Bahrain: Humanity lost among sectarian divide.

On Facebook, a pic of a man on fire was displayed with the caption that he was a Shiia that caught himself alight while setting some tires on fire. The comments under it were a litany of disgusting and very telling opinions about how Sunnis and Shiia see each other during these days of blood shed. Most of the comments were along the lines of  he deserved what he got for being a protester/terrorist despite the fact that he was dying a most horrible death. My reply was this:

This man may have been "the enemy" or a Shiia before he set himself on fire and thus might possibly warrant every mean spirited comment left here, but the moment he set himself on fire is the moment all of that hatred should have been dropped and the humanity of this man allowed to shine through. At the end of the day Sunnis and Shiia must see each other as first human beings, then Arabs, then Bahrainis, and lastly (if you must) as Sunni and Shiia before any thought of peace can come to Bahrain. If a man on fire dying a horrible death cannot let you drop the hatred even for a moment and have a second of empathy for him then where is the future of Bahrain headed? Not towards peace that is for sure because each side sees the other as less than human...even during the last moments of an agonizing death. There is no peace to be had in that depth of hatred. 

This is excellent stuff and well worth the listen.

Hitchens at his best. Such a loss to the world.

Religious Satire?

This was in our local Caspar Star Tribune yesterday. Sorry for the bad quality but I had to take a pic with my phone. At the moment I just want to hear some comments from you guys. See what you think as to whether this is an accurate representation of both religious communities or not.

My short answer? Yes....and NO.

What do you think?

btw I forgot to note the artists name and now its rather hard to see down there but Im sure someone can make it out who has better vision than I do.

You Bring Your Book...and I'll Bring Mine.

A PROPOSAL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL HOLY BOOK BURNING DAY
Come one...Come all


The net is alive with talks about this church in Gainesville, Florida that wish to hold an, International Burn A Quran Day, to "commemorate" the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy that struck America specifically, and the world community as a whole.

Apparently the Dove World Outreach Center, headed by Pastor Terry Jones, believes it is the duty of Christians to educate the people about Islam...and show that it is a "religion of the devil"...it "leads people to hell" so the "fire is where it belongs"...hence the desire to publicly burn it on live T.V. etc.

Now let me get this straight...this is a Pastor...a religious figure (of sorts)...with a flock of sheep I'm assuming? Supporters hanging on his every word, if his Facebook page highlighting his "day" is anything to go by.

This is a man who claims he is upholding the word of God...by openly and willfully orchestrating an event that will surely cause, at the very least, discord and unrest, hurt feelings and continued "othering"...and at the very worst, injury and or possibly even death? I hate to admit that the Muslim world is not known for taking criticism lightly. Ahem!

Now, here is my personal opinion about book burning...whether the book is "holy" or just on a list of "oh no our kids can't read that" genre.

A book from God...or a book from Man, is a thing, an object....ink and paper with words on it. You want to burn that book...by all means, go ahead. Here, let me hold that gas can for you while you light up. Be careful you don't set yourself on fire...wouldn't want that to happen now would we. *dripping sarcasm inserted here*

I could care less if a group of hateful people want to burn a book that is held by another group of people to be valuable or worthy of some sort of sanctity and worshipful status. Just because YOU hold that book in high esteem does not mean I must as well. Freedom of " the choice is mine" far as I'm concerned.

All this little charade will do is highlight how intolerant one Pastor and all his followers are towards others...and how so very far they are from the teachings of their own Holy Book.

So...burn away Pastor...I prefer your hate be directed towards a benign object rather than a human being...after all...it is the MESSAGE in the book that should be more important to Muslims...than an actual ink and paper object. Right?

This misguided Pastor can burn a million Quran's...hell he can burn every single Quran on this planet...and what will that do to Islam...what will it do to the Message? Will it instantly cease to exist because now it is a "pile of ashes"?

Don't think so.

Now, here is what I propose. Two things.

