Posted on 07/12/2005 2:00:10 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
Four years?
You gotta be kidding me...
Give it Forty years and you may see the result
In the last 2000 years, Jewish and Christian principles, Greek ideals and Roman organization and law created western civilization. In the last 800 years, following a promising if sanguinary begining, Islam has created the suicide bomber. There is nothing else it has to show except abject poverty, both material and spiritual and tyranny. It is not a religion as we understand it, it is a suicide pact with an unwilling partner.
WRONG!
Did you forget Medieval Times?
Did you forget what Church did to Galileo or Giordano Bruno?
This is a time for good Muslim people to come forth and denounce these acts.<<<
There must first be "good muslim people" to hear your request /s.
The violence perpetuated by the "religion of peace"
As the Catholic Church finds new ways to approach the issue of "world peace", it is faced with an unfortunate reality: currently no religious group in the world is subjected to more violence and persecution than Christians. While the Church has been instrumental in eliminating the "discrimination" towards other religions in formerly Catholic countries, not all of those other religions have followed suit.
In particular, the cult of Islam which is now referred to by confused Catholics as a "religion of peace", has shown little sign of letting up on its fourteen-hundred year campaign to eliminate Christianity. While the Pope welcomed the construction of a mosque in Rome almost completely financed by Saudi royalty, the construction of a Catholic Church in Saudi Arabia is strictly forbidden. Measures Catholic nations used to take to prevent the spread of error are subjected to the harsh condemnation of both secular revisionists and modern Catholics alike. But those same tactics employed in the Arabian counties of the Middle East are ignored out of a relativist sense of "tolerance".
The Church has decided to stop fighting its enemies in the interests of "religious liberty" and "dialogue", but its enemies have made no such concession:
The Church has chosen the road of negotiation and is "leading" by example, but such tactics appear to deny a fundamental and obvious truth not lost on the over one billion Muslims: the opposite of truth is error and error has no rights. Error is not something to be flattered, negotiated with, tolerated or accepted. It is offense to God and man and must be eliminated through conversion. The Muslims beliefs are false but their grasp of such a simple concept is irrefutable.
The relativism that considers all religions more or less good is a product of man, not God. The followers of Mohammed are right to completely reject the "enlightened" ideas of modern philosophy as every pre-Vatican II Pope did. Unless the Catholic Church is able to reclaim this truth for itself, it will find itself in an impossible position: having to defend itself from an enemy which Catholics were raised to believe is an innocent and peaceful ally.
There are many examples of persecution of Catholics at the hand of Muslims. Three areas of the world will be examined here.
Pakistan
Recently, a highly-publicized recent massacre in a Pakistani Catholic Church has caused many local Catholics to stay home on Sundays rather than risk a repeat of such a violent attack. Christians comprise less than 3% of the almost exclusively Muslim population of Pakistan.
On October 26, Pakistani newspapers printed the al-Qaeda demand for the death of two Christians in retaliation for every Muslim killed in the U.S. military strikes on Afghanistan. Two days later, masked gunmen opened fire on in a Church in Bahawalpur, putting 142 bullets into the walls, windows and altar and killing fifteen:
Indonesia
Over the past two years, Muslim extremists have been waging a Jihad against Christians in the Moluccas region of Indonesia, bombing churches, burning homes and killing over 9,000 people.
On November 1st, militant forces trampled through the village of Waimulang, torching 350 homes and displacing over 1,000 people.6
On November 20th, nine Christians merchants were shot down in their boat while bringing goods to the shore.7
On November 26th, Muslim militants fought to overtake a Catholic educational compound and disabled children's center (!) so as to make it their military base:
To make matters even worse, the Sulawesi region has also been host to al-Qaeda terrorist camps:
Sudan
In the northern states of Sudan, the Muslim majority has been working to implement the Muslim Sharia law which includes such things as stoning for adultery, the illegality of any Christian worship or "proselytism" and the relegation of women to second-class citizens.
Christians have been protesting against the imposition of these laws and accompanying "Islamization" of the country by the Khartoum government, but have faced increasing violence. Rather than risk having their children seized and forced into slavery, many have fled to the predominately Christian southern states, which are receiving more refugees than they can handle:
In a supposed exchange for information on the terrorist attacks, the U.S. has removed obstacles to the lifting of UN sanctions a move which seems to reward the oppressive Khartoum government. An open letter to the president signed by dozens of religious leaders and human rights activists rightfully criticized the move:
But observers fear that for radical Islamists, Sudan is the key to the rest of Africa. "Sudan is a preview of what will go on in all of Africa if the south falls," said William Saunders, who founded the Bishop Gassis Sudan Relief Fund to assist the struggling Sudanese in the Nuba Mountains.
