Posted on 11/29/2001 10:30:57 AM PST by EclipseVI
Myself included, there are over one billion humans on earth who call God by his Arabic name, Allah. Out of that billion, over seven million of us call America our home. Many of us are born as Americans, study in American institutions and go on to work and pay American dollars to our tax system. Like everyone else, we eventually find our better half, have chubby babies, go to zoos, get season tickets to the Chicago Bulls, go on our childrens' field trips and fix the leak in our roofs. With all the growing pains in the life that we lead as normal Americans, everyday we turn our face to Mecca to pray to what our Christian brothers call God, our Jewish sisters call Yahweh and whom we call Allah.
Islam, Christianity and Judaism have exactly the same origin. We each believe in the monotheistic deity of Abraham, who was the father of all three of these noble religions. Islam's moral and ethical standards are equivalent, if not more stringent, than those of modern day Christianity and Judaism. We, as Muslims, believe in every prophet of both Judaism and Christianity. We believe the world began with Adam and Eve and great prophets, namely Moses, Aaron, Jacob, Joseph and Jesus (peace be upon all of them) were all divinely inspired by God.
We revere Jesus as a great prophet and the messiah of God. He is mentioned by name in the Quran 33 times. We equally revere the Virgin Mary as the mother of the Messiah. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran and she is mentioned 34 times. Anyone who says Muslims don't respect women, read the entire chapter dedicated to Mary (peace be upon her). How many times was our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned by name in the Quran? Five.
In Islam, a woman receives a monetary dowry from her husband, of which he has no legal claim. A woman is not obligated to change her maiden name. CNN happily broadcasts women being oppressed by the Taliban regime. Islam abhors the oppression of women. The Taliban says women are not allowed to work, yet the Prophet Muhammad's wife, Khadijah, was one of the most successful merchants in all of Arabia. Should we base our belief on a bunch of tribal warlords or the teachings of our Prophet?
In Islam, both men and women have to dress modestly. One aspect of this modest dress for women is the hijab (head covering). This is a religious mandate, but whether a woman decides to wear it or not, is an issue between her and Allah, because as the Quran categorically states, "there is no compulsion in religion." The hijab symbolizes empowerment, not oppression of women. It allows women to be judged on the content of their character, rather than the physical features that we men today objectify onto them. When we see a nun covered from head to toe in her habit, we commend her on her devotion to God. But when we see a Muslim woman wearing hijab, she is oppressed. In how many likenesses of the Virgin Mary, sculptures or paintings, is her hair not covered? Not one. Was she oppressed? Hardly.
Muslim American is not a paradox. As Muslim Americans we currently live in a diaspora having to deal with an attack on our, yes, our, country. We also have a dual anxiety because our way of life, which is not far different from our Christian and Jewish counterparts, is under attack.
I am a law student. I study international human rights. I have been to U2, Sarah Maclachlan, Dido and Outkast concerts. I have been a ball boy for the Chicago Bulls. I have owned a Ford Mustang. I pray for peace and have read Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech ninety-six times. I may be a dreamer, but I promise you, I am not the only one.
I am a Muslim and I am an American. I am proud of both and will compromise neither.
You're another person who overuses that word. Bigotry against certain ways of belief? Maybe I am. Yes I also thought the people at Jonestown were stupid and blind followers. I thought the Aztecs were wrong when they performed human sacrifices up on their pyramids. And yes I think Islam is a similar and wrong kind of religion, not so much a religion but a totalitarian political system like Nazism.
Ah, this would not be the SAME Turkey that slaughtered some 1.5 million Armenian Christians and made refugees out of another million more.
History is replete with proof that Islam is a VIOLENT, INTOLERANT religion that wins by the sword and rules with an iron fist. Say what you want about Catholic Spain or France....but the United States has never slaughtered other religions as ruthlessly as has the Muslims. Go ahead and name every isolated account of missionary hucksters to the Hawaiian Islands, name every native American Indian battle ever fought, and I can show you a point in history where Islam has been crueler a hundred times over.
The fact of the matter is this: the overriding reason why the United States has freedom of religion and speech today is because it was founded by persons with a uniquely Christian outlook. Had it been Muslims who founded the colonies I daresay we would NOT be having one--tenth the freedoms we enjoy today. One only need look at ANY Muslim nation today to see this.