1. Now I know it will be hard....really REALLY hard...for Muslims around the world to NOT turn this incident into a full scale riot SOMEWHERE on this planet. I'm fairly sure that the Muslim media will swarm the T.V. channels and net with this hateful display of intolerance...just as Fox News does when it concerns Muslims or Arabs (Fox seems unable to tell the difference)...and thus causing the "faithful" Muslims of the world to riot...burn...destroy..and possibly kill other human beings in their quest to show their extreme displeasure at having the Holy Word Of God desecrated in some fashion. I know it will happen. I do....but.....

Wouldn't it be so great if not a single Muslim anywhere so much as raised an eyebrow...not so much as sniff in protest (highly unlikely I know but bear with me). So when all was said and done and Quran ashes are blowing in the breeze and one hate filled Pastor is looking around with his smug smile and expecting hoards of Muslims to descend and give credence to his "Islam is from the devil" propaganda crap...and all he sees is...wait for it...Tolerance.

Then HE will be shown as the intolerant ass that he is...and the Muslims he wishes to shame and antagonize will be shown as the tolerant followers of their faith THEY strive to be seen as. (well most of them anyways).

2. A little more physical activity involved in this one (I know it's pretty damn hard to do NOTHING when emotions are involved as indicated in the first point)...I would like all the Muslims in that particular area to gather up all the Bibles they can find...and go join this Pastor Terry Jones on his "book burning day" and hold their own little bonfire. Hey, Freedom of Speech or what ever the hell Freedom is being expressed by one Pastor Terry Jones and his little debacle, goes both ways.

You burn MY book...I burn YOUR book...lets call it an Interfaith Book Burning Day. (insert koom-bye-yah music here)

Everyone bring what ever holy book concerning whatever religious affiliation it expounds upon, down to the book burning party. One great big bonfire will be arranged...along with marshmallows and hot chocolate... and we will set the world on fire...so to speak. ALL religions will be treated exactly the same...that is what Freedom is all about...right?

So...Pastor Terry Jones...are you prepared to see a bunch of "hell seekers"...oops I mean Muslims....pile up some Bibles and set them on fire...and not so much as raise an eyebrow in protest?

Or does Freedom to burn Holy Books only extend to those not associated with Christianity?

Waiting.....

p.s.

Dear God...please forgive the idiots You have created for they know not what they do while "defending" your Word...a word that has apparently been written several times in several Books...end result...not ONE God but Your God and My God and let's all hate each other in the name of Some God...

Please feel free to send your Wrath to straighten these haters up.

Sincerely

Coolred

Pick a side already!!!

I make it a habit to seek out and comment on Arab/Muslim/Islamic style blogs or posts simply because that is one of my main interests and it also annoys me when I see obviously false statements being made and touted as either part of Islam...or not etc. Obvious to me anyhow. LOL

Funny enough Ive gotten too many to count emails and comments asking me "am I Muslim"...or better yet..."do I still consider myself one" for those that know my history.

Here's my take on that whole question...of which I will not give a direct answer because I find it irrelevant to my point.

With Muslims you cannot win the comment game for the most part.

Why???? Good question. Here's my answer.

1. If I am a Muslim then my answer has authority over any nonMuslim that may have commented and claimed something as well. Even if I'm blatantly wrong.

2. If I'm not a Muslim then my comment is not accepted when it concerns something about Islam, the prophet, scholars, imams, women etc. You are not Muslim, you know nothing and have no right to comment.

3. If I am Muslim but make a comment that is not commonly held or doesn't make another Muslim happy...then Ive either been brainwashed by the evil west or I'm not a "real" Muslim and my comments and thoughts don't count.

4. And lastly, if I use to be a Muslim but now I'm not. I should be killed...and thus my comments don't count cause I should already be dead anyhow. *sigh*

SO, for those sending me emails and comments asking me whether I am a Muslim or do I still consider myself one...my answer would be. Its none of your business and shouldn't be used to decide whether or not my comments merit authority or consideration as being right or even possibly right. I can be Muslim and disagree with you. I can be a non Muslim and still be right. I can leave Islam and still have insights to make about it or shed light on it etc. I can...and I do.

Final thoughts...

