Posted on 07/07/2004 5:14:34 AM PDT by SJackson
Standing on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, looking west to Manhattan, the fires had turned the horizon a bright orange that rose to great heights painted against a perfect pitiless blue sky.
Observing this terrible beauty, the residents of the neighborhood danced in the streets, laughing, shouting to each other, shaking hands. These people were not what one would suppose to be fanatical or militant Muslims. They were people who had come to these shores from the Middle East, mostly shop keepers, bakers, purveyors of eastern spices, tradesmen, cab drivers and the usual diversity of people found in a New York ethnic neighborhood on a warm fall weekday. They were American citizens however, who were expressing their judgment — joy at the events of that horrible day that forever changed our world and America's place in that world. They were also the followers of Islam: religion of oppression, discrimination, violence, terror, war, superstition, intolerance and prejudice. They were the followers of a religion of hate who, at the very least, if not active participants in the events of that world-changing day, took unashamed pleasure in the violence visited upon those — including their fellow citizens and neighbors — who did not share their beliefs.
The President has said about Islam: ...Islam inspires countless individuals to lead lives of honesty, integrity and morality (12/5/02). A...It's [Islam] a faith based on love, not hate. (9/10/02) "The Islam that we know...teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy and peace. (11/15/01).
Well, he is the President, and like Tony Blair, probably has to say these sorts of politically-correct things in the belief that they are necessary to be said, because to declare the truth would create a threat to the maintenance of order or, it might provoke an outraged citizenry to retaliate in a vengeful and illegal way, jeopardizing domestic tranquility. We have no such impediment and trust that the truth can only serve to enlighten and not to incite.
Islam exists as it is taught in the Koran and lived by Muhammad. Muhammad, by the way, was hardly an example that one would wish to emulate. He had affairs with maids and slave girls and was also a pedophile (and before we get outraged e-mails on the latter point, here is chapter and verse: the girl's name was Aisha, she was 9 he was 53. He was also involved in the slave trade, assassinations and genocide. But, what the heck, nobody is perfect.)
Let's, as the sportscasters say, go to the record, which, in this case is the Koran.
Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them. (2:191)
Fight and slay the pagans (translation: that's us) seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem. (9:5)
Slay or crucify or cut the hands and feet of the unbelievers...(5:34)
...strike off the heads of the disbelievers...[make a] wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives [for ransom] (947:4)
[treatment of disbelievers]...garments of fire shall be cut and there shall be poured over their heads boiling water whereby whatever is in their bowels and skin shall be dissolved and they will be punished with hooked iron rods (22:19).
The Koran also instructs Muslims to slay or crucify or cut the hands and the feet of the unbelievers (5:34), fight unbelievers until no other religion except Islam remains. (3:85)
Given these basic teachings of Islam there is little reason to be surprised at the beheading of Americans Nick Berg, Paul Johnson and Marine Cpl. Wasef Ali Hassoun.
Of course, not all Muslims participate in violence or even express joy at the perpetration of violence against the West in general, or Americans in particular, just as all Germans in the forties did not believe when they heard their anthem, Deutschland uber alles, that it meant literally that Germany must conquer all other nations. Some Germans embraced a passive longing for Germany to be victorious; some few actually despised fascism, and some, an almost non-existent few acted against it. So it is with Islam and the Muslims. About the best the civilized world can expect is a joyous but passive reaction to the mindless violence.
Empires have come and gone. Rome, Portugal, France, Holland, Germany and even in our time, Great Britain, have seen their moment of world dominance - have seen it flicker, and then, extinguish. And yet, they accepted it as part of the panorama of history, and have moved on. Not so with Islam.
It is not by accident that our enemies call the coalition forces in Iraq the Crusaders. To Islam the war, which they lost centuries ago, continues.
