Free Republic

Anthropologists: Early Humans Probably Pretty Peaceful Friday, March 17, 2006 By Heather Whipps Depending on which journals you've picked up in recent months, early humans were either peace-loving softies or war-mongering buffoons. Which theory is to be believed? A little bit of both, says one archaeologist, who warns against making generalizations when it comes to our long and varied prehistory. The newest claim concerns Australopithecus afarensis, who lived approximately five million years ago and is one of the first hominids that can be linked directly to our lineage with some certainty. Scientists say the small and furry creature was hardly...

On the surface, it was gratifying to note a peaceful protest by Muslims against the Mohammed caricatures today in London's Trafalgar Square. Peaceful assembly and free expression are the means by which civilized societies work out internal differences. But was today's demonstration truly a spontaneous, lawful expression of free speech, or carefully orchestrated public relations damage control for Islam? The BBC reports: Protests held in London last week sparked outrage when demonstrators carried placards with strong messages - the Metropolitan Police said some protesters could be charged with "incitement to murder". According to CNN.com, last week's Muslim "protestors" carried placards...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31, 2005 – This has been a year of strong progress toward a freer, more peaceful world and a more prosperous America, President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio address today. "This year we watched the Iraqi people defy the terrorists and suicide bombers and hold three successful elections, voting to choose the only constitutional, democratic government in the Arab world," Bush said." We also saw the people of Afghanistan elect a democratic parliament in a nation that only a few years ago was ruled by the Taliban. "These are amazing achievements in the history of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2005 – Baghdad took on an air of celebration as the polls closed on this historic election day with little terrorist action. East Baghdad saw one rocket attack, with no direct attacks on polling places or on Iraqis going to vote. Iraqi citizens reported a small homemade bomb that terrorists planted near a polling site, and Iraqi and coalition explosive ordnance technicians rendered it safe. Turnout was high all over the region. Salman Pak, a primarily Sunni area south of here, had people lined up to vote when the polls opened at 7...

Venerable white-bearded dervishes and high-heeled girls with garish lipstick found rare common ground before dawn on Tuesday, celebrating an Iranian holiday with the mystical chants of the Sufis. Sufi Muslim spirituality is largely tolerated under Iran’s strict Islamic laws, although senior religious figures occasionally call for a clampdown on its rites. Under an almost full moon, several hundred Iranians came to celebrate the birthday of the ‘Mahdi’ at the Zahir-od-dowleh cemetery in northern Tehran, a dervish hub where many writers and artists are buried. The Mahdi is a key figure of Shi’ite Islam, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad whose...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran's top nuclear official, upbeat after a Moscow visit, reminded the West on Monday that Tehran had powerful allies opposed to referring its suspected atomic weapons programme to the U.N. Security Council. The European Union and the United States want the Security Council to take up Iran's case after Tehran resumed uranium processing last month, effectively halting talks aimed at curbing its nuclear ambitions. But Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation head Gholamreza Aghazadeh said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which currently monitors Tehran's nuclear programme, had no reasons to get the Security Council involved. "Based on IAEA...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday for the first time accepted that Iran can develop civilian nuclear programs, backing an EU proposal that would allow Tehran to pursue atomic power in exchange for giving up fuel work. In a compromise that completed a gradual shift in U.S. policy, Washington acquiesced because it believes the EU offer has enough safeguards to prevent Iran diverting its civilian work into making nuclear bombs. "We support the (Europeans') effort and the proposal they have put forward to find a diplomatic solution to this problem and to seek an end to Iran's nuclear...

Mr. Kamal Nawash who calls himself the “president of Free Muslims Against Terrorism, with 15 chapters across America” is planning to meet the Congressman Tom Tancredo this Wednesday. In a communiqué Mr. Nawash expressed his “understanding of the frustration of the Congressman” when the latter hypothetically said; America should bomb the Islamic Holy Sites in Mecca as a deterrent to Islamic terrorism. He plans to tell the Congressman Tancredo who expressed the sentiment of millions of Americans who on daily bases watch in horror as dozens of innocent people are murdered in the name of Islam, that “many Muslims share...

ON HIS last visit to relatives in Pakistan this year, one of the London bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, boasted of wanting to die in a revenge attack over the way Muslims are treated. While his family in Leeds had no idea about his suicide mission, Tanweer confessed to his cousin his ambition to become a “holy warrior”. At his father’s home village 30 miles from Faisalabad, Mohammad Saleem described yesterday how Tanweer, 22, hero-worshipped Osama bin Laden. Mr Saleem supported his cousin’s bombing at Aldgate station which killed seven people, saying: “Whatever he has done, if he has done it, then...