Observers warn of a pattern that may be replicated in other parts of Africa. Initially, the Islamists present themselves as helpful and peaceful. "They go to a place as traders, bring in things people need, try to live with the people, marry, build shops, preach, ask people to convert, marry local girls, give their children Muslim names and build mosques," Bishop Mutek said.16
Conclusion
Father Vincent Serralda, a French priest who lived among Muslims in North Africa for fifty years, prepared a study analyzing the Koran and warning French families of the danger of Islam. He wrote in the preface:
And what is "authentic" Islam? One need look no further than the beliefs of their human founder himself:
Peter W. Miller
Seattle, WA
1/18/2002
FOOTNOTES: 1 From the Interventionis in scriptis on 13 October 1999 of His Eminence Mgr Giuseppe Germano Bernardini, OFM, Archbishop of Smyrna, at the Synod of European Bishops 2 ZENIT, "Christians in Pakistan Fear a 'Christmas Bloodbath'" (12/5/2001) 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 FIDES, "New Attacks by Muslim Extremists on Christians in Indonesia" (11/9/2001) 7 ZENIT, "9 Christians Shot Dead in Indonesia" (1/12/2001) 8 CWNews, "Indonesian Catholics Under Siege by Jihad Forces" (11/26/2001) 9 ZENIT, "Indonesian Christians Suffering New Attacks" (12/8/2001) 10 ZENIT, "4 Churches Bombed in Indonesia" (1/2/2002) 11 CWNews, "Indonesia says al-Qaeda Set Up Camps in Sulawesi" (12/13/2001) 12 Source: East Timor Action Network 13 FIDES, "Thousands Face Death in Sudan for Lack of Water" (1/11/2002) 14 ZENIT, "Letter to Bush Regarding Rapprochment with Sudan" (11/20/2001) 15 ZENIT, "Sudan Supports Terrorism, Bishop of Rumbek Says" (11/25/2001) 16 J. Burger, "Sudan's Christians Fight for Survival" National Catholic Register (12/2/2001) 17 Fr. J. Emily, "September 11 and the True Face of Islam" (2001) 18 Catholic Encyclopedia, "Mohammed and Mohammedanism" (1911) |
U.S.-based Muslim groups have joined governments and organizations around the world in condemning Thursday's deadly bombings in London<<<<
Yeah, right. Sure. Uh huh.
This is done to quell the fears of muslimes now residing in the USA, the ones who think we might commit hate crimes againts those who love the pedophile mohammed and his anti-Christian non-god allah.
In short, statements from muslims decrying terrorists acts is simply "Covering Muslime ASSsets".
I will never believe differently. Muslimes are Christian hating terrorists who wish to destroy us. God does not require me to understand the godless and terrorists, nor does He require me to love,like, and especially trust non-Christaians.
Hunting down the individual terrorists as each incident occurs and perhaps uncovering a terror cell in the process is the long road to victory. The shorter and safer road would be to have no "strong Muslim communities" in their midst in the first place. You don't fight cancer one tumor at a time, waiting for the next one send you to the hospital before treating it. You attack the whole cancer with radiation or chemo and try to get rid of it once and for all. God have mercy on our children and grandchildren who are told by our governments that Muslims are a 'peaceful people', and we only need to worry a few bad apples.
It only took nineteen "bad apples" to kill 3,000 of our people a few years ago, wound thousands more, and wreak so much havoc on our economy that we're still trying to recover from it.
The Muslim community will back the stronger horse.
If Christians are like that ridiculous wimp Steyn quoted, then why should Muslims do their fighting for them ? Why should they back losers ?
Islam is nothing more than a cult of death and destruction, and enslavement. Period.
Did you forget Medieval Times?
Did you forget what Church did to Galileo or Giordano Bruno?"
Interesting, if disconnected take on my comment. I did not forget anything the Church did and I didn't forget the slaughter attributed to the Israelites in the Old Testament nor the destruction of other people by the Roman Empire. I don't excuse those things. What I said was, that all of those influences built western civilization, warts and all. Islam has nothing but destruction in the last 800 years. The west has republican government, democracy, jury trials, constitutional law and most of the Nobel prizes, worthwhile art, music and literature and technology, modern medicine, space exploration and agricultural science that feeds the world. Islam has the Friday afternoon group hate.
Islam can't be reformed for one simple reason.
The number one rule in Islam is that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.
Therefore the life of Muhammad is and always will be the definition of a Muslim, and the shining example of how to think and act.
And that folks is the problem us infidels will always have to deal with.
I remember what the Church did, and what the revisionists did to the truth.
Galileo, educated by Catholic monks, and in science at Piza University by Catholic science professors, sought to prove that great authorities like Aristotle were wrong about the prevailing belief that the earth was still, and the universe rotated around it. In those days, Aristotle was deemed the final say on these matters, and the Bible seemed to prove this by saying the "earth was God's footstool".
But Galileo was not content to shatter prevailing beliefs with science, he often ridiculed and made sport of his opponents with pen and mouth, making many enemies for himself. He thrived on being controversial and confounding other scholars.
Galileo's theory on heliocentricity was originally put forth by Nicholas Copernicus. Copernicus' work, "De Revolutionibus orblure coelestium", was published at the solicitation of two distinguished churchmen, Cardinal Schömberg and Tiedemann Giese, Bishop of Culm. It was dedicated by permission of Pope Paul III in order that it would be protected from the attacks of the "mathematicians". Hence before Galileo's own work on heliocentricity, the Church had already endorsed the publishing of this proposition.