[It is of interest to note that the United States went to war with Muslim powers in 1801. Barbary pirates kidnapped and made slaves of our citizens, demanding tribute for their release. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson asked of the envoy of Tripoli by what right did he make his claim for payment. As reported to Congress by Jefferson, "The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners." ]
The enemy is not really the United States, nor even Israel. The enemy is modernity itself and the forces of change that have made them irrelevant. The West has persevered and they have lost. They are the have-nots, and to the degree that they have the economic power of oil, even this has been denied to them as a society by the corruption of their own despotic rulers. They are the past in a present and future that belongs to the West. There is a chord that joins them with other losers like Lee Harvey Oswald and Lee Boyd Malvo, devoid of any distinction or ability to even control their own lives, who strike out in spasms of hate-filled rage.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Death, misery and enslavement
Great article!!!!!!!!!!
I have an area of disagreement with our President. It is this:
The President has said about Islam: ...Islam inspires countless individuals to lead lives of honesty, integrity and morality (12/5/02). A...It's [Islam] a faith based on love, not hate. (9/10/02) "The Islam that we know...teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy and peace. (11/15/01).
I believe that these are political words and that President Bush knows better.
What is the problem? Islam is the problem. We know it and the practitioners of this horrible religion know it as well.
Jackie has been outspoken about this all along. I am somewhat surprised to see Raoul's name here.
Islam translated does not mean "peace", it means "submit".
Those who pretend otherwise do so at their peril.
Both Bush, Kerry, Clinton, and all the democrats and republicans know full well that this is a demented belief system of unspeakable horrors.
Exactly!
It has nothing to do with the truth, only neccessary expediency.
Is there photo/video evidence of the dancing in the streets in America? We've all seen the palis and pakis do over there, but it would be valuable to show that of those living amongst us, if true.
If I had seen any moslems celebrating 9-11 by cheering and dancing in the streets I may have "gone postal" on them.
All religions have a checkered history and their prophets have often made excessively zealous statements. Many things in the Bible are horrific if not taken in context or interpreted symbolically. At its heart, Islam is a valid form of ethical monotheism and nothing is gained by trying to slander it because of the it's been hijacked by bin Laden. Bush is correct to keep emphasizing this.
Bump for the truth.
When the head imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, or the imam of the largest mosque in Europe, finally change their minds and consider these quotes out of their context or symbolically, I may find your accusation of "slander" more persuasive.
PUHLEEZE! Next post, please be so kind as to give us a mega-barf alert.
stellar!
It's the religion of beheadings.
Deutchland, deutchland über alles is not a statement that Germany should rule the world, but a statement that the idea of a unified Germany (wich did simply not exist at the time when the text was made) should be highest on the mind of the german people, that there would be one day be a Germany. (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Deutschland%20ueber%20Alles)
Bush´s words about Islam did much good, prewented fanatical retribution toward innocent people who happened to be muslims (or look like muslims like the sheiks who were killed because of their turbans, they are by the way not muslims) and thus saved number of US cities from descending into riots and caos and ewen civil war after the horrible attacs on 11.09.2001.
,,Empires have come and gone. Rome, Portugal, France, Holland, Germany and even in our time, Great Britain, have seen their moment of world dominance - have seen it flicker, and then, extinguish. And yet, they accepted it as part of the panorama of history, and have moved on.,,
I wonder, will the US accept that their moment of world dominance is over when the time comes?
HUH?!?
You have no idea how much you'll miss us when we're gone.
More like WHO: Satan.
You need to spend some time over at www.memri.org and read the weekly outpourings of bile and venom from the imams.
There's no "slander" to it, and bin Laden has simply popularized the centrality of jihad.
You have a very mistaken, very low, opinion of the American people if you think the TROP words, as opposed to the character of the American people, are what prevented the descent in chaos and civil war. And it wouldn't have been much of a civil war at that. But there was not going to be 'fanatical retribution'. That said, given the silence and tacit support of the American Muslim community to the terrorists, there may very well will be next time. Americans gave the benefit of the doubt. It has been shown to have been mistaken in many many cases. American Muslims have not exactly been fiery in their denunciations of terrorism, nor have they tightened the purse strings to 'charities' with close terror ties.
You also miss the fundamental point of America. It is not a race, it is not a place, it is an idea. America's fall is not inevitable, because it is fundamentally different than every previous 'empire' you foreigners like to compare us to. But it is not inevitable that the idea will remain dominant either. What you forget is that the idea of liberty, freedom, capitalism and individual responsibility is only just now getting its moment in the sun. Don't forget, until the very end of 1980's communism was inevitable in most people's minds, influenced by the lefty academics. And communism may well be inevitable as Europe slides quickly into socialism, and America slides slowly.
