Posted on 11/20/2002 11:25:27 AM PST by Jael
Osama bin Laden uses the Islamic faith to justify his nationalist, anti-Western political agenda.
It is an old religious ploy, one that Muslims were on the receiving end of during the Crusades.
Pope Urban II used love of Jesus and hatred of Muslims to motivate his troops at the beginning of the Crusades. Urban actually called Muslims "infidels."
Political leaders often wear religious disguises and exploit hatred in pursuit of their goals.
This brings me to the leaders of the religious right in this country.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Dear Mr. Thomas,
Tank yoo for riting an artikle defending troo billeevers against ze evill vilifications of ze infidel dogs. Eez nice to see zer ar pipple in ze Great Satan USA kuncerned about ze plight of Mooselimbs. But don't vorrie, kumrade, ve'll soon get nooks and bomb ze hell out of ze Great Satan. Zen ve'll build a great Islamik sooperstate in Amerika zat vill be ze most tolerant nation in ze vurld. Ve'll emeediately kill anywun ve don't like, so zer vill be no chance for anywun to say anyting offensive to Mooselimbs!
Yours explosively
Sheikh Abdul Kaboom!!
"I've only argued that the genocidal FREAKS on this site who condemn ALL Muslims and/or ALL Arabs need to shut-up."
Understood. But until the "genocidal FREAKS" of the Muslims desist from calling a jihad on Christians and the remaining sever their ties with them and punish them appropriately, the cries for revenge won't subside. Oh, I forget - their sense of justice doesn't parallel that of our society, so that doesn't apply. < BARF >
New case in point - the bus bombed in Jerusalem this AM. You nor I would be calling for the same restraint you are now advovating had our wives and/or kid(s) been on that bus. SOME Christians see fellow Believers as brothers and sisters they've yet to meet, and their injury enrages them when senseless actions of a foolish cause rob us of them. So, yes, they take it personally and have every right to express their outrage - ESPECIALLY when those who are in positions of influence within that religion REFUSE to condemn such actions and idioticly blame the victims for being bombed.
CD:
Would you please post the pic of that hideous thing flapping her tongue - you know, the one with the Fresnel glasses? I've seen you insert it into similar conversations to profoundly drive home points. I'd appreciate it much.
TTYL,
Az
LOL! Apt description!
Excellent comments as well, Az.
I have the link... give me just a minute.
FRegards,
CD
Leftists only tolerate Christianity to the extent that they can manufacture and invoke an image of a feckless, insipid, two-dimensional Jesus Christ who doesn't cramp their "anything-goes" style.
Some libertarians employ similar tactics. An atheist libertarian zealot once posted here who was full of anti-Christian bile and venom. He flat-out denied and ridiculed the divinity of Jesus Christ, but was quick to beat Christian FReepers over the heads with a "tolerent Jesus" doll that he kept in his box of tricks for just such occasions. This columnist has merely borrowed the doll for this column.
Faithful and steadfast Christians have been condemned as intolerent "enemies of mankind" ever since Nero used that justification to attack and kill them. Only lukewarm, mewling, and silent Christians are tolerated by the world.
I do not admire and have never admired Falwell's and Robertson's personal wealth, based as it is on a Christianity-shilling business model. But their statements about Islam are based on truth and do not amount to acts of violence--not by any stretch of the imagination.
Yes, there were Crusades in the Middle Ages, and they were cruel. However, the lands the Crusaders invaded had formerly been nations where the Christian faith flourished, towns with churches to which Paul wrote his epistles. During the Muslim wars of conquest, the practice of the Christian religion was eliminated over most of the Middle East and North Africa, where it had previously flourished. Christian believers were put to the sword, or at best relegated to second class status. As far as the Crusades go, I recall the current Pope offering apologies for their abuses to the Muslim world. I have yet to see Muslim clerics offer similar apologies for the mass murder they committed in Constantinople, Fez, or hundreds of other locations over the centuries, even to the present day in Sudan.
Please show me where Christians are slamming airplanes into landmark buildings, killing innocent civilians in shopping centers, or attacking U.S. naval warships. Timothy McVeigh was an atheist, who refused the last rites of the Catholic Church. The Nazis were explicitly pagan in their beliefs. Having fair skin, light eyes and hair makes no one a Christian, just a person of Northern European origin. The IRA (who are mostly Marxist) and Protestant extremist groups in Ulster (essentially blood and soil-type fascists) have little regard for and minimal knowledge of Scripture. The troubles in Northern Ireland are tribal in essence, and not sectarian.
I am not saying that Al-Qaida and other Muslim terrorist groups are not overly zealous. Yet I do not hear the so-called Muslim mainstream denouncing their activities. You cited Randall Terry, a Christian anti-abortion activist who advocates theonomy, i.e., rule by Biblical law. He belongs to a movement called Christian Reconstructionism. This movement is roundly condemned by most evangelical Christians, even by conservative Calvinist theologians with whom the Reconstructionists agree with on most theological points.
You cited a passage in Deuteronomy that called for the execution of women who were not virgins at the time of marriage. The general understanding of Christian theologians on the civil law of ancient Israel, as outlined in the first five books, was that ii was meant for a specific nation (Israel) and for a specific time frame, which ended with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The reason for this understanding is based on the words of Jesus Christ that His kingdom is not of this world and the recognition of distinctions between Israel and the Church. The Christian faith has been spread mainly by missionaries, from the days of Paul and Timothy to the present. This method is used because that was the sole method commanded by Jesus and practiced by His disciples. Faithful followers of Islam are commanded to spread the teachings of the Koran by the sword, if necessary.
Falwell, Robertson, and Graham spoke the truth on the militant nature of Islam. There are many millions of Muslims who live peaceful and constructive lives who harm no one and who are good citizens of this country and other nations. I would argue that these Muslims ignore those passages of the Koran and focus on its ethical and moral teachings instead. They should be commended for their decision. However, we hear little, if any, condemnation of Muslim terror from this silent majority or their religious leaders. Compare this to the denunciations evangelical Christians made of abortion clinic bombers or murderers of abortion providers.
You have not made a case for equivalency between conservative Christians and militant Islam.
Of course, he'll be confused by your strange technique of actually using facts to back up your thesis.
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