Posted on 03/24/2002 10:42:47 AM PST by InvisibleChurch
As far as these islamics....what they are doing is dangerous due to disease...but, hey, if they are so primitive they want to willingly expose their babies and children to disease...HO HUM...I do not feel sorry for them, they are PRIMITVES stuck in the 6th century anyway.
This particular holiday is bizarre, but you're probably right that in the grand scheme of things it's not that substantial.
However, I don't think the same can be said of clitorectomy.
Penile cancer in circumcised males, nine worldwide, uncircumcised: risk 1:600. For some links on cervical cancer risks and penile cancer risks see See this page.
Circumcision and HIV
Risk factors for active syphilis and TPHA seroconversion in a rural African population. Todd J, Munguti K, Grosskurth H, Mngara J, Changalucha J, Mayaud P, Mosha F, Gavyole A, Mabey D, Hayes R
National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, Tanzania London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), Mwanza, Tanzania Regional Medical Office, Mwanza, Tanzania. [Record supplied by publisher]
OBJECTIVES:Syphilis is an important cause of morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa, and a cofactor for the sexual transmission of HIV. A better understanding of the prevalence and risk factors of syphilis in African populations would help to formulate effective interventions for its prevention and treatment.
METHODS: The prevalence and incidence of syphilis were obtained from a cohort recruited in Mwanza, Tanzania. Two unmatched case-control studies nested within the cohort provide information on potential risk factors.
RESULTS: The prevalence of active syphilis (TPHA positive and RPR positive any titre) was 7.5% in men and 9.1% in women, but in youths (aged 15-19 years) the prevalence was higher in women (6.6%) than in men (2.0%). The incidence of TPHA seroconversion was highest in women aged 15-19 at 3.4% per year, and around 2% per year at all ages among men. A higher prevalence of syphilis was found in those currently divorced or widowed (men: OR=1.61, women: OR=2.78), and those previously divorced or widowed (men: OR=1.51, women: OR=1.85). Among men, prevalence was associated with lack of circumcision (OR=1.89), traditional religion (OR=1.55), and reporting five or more partners during the past year (OR=1.81) while incidence was associated with no primary education (OR=2.17), farming (OR=3.85), and a self perceived high risk of STD (OR=3.56). In women, prevalence was associated with no primary education (OR=2.13), early sexual debut (OR=1.59), and a self perceived high risk of STD (OR=3.57), while incidence was associated with living away from the community (OR=2.72).
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Study calculates HIV risk from one sex encounter in Africa: 1 in 588
By Daniel Q. Haney
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - A study of heterosexual couples in Africa concludes that the chance of catching the AIDS virus from a single sexual encounter with an infected person is one in 588.
This risk is calculated for people who do not use condoms and who have sex regularly with one infected partner.
Earlier estimates from North America and Europe vary but have generally placed the risk at about one in 1,000 for heterosexuals. In this study, researchers followed 174 monogamous couples in Rakai, Uganda, in which one partner had HIV and the other did not. They were given condoms but usually did not use them. Typically the couples had sex nine or 10 times a month. Over time, 38 people became infected.
Earlier data from the same research team showed that the risk of people transmitting HIV was slight if the amount of virus in their bloodstream was low. Those findings have encouraged the belief that the wide use of AIDS-drug combinations, which make virus levels fall dramatically, will slow the spread of the disease.
The latest figures were presented by Dr. Ronald H. Gray of Johns Hopkins University at the eighth annual Retrovirus Conference in Chicago, which concluded yesterday.
Among the findings:
Infected teenagers are three times more likely than people over 40 to spread HIV to others during each sexual encounter. This difference cannot be explained by the fact that young people are more sexually active.
The risk that an HIV-infected woman will transmit the virus to an uninfected man is one in 454. For an infected man to an uninfected woman, it is one in 769. This difference is not large enough to be statistically meaningful, and many have assumed that HIV spreads more readily from men to women than vice versa.
The risk of spread depends greatly on how much virus people carry. In those whose level of virus is less than 1,700 copies per milliliter of blood, the risk is one in 10,000. When levels are more than 38,500, risk is one in 294.
The risk of transmission appears to be the same for different subtypes of virus. Some have speculated that AIDS is much more prevalent in Africa because a different variety of the virus dominates there. None of the circumcised men in the study contracted HIV. Some experts have raised the possibility of promoting circumcision as a way to control the epidemic.
Whether the transmission risk is the same among couples outside Africa is unclear, especially since virus levels may be higher in Africa, where so few infected people get treated. However, Dr. Helene Gayle, AIDS chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the latest data at least offered a general estimate of this risk.
Excerpt:
A note for sisters participating in fighting these days
Sisters who voluntarily want to join the fighting for reward from Allah, are advised to not go unless the leader of Jihad in that place calls them to fight. As for other help, they can go if the Mujahideen are able to accommodate and protect them. However, sisters should definitely be prepared!
Supporting the Fighters in the Battlefield
There are several ways in which Muslim sisters can support the Mujahideen on the battlefield directly. These would vary in accordance with the nature of the fighting. In general, these include, among others:
1-Medical Support - Tending to the wounded mujahideen (warriors).
2-Providing Food and Water to the Mujahideen.
3-Providing Weapons and Ammunition.
4-Encouraging the Mujahideen to Remain Steadfast.
5-Guard Duty and Protection
Sisters' Role off the Battlefield
Raising Mujaahid Children
This is perhaps the most important role women can play in Jihad - raise their children to be brave and loving, courageous and sensitive, and fearing none other than Allah. Raise them as such not only in spirit, but also in terms of physical ability and training. Some practical tips that most sisters can implement without difficulty are as follows:
1. Tell children bedtime stories of Shuhadaa and Mujahideen. You will find many such stories from the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Sahabah, and throughout Islamic history, including contemporary times.