But it is clear from your post you need to learn a lot about America. We are not like you in ways few understand.
And on a lighter note, I would suggest that france has a ways to go before they can be considered to have 'moved on' from their delusions of granduer since they picked up a free agent from Corsica.
Anyone who doesn't understand that we will soon be fighting "Islam" here in America's streets is deluding themselves.
I understand you're from Iceland--with a rather different perspective than Americans.
I can tell you though, there was no danger of US cities sliding into "fanatical retribution" or "descending into riots and chaos and ewen civil war after the horrible attacks" of 9/11.
Out of a country of 285,000,000 that two Seiks got killed by thugs in supposed "retribution" (the thugs probably would have murdered someone anyway--9/11 regardless) is pretty remarkable--due to the American character, and not due to Bush calming us down by claiming Islam is a religion of peace.
Islam has a bloody, ruthless history starting immediately with its founder, Mohammed. Christianity on the other hand was entirely peaceful for the first 300 years...until the Roman Emperor became Christian and the Church and government became corruptly mixed together. Only after that time do you find injustices associated with the official Church. Even then, since injustice cannot be based on the teachings in the New Testament--such perversions of Christianity can be easily discerned--not so with Islam.
Islam was from the beginning, and still is, a religion of war.
Slander? Since when has the truth become slander? Pull your head out and educate yourself.
Islam is a religion of envy. From this envy, all sorts of evils will spring.
With all due respect to President Bush, I disagree with his opinion of Islam. It bothers me that he's opened the White House to Muslim prayer and he makes repeated quotes from the Koran.
"At its heart, Islam is a valid form of ethical monotheism..."
What do we know of Islam "at its heart" except from the life and teachings of Mohammed...and the history of his first generation of followers.
Both Mohammed and his disciples were men of bloodshed, mayhem and war.
"Valid" my ear.
It is my understanding that cultural relativism is a somewhat dysfunctional philosophical or political position.
At its heart, Islam is a murderous death cult created by a psychopath in order to make psychopaths feel good about themselves.
As such, it is the religion of choice for psychopaths. I don't care that only 10% of them actually are psychopaths. 90% of rat poison is wheat.
. . . and destroyed on 9/11. Video at 10. Funeral services still pending because the family is still in denial.
'"More like WHO: Satan"
I agree... Seems to me that the lives and teachings of Jesus and Muhammad were polar opposites. They both clearly DO NOT represent God, on any level.'
Are you saying Jesus' life and teachings DO NOT represent God on any level?
Islam is not a valid form of anything. It is pure power-worship - specifically the power of destruction and death - and barbaric to its core. Try researching it for yourself and you'll learn the truth. Islam dreams of a day when everyone who is not a Muslim is dead.
At its heart, Islam is a valid form of ethical monotheism
At its heart, Islam is a murderous death cult created by a psychopath in order to make psychopaths feel good about themselves
___The President disagrees.
nothing is gained by trying to slander it because..
Slander? Since when has the truth become slander? Pull your head out and educate yourself.
___You first.
Islam is not a valid form of anything. It is pure power-worship - specifically the power of destruction and death - and barbaric to its core. Try researching it for yourself and you'll learn the truth. Islam dreams of a day when everyone who is not a Muslim is dead.
____In the Old Testament, God told the Hebrews to kill the inhabitants of Canaan in order to fufill His prophecy.
All religions have their questionable side, including ours, but if you are saying is true, then President Bush is full of it in his belief that the terrorists
have hijacked Islam.
And we shouldn't be doing anything
to help Iraqi Muslims to establish a democratic state.
All you're doing is showing you know nothing of the Old Testament in addition to knowing nothing of Islam. Yes, in the OT, God commands the people of Israel to wipe out the people living in the land He gave to them (this is the way every people in known history has acquired ownership of land - militarily). But He does not command them to continue to wipe out every non-Jew everywhere.
