“If you don’t know the rules, you can’t win the game.” It’s an old saying, but it applies today as well. Watching President Bush’s recent speech reminded me of it.
I don’t know if he says it from ignorance, or if he says it because he hopes it is true, but two or three times now I have heard our President say: “Islam is a peaceful religion”. It’s not.
I’m sure we have all heard about the threats:
“We announce there will be new attacks inside and outside (the U.S.) which would make America forget the attacks of September 11,” said an al-Qaida spokesman who identified himself as Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Najdi.
“We assure Muslims that al-Qaida ranks have doubled. … Our casualties are nothing compared to our (good) conditions now. Our coming martyrdom operations will prove to you what we are saying,” he added.
* http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34474
Maybe the mainstream media won’t touch Islam because it’s not PC to tell it like it is. Or maybe they’re afraid of offending Saudi Arabia. I don’t know, but I do know it’s foolish to ignore reality. They caught us sleeping on September 11. Next time could be much worse.
With the way things are going I can see why the Anti-Christ will be so popular, for a while, when he shows up. Anyone who can make peace on Earth will be considered a genius.
These same arguments, by quoting from someone who claims to be affiliated with a religion, have been used before to little avail. Just because Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Najdi claims to be working for Muslims doesn’t mean he actually represents all Muslims. Islam is, by and large, a religion of peace. There are those that seek to maipulate things for their benefit, like Al-Qaeda, but they cannot be accepted as representing the religion. If that were the case, then Christianity (as an example) would be just as liable. Christianity claims to be a religion of peace, because Jesus’s message was one of love and peace, yet atrocities have been committed in its name for centuries (Crusades, anyone?). It’s not the religion, it’s the idiots who seek to twist it to their own agendas that are the problem.
Ok…there’s 30 seconds of my life I won’t get back. Shall I ridicule this post now or wait until after this thread is moved to its inevitable location in The Pit?
Eh, Islam’s not a peaceful religion, but it’s not a warlike one either…or it’s probably better to say that there are both militant and pacifist strains of thought within Islam. (And the same is true of Christianity, btw)
And then, of course, there’s a difference between militarism and terrorism. There are a lot of people who would support a war who wouldn’t support terrorist acts.
You only want to ridicule it because you have been brainwashed by the Liberal Media [sup]TM[/sup]. :smack:
Incidentally, college professors and Middle East experts and Muslims themselves have all also been brainwashed by the Liberal Media [sup]TM[/sup]. So, even though you’re deluded, at least you’re in good company.
Go easy on him. Gom’s just a kid who believes in Big Foot and that aliens are demons.
You assert this based on what? By watching peaceful actions, or by reading mainstream media stating it is a religion of peace, or by reading the documents that the religion is based on?
I agree that Islam is certainly not the most peaceful religion, and that its fanatical members are violent and hate-filled.
I also must try to remember the Crusades, when thousands and thousands of innocent people were murdered in the name of Christ.
Those warriors did not represent Jesus, or Christianity, although they claimed they did and they got away with it.
I know very little about the Muslims, but enough to know that the Saudis are not our friends and I wonder why we treat them as if they were.
Oil?
I agree that it would be very nice if SOMEbody knew the rules!
It is a complicated and messy situation and very very scary!
Which brings up an interesting observation I had made…a few weeks back…around the time of the power outage in the east…one of Bush’s statements was that the war in Iraq has brought terrorists to the region…iraq metaphorically spekaing being “fly paper.” And elluded to this being part of the Admisitration’s agenda on the War on Terror.
Well is that a good stragegy? If you believe there are weapons of WMD in Iraq…and you know that it will bring further terrorists…and your administration has NOT openely stated (or otherwise) that there have been “no WMD found” or “it was a mistake”…then why the hell would it be a good thing to attract terrorists to that region in order to kill them? For damn sake, they might find the weapons first…after all they were working under Saddam’s regime and under his thumb…they would have a better chance of finding them first than US soldiers.
Apparently, at least in your case, that would be your sig, which you forgot to number.
We’ve finally convinced Reeder to start GD OPs that are actual debates, but I guess there’s still more work to do on that front.
At the very least, make sure there’s a question mark buried somewhere in the next one, or open it in the Pit, which is where rants belong.
By your reasoning, Christians are all a bunch of folks who dance jigs on the graves of dead gay people. Phelps certainly thinks he speaks for all “true” Christians.
Whether the Crusades were right or wrong, they were wars that got their support from a particular strain of Christianity. However, it’s not fair to say that Christianity is violent just because some people have interpreted it violently.
Likewise, Bin Laden and his people (including the guy you quoted) get their support from a particular view of Islam. But it’s equally unfair to say that Islam is violent just because some people have interpreted it violently.
The third one, and by the simple fact that the number of Muslims who commit crimes and are engaged in terrorist activities is extremely small in comparison to the number of Muslims in the world today. Just the same as the number of Catholics who commited crimes and terrorist activities in Northern Ireland is extremely small in comparison to the number of Christians in the world.
Actually read about the teaching in the Qu’ran, read some history of the conflict between Islam, Judaism and Christianity (Bernard Lewis is a great start, or Karen Armstrong). You just might realize that for many, many years there was no conflict from the Arab side (most of the conflict between the West and Islam has not involved non-Arabic Muslims), and that the aggressors were mostly from the West. Read about Mohammed, and the real meaning of the Jihad, and you may just realize that while Islam may have its flaws (I’ll leave that to others to speculate on, I am not religious), it is definitely not meant to be used as a justification for killing. And also read some books on logic, in order to come up with a valid argument. Just a thought.
Whether the Crusades were right or wrong, they were wars that got their support from a particular strain of Christianity. However, it’s not fair to say that Christianity is violent just because some people have interpreted it violently.
Likewise, Bin Laden and his people (including the guy you quoted) get their support from a particular view of Islam. But it’s equally unfair to say that Islam is violent just because some people have interpreted it violently.
