I've said repeatedly that I'm an agnostic. I'm not an athiest, though -- I don't deny the possibility of a supreme being, just that I haven't been convinced. And I'm certainly not one of those anti-theists, the nuts like that whackjob in California (I think his name is "New") who's trying to strip every hint of religion out of our government and our nation.
I'm fairly comfortable in the middle. There are enough nuts on both sides to encourage me to keep my distance. For every Michael New, there's the Westboro Baptist assholes. So I just stay in the middle, apart from the fray.
What annoys me most is that there really isn't any grounds for a lot of it. It's a sad thing when the most rational, most thoughtful commentary on the matter comes from Cracked Magazine (the poor man's Mad), in an article titled "10 Things Christians And Athiests Can (And Must) Agree On." (I'd toss in the Jews as well, but they -- like me -- have been avoiding the fight.)
Hell, I'd like to see Muslims sign on to that list, too. But that isn't going to happen.
Islam, especially in its more virulent forms, is just too damned aggressive. Here's the latest example, merely one of thousands: a college converted a racquetball court into a "meditation room" where students of all faiths -- or none -- could go for quiet contemplation and communion with the higher power of their choice. The campus Muslims discovered it, and converted it -- step by step -- into a mosque. Now all students who enter are "asked" to remove their shoes, segregate by sexes, not "interfere" with set Muslim prayer times, and Muslim literature (there's a nice oxymoron) preaches the superiority of Islam over other faiths -- specifically running down Judaism.
The institution in question is Normandale Community College in Indiana, and the administration of this state school is frantically doing all it can to notice this huge, grotesque, flagrant violation of the "separation of church and state" on its own campus, and the intimidation being practiced by its Muslim students against its kaffir students.
It's stories like this (and they are legion) that make me look at articles by Muslims such as this one and nod in agreement with the author. "If Muslims Are So Terrible, Why The Need To Make Up So Many Lies?" she asks, and she's right.
We don't need to make up lies about Muslims. All we need is tell the truth.
We should let Harry Truman be our gide. When he was told about the Republicans "Give 'em hell, Harry!," he replied "I don't give them Hell. I just tell the truth about them and they think it's Hell."
Don't make up stuff. Don't spread rumors. Don't pass along wild stories. Just tell the plain and simple truth about the deeds and words of Muslims, and let them speak for themselves.
No, not all Muslims are terrorists. And not all terrorists are Muslims. But the indisputable fact is that the vast majority of terorist attacks are planned and carried out by people shouting "Allahu Ackbar!"
Let's also remember that the greatest innovations developed by Muslims in the last century or so has been in the field of inhumane slaughter. Palestinian suicide bombers started packing their bombs with nails and screws for added shrapnel, and rat poison to prevent victims' blood from coagulating and increasing the chances they will bleed to death. In Pakistan, Islamic fanatics tried to kill Benazir Bhutto with a bomb strapped to a kidnapped infant. It was Islamic fanatics that first used airliners as terrorist weapons. The greatest technological development out of the Palestinian territories is the Qassam rocket, an unguided missile packed with explosives that they fire into Israel almost daily in hopes of killing Jews.
They even tacitly admit that they can't develop their own resources. The weapon of choice for terrorists is th AK-47 and its variants, developed first by the godless Soviet Union. They have a great fondness for the weapons of the Communists, stemming from the Soviet Union's long-standing support of Islamic dictatorships and willingness to sell them to anyone who asks.
It's rather enlightening to look at a list of winners of Nobel Prizes in the hard sciences, and list them by nation and religion. Jews -- both in and out of Israel -- are represented far, far out of proportion to their numbers. Conversely, Muslims are considerably under-represented. Coincidence? I think not.
What was the last great innovation, the last great invention, the last great commercial good to come out of a Muslim nation? I can't think of a one. Their biggest exports are oil, people, and terrorism. Some of the people are leaving for freedom, but too many are looking to bring the mentality, the beliefs, the attitudes, and the strife that have made their countries so wonderful to the rest of the world.
Yes, what I'm saying is harsh. I know it's going to anger a lot of people.
But I don't care. Anyone who has a problem with what I'm saying has a problem with reality. Take it up with the people who've made it all true, not the person who is simply speaking the truth.
Not all Muslims are fanatics. But far too many are, and they are empowered by the silence and the complicity of those who aren't. They have chosen to stand by and do nothing while the radicals make certain that the most prominent spokesmen are the ones with the guns and the bombs and the knives.
That is their choice, and their right to do so. But they have no right to complain about the consequences of that choice.
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Comments (13)
It's Michael Newdow.... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Oyster | December 20, 2007 7:10 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
It's Michael Newdow.
1. Posted by Oyster | December 20, 2007 7:10 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 07:10
2. Posted by Jlawson | December 20, 2007 7:15 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Truth, incontrovertable truth, not "well, it's all in how you interpret it" style 'truth' is usually pretty harsh.
Good layout, Jay.