Islam, on the other hand, divides the world into two parts: Dar-al-Islam (the "House of Islam") and Dar-al-Harb (the "House of War").
You seriously need to read up on Islam if you think it's anything other than a death cult.
http://prophetofdoom.net
Enjoy
FYI Bush says "Islam is a religion of peace" for the specific purpose of discouraging vigilante retaliation against Muslims in the United States. It's wrong, but I understand the politics involved as to why at this time it is the right thing for him to say.
Sounds about right. Explains why psychopathic convicts are attracted to islam. No shortage of recruits, in or out of prison.
With a handle like "Bushbacker", that's obviously all that matters to you. Does the President tell you what to eat for breakfast as well?
In the day immediately following 9-11, I would agree. We were a nation in shock and chaos. Much havoc could have occurred, though civil war was not probable, civil disobedience was.
President Bush's continued support of Islam has not been good. It has clouded the daily truths Islam throws at the world. President Bush occasionally defines the Hebrew, Christian and Muslim faiths as the House of Abraham. Descendents, though they are, does not make them equal. President Bush has either forgotten, or does not know of an earlier house, the House of Adam, and his sons Cain and Able.
For a moment, set aside all the acts of violence associated with Islam and see what else might tell the truth of Islam.
More then a century and a half after we slipped the bonds of slavery, Islam continues to practice slavery, and traffic slaves. While Hebrew and Christian teaching also embraced slavery, those same teachings provided the instrument to seek life without slavery. The same does not hold true with Islam. The very same areas of North Africa that supplied slaves to the European colonies, and the early United States of America, are still today trafficking slaves. It can be easily argued slavery in the New World was accomplished by Islam. It was not Europeans gathering African natives for export to the New World. It was the Islamic slave traders. In Sudan, this very day, government supported Islamic militias are killing thousands of their own Islamic citizens, mostly men, and enslaving women and children.
How very odd that people, supposedly on some new intellectual plain, and call themselves liberal, often cite our freeing of the slaves in America as a part of their intellectual heritage, while at the same time continuing to support those who practice slavery to this very day. They beg the world to leave these murderous slave traders and slave masters alone to practice their barbarous acts. And equally odd are the numbers that call themselves conservative and point to our freeing of slaves as a religious enlightenment, yet protect the slave traders and murderers of today.
No, Islam is not a religion of peace. It intends to murder non-believers, and enslave the remainder, like an animal that devours its own.
No, God told the Hebrews to kill the inhabitants of Canaan, after 400 years of patiently waiting for them to repent and mend their evil ways, like child sacrifice, incest, child sex prostitutes, etc. not because He received some kind of sick pleasure of seeing a "prophecy fulfilled."
He also told the Israelites that if they committed these same acts, "the land would spew them out." We know what happened, don't we?
The President disagrees.
With a handle like "Bushbacker", that's obviously all that matters to you. Does the President tell you what to eat for breakfast as well
__anti-Bush sentiment noted...somewhat prevalent on this board...but since his view of Islam is central to his conduct of the War on Terror, I'd say it's rather frivolous of you to compare
it to breakfast food.
Yeah, right. It's one thing to support the President; another thing to use a fallacious argument by appealing to his authority, as if he's divinely infallible. It's obvious Republican politics is your religion.
In the Old Testament, God told the Hebrews to kill the inhabitants of Canaan in order to fufill His prophecy.
No, God told the Hebrews to kill the inhabitants of Canaan, after 400 years of patiently waiting for them to repent and mend their evil ways, like child sacrifice, incest, child sex prostitutes, etc. not because He received some kind of sick pleasure of seeing a "prophecy fulfilled."
___The prophecy I am referring to is that the land was designated for the Hebrews and another nationality was already there...would you want to see this type of conquest carried out in
modern times? I don't think so.
Ypu have to interpret these passages in the Bible to filter out the horrendous elements and find the essence. The same goes for Islam.
He also told the Israelites that if they committed these same acts, "the land would spew them out." We know what happened, don't we
___Yes, but God still ordered conquest and mayhem and radical
Muslims use the same justification...that the infidels :deserve" it. (The Crusades are an example of a "jihad" by Christianity.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.