Closing Thought–29Sep21

There are reports that Americans are moving away from organized religion….the numbers are declining….Christians may not be the only religion suffering from the loss of faith…..

Ex-Muslims are publicly flaunting their rejection of Islam as never before: a steamy tell-all memoir tops the country’s best-seller lists. One video (with 1.5 million views) shows a copy of the Koran ripped into pieces; another video shows a woman in a bikini cooking and eating bacon; and blasphemous cartoons of Muhammad.

Beyond such provocations, ex-Muslims work to change the image of Islam. Wafa Sultan went on Al Jazeera television to excoriate Islam in an exalted Arabic and over thirty million viewers watched the video. Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote a powerful autobiography about growing up female in Somalia and went on to author high-profile books criticizing Islam. Ibn Warraq wrote or edited a small library of influential books on his former religion, includingWhy I am Not a Muslim (1995) andLeaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out (2003).

Behind these individuals stand Western-based organizations of ex-Muslims that encourage Muslims to renounce their faith, provide support to those who have already taken this step, and lobby against Islam with the knowledge of insiders and the passion of renegades.

Together, these phenomena point to an unprecedented shift: The historically illegal and unspeakable actions among Muslims of open disbelief in God and rejection of Muhammad’s mission has spread to the point that it shakes the Islamic faith.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/atheism-among-muslims-%E2%80%9Cspreading-wildfire%E2%80%9D-193924

This is surprising to me…..my time in the Middle East I observed that Muslims were some of the most devout religious followers that I had ever met.

This will play little in the media when the next bug-a-boo with Islam arises…..after all there is an election on the horizon and fear will be a powerful motivator to generate votes…..most American need an enemy to get their ‘patriotic’ juices flowing.

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Rohingya–Another Forgotten People

I have recently wrote a post about the Muslim minority in China, the Uighurs.

They are not alone in this world of mistreatment….there is the Rohingya Muslim minority of Myanmar(Burma)…..probably most Americans are ignorant about the plight of these people….and that is where the Old Professor comes in…..

The Rohingya are an ethnic group, the majority of whom are Muslim, who have lived for centuries in the majority Buddhist Myanmar. Currently, there are about 1.1 million Rohingya in the Southeast Asian country.

The Rohingya speak Rohingya or Ruaingga, a dialect that is distinct to others spoken throughout Myanmar. They are not considered one of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless.

Nearly all of the Rohingya in Myanmar live in the western coastal state of Rakhine and are not allowed to leave without government permission. It is one the poorest states in the country, with ghetto-like camps and a lack of basic services and opportunities.

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/rohingya-muslims-170831065142812.html

I have written about the plight of these people…..some 3 years ago…..https://lobotero.com/2017/11/20/the-rohingya-search-for-a-home/

The Rohinyga have fled to Bangledesh and are now in camps in a country that hates them….

The exodus began on 25 August 2017 after Rohingya Arsa militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts.

Rohingyas arriving in Bangladesh said they fled after troops, backed by local Buddhist mobs, responded by burning their villages and attacking and killing civilians.

At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls

The government, which puts the number of dead at 400, claims that “clearance operations” against the militants ended on 5 September, but BBC correspondents have seen evidence that they continued after that date.

At least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in northern Rakhine state after August 2017, according to analysis of satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561

AS usual I will try to help my readers that have an aversion to the printed word with a couple of short videos…..

And for those that need the video crisis is explained…..

The Rohingyas are yet another minority that deserves more attention than they are given.

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Closing Thought—09Jan18

…I seldom post on religion simple because it is none of my business what you choose to believe…..but when I read something about religion that I think needs attention….then I post.

In Islam one of the “Pillars” of the religion is the Hajj….Muslims are should make a pilgrimage to Mecca in the lifetime if they are capable of doing so.

The story is the Qatar is embroiled in a conflict with Saudi Arabia and its allies and that the country is preventing the Qataris from executing an obligation they have as Muslims………

Saudi Arabia has been accused of preventing Qatari pilgrims from performing the Umrah pilgrimage, according to a social media account and a Qatari newspaper report.

In its editorial on Thursday, the Al-Raya newspaper said Saudi Arabia has been taking arbitrary measures against Qatari pilgrims visiting Mecca.

Amid Qatar’s ongoing diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and its allies, which began in June 2017, Qatari nationals have reported trouble trying to perform pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/qataris-barred-pilgrimage-saudi-arabia-180104121809114.html

I have a problem with the Saudis being this petty and preventing fellow Muslims from completing the obligation to God.

Burma–WTF?

