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Thursday, September 21, 2006

The Pope and Islam

Recently the Pope quoted an earlier Pope and has created a firestorm within the “we have the right to never be offended” Islamic Community. Even the “moderate” Muslims (is this an oxymoron?) are offended but condemn the violence that the Pole caused. I noticed almost immediately that these moderate Muslims attributed the violence to the Pope rather than to the Muslims who are bombing churches, murdering Christians, and calling for the assassination of the Pope. Apparently within the very weird world of Islam if you kill, murder, or maim in reaction to something that you feel offended your religion, then you are justified and your victim is at fault.

So what triggered this latest outbreak of violence by these practitioners of the religion of peace? This was the quote which is taken out of context:

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The Pope did in fact state that this was not his opinion and his speech did indeed condemn all violence in the name of religion, but as usual the Mullahs have a right to not be offended and took this quote out of context and used it to stir up (manipulate) the illiterati that comprises most of the Islamic world. Since this firestorm broke several Muslims have been interviewed on television and have stated that the Pope called Mohammed evil. Of course that is not what the Pope said, but it is what these ignoramuses are being told. But really isn’t that beside the point? Isn’t the real point is the statement – even out of context – accurate? Is Islam truly the religion of peace or is it filled with evil and inhumanity? Naturally the Islamic Community is denying this and insisting that Islam and the Qur’an are peaceful. So let’s look at the Qur’an and determine precisely how “peaceful” Islam is.

2:190
Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight and persecute you, but commit no aggression

I guess this leaves open the question of precisely who is the aggressor, but it seems to my uneducated eye that it was the Muslims who attacked Israel and it was the Muslims who attacked America.

4:74
Let those who would prefer the Hereafter to the present life, fight in the cause of Allah. And whoso fights in the cause of Allah and is killed or conquers, We shall soon grant him a great reward.

Presumably if you are an ignorant person who has no future because you are segregated from the opposite sex, you have no education other than religious, you have no future because your masters have rejected all modernity and the West, then perhaps suicide is an option. Certainly this one passage alone could be used to manipulate the ignorant into killing themselves and others in the name of Allah. After all killing infidels is not murder but a religious obligation..

5:33
The only recompense of those who make war against Allah and his Messenger and who strive hard to create disorder in the land is that they be executed or crucified to death, or that their hands and feet be cut off on account of their movement in the land be banned.

This would appear to excuse the Muslims from the Geneva Convention and justify their inhuman treatment of prisoners. But isn’t that what the Pope said – evil and inhuman? This is but one example of many passages similar to this one in the Qur’an.


5:51
O you who believe! Do not take these Jews and the Christians for allies. They are the allies of one to another and whoso amongst you takes them for allies, is indeed one of them.

This statement stands alone but it does indicate that any peace between Islam and anyone else is not because any rapprochement between Islam and the West is specifically forbidden. This accounts for the tepid condemnations we hear from the “moderate” Islamic community because they are forbidden to display any friendship or alliance with non-Muslims.

It should be remembered that Hitler was quite open about his plans and outlined his basic plan and objectives in “Mein Kampf”, which can be translated as “My Struggle” and in Arabic “jihad” can be translated as “struggle”. Is anyone connecting the dots? Osama bin Laden has declared war on America and he along with other Islamic leaders have declared their objective is to destroy the West. Furthermore, Osama bin Laden has declared that there are no non-combatants or civilians and that everyone is a legitimate target. Of course most of the West dismisses these statements as rhetoric from a lunatic and insists that diplomacy and discussion can correct or redress any wrongs these Islamic leaders have.

The reality is the Pope told the truth and in his way he is sounding the alarm – an alarm that no one wants to hear because it offends the Muslims. But is it the truth? Are we so politically correct that no one can speak the truth? Have we become so diverse and multi-cultural that we no longer can discern good from evil or humanity from inhumanity? When some one looks us straight in the eye and says he intends to kill us are we so craven and concerned about his perceived wrongs to ignore his threat? Are we expected to lay down our arms and lower our defenses in the belief that if we pose no threat that we will be left in peace? This is the Ostrich Strategy that allowed Hitler to rise to power. Mussolini once said that “I would rather have 50,000 rifles than 50,000 votes”. Was that not a harbinger of things to come? When Osama bin Laden declares war on America is that not a harbinger of things to come? Is anyone listening?

If Paul Revere were to ride today would anyone respond to the alarm or would he be met with darkened windows and laughter at his alarmist message? I close with these quotes:

‘Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Viet Nam was lost in the living room of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam.”
--Marshal McLuhan

“There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.”
--Niccolo Machiavelli

“Victory belongs to the most perserving”
--Napoleon Bonaparte

Think about it – are winning or losing this Ninth Crusade?

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