First Christmas In Iraq

Ok fine but....

You have as many muslims in Canada than christians in Iraq % wise.

Now what if Canada declared Eid ul-Fitr to be a national holiday also???

I am sure Kate would be offended.

Religion is evil.

This must give the mullahs sputtering fits.

That's a good thing.

Atheist Quebecois
So Why don't you go to Mass and throw your shoes at the priest? Oh I know. You might freeze your feet when you walk home..

The atheist traitor's 'religious' holiday is St.jean Baptiste day.

I'm sure he is positively orgasmic on that occasion.

C'mon, atheist, philosophical consistency? Here? Who you kidding?

wasn't baptiste a traitorous scumbag?

it must be a big prayer session, looks like the alterboy is wearing a leafs toque!!!!

If Not here, where (for consistency?)

With the KOS kids?

How about a left/Liberal site?

Don't like a leftists position on any particular matter?

Wait ten minutes, it will change.

"small dead animals" is a perverse and cruel, thoughtless, sociopathic nic.

It's wonderful that Christmas is an official holiday now in Iraq, but you're an official idiot. Really, it's unbelievable how perverse and cruel you are. Will never come here again. Good Riddance.

Philboyd there is consistency here unfortunately you are too blind to see it. We don't subscribe to the all "religions are equal" nonsense of the mush minded leftist. Therefore it is quite alright for us to celebrate with the celebration of Christmas in Baghdad without rejoicing over observance of Ramadan in Canada.

The marking of Christmas as a holiday in Iraq is an exemplification of the progess that they have made in their quest for democracy. Whether 2 or 2 million Iraqis recognize this holiday is not material.
The fact that they do recognize it's importance to millions in the world speaks volumes to the success of the Iraqi Campaign. It's called respect. Something of which AQ has no idea.

quebecois- I realize it's difficult for a francophone to grasp this concept, but when one side wins a battle, it's customary for them to take advantage of it. The British were just too easy on you guys. Taking Louisburg twice, and giving it back twice made you folks believe you had some sort of covenant. Forcing an obscure language on Canadians that consider it jibberish reinforces that belief.

In most other parts of the world, life ain't always fair. Now Merry Christmas, you God-cursed heathen.

AQ sounds like a typical, ignorant, secularist leftie.

In spite of the smaller relative size of the Christian worshiping population in Iraq, Christianity predates the arrival of Islam, and enjoys deep roots in the region. The marking of Christmas as an official holiday is entirely within reason.

Islam has no roots in Canada, whose traditions (like them or not) are based on judeo-christian values and institutions, culture, law, etc. Marking a Muslim holiday with official status in Canada would simply be ... odd.

AQ, in the spirit of the season, I genuinely wish you a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you and your family.

Given current demographics in about 2 generations there will be more Christians in Irag than Europe so it is a good thing Christmas will be celebrated somewhere.

In Canada the Human Rights tribunals will rule Christmas is discriminatory so we will celebrate the "winter solstice" and in the USA it will become Hopey Changemas in honour of the Big Zero's long reign as the Messiah.

Belief in God is not evil. Belief in goodness of God is not evil. The instruction manual from God is not evil.
What individuals do with the Word is evil. Out of billions of people, if there were 5 that do evil, they would get more attention, press and praise than the rest.

Free:
St. Jean Baptiste (Saint John the Baptist) was the man to whom Jesus came to be baptized. Have a look at this link http://dce.oca.org/assets/files/resources/32.pdf

Uh, to all the lathered up and overwrought posters, a Merry Christmas!!

It's wonderful that Christmas can be celebrated in Iraq now. I assume that it's still fine to celebrate Ramadan, and I hope that it's okay to celebrate Hanukkah; if not, I hope that it will be soon. Let freedom ring!

And a Merry Christmas to all who want one.

Of course AQ, it's no big deal.
My goodness, Christians have been openly celebrating Christmas in Irag for hundreds of years, especially before the Americans invaded and attacked and terrorised them...

...

Oh wait...

Iraquis taste in Christmas trees aint all that great, but it's a start. Iraq will be a world leader some day.

"Belief in God is not evil. Belief in goodness of God is not evil. The instruction manual from God is not evil."

You're right, none of those things are evil. They're just stupid. But your larger argument is a bit of a red-herring. You may as well say:

"Belief in communism is not evil. Belief in the goodness of Stalin is not evil. Mao's Little Red Book is not evil."

or

"Belief in Allah is not evil. Belief in goodness of Allah is not evil. The Quaran is not evil."