In case my reader is not aware of the religious persecution that is happening in Myanmar (Burma) then maybe you should read my original post……

https://lobotero.com/2017/11/20/the-rohingya-search-for-a-home/

The Pope has made a trip to Burma to see for himself what is happening….and the head of the Burmese army told the Pope….nothing to see here……

Myanmar’s army chief Min Aung Hlaing said he told Pope Francis his country had “no religious discrimination” after the pair met late Monday, in a papal visit framed by the exodus of the Rohingya Muslim minority.

“Myanmar has no religious discrimination at all,” he said in a Facebook post by his office. “Likewise our military too… (it) performs for the peace and stability of the country.”

The Tatmadaw, as his army is known, has been accused by the UN and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of conducting a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” by driving 620,000 Rohingya from western Myanmar into Bangladesh since August.

Seriously? Nothing to see?

Then why has honors given to the nation’s “democracy” candidate been rescinded if nothing is happening?

Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the “Freedom of Oxford” award by the city’s council, over her failure to speak out on abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya.

In a unanimous decision on Monday evening, Oxford City Council voted to strip the Burmese State Counsellor of the award she received in 1997 and collected personally in 2012, after 15 years under house arrest.

“It was right to give the Freedom of the City to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997 in recognition of her long struggle for democracy and her personal links to Oxford,” the cross-party motion read.

But, according to the motion, she had not responded to the council’s letter calling on her to “do whatever she can to stop the ethnic cleansing in her country”.

(AJE.com)

Even a clueless dolt like SecState Tillerson has issued a statement…..

I visited Naypyitaw, Burma on November 15, where I met separately with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. I reaffirmed the United States’ strong commitment to Burma’s successful democratic transition as the elected government strives to implement reforms, bring peace and reconciliation to the nation, and resolve a devastating crisis in Rakhine State. Our first priority is to relieve the intolerable suffering faced by so many. In response to the dire situation, I announced last week an additional $47 million in humanitarian assistance for those affected by the Rakhine State crisis, bringing the total amount spent in response to this crisis to more than $87 million since August of this year.

Burma’s response to this crisis is vital to determining the success of its transition to a more democratic society. As I said in Naypyitaw, the key test of any democracy is how it treats its most vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as the ethnic Rohingya and other minority populations. Burma’s government and security forces must respect the human rights of all persons within its borders, and hold accountable those who fail to do so.

https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/11/275848.htm

So now we wait to see just what the beacon of democracy, the US, will do to rectify this situation.

MY guess is our Fearless Leader will do NOTHING to bring this situation to a close….after all these people are Muslims and we know what he thinks of Muslims now don’t we?

Death Comes To Sinai

By now I am sure that most everyone has heard about the barbarous attack on religious practitioners at prayer….but in case you have not….

Friday the news came about the horrific attack on a mosque in Sinai…..killing people in prayer to include children……

Egypt on Saturday said an attack on a mosque by militants in the country’s troubled region of northern Sinai has killed 305 worshipers, including 27 children, a dramatic increase in the death toll previously announced, which was 235. A statement by the country’s chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the attack Friday left another 128 people wounded, per the AP. It said the attackers, estimated at between 25 and 30, arrived at the mosque close to the small town of Bir al-Abd in five all-terrain vehicles and positioned themselves at the main door and the facility’s 12 windows before opening fire. They also torched seven cars parked outside the mosque, which belonged to worshipers inside. Witnesses said some of the attackers were masked. Those who were not sported heavy beards and long hair. The militants wore camouflaged pants and black T-shirts.

The chief prosecutor’s statement was the most detailed by authorities on the attack, the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt’s modern history. The account it gave generally agreed with what witnesses told the AP on Saturday in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, where some of the wounded are hospitalized. They spoke of horrific scenes during the approximately 20 minutes it took the militants to kill and maim worshipers, recalling how some jumped out of windows and children screamed in horror. “Everyone lay down on the floor and kept their heads down,” said one witness. “If you raised your head you get shot.” Friday’s attack targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam. Islamic militants, including the local affiliate of the Islamic State group, consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.

I heard a couple journalist (Western) that called these victims as sufis, a sect of Islam….well it is NOT a sect it is traditional sunni beliefs only more introspective…..

Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God and shuns materialism. It has produced some of the world’s most beloved literature, like the love poems of the 13th century Iranian jurist Rumi. Its modern-day adherents cherish tolerance and pluralism, qualities that in many religions unsettle extremists.

But Sufism, often known as Islamic mysticism, has come under violent attack in recent years. On Friday, militants stormed a Sufi mosque on the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 305 people in what officials are calling the worst terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history. The attack followed several assaults on Sufi shrines in Pakistan over the past year carried out by Sunni extremists. (The vast majority of Sufis are Sunni, though some are Shiite.)