The biggest concern is the overriding sound of silence we Americans can sense from the Muslim community. It is disconcerting because it comes across very clearly as tacit approval of the radicals' actions.
Let me ask again, what are the 'true' Muslims doing about this situation and why is there such silence?
I genuinely like my beer, but the boss has threatened to leave me if I drink anymore booze. She would kick both your butt and mine if we went down to the nudie bar, but I sure am tempted to take you up on that-if you are buying of course.
The booze didn't help those brain cells a whole lot, but the nealy 70 years on the old gray matter, was the worst culprit, in my opinion. After our discourse tonight, I am not too sure that orange juice is such a good substitute either. Maybe we should switch to prune juice......na, then we would both be running off at both ends.
I didn't want it to happen, but I am beginning to feel less hostility towards you. I must be getting old and senile.
Hi JoJo, you've been having quite a time on this thread, I see. :) Well, don't let your excitement spill over onto the wrong posts, because nowhere have I even implied that we should "kill them all" or "eradicate everyone who doesn't look and think like me." We are all free to accept or reject whatever we choose.
Just for the record though, Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." I happen to believe Him. He also said, "Come unto me, all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He meant you too. Have a good night, and may you find the Truth as well.
I think you'll agree with me that it is possible to disagree VEHEMENTLY with a person of another faith, on matters of doctrine, without dismissing--or even targetting--him as an "infidel" and his entire religion as "the enemy of mankind."
If you cannot behave in that way, then you are really no different than the "jihadists" who have brought such misery to this particular moment in time.
Respect of and tolerance for another's beliefs do not require you to accept them, or even understand them, or to discard your own deeply held beliefs. However, it DOES require that you coexist as harmoniously as possible in conformance to the precepts of civil society.
This nation was founded among other things upon the principle that one should be free to worship God as one chooses. That right presupposes that one can worship unmolested, without fear of becoming the target of outrage by those who don't share your beliefs.
Note that I'm not talking LAW here, I'm talking PRINCIPLE.
You (and many other people) drive me CRAZY! I am sooooo tired of seeing the word MUSLIM frequently referred to as MOSLEM. The word is spelled M-U-S-L-I-M !!! It is pronounced Muhs-lehm, NOT Mohs-lehm!
You are not the only one and I don't mean for my comment to be a personal attack. It just makes me cringe like someone scraping fingernails across a blackboard. PLEASE correct your spelling and pronunciation. Thanks!
That sounds fine in theory but such distinctions are often subtle to say the least.
For example, for many centuries after the rise of the Christian religion in Europe, even though there were other, even older sects of Christianity (such as the Copts and the Eastern Orthodox), Roman Catholicism was widely acknowledged by those who had influence to be THE CHURCH, encapsulating Christianity.
It took more than a millenium before any serious challenge to that concept came forward, with the Reformation, and still even today you have a tacit acknowledgement by folks like the Archbishop of Canterbury, that the See of Roman is preeminent.
During that period, "the Church (meaning the Roman Church)" and "Christendom" were considered synonymous in the minds of those people who lived and wrote with great influence on generations that came after them. Thus, it was very, very hard to distinguish between "religion" and "church" except to a comparative few.
OTOH, you have Islam which it seems to me has always been highly decentralized, venerating "places" only symbolically (Mecca the CITY, not the SEAT of Islam, is what they bow down to pray toward). It is interesting to read some of the websites that Muslims themselves have set up to discuss their religion. They seem to have only in the last few centuries, "fractured" enough to begin to argue in the same sectarian way the Christians have been doing for five hundred years (or longer if you count some of the "heresies" such as the Albeghensians (sp) that only just missed becoming bona fide SECTS due to their reliance on charismatic leaders who were swiftly killed by the Establishment).
And one of the BIGGEST arguments, at least according to my own inquiries into the matter, seem to turn on the question of "what is PURE Islam?"
Sound familiar?
Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.
Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C. the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with the continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.
The only Arab dominion lasted no more than 22 years.
For over 3,300 years Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.
Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.
King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.
Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.
Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 10,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.
Under Jordaninan rule, Jewish holy sites were desacrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.
History proves that the Muslim faith is one of hatred, destruction and deception; presently, there is a group of Muslims in south Mexico trying to indoctrinate children to believe that Allah is the equivalent of Mary of their Catholic faith. No, that name is not the Arab name of God; God's only Name is YAHWEH and His Son is YAHSHUA (Yeshua, Jesus Christ).
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