The prophet was told one day that a man was good because he could be seen going up and down in the mosque (performing his prayers)...the prophet said...don't judge a man by what he does but by who he spends his time with. (paraphrasing)

Another time, some information came to him that the sahaba were not happy with because the information came from someone they didn't regard in a good light. The prophet told them, do not judge WHO is saying it (passing on the information) but ONLY in what they are saying (the message). (paraphrasing).

Whether you, I or anyone is a Muslim, nonMuslim, kafir or atheist..that right there is some sound advice.

Cheers

Give Me A Family ...Please?

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=256430

When you live in the Muslim/Arab world you have to get use to ONE fact straight away...even if your NOT Muslim OR Arab...unmarried sex is not ok.


Hold on, let me put that another way...getting caught having unmarried sex is not ok.


Wait...wait...let me try one more time. Getting caught having unmarried sex is NOT ok if you are female...especially if the consequences turn out that you get pregnant. God forbid a female gets pregnant over here without the sanctity of a marriage contract to make her baby all hilal and legal. All though I havent personally checked...I heard that, according to the law in Bahrain, it is in fact against the law to BE pregnant and not be married.


Sooooo...lets think about this for a minute. Men are given a certain amount of "permission" to have sex (since they are not held accountable then that is granting them permission in my books)...but when it comes to suffering the consequences of sex...women are the ONLY ones that ARE held accountable....and boy do they (we) suffer.


Lately, this past 2 years or so, there seems to be more abandoned baby news reports in the paper. I cant remember hearing about babies being abandoned in Bahrain when I first came here...but then again news reporting was a whole different ballgame back then. NOTHING bad ever happened. Lived in a right utopia we did. Miss those days....*sigh*.


Anyhow, the latest was this little baby boy in that news report. Officials havent determined his nationality yet...but havent hesitated (in follow up news reports) to shove all the blame onto the mother that abandoned this baby. As well as some comments by readers and by a leading figure here in Bahrain that supposedly helps women overcome difficulties. She was advised to open a shelter or place for unwed pregnant women to come to for help....and she flatly refused...declared that opening a shelter basically condoned unmarried sex and we as Muslims were not in the business of condoning unmarried sex...not to mention SHAME on those women who got involved in such things. Rather than try and have sympathy for these women...who might have been raped by a family member or stranger...or Hell...in the cases of housemaids etc...by their owners...ahem!...I mean employers. Not every pregnant woman on this planet got that way simply because she couldnt keep her legs closed.


She did not mention men in her article...did not mention educating Muslim men about having premarital sex...unprotected sex...or about STANDING by the woman they slept with when it turns out their night of passion (or moment of passion) resulted in life. Nope...all on the female. Females should guard their vaginas against the marauding hordes of penises that assault them from every direction and save themselves for just the ONE penis that is allowed entry...despite the fact that that ONE penis just might have entered numerous unguarded vaginas prior to hers...anyways...all on her.

I might also add that if a Bahraini girl finds herself pregnant (God help her) then not ONLY will she have to deal with her family (one can only hope she hasnt got "honor killing" believers in her family) she also has to GIVE UP her baby...no matter how she feels about it. There are NO unwed Bahraini mothers of newborn babies out there...just not a done or accepted thing. Her baby will be forcibly taken and placed in an orphanage whether she wanted it or not. Society will NOT allow her to keep that bastard baby and raise it like its NORMAL or something...nope...into the orphanage you go. You could have had at least ONE parent raise you that loved you and wanted you....but noooooo...society says bastards belong in orphanages...and then punish the mother for bringing one into the world...ALL BY HERSELF no doubt...cause we know the guy, the father....will NEVER be held accountable. On the off chance he makes the gallant choice to marry her...you can bet he will remind her all their married life how EASY she was prior to marriage...yeah...it happens...Ive seen and heard it...*sigh*.

Now,I digressed from the point I was making...the reason for this post... it turns out there have been quite a few expats here in Bahrain that came forward wanting to adopt this baby boy. They are willing to open their hearts and their homes to him...not knowing a thing about him....but thats the joy that babies bring into your lives...you love them...even when they are not yours. Spend a little time with a baby and you know what I mean. Not everyone wants to take a baby home that was abandoned, thats for sure, but some do...so why not let them?


