Religion Of Peace

74 Replies to “Religion Of Peace”

1. A friend sent the text of a monologue by comedian/commentator Dennis Miller; thought I’d share it:
   “A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service
   to all Americans who still don’t get it,
   I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs,
   which is all you really need.
   Here we go:
   The Palestinians want their own country.
   There’s just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians.
   It’s a made up word.
   Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
   Like “Wiccan,” “Palestinian” sounds ancient
   but is really a modern invention
   Before the Israelis won the land in the 1967 war,
   Gaza was owned by Egypt, the West Bank was owned by Jordan,
   and there were no “Palestinians.”
   As soon as the Jews took over and started growing
   oranges as big as basketballs,
   what do you know, say hello to the “Palestinians,”
   weeping for their deep bond with their lost “land” and “nation.”
   So for the sake of honesty, let’s not use the word “Palestinian”
   anymore to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy
   at our deaths, until someone points out they’re being taped.
   Instead, let’s call them what they are:
   “Other Arabs Who Can’t Accomplish Anything In Life
   And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In
   The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death.”
   I know that’s a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN.
   How about this, then: “Adjacent Jew-Haters.”
   Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country.
   Oops, just one more thing. No, they don’t.
   They could’ve had their own country any time in the last thirty years,
   especially two years ago at Camp David
   but if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights
   and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse,
   you actually have to figure out some way to make a living.
   That’s no fun. No, they want what all the other
   Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel.
   They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course —
   that’s where the real fun is — but mostly they want Israel.
   Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel – or “The Zionist Entity”
   as their textbooks call it —
   for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries
   to divert the attention of their own people
   away from the fact that they’re the blue-ribbon most illiterate,
   poorest, and tribally backward on God’s Earth,
   and if you’ve ever been around God’s Earth . . . you know
   that’s really saying something.
   It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic
   about the great history and culture of the Muslim Midleast.
   Unless I’m missing something, the Arabs haven’t given anything to the
   world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that
   one.
   Chew this around & spit it out: 500 million Arabs; 5 million Jews.
   Think of all the Arab countries as a football field,
   and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it.
   And now these same folks swear that, if Israel gives them
   half of that pack of matches, everyone will be pals..
   Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to
   obliterate the tiny country and the constant din
   of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea?
   Oh, that? We were just kidding.
   My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day:
   Just reverse the Numbers.
   Imagine 500 million Jews and 5 million Arabs.
   I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it .
   Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades
   and dynamite to themselves? Of course not.
   Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations
   to drive a tiny Arab State into the sea? Nonsense.
   Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible.
   Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the Arabs baking their
   bread with the blood of children? Disgusting.
   No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace,
   the worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death.
   Mr. Bush, God bless him, is walking a tightrope. I understand that,
   with vital operations in Iraq and others, it’s in our interest, as
   Americans, to try to stabilize our Arab allies as much as possible,
   and, after all, that can’t be much harder than stabilizing a roomful of
   super models who’ve just had their drugs taken away.
   However, in any big-picture strategy, there’s always a danger
   of losing moral weight. We’ve already lost some.
   After September 11th, our president told us and the world he was going
   to root out all terrorists and the countries that supported them.
   Beautiful.
   Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of
   an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day),
   start to do the same thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint.
   If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day,
   we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration
   to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean
   and east of the Jordan.

2. Mostly a good rant by the Australians, except the argument has more power when it remains secular. For instance, the newspaper article states that most Australians believe in God – well that includes Muslims too, doesn’t it? It has too much of a Christian vs. Muslim tone to it which adds fuel to the fire.

3. Bruce:
   I liked the post, so I went looking for a link to it and found this at Snopes:
   Claim: Comedian Dennis Miller is the author of “A Brief Overview of the Situation,” an Internet-circulated essay about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
   Status: False.
   This diatribe is actually part of a column by humorist Larry Miller which appeared in the Daily Standard on 22 April 2002. It is a reaction piece to a 10 April 2002 FOX News Network interview conducted by Greta van Susteren with Ishmael Abu-Shanab, spokesman for the Hamas political wing in the Gaza strip, and American attorney Stanley Cohen, who has represented the head of Hamas.

4. Apologies to MM and all others for the wrongful attribution. I was so confident of the “pedigree” of the person who sent it to me that I did not independently check out the source. I’m usually pretty careful about that sort of thing. And the “oranges the size of basketballs” sounded sooo Dennnis Miller.
   Thanks Mississauga Matt, for the correction; reinforces the requirement for due diligence prior to…well, pretty much anything.