We all here at IST send our condolences to the families of the victims…may God open his arms and embrace them….

The Rohingya Search For A Home

Who?

A little told saga here in the US is the saga of the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar (Burma) and their plight along the way…….

First of all the Rohingya are Muslims in a Buddhist country that are not wanted and suffer horrific acts upon them and are being forced out of their country simply because of religion. To me that is tacky and uncouth…..

The BBC does an excellent job explaining the situation in Myanmar (Burma)…….

The plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people is said to be the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.

Risking death by sea or on foot, more than half a million have fled the destruction of their homes and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (Burma) for neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017.

The United Nations described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Myanmar’s military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians.

Read more of the plight of these people…….

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561

The US is well aware of the plight of the Rohingya and is sending aid to Myanmar (Burma)…..this is a statement about that aid from the State department……

The United States supports a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Burma that respects the human rights of all its people. We are working to immediately address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, strengthen Burma’s transition to democracy, expand economic opportunity, improve health and resilience of vulnerable populations, further national reconciliation, empower local communities and civil society, and strengthen respect for and protection of human rights and religious freedom.

https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/11/275606.htm

The US has sent $151 million in aid to Burma in the past….keep that in mind for my next piece of info…..

“We want to see Myanmar succeed,” he told reporters at a joint press briefing alongside Suu Kyi. “You can’t just impose sanctions and say therefore the crisis is over.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was speaking after a one-day stop in Naypyidaw, as global outrage builds over impunity for a military accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya.

His comments came as de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi hit back at accusations that she has been silent over the refugee crisis, saying she has focused instead on speech that avoids inflaming sectarian tensions.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/tillerson-sanctions-against-myanmar-will-not-solve-rohinyga-crisis

What utter bullshit from an a/hole that has no idea what he is doing…..he is an incompetent fool…..

You are telling me that sanctions and loss of US aid would not have an effect?

To that I say…BULLSHIT!

Something has to be done to help these people in their struggle….so try sanctions….bet we will get a response. Who will protect the Rohingya?

Collection on Islam’s Condemnation of Terrorism

How many times have you heard or read some dim wit on the Right go on and on about how there is NO Muslim condemnation of terrorism and from that leap they summarize that ALL Muslim support the acts of these terrorists. Ever noticed that these “experts” have names like Smith, Jones, O’Doole and Klinschmidt (not real names just examples of those that offer lies to confuse to protect the STUPID)…….

First of that statement is pure bullshit!

I have posted many condemnations trying to pull back the lies of these mental midgets….I apologize mental midget is a horrible thing to say so I shall say it more clearly…RACISTS!

This is a collection of the condemnations that have been published……those that the Right refuses to use when they talk about terrorists attacks……these do not fit the lies they want Americans to believe……”if you say something often enough soon it is believed to be truth”………

Source: The Muslim Times’ Collection on Islam’s Condemnation of Terrorism – The Muslim Times

Haters will ignore this because it does not fit into the campaign of hate and lies……or they will come with some response that has little to do with the meat of this post, which is their typical response when met with facts……divert the conversation.

Round Up Those Muslims

It is Monday and I return to my normal posting schedule….who shall we piss off today?

I do so enjoy throwing a little history at those toads on the Right….a subject that they refuse to acknowledge….they are usually way too busy hating someone to even consider a historical perspective……

You would think that this post will be about the mindless dribble uttered by GOP nominee for president, Donald J. Trump, right?

As usual the nose picking ass scratching pinheads would be not only mistaken…… but dead wrong.

Mr. Trump is not regurgitating something new….oh no…..it was a plan back in the good old days of the GOP’s God like creature, Ronald Reagan…..

In the ’80s, fear of terror led the government to consider something far more extreme than Donald Trump’s ban.

In the early morning hours of January 26, 1987, federal agents across Los Angeles charged into the homes of seven men and one woman and led them away in handcuffs. More than 100 law enforcement officers—city, state and federal—were involved. “War on Terrorism Hits LA,” read the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.

The defendants were all pro-Palestinian activists, but it wasn’t clear what they’d been arrested for. Soon the government conceded it would not introduce criminal charges, instead seeking to deport the group by alleging material support to a communist organization—an ancient Red Scare statute that would soon be declared unconstitutional. The case quickly became a mess, and in the end, 20 years of legal wrangling would pass before a judge would call the case “an embarrassment to the rule of law.” But in the first days of the defense, the lawyers for the men who would become known as the LA Eight were turning over a greater puzzle: why their clients had been targeted in the first place.

Source: The Forgotten Government Plan to Round Up Muslims – POLITICO Magazine

To me it is humorous to listen to so-called “establishment” Repubs condemn Trump for what he has said about banning Muslims or deporting them….