After Galileo's discovery, he went to Rome to be celebrated for it, and was accepted with warmth and admiration by Clergy and laymen. In fact, he set up his telescope to view sunspots in the Quirinal Garden belonging to Cardinal Bandim.
All along, however, though Galileo's science was right, he 'proof' was in error. Scientists to this day understand his proposition to be right, but his methods of 'proof' to be in error. Great minds of Galileo's time, like Bacon, strongly disagreed with heliocentricity, claiming (rightly) that Galileo's 'proofs' were lacking in good science. A great many other scientists of the times also thought the Copernicus/Galileo heliocentricity proposition was in error. Because the Lutheran revolt was taking place at nearly the same time, and Holy Scripture was being revised and understood differently by many, and because the prevailing belief by scientists of the times was against heliocentricity, Galileo's found himself embroiled in deep controversy, and was thought to be against the Bible's teachings.
More than four years after Galileo's triumph in Rome, the Inquisition asked him to recant his proposition, based on the fact it could not be proved, and that it lead to heretical beliefs about the Bible. Galileo quickly agreed to recant. The Church did allow Galileo to publish his heliocentricity, but only as theory, and not as scientific "fact". As I said earlier, even today's scientists agree that Galileo's supporting evidence was erroneous, though his theory was correct.
What was objected to mainly was Galileo's insistence that he was right, and that the traditional understanding of Scripture was wrong. The most influential Cardinal in the Church at the time, Cardinal Bellarmine, practically begged Galileo to write and publish his theories, but only to clearly state that no absolute proof yet exists. He even went so far as to write to Galileo:
Galileo, however, broke his promise and continued to write his heliocentricity as fact, and he continued to attack his learned adversaries with venom. He also continued to vascillate between recanting and then believing heliocentricity as fact. Eventually this did lead the Inquisition to "imprison" Galileo at the end of his life, and his "prison" was, as his Protestant biographer von Gebler wrote:
For the rest of his life, he was allowed to use as his 'places of confinement' the houses of friends, always comfortable and usually luxurious.
I hope this little reply clears up the ridiculous lies and distortions that are, unfortunately, still believed to this day.
Smoke fills the air after Assyrian church bombing
Description: Half an hour after the car bomb outside the Armenian church exploded, another car bomb exploded outside an Assyrian church where worship was in session.
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Date: August 1, 2004
BAGHDAD/MOSUL: Car bombs exploded outside at least five Christian churches in Iraq on Sunday, killing more than a dozen people and wounding many more in an apparently coordinated attack timed to coincide with evening prayers.
15 dead in Baghdad, Mosul church blasts
A church in Mosul burns after being attacked by insurgents
Militants stormed an Armenian Catholic and Chaldean church in Mosul on Tuesday, forcing the congregations to leave before setting off bombs inside.
Attacks targeting Iraq's Christian minority have become more frequent.
Pope condemns Iraq church attacks
The Christian minorities in Iraq today are among the oldest in Christendom. They make up about 6% of the population numbering fewer than one million out of a population of 17 million.
CHALDEAN CHURCH AL TAHERA IN MOSUL, IRAQ - Before it was bombed!
Islam does not recognize human or civil rights, only religious rights as set forth in its foundation documents which place Muslims in a dominant position in society and all others below that. All others enjoy whatever may be accorded them by way of privilege and at the sufferance of the Muslims and their leaders. This arrangement is sanctioned by religion, law and custom. The Christian populations of the Middle East, once dominant, have either vanished altogether or have been reduced to small minorities by forced conversions, persecutions and emigration. In recent decades the Christian communities in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East have been eroding at an accelerating rate through emigration due to increased pressure from militant Islam. Europe, North America and Australia have all experienced increased immigration by Middle Eastern Christians seeking to escape discrimination and persecution at the hands of their Muslim neighbors. In the United States about 74% of the Arabs are Christians and the remainder Muslims. If current trends continue, the remnants of the ancient Christian Churches in Iraq and the Middle East will vanish. No longer will the chants of the ancient liturgies be heard. Then the wail of the muezzin will sound from the towers of the desecrated churches. Thus the final solution to the Christian presence in the Middle East will be achieved.
THE CHALDEAN CHURCH THE CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ
Catholic Ping
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Many Catholics are not aware that the Church is both Western and Eastern. The Patriarchs and Bishops seen in this picture come from some of the 22 different Catholic Rites, including Byzantine, Armenian, Coptic, Chaldean, Melkite, Maronite, Ukrainian, and Ruthenian. A Roman Catholic may attend Mass at any of the Eastern Catholic Churches and fulfill their Sunday obligation.
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You can learn more about the 22 different liturgies at this link:
Thanks for the heads up. I'll be here in a little bit.
BUMP
..........................................
HIS BEATITUDE MAR NASRALLAH BOUTROS CARDINAL SFEIR.
MARONITE PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST
IN A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
March 2005
Oh, please, Galileo lived peacefully in apartments at the Vatican itself. Some persecution.
Ping
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