because you said it was unbelievable. Well, as I said before, maybe there’s a stage of development missing there somewhere – the abstract stage.
I liked your modern turn of phrase “you’ll go to the hell-fire directly, without passing ‘go’”. Gosh, Adam, I am impressed! Are you showing us that your religion allows you even to play ‘Monopoly’? Can you really engage in diversions like that? Is this allowed?
I found it particularly interesting that you described the ‘American Dream’ as “debt, debauchery, and doubt”. Well, Adam, I've got news for you. This might have been your own, personal experience of the ‘American Dream’. But for many it is not. In a free country such as America, YOU can choose what the ‘American Dream’ means to YOU. If you want to get yourself into debt, then you can do so. If you want a debauched life, then you can have one. If you want to choose doubt over faith, then you can choose that, too. I guess what you're saying in so many words is this: You were not mature enough to handle the ‘American Dream’. I’ll grant you that not all people are mature enough to be able to do so.
Then you went on to say that “eternal happiness” is better than the fleeting delights of this world. Well, Adam, now you are guilty of judging the world by your own Islamic yardstick. There are plenty of people out there who believe that this life is the only life they have. After all, who has been to Paradise and returned?
You know, one of the problems with you folks is this: You haven’t learned to live and let live. You believe that your own truths and verities are applicable to all. But they are not.
If you go on in your way, my friend, the Islamic world will find itself embroiled in a world war in no time at all. The free world has been here before. It has already been in the position of having to rid the world of tyranny, and not so many years ago. Your ‘religion’ is tyrannical. If you don’t start playing its tyrannical side down, then we shall all have to suffer the consequences of a world war sooner than we might wish or imagine.
Respectfully
Mark Alexander
In this 'MUST VIEW' video, an Arab secularist, Wafa Sultan, tells Muslims some home truths.
Mark Alexander
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia executed on Monday an Iraqi man convicted of trafficking hashish in the strict Muslim kingdom, the official Saudi news agency said. Saudi Arabia executes Iraqi for drug dealingMark Alexander
When will people start to realize that Islam and democracy are totally incompatible? It's that simple! Clear thinking is what is needed, not all this academic hooey.
America's misreading of the Arab world—and our current misadventure in Iraq—may have really begun in 1950. That was the year a young University of London historian named Bernard Lewis visited Turkey for the first time. Lewis, who is today an imposing, white-haired sage known as the “doyen of Middle Eastern studies” in America (as a New York Times reviewer once called him), was then on a sabbatical. Granted access to the Imperial Ottoman archives—the first Westerner allowed in—Lewis recalled that he felt “rather like a child turned loose in a toy shop, or like an intruder in Ali Baba's cave.” But what Lewis saw happening outside his study window was just as exciting, he later wrote. There in Istanbul, in the heart of what once was a Muslim empire, a Western-style democracy was being born. Bernard Lewis Revisited: What if Islam isn't an obstacle to democracy in the Middle East but the secret to achieving it? by Michael Hirsh (Senior Editor of Newsweek)Mark Alexander
THE TIMES: PERSIAN PROVERBS have a particularly poetic quality to them. Among my personal favourites are: “The wise man sits on the hole in his carpet”; “You can’t pick up two melons with one hand”; and “When fortune turns against you, even jelly breaks your teeth.” Profound.Mark Alexander
Another local maxim appears to capture the outside world’s response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It is akin to an ancient remark: “A gentle hand may lead an elephant by a hair.” For that is clearly the approach that Kofi Annan, on behalf of the United Nations, and Javier Solana, for the European Union, are adopting. Mr Annan was in Tehran this weekend to meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the firebrand Iranian President, and ask him politely if he would mind suspending the enrichment of uranium as the UN Security Council has demanded. Señor Solana is due to see Ali Larijana, nominally Iran’s chief negotiator on these issues, this week to explore once again whether formal negotiations can start on a new package of “economic and other incentives” that might allow Iran to do what UN Resolution 1696 has sought under the threat of sanctions. What a shambles over Iran by Tim Hames
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Mark Alexander
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