This is NOTHING new for the GOP….and Trump’s proposal is pale in comparison to the Reagan plan…..

Amusing how soon the forget or should I say TRY to forget their stupidity of the past. But maybe if we had taken Reagan’s plan to heart we would not be having all these problems today. (wink wink)

Attack On One Is An Attack On All

After the DNC there has been a lot of back and forth on the speech that a father of a dead veteran made to the convention floor…I was not going to be a part of this stupidity but things change.

Trump has decide he would attack the character of this family over their words……Right wing morons have decided that they would link radical religious jerks…..

If the statement from Mike Pence lauding Humayun Khan as an “American hero” was intended to put an end to the controversy over the fallen US Muslim soldier, it hasn’t done the trick. Among the developments Monday:

John McCain weighed in: “In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States—to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.” Read it in full at CNN.

Columnist Charles Hurt, however, thinks Democrats deserve blame because they used Khizr Khan—and his son’s death—as a political tool at the convention. And Khan “allowed himself to be tricked into it.” Read his column at the Hill.

Khan himself went on CNN Monday morning and said the GOP wasn’t doing enough to rein in Trump. “Every Republican has rebuked his behavior, yet no one has stood up and said, enough, stop it, you will not be our candidate.'” See Politico.

During Khan’s TV appearance, Trump tweeted, “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same – Nice!”

President Obama entered the fray, though he didn’t mention Trump by name, notes Politico. “No one—no one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families,” he said Monday, referring to the families of fallen vets.

While former Trump campaign chief Corey Lewandowski had this to say on CNN: “If Donald Trump were the president, Capt. Khan would still be alive today because we never would have entered the Iraq war in the first place.” See the Daily Beast.

My take is that those that are spreading lies and criticism are nothing but COWARDS…..cowards of the highest order.

The son died serving his country and the family has every right to say whatever they would like to say….they have earned the right……anyone that has not served and has not lost a family member in that service have NOTHING to say.

Mr. Khan has earned his right….Trump and his mental midget followers have NOT!

Time for COWARDS to shut up or if they want to comment then join up and earn the right.

The only disgusting thing is to try and link this family for political advantage…..you may hate all you like….but when it comes to a veteran who died for his country then you need therapy….you are a sick son of a bitch!

“Duty Bound To Protect Them”

Since my class was cancelled for the Summer session I thought I would spend the day irritating as many people as possible…..

This post will not be met with much interest because most Americans do not want to hear this…..you see it does not fit the paradigm that has been set in motion….

I do not really give a shit about what you think of Muslims…this is not open to discussion….I just wanted the naysayers to know that some of their misguided beliefs are wrong….and border on outright lies.

According to Muhammad Muslims are duty bound to protect Christians…..another thing that westerners do not seem to realize is the the Quran and a Hadith are not the same thing……a Hadith is an interpretation of what the Prophet has said…..there are some Muslims that reject all Hadiths…they do not consider them as important as the Quran…..they reject the authority of the hadith…..

Prophet Muhammad’s covenants state that Muslims are duty bound to protect Christians. It is time that IS sympathizers heeded his call

Picture this. A Muslim leader reaches out to a group of Christians and invites them to his country. The Christians happily accept the invitation, while the Muslim leader prepares his people for their arrival. This is the first time the two communities have met in an official delegation. Matters of state, politics and religion are the topics of discussion. The two groups see eye-to-eye on most issues, but also agree to disagree on theological issues. If one phrase can best describe their meeting, it is “mutual respect”.

At the end of their talks, the Christians tell the Muslims, “It is time for us to pray”. The problem for the Christians is that there is no church nearby to worship. Instead of letting the Christians pray on the dirty street, the Muslim leader tells the Christians, “You are followers of the one true God, so please come pray inside my mosque. We are all brothers in humanity.” The Christians agree to use the “Islamic space” as their own. A bridge between these religious communities is made in the name of peace and goodwill.

This story is not some fairytale. It is a historical fact (I did, however, make-up quotes based on how the interaction might have played out). The Muslim leader of the story is Prophet Muhammad and the Christians are from Najran, or modern-day Yemen. The event happened in Medina in 631 AD. This moment in time represents one of the first examples of Muslim-Christian dialogue, but more importantly, one of the first acts of religious pluralism in Islamic history.

Source: What Prophet Muhammad’s covenants with Christians say about IS | Middle East Eye

You see what ISIS is doing is NOT part of the Muslim belief…..I know this will be as popular as saying that Reagan was the anti-Christ but the fact is there….most choose to ignore the fact and follow or believe a lie….because it fits the paradigm they want…..hate without thought proves that you are a moron.

I await the mindless dribble to commence…

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Muslims