Looks a little light in the loafers.
Posted on 08/10/2005 10:45:44 PM PDT by Thud
Iraqi MP defends Lucifer
10/08/2005 17:55 - (SA)
Baghdad - The devil looked in on Iraq's parliament on Wednesday when a member of parliament upbraided Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari for speaking ill of Lucifer. Kameran Khairi Said, a Kurdish MP and a member of the minority Yezidi community that worshipped the peacock angel, also known as Lucifer, angrily interrupted the prime minister during a parliamentary debate.
"Mr Prime Minister and ministers, my speaking out might seem strange to you, but we feel insulted when you repeatedly use the expression in your speeches and statements 'God protects us from the devil'.
"Each time the word is pronounced, my colleagues turn towards me as if I were a representative of the devil."
Tomb 'the Yezidis' holiest shrine'
Yezidis followed a pre-Islamic religion, which some believed was founded in the 12th century by Sheikh Uday bin Masafel al-Amawi, although many scholars traced its origins to the Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia. Sheikh Uday was born in Damascus, but died in the town of Lalish, in northern Iraq, where his tomb had became the Yezidis' holiest shrine.
The community was still largely based in the foothills, north of Iraq's main northern city of Mosul, and in the Sinjar Mountains on the border with Syria.
But, followers of the faith could be found throughout the Kurdish diaspora, in neighbouring Syria and Turkey as well as the former Soviet republics of the Caucasus, or in Germany and Britain.
Position of authority
Said said: "There are 600 000 to 700 000 Kurdish yezidis and they feel insulted whenever you use that phrase and we call on all those in a position of authority to take account of this."
The Yezidis did not believe in heaven or hell, and did not regard Satan as evil. In fact, they worshipped him - but dare not say his name.
Three of Iraq's 275 MPs belonged to the sect whose members did not marry outside the faith. There were also two Yezidis in the 111-seat regional Kurdish parliament.
Jaafari said he meant no harm in using the expression, common among Muslims.
He said: "When we use this expression it is not to insult you or to provoke a minority.
"Even if religions are different, all agree on the need to respect one another, especially in this forum where respect for others is essential. But one must also respect the majority and the majority is Muslim."
ping
Is it just me, or does anyone else see the irony?
This almost sounds like something from The Onion.
...maybe the evil for them has a different name.. Mullah!
Weird. Devil birds.
and in the USA...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050809-101320-1232r.htm
"ACLU backs Wiccan suit"
By Dionne Walker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 10, 2005
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "RICHMOND -- Civil liberties lawyers have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Wiccan priestess to offer prayers before a public board's meetings."
ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Though many variations exist, the Wiccan faith is a generally a multi-deity religion with strong focus on Earth and seasonal cycles, also defined as a form of witchcraft."
ping
Looks a little light in the loafers.
It is the second part of that statement that deserves notice. "Yes, we recognize there are minorities. But you Yezidis (and you damned Christians) better remember that we Muslims are the majority and don't you ever forget it because you are our dogs."
I thought we needed a little translation.
I wish you had not posted that evil image.
From what I have read the Yezidis appear to be much more sane and moral than most of the rest of the folks out there. In any case, it is a very strange tradition. They hold Jesus in very high regard and if I recall correctly even consider him the Son of God. But still their primary devotion is to Lucifer. They hold to this idea that inevitably God will bring Lucifer back into his fold and when that time comes Lucifer will generously reward the Yezidis as the only people who stood by him when he was down on his luck.
I doubt this is a traditional Yezidis view of the peacock god. This looks more like Indian mixed with some new-agey stuff.
Very interesting, and thanks...Although they may be rewarded in the short term, they are still on the wrong side of tracks when it all goes down.
As I understand it, they feel that the widespread story about Shai'tan (Lucifer the Light-bringer, or Satan) is all wrong, and he is not the evil Satan that we all know from the Bible. The whole thing seems to be related to Mithraism, also. It's actually a very interesting religion, and its followers are quite conservative in their values. (I read quite a bit about it at one point, researching it to write a fiction story.)
One of the fascinating tidbits I remember is that both the color blue, and lettuce, are anathema to them. (Sounds like a Monty Python bit, doesn't it? "It's a lettuce! Run away!")
ping
Then why is the guy in the picture, blue?
Throw an inkwell at him.
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