Posted on 03/14/2006 5:58:55 PM PST by Louisiana
HUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i see you have elected yourself moderator, judge and jury and politically correct thought policeman and resident nitpicker...............
Very cool little red X. Sorry if I missed the sarcasm :)
By these or similar criteria, many devout Jews and Christians can not be an American patriot and loyal citizen.
IMO, we have to be very careful about this kind of stuff. We don't want to alienate that which can be moderated. There were Crusades once after all. But I wouldn't say I'm not devout because I don't believe those were Biblically sanctioned.
The best example I can think of is Lt Col Asad 'Genghis' Khan. He was, maybe still is, in Afghanistan with the 6th Marines. He and his men have tallied the most Al Qauda and Taliban Kills. I can't tell you what this man's religion is. I know that his family is from Afghanistan and he shares their customs. I don't really care what religion he is. I would call 'Genghis' a Patriotic Hero. http://www.geraldo.com/index.php?/archives/8_USMC_Forward_Firebase_Ripley_South_Central_Afghanistan.html
I know that the Kurds helped us in Iraq. I imagine that there are some Kurdish people who are Americans. I imagine they are proud that Hussein can no longer threaten their families. I would imagine that a lot of these people are patriotic Americans.
Don't get me wrong. I think the point to all this should be that there are good and bad people everywhere. We have Tim McVay and the likes of thugs like Charles Manson, the Middle East has UBL and Khalig Shake Mohammad, and the Demorats have Coward Dean and the likes of Mikhail Moore. There are bad people right here in the US. So, does that mean we shouldn't trust anyone? I love Ronald Reagan and this all give me the chance to say doveryay, no proveryay. Trust but verify.
Along with all that, let us not forget who we are. We are Americans. In peace or war we still have honor, dignity, respect, and integrity. Sometimes we fall short of our expectations but that's OK because we will still prove to be true in the end. Look at Japan. They are a great country today. The Japanese people are good people who contribute everyday to the world. They have a lot to be proud of. So does Germany. The ungrateful French are lucky they are not speaking German or English right now. And speaking of France and England, look at the difference in their former colonies. I think you will find that the British educated their colonies and helped those people showing honor and dignity, while former French colonies are not well off because their land had been raped and their people short changed. I ask you which country has more honor, dignity, respect, and integrity England, France, or the good ol' US of A?
My answer is the US if we work with people and show dignity, honor, respect, integrity, and justice. Doveryay, no proveryay, justice must be served. And so should respect, and honor, and dignity, and integrity. We can show people hope and a future, the likes of Al Quada can not.
Test your knowledge of Islam. Take this quiz. http://ameristan.net/popquiz.htm
Are you sure they did not? There are many, many Kurds that are huge US and GWB fans. You just won't ever hear it in the press.
I agree with your post wholeheartedly, and your comment sounded very much like a Yoda-ism. I love Star Wars, I see Star Wars in alot of things. It was a compliment with a splash of sarcasm. Yoda is wise and your comment is as well.
Please do. My obvious lie is that Americans may not travel free within the UAE and the KSA. The perceived insult must be that foreign middle-eastern media has no government control. I will apologize for the "swearword". Rump would be much more politically correct, without offending the sensibilities of our peaceful and contrite Muslim brethren.
Well, then by your standard I am not patriotic.
My first loyalty is to God/Christ. That means that if my country ever tried to force me to do something that was against what I believe, I would go against it.
My first allegiance, above all, is to God. God, family, country.
So, there you go.
Maybe. Has it not occurred to you how unique and rare it is to live in a country where love of God and love of country are so closely in harmony? We always put God first, always we put conscience first, and yet we have no qualms at all in loving this country with a full heart.
This country was built on conscience, and the freedom to serve conscience first. How rare is that? Very rare; its the only one. There almost aren't any others.
Soldiers who serve this country do so with a clear conscience, with very few exceptions. You must realize how rare that is on this earth, where so many of this world's soldiers serve governments that are little more than mafias with law degrees.
Our army is one of the few on this earth in which soldiers are counseled to defy an "illegal" order, which is generally any order that would shock the conscience. That is very rare on this earth. Most soldiers in most armies are taught to put conscience on hold during their term of service. They are taught not to question orders. Only in an American army are the men expected to defy an immoral order.
There is always tension between conscience and country, and we always, in the end, resolve it in favor of conscience. Thats who we are as a country. It forces the country to follow the collective conscience of its people, rather than the other way around.
I'm sorry if my post seemed a little obtuse. The answer was obvious; it just struck me how rare that was. And how important it is that we put people of character in high places.
Excellent series of posts, QA.
Most Christians do not kill people based on their religious beliefs.
Currently, this is true"
Muslims always have.
My Pakistani co-worker and his wife are very fun-loving, tolerant, easy-going people. He even has a beer every once in a while. Maybe that means he's not a "good Muslim", but if so, a Catholic who sneaks a burger on Friday isn't a good Catholic, or a Jew who tries a ham sandwhich isn't a good Jew.
I'm not sure if it's a cultural difference or a Sunni/Shia difference. I do know the Shia tradition allows more for seperation of mosque and state and is more tolerant of other religeons than the Sunni tradition.
The bottom line, I think, is to judge a religeon by the actions of it's adherents, not it's dogma or scripture.
Surgically concise presentation of the problems with muslims in America. Basically you can not trust them. They may be productive citizens for decades, they may even have been born here, hard workers, perhaps they are good husbands and fathers..... but you never REALLY know if one day they are going to go psycho and try to kill tens, hundreds, or thousands of "infidels" in the name of Allah.
But see that is exactly the point.
If Christianity headed in a different way...so can Islam.
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