Turns out the Bahrain govt is REFUSING to allow an expat to adopt this baby boy....doesnt allow expats to adopt ANY babies here in the Kingdom....and why is that? Shouldnt we be happy to see a baby...an abandoned baby at that...go to a loving home where it will have parents and possibly siblings and a life of love and companionship? Shouldnt we be happy to know this baby wont grow up in an orphanage alone and forgotten...nobody to call Mom or Dad...nobody to call their own? Shouldnt we want a baby to be loved by something more than the nurses that will change it and feed it and the orphanage workers that will make sure it has what is required for growth etc...but do nothing to make him feel loved?


Its not explicitly stated as such but of course the reason babies are not allowed to be adopted by expats is simply because the Muslim govt of Bahrain fears that baby might NOT be raised Muslim! Oh horrors!!! Better a baby is raised by employees in an orphanage then loving parents who might be, argh Christians...or even worse....ATHEISTS!!! *sigh*


As Muslims dont we believe that God leads people to Islam...how many converts are out there in the Islamic world today...whose parents WERE NOT Muslims...whose parents might very well have been completely against the idea of Islam and their child converting to Muslim...but that child still did...why? because its all in Gods hands...not ours.


For the govt of Bahrain to abandon this baby once again and force it to lead an unloved life in an orphanage simply to ensure it grows up Muslim is such a barbaric act against this baby....and not very Muslim like behavior at all.


It means they do not trust the Will of God...trust that if God has determined this baby should be Muslim...then it will be so...despite in which household it grows up in. Whose to say just because it grows up in a Muslim orphanage that it will turn out to be Muslim..if I grew up in such a situation and came to learn that people wanted to adopt me as a baby...wanted to love me and call me their child...but the govt of my country refused me a family...abandoned me to a life of loneliness and pain....and told me it was because MY (their) religion told them to do so...wouldnt I be somewhat antagonized by that fact...wouldnt I be somewhat rebellious towards that religion that required I grow up alone and without parents simply because Muslims themselves DO NOT adopt babies...because thats against Islam too...ironic isnt it?


The govt wont allow expats to adopt this little baby for fears it wont grow up Muslim....but Muslims wont adopt it because Muslims arent allowed to according to hadith etc...Muslims will view this innocent little baby as a bastard all his life....and will call him a bastard in general conversation as if its a title he acquired through a course of study at university...oh this is Bader...he works at Bapco...hes a bastard....believe me...Ive heard similar.


So a potential family would raise this baby to be a son...much loved and cared for...giving him their family name and all that that name entitles him too. Bahraini Muslims will call him bastard and refuse to allow their daughters to marry him because he has no standing, no family name...no lineage....but thats better for him then being raised something other than Muslim?

Now I realize that we should never encourage wanton sex, sex just for the sake of sex and all that...but we have to be grownups about this and understand that sometimes sex happens. With or without the consent of the female involved...it happens...and once sex happens there are numerous consequences that can occur..one of them being a pregnancy. Babies do not ask to be created...do not come into this world worrying about if their parents (and yes there are always 2 parents despite what many Muslims prefer to believe) were legally married and if their conception was wanted and anticipated...but here they are none the less and we should welcome them with open arms once they are here. A baby is NOT to be blamed for its existence and punished by calling it bastard and throwing it into an orphanage and enforced to lead a lonely life simply because that would be easier for US.

I dont get it...and apparently the Muslims Im surrounded by dont either...for the most part...again...*sigh*.

Shame on us...and may God forgive us our barbarity.

*I dont wish to make any assumptions as to why a woman would abandon her baby as Ive never been in that position to even consider it...but knowing this culture and what can happen to her...I can at least say I understand why she would be moved to make such a drastic choice. It cant be easy for her (ok for some women it might be easy...who knows) ...at any rate it was NOT the focus of my post.

Jesus loves you....but Christians...thats something else entirely.

I realized Im deeply entrenched in Christian country in this short time Ive been in Texas...Ive been here before but never really paid attention because I was here visiting and didnt need to worry about the long run...the future so to speak. However...recently two things brought it to my attention just how Christian it is here...and its got me bent out of shape a bit.