2. Emphasize, while disciplining young children, that they are not to hit a Muslim, but rather forgive, and are only to get their anger out on the enemies of Allah who fight against Muslims.
3. Eliminate your television completely if you can (it mostly teaches shamelessness, anarchy, and random violence) and keep a check on the company your child is in.
4. If you cannot eliminate the television completely, then at least use it only to show children videos that will instill in them the love of Allah, the love of Islam, the love of the Mujahideen, and the love of Jihad fi sabeelillah. Many Islamic videos as well as military training videos are available from various sources.
5. Only if you have acted upon items 3 and 4 above, it is a good idea to start your children young in terms of introducing them (through safe toys) to target shooting. Make it very clear who their target should be and who their target should NOT be. This can be done through toy guns and toy military sets, as well as by engaging in sports that develop good hand-eye coordination, such as darts and archery.
(Did you catch that? tell young children WHO their target should be...)
6. Some sports and activities that will be an asset in Jihad training for your children (and yourselves), in addition to being enjoyable, healthy, and fun:
- Martial arts training
- Swimming
- Archery
- Target-shooting (with different kinds of toy weapons)
- Darts
- Horse-back riding
- Orienteering (learning to navigate your way in the woods)
- Exercise (running, jogging, push-ups, etc.) to build stamina
- Skiing
- Driving (a range of different vehicles)
- Camping / Survival Training (an excellent and enjoyable method of training)
7. Get your young children interested in Jihad by getting military books (preferably with pictures) and other similar books, CDs, videos, and by visiting web sites such as the www.qoqaz.net along with your children, and utilizing other internet resources. Show them the pictures of Mujahideen and encourage them to become like these people at the least.
8. Video games and computer games are not to be preferred over actual physical training and practical experience for the same reason that television is recommended against. However, if one's child has to have video games for whatever reason, then military video games and war strategy games that are not violent and graphic (if any exist!) would be preferred over other largely useless but popular video games. Start working on your children while they are very young, and set their priorities straight.
9. A mother knows very well the aptitude of her children. In accordance with this, she can encourage her children in the relevant aspects of Jihad. Note that participation in Jihad can be in various ways. Children need to be made clear what their goal is, as well as what it is not, by taking on any given profession - that their goal is to serve Allah in the highest way possible (through Jihad) and not to accumulate wealth and physical comforts for their own sake. It should be emphasized here that, no matter what profession is chosen, even if it be with the intention of Jihad, still, basic military training is a must. In fact, military training is a right of the children upon their parents.
It does seem to be a later addition to Islam from the cultures nearby (like the burqa and other coverings like that), but there still is an association. IIRC, Egypt also has a high level of it. II continue to RC, there are a few animists who do it, but virtually everyone who practices female genital mutilation is a Muslim, although I believe the majority of Muslims don't practice it.
So, then, you could call it a Muslim practice in a limited way, the same way you could call infant baptism a Christian practice. Not all Christians do it, but most who do it are Christians.
This does not absolve Islam as having mysoginy at its core, of course. There's a difference between psychobabble and psycology, and understanding the psycology of this religion and way of life (for Islam truly is both a religion and way of life in a way that Christians don't really get unless they learn about it) is the key to defeating it.
I think you're right about that. That's both a strength and a weakness for them. Christianity has always had strong moral rules, but not covering everything. That is, the rules are about truly moral matters, or matters of church practice, and everything else is left free. The test for something not covered directly is simply whether it's done for the glory of God. Islam has a whole set of rules for much of daily life. It had to be spread by the sword because of that, but it's harder for a member to leave. Mostly because they'll kill you (at least, in a country like Saudi Arabia), but also because it means changing your whole lifestyle.
As I said it simply is part of a whole. Of course the umma has many aspects to it. Are you denying the reality of their Islamic experience? If there are approx. 1.3 billion Muslims they would make up a substantial number indeed. Now how many distance themselves from the Jihad?
Circumcision accomplishes something. It helps cleanlyness (I know you uncut guys say its a myth, but it's not), it gives "it" personality, and it just plain looks better. Now what does cutting a little kids head then slapping the cut do?
Not all Islamics agree with you.
Circumcision not obligatory for women, but it is an honour
Ruling on female circumcision As for circumcision, it is obligatory for men, (but not women); for women, it is considered as a good practice. This is the opinion of many scholars". Imam Ahmed said "(for) the man, it is more serious and critical, ... (and as for the woman) it is less significant." 1/70 Circumcision for women is done by cutting a piece of the clitoris, and the sunnah is not to cut all of it, but a part of it (Al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah 19/28).
While it may be considered introduced and not a part of original Islam, so might perhaps 90% of what Islam has come to be, as we know it.
I would suggest that nearly 40% of Islamic communities and areas in the world know of it and some there practice it, in whole or in part i y s w i m, and it is as closely associated with Islam as, say, display of the Cross is with Christianity. Not a majority of Christians do it personally, but nearly every one who does it is a Christian.
Your posts, WRS, are apologetic for Islam, and if they were all we had to go on, we would think Islam was a far more decent and moderate thing than it is. Are you being paid to give out good PR, disinformation, for them?
If Christians refer to the blood, it is a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for us, to save us from sin, so that among other things we should NOT engage in pagan bloodletting and vendettas and jihads.
Muslim bloodletting has to do with the encouragement of holy war, with generating a familiarity with blood and gore so that it becomes a normal part of life, and the resort to violence is the immediate reaction of a Muslim to any kind of frustration or imagined slight in his life.
Christianity teaches the exact opposite. What you have posted, I hope, just shows lack of religion and lack of understanding. I hope it is not a deliberate attempt to snow the sheeple.
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