2. Posted by Jlawson | December 20, 2007 7:15 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 07:15
3. Posted by No One of Consequence | December 20, 2007 7:30 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
A couple of minor points:
1) As much as I hate to admit it, the college in question is in Minnesota, not Indiana
2) I believe you wanted to say "is frantically doing all it can not to notice this huge, grotesque, flagrant violation"
3. Posted by No One of Consequence | December 20, 2007 7:30 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 07:30
4. Posted by WildWillie | December 20, 2007 7:42 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
The silence from the so called peaceful muslims is telling. I have yet to see one huge Muslim protest in this country denouncing the bloodshed of Islamfacists. Not on. That is telling. ww
4. Posted by WildWillie | December 20, 2007 7:42 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 07:42
5. Posted by jpm100 | December 20, 2007 8:03 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
To be fair, you wouldn't see an anti-terrorist protest from the MSM if it did happen. Doesn't fit the 'blowback' narrative.
5. Posted by jpm100 | December 20, 2007 8:03 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 08:03
6. Posted by Mac Lorry | December 20, 2007 8:49 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
I would add one more item to the list of 10.
11. Whatever you believe about God you believe by faith.
That's an easy one for religious folks, but much harder for atheists, yet I submit that it's an infallible truth. The definition of a scientific theory includes the requirement that it's falsifiable. Religion (at least as defined in the Bible) is not falsifiable, and thus, believing God doesn't exist is by faith. In fact, one of the fundamental tenets of science is that the universe is unreasoning, which itself is a statement of faith. Any theory that includes God is rejected by scientists as not being science because it violates that fundamental tenet of science. Thus, the one idea science must be blind to is that God exists. This is a hard sell for many atheists as they perceive it as an affront to their intellectual powers, which they often hold in high esteem. I expect we'll see examples of that fact in this thread.
The dictionary definition of agnostic is "someone denying God's existence is provable" or "someone denying something is knowable" That's a statement of faith. Some agnostics say they just don't know if God exists or not, but that's also a position arrived at by faith.
Knowing that we all believe what we do about God is by faith levels the playing field in the debate.
6. Posted by Mac Lorry | December 20, 2007 8:49 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 08:49
7. Posted by WildWillie | December 20, 2007 11:34 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I have faith that when I sit on my chair it will hold me. Total faith. ww
7. Posted by WildWillie | December 20, 2007 11:34 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 11:34
8. Posted by Tim in PA | December 20, 2007 12:01 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"We don't need to make up lies about Muslims. All we need is tell the truth. "
- Which will still open you up to civil and/or criminal liability in Canada and most of Europe.
"The silence from the so called peaceful muslims is telling. I have yet to see one huge Muslim protest in this country denouncing the bloodshed of Islamfacists. Not on. That is telling. ww"
But, not surprisingly, there have been a few sizable ones overseas, mostly in Iraq.
8. Posted by Tim in PA | December 20, 2007 12:01 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 12:01
9. Posted by Frazetta_girl
| December 20, 2007 12:52 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
When I became a Catholic and took communion, I felt so happy and transformed that I thought it just must be visible somehow.
But what if it were? What if my faith caused my eyes to turn gold-colored, or a big freckle to appear on my ankle, or something equally silly but equally indisputable?
Then we wouldn't have free will. If God appeared every year and said: "Yes, everyone, I exist" then we would be nothing more than pets, either rebellious ones or obedient ones.
Faith has to be invisible, God has to be unknowable. He gave us free will, to believe or not to believe. He didn't want pets, he wants free men and women to come to believe and love Him. He gave us lots of clues but no proof because that would destroy our free will.
That's why I pray for the conversion of Islam to Christianity. I don't want to kill them all, I want them to become Christian. They can stop slaughtering children with nail bombs and start buying gifts for Christmas. Everybody wins!
9. Posted by Frazetta_girl
| December 20, 2007 12:52 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 12:52
10. Posted by capital L | December 20, 2007 1:52 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Some agnostics say they just don't know if God exists or not, but that's also a position arrived at by faith."
So people who don't know if there's a god or not have come to that conclusion because they have faith that they don't know? That's some pretty twisted logic. Is there anything, then, that isn't predicated by faith?
10. Posted by capital L | December 20, 2007 1:52 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 13:52
11. Posted by Gayle Miller | December 20, 2007 2:46 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Because I exist, I believe in God - a God with a fantastic sense of humor as evidenced by ME!
Seriously, Jay Tea, as always this is brilliantly reasoned and written. And, as always, I am in awe at your exceptional gift!
11. Posted by Gayle Miller | December 20, 2007 2:46 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 14:46
12. Posted by Mac Lorry | December 20, 2007 3:02 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I see I have to explain my statement for some. It's true that very small children, the profoundly ignorant, and mentally disadvantaged individuals can genuinely have no belief about God. However, I don't know anyone who calls themselves agnostic who fits into one of those categories. If you're incapable of holding a belief about God you wouldn't be able to read this thread. Being God's existence can neither be proven nor disproven by humankind, whatever your belief about God is, it's by faith.
By definition, provable facts don't require faith, but most people accept such facts on faith. Prove the computer you're reading this on doesn't work by magic. You accept as fact that it follows the laws of nature, but only a few among us know this to be true by their own direct study. The rest of us accept aspects of the computer's workings on the testimony of others. Is that not faith? There are different degrees of faith to be sure, but we all exercise faith in our daily lives. Anyone who says they operates only by facts and reason is either deluded or a liar.
12. Posted by Mac Lorry | December 20, 2007 3:02 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 20, 2007 15:02
13. Posted by ApacheWarrior | December 21, 2007 11:15 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If somebody was to take a dump in that racquetball court, the muslems would leave, post haste.
13. Posted by ApacheWarrior | December 21, 2007 11:15 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 21, 2007 23:15