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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Media Just Keeps on Failing I think I've said it before, but we need to
really question why any of us really expects journalists to be of much value.
In 2004, the Chicago Tribune actually did a useful piece , exposing the activities of the Muslim
Brotherhood, a group focused on establishing Islamic governments the world over,
but it has largely gone unnoticed. Instead, our journalists continue serving as
apologists for Islam.
I proposed to a friend that part of the problem is that as a society we have adopted an attitude that we can criticize our own, but not others. Since a great number of journalists consider themselves Christian, even though the last time they were in a church was at whatever wedding they attended last June. So, that allows them to criticize Christians, which they really aren't, but apparently prevents them from criticizing Muslims. Saturday, September 16, 2006 Talk About Proving the Point No, there is no violence associated with Islam.
Never have been. Muslims are the most peaceful people on the earth. That is
why we are seeing violent protests , including firebombs and gunfire aimed
at Christian Churches. And please note that these attackers aren't even
attacking Roman Catholic Churches, they are attacking Orthodox ("Greek
Catholic") and Anglican Churches. So, again, Islam gets violent against
Christianity in a general sense. This isn't a protest against the Roman
Pontiff, its an assault on Christianity. I think that emperor's comments about
the violence of Islam were quite well founded, don't you?
Friday, September 15, 2006 Islamic Revisionism So the Pope now finds himself in trouble with the usual muslim hordes around the
world who like to protest and burn things. Unfortunately, they also are getting
support from several governments on this one. The point seems to be a quote
from a conversation between the Byzantine Emperor and a Persian scholar. "The
emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said. "He
said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed 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."'
So now everyone is accusing him of having a crusade mentality, etc. etc. However, what exactly did he say that was wrong? Surely as a Christian one cannot legitimately believe that Mohammed's new teachings are valid? I mean, if you believe that then you are worshiping a man (Jesus), as opposed to a God-man. That makes you an idolator, or if you do not worship him, then you are not a Christian. So I can't see a problem there. However, I think what is happening here is that they don't like the accusation that Islam is a religion of violence, intended to be spread by violent means. However, that is precisely what it has always been. Mohammed's quote, "I was commanded to make war until all men say there is no God but Allah", has been echoed by others - most recently none other than bin Laden. There may, in fact, be a new form of Islam that has severed itself from its roots and seeks to be peaceful. In which case it is no different than forms of Christianity espoused by groups like the UCC, that seek to eliminate the historic teachings of the faith. If God is really the source of Islam, then by what right do modern politicians have to change it? If it isn't from God (which I would contend), then its a false system and nobody should be getting worked up by opinions about it. Monday, September 04, 2006 Palestinian State? This has been mentioned before in other places, I
seem to recall, but its worth mentioning again. We keep hearing calls for a
Palestinian State in reference to the conflicts with Israel, as if such a thing
ever existed. However, it never has. I've been reading a wonderful book
entitled "Islamic Imperialism" . In it was the following
passage:
The eminent Arab-American historian Philip Hitti
described the common Arab view to an Anglo-American commission of inquiry in
1946: "There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not." A
similar view was voiced by the Jerusalem newspaper
al-Wahda
(Unity), mouthpiece of the Arab Higher Committee, the effective "government" of
the Palestinian Arabs, which in the summer of 1947 advocated the incorporation
of Palestine (and Transjordan) into "Greater Syria".
This, of course, doesn't answer the question of if there should be a Palestinian state, but the existence of one cannot be predicated on it ever having existed before. Much of the violence in Palestine is based on a desire of restoration to something that never was. In fact, as one reviews the history of the region, until relatively recently, most Arab interests envisioned incorporating the territory of Palestine in various pan-Arab constructs in an effort to re-establish an Islamic empire whose goal, as it has always been, is to establish the House of Islam across the entire globe. Sunday, September 03, 2006 That's What I'm Talking About Today after Liturgy, our priest announced the
imminent departure of one of head altar boys to seminary (in Thessaloniki
). Apparently another young man headed off to seminary this past week. I'm
assuming to Holy
Cross in Brookline, MA. What's particularly neat is to see two young
men heading directly into seminary out of high school. It speaks well of the
families and the parish that these men were raised up in a way that they are
immediately willing (as are their families) for them to respond to the
call.
The other neat thing that happened today was that the one seminarian, as this was his last day, quizzed the altar boys (back in the altar boy room) as to how many had eaten breakfast that morning, and how many had observed the fasting days during the week. I really like it when the older boys encourage the practice of the faith like this. Within Orthodoxy, we are no longer the oddballs - asking our children to behave in a manner different than that of all other children within the parish. |