IRAN Imprisoned Journalist Akbar Ganji / Concern Over Brutality Towards Peaceful Protestors / Importance of Freedom of the Press QUESTION: Can I ask you about the case of Ganji, the journalist who's jailed in Iran? My question is, the Bush Administration has made clear that they want him released and also has urged human rights group, the United Nations, to try and sort of pressure on the case. Given all that's happened in the United States about journalism and the journalist who has been jailed, does that kind of diminish your chances of persuading other people to do it? It's...

VIENNA, July 6 (Reuters) - Iran has asked the U.N. nuclear watchdog to let it break U.N. seals and test atomic equipment that has been mothballed under an agreement with the EU's three biggest powers, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. A U.S. official said it appeared Tehran wanted to violate its pledge to suspend all activities linked to the production of enriched-uranium fuel, a technology that can be used in either atomic power plants or weapons. But the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, said the move had nothing to do with the suspension of...

The defense rested Monday in the trial of a former Ku Klux Klanman in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers after a former mayor testified that the white-supremacist group was a "peaceful organization." Harlan Majure, who was mayor of this rural Mississippi town in the 1990s, said Edgar Ray Killen was a good man and that the part-time preacher's Klan membership would not change his opinion. Majur said the Klan "did a lot of good up here" and said he was not personally aware of the organization's bloody past. "As far as I know it's a peaceful organization,"...

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." -Dalai Lama By Farhad Mafie November 16, 2003 Hold on to Your Hat! Some days the Persian Gulf is referred to as the Arabian Gulf. Some days Rumi?the great Iranian poet and philosopher?is referred to as a poet from Afghanistan or a poet from Turkey. Some days Sina or Avicenna, Râzi, Farabi, Birouni?the great Iranian scientists?are referred to as Arab scientists. Some days Iranian arts are referred to as Islamic arts...

Just when I thought I had seen everything, I stumble across what might be the most grotesque example of intellectual insanity in the history of the universe. It figures I would find such a shining example of imbecilic lunacy in the halls of our own congress. This special kind of idiocy takes the form of House Resolution 288, conceived and sponsored by none other than Mr. “can’t we all just get along without religion” John Conyers, Jr. [(D) of course…] our esteemed Representative from Michigan. The pending bill is Mr. Conyers answer to the bogus Newsweek report which wrongly accused...

A new group of American Muslims has declared itself committed to moderation, patriotism, and peaceful coexistence with non-Muslims. It's called the Center for Islamic Pluralism, an organization made up of both American-born and immigrant Muslims, lifelong Muslims and converts. If this organization succeeds in being what it has set out to be, it will fill a vacuum many Americans have felt keenly since 9/11: it will be a real counterweight in the Islamic community to jihadist radicalism and fanaticism. In its inaugural press release the CIP declared its intention to "promote moderate Islam in the U.S. and globally; educate the...

"George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian Michael Schiavo, told reporters later that he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm." "I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever,"

Elmhurst church members pray that Syrian forces will leave their homeland. For years, worshipers at Our Lady of Lebanon Catholic Church have prayed for change in a Middle Eastern homeland occupied by Syrian troops and divided among religious factions. Now many parishioners, like other Lebanese throughout the Chicago area, hope they are seeing an answer to those prayers as Christians and Muslims in Beirut unite to protest Syria's 29-year presence in the Mediterranean country. Organizers from the church--which has been meeting in another Catholic sanctuary in Elmhurst while constructing its own building--are planning to join other community groups in a...

Why an Attack on Iran is Imminent I believe that a U.S. attack on Iran is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ In stating my reasons for such an attack, I will ask three simple questions. 1) Is Iran intent on building a nuclear weapon? 2) Can Iran’s nuclear program be stopped peacefully? 3) Is George Bush firmly dedicated to preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon? 1) Is Iran intent on building a nuclear weapon? Based on the words and secretive actions of Iran’s mullahs, there is very little doubt that Iran is intent on building a...

http://netwmd.com/articles/article890.html After a first term marked by schizophrenic Iran policy initiatives, the Bush White House will soon develop a coordinated policy to promote peaceful regime change in Iran. The Bush administration is heartened by the apparent success of the Iraqi election and believes that Iranians are ready to exert their democratic rights. Bush policy is motivated by the grave and growing threat from the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, and the realization that neither Iran nor the European Union are sincere in preventing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weaponry. The Islamic Republic's potential threat to American security emanates from Tehran's determination...

Islam's Terrorist Dogma in Muhammed's Own Words Islam rises and falls on Muhammad. He is the religion's sole prophet, Islam’s solitary example, Allah’s lone conduit. Without Muhammad, Allah, the Qur’an, and Islam would be unknown. Yet the picture the Islamic scriptures paint of this man is not flattering; his words aren’t believable. According to the Qur’an and Hadith, Muhammad was a thief, rapist, and terrorist. It’s hardly the example you’d want your neighbor to emulate. Muhammad, Allah, Mecca, and the formation of Islam are completely unknown to secular history. All we know of them is derived from the Qur’an and...