The above examples are every bit as accurate as the things which you said. In all cases, the reason these things aren't evil is because they are beliefs. Beliefs cannot be evil. The problem is that irrational beliefs can lead to evil actions. To paraphrase Voltaire, if you can get people to believe absurdities, you can get them to commit atrocities.

It is a start. I will say that for it.

I congratulate the Iraqi President, Prime Minister and Parliament for this public-spirited gesture of making Christmas an official holiday.

Ultimately however, this was made possible by the moral clarity and leadership of one man, reviled by so many Western "progressives", President George W. Bush. Twenty five million Iraqis are now free, with their freedom, their budding democracy and their future now in their own hands.

"Freedom is universal. Freedom is etched in everybody's soul. And the idea of countries helping others become free, I would hope that would be viewed as not revolutionary, but rational foreign policy, as decent foreign policy, as humane foreign policy." Pres. George W. Bush

Thank you, Mr. Bush. You have made the world a better place.

lets see now

Jesus is one of Islams prophets and the temple mount (or what ever the muslims call it) is one of Islams holy sites

Islam is one of the three Abrahamic religions

Christmas is, and always has been celebrated openly in most middle east countries, including Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and most of the others. The only thing that is new is that it is an official holiday

and in many of the middle east countries the women of christianity are treated only marginally let brutally than the muslim women

Dave...Thanks, right on.

GYM...not sure what point you were trying to make, but you start off with a factual error, so the rest of the comment has no weight.

"You have as many muslims in Canada than christians in Iraq % wise."

The Christians in Iraq were there before the Muslims conquered them, and forcibly converted most of them. Just as Islam will ultimately attempt to do everywhere, Canada certainly not excepted.

"In all cases, the reason these things aren't evil is because they are beliefs. Beliefs cannot be evil."

If you believe beliefs cannot be evil, then you are a postmodernist and part of the problem.

That is terrific. That is a compelling people and country I hope to visit one day.

"If you believe beliefs cannot be evil, then you are a postmodernist and part of the problem."

If you believe that beliefs can be evil, then you believe in the existence of thought-crimes, and represent a mindset which has caused more oppression and death than any other in human history.

And if you define postmodernism as "belief in evil beliefs", then you're also ignorant. Pick up a book once in a while (other than the bible), for Invisible Man's sake!

What a great way to stir the pot in the Middle East. Invade, occupy then flash Christianity across the world as the new encroaching religion in Iraq!

I’m not against the invasion of Iraq, nor am I against Christianity, but I think it was pretty stupid of the MSM to stuff it in the faces of the Middle Eastern world.

Remember many said it was about oil, but many in the ME also said it was a new Crusade against their lands. Just saying, no one need be surprised if this causes a reaction.

Alex, I'm a constitutional lawyer and a fairly hard-core libertarian, so your ad hominem arguments suggesting I'm Big Brother just itching to lock people up for thought crimes don't fly: in fact, they don't even pass the laugh test. I'd be the first to the barricades to defend someone's right to believe and express the most vile and heinous filth conceivable. That doesn't mean I have to believe that all ideas or cultures are of equal value: quite the opposite. The first necessity of a genuinely civil society is appreciating why most evils should not be crimes, and likewise why most goods should not be subsidized.

The right to express the most vile and heinous filth conceivable implies that a free society is better than a moral or just society.

Posted by: Dave J at December 26, 2008 3:42 PM

Ah, I see. You're using the word "evil" to mean "things I disagree with". Well, ok, when you put it that way, you're absolutely right.

Of course, your definition of the word "evil" sucks, and is completely relative. As does your definition of "post-modernism". But hey, other than that, you're bang on!

"The right to express the most vile and heinous filth conceivable implies that a free society is better than a moral or just society."

And this statement implies that the latter is mutually exclusive with the former.

"What a great way to stir the pot in the Middle East. Invade, occupy then flash Christianity across the world as the new encroaching religion in Iraq!"

Zzzz, Christmas celebrates the birth of their third most important prophet, get a grip. The fact that he is Christians most important prophet is where the controversy comes in.

"You have as many muslims in Canada than christians in Iraq % wise.

Now what if Canada declared Eid ul-Fitr to be a national holiday also???

I am sure Kate would be offended.

Religion is evil.
Posted by: atheist quebecois at December 25, 2008 3:35 PM"

I agree she probably would be since EiD ul-Fitr has nothing to do with Christianity. If we decided to celebrate the birth of Abraham though, that would be similar to what is going on in Iraq today.