Now I generally dont bother myself too much with what Christians think about Islam...most of the arguing I do concerning Islam is with other Muslims on whose thoughts I dont always agree with. I figure I had enough to keep me busy just trying to figure out a way for all Muslims to basically see eye to eye and agree on things that really concern us as Muslims...then to worry what Christians may or may not be getting up to for or against us. I guess that was an easy thing to do...ignore Christians...while I was living in a predominately Muslim country. Now that the tides have turned and Im surrounded by Christians...the not so important issue has suddenly come right up into my face...and Im bent out of shape as I said.

Yesterday my daughter came home from school with two little booklets...like little stories in cartoon form. One was is basically about how all Muslims are going to burn in the fire because they follow an insane prophet that worshipped the moon and turned everyone away from Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savoir. The story showed how a typically irate mullah dude was praying and a Christian man and his son were observing him...the Christian man pointed out that the Muslim man was worshipping a false god and would expect Hell as his reward. The mullah guy over heard this comment and screamed the typical words of Jihad and "I will kill you...Islam is peaceful" etc at the poor Christian and his son. The Christian was calm and patient and went on to show the mullah the error of his ways and to relate the "true" story of Prophet Mohammed (sex fiend, insane, prone to extreme violence etc) to the unknowing and blindly lead mullah. Mullah guy was quickly convinced of the error of his ways and denounced Islam and slandered Prophet Mohammed and accepted Jesus as his savoir...and the world was right again. Another soul saved by the loving Christian heart.

The other story was about how all Muslims are terrorist wannabes and Christians particularly and the world in general need to see the coming disaster that is described as Muslims taking over the free world and forcing all of humanity to become either Muslims by force or slaves to Muslims. It described how Muslims that followed the doctrines of violence and blew up shit and killed people were in fact the "real Muslims" and those Muslims that lead peaceful lives were considered non practicing Muslims...or weak Muslims. It basically described Muslims in America similar to cockroaches...if you dont get rid of them when you first see them...it will be impossible later on...and you will be over run with them.

I asked my daughter who gave them to her and did that person know she was a Muslim...she said a girl at school and..yes..pretty much everyone knew she was a Muslim...so she assumed the girl did too. But she also noted that she didnt really see anyone else with those two booklets...but didnt really look for them either...hmmm.

Also, last night I went to her school for teacher parent meetings and got to look around the school as well. While in the library I made it a point to check out the religous section. I was not really surprised to note that from the 15 or so books on Islam...12 of them were what I would consider in the same vein as the cartoon books. 4 of them were about Jihad. Of the 3 that might be considered middle of the road or more accurate in describing Islam etc...2 were from Karen Armstrong and one was from an author whose name I cant remember but know about him.

So here is my question to any would be Christians lurking on my blog...WTF! I realize freedom of speech and all that...but seriously...WTF! Where is the loving Christian heart that wants all children of God to go to heaven...where is brotherly/sisterly love that is the foundation of Christian spirit? Sounds like a bunch of shit when I read such slanderous made up BS like that. And handing it out to kids...how sweet of you to get that hate going at such a tender age.

But then I sit back and think about all the shit Ive read from Muslims going on about Christians in much the same light...all though I must declare I have never read or heard of a Muslim saying even a single bad word against Prophet Jesus...so Muslims are one jump ahead Christians in one small way...but what it all boils down to basically is...we hate you cause you dont believe like us...and you hate us cause we dont believe like you...and we raise our kids pretty much along those lines as well.

So this tells me one thing with absolute certainty..humanity isnt advancing one step further in the "cant we all just get along" race as long as we are so hell bent on making the "other" into monsters and hell dwellers. Just what God was going for when He started this whole "I will create humans to worship me"...the only things human beings seem to really worship is the idea that they and they alone have the right answer...therefore everyone else is... by default...wrong.

Im starting to view religion along the same lines as I do guns. A gun is just an object...a thing...it only becomes dangerous in the hands of something that can pull the trigger. Therefore...religions are in and of themselves harmless...but in the hands of trigger happy "religous folk" they are down right dangerous.

Welcome to Texas...as long as your Christian...does that about sum it up?