5. Hey no problem. Like I said, I liked it, and I only found out about its author as a consequence of doing a search for the text.

6. I’m going way back in the thread to quote Nemo2, so forgive me.
   “Chamberlain was, indeed, a member of the Conservative Party, (nowadays he’d likely be called a CINO), but his foreign policies/attitudes are scarily similar to those exhibited by today’s Canadian Lib/left.”
   For the first 80 or 90 years of the official nation of Canada (1867), the Liberals seemed like Conservatives and vice versa. Conservatives were very anti-American. Liberals were pro free trade (see the GATT). Liberals supported such initiatives as the Avro Arrow and it was crushed by the Conservative Diefenbaker.
   Not sure sure how, why or when the flip-flop seemed to happen but I invite any insight.
   Also, as I have said before (in this case with respect to Mr. Fateh) I believe that Islam – the so called religion of peace – is made up of hard core nasty people. Those, like Fateh, who preach peace and tolerance are the exception. Not the rule.

7. Call me crazy (take a number), but was/isn’t Greta a CNN creature?

8. brian m:
   the flip flop happened under turdeau.
   I just taped a huge poster, in 2 pcs 2′ X 3′ on hhe glass of the local lieberal mp consisting of a printout of:
   dubyadubyadubya.collectionscanada.ca/primeministers/h4-3382-e.html
   the other sheet was commentary by me.
   turdeau was a closet fascist, putting him on the side of castro and mao; a friend of the enemies of american interests.

9. About the Australian citizen’s letter, Marcus wrote, “Mostly a good rant by the Australians, except the argument has more power when it remains secular. . . a Christian vs. Muslim tone to it . . . adds fuel to the fire.”
   I understand what he’s saying but this really IS (Judeo-) Christian democracy vs a Muslim theocracy. And Christianity adding fuel to this fire’s a moot point: The Muslims keep it at white heat level all on their own. The West overlooks these facts at its peril.
   I find it sad that so many, who have reaped the benefits of democracy and the rule of law, seem to have no appreciation for, or, at least, no loyalty to, the (Judeo)-Christian heritage, which is the very foundation of Western freedoms. Indeed, the fact that many in the West have turned their backs on their rich heritage, in exchange for a shallow, intellectually starved, emotion-driven secularism, is, I believe, our Achilles heel in what truly is a fight for our lives.
   Mark Steyn also writes about this. The West is in for a very rough ride: While our very religious Islamist enemies have fire in their bellies for a vicious offensive–and don’t care two hoots if civilains die: in fact, that’s central to their strategy–the effete Western latte drinkers would rather be a fifth column, which not only betrays their own society, but gives succor and strength to the enemy. (I think that’s called treason.)
   My father and grandfathers, who fought in WWs I and II, recognized the Nazi menace to the freedoms they were privileged to enjoy in Canada. And they and hundreds of thousands of others fought to keep them, not only for themselves, but for those who came after them. The West seems to have lost this respect for loyalty to country and others. (Recall the CHRISTIAN injunction to “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” I believe our loss of this religious perspective is a negative, not at all a good thing.) The sense of entitlement in the West is now so strong–in Canada, Trudeau’s Charter, among other causes–too many people take the goods of a free society totally for granted.
   The self-serving, secular “Hell no we won’t go!” has replaced “For God and country.” I honestly don’t see how the new attitude is going to benefit anyone but those who are bent on destroying us. A hollowed out, selfish, secular West, which would prefer to sip latte than fight–a good description of Bin Laden’s “weak horse”, I think–is no match for the strong horse–vicious and wrong as it is–of a united Muslim force, whose battle cry is “Allahu Akbar!”
   The West needs to wake up and smarten up. If it doesn’t sometime soon, I think we’re gonners– dhimmitude or death. The loser, laissez-faire latte drinkers, who should be wearing glasses for myopia, haven’t yet figured out this fairly basic proposition. Israel has and that’s why I stand with Israel. (I also pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Psalm 122)

10. Well said, lookout. It’s past time for secular, entitled, know-no-history Canadians to perk up, sniff the air, and realize that the enemy not only is on its way, it’s inside our “citadels.” Forget that the barbarians are at the gate; they’re INSIDE the gate.
    And, unfortunately, the barbarians aren’t just the Islamofascists who want to eradicate us and our Western culture. They are every teacher, professor, parent, preacher, journalist, politician, who is selling our Judeo-Christian prinicples down the river, all the while sitting in the boat (more than half submerged) built upon these principles.
    There’s no fool like a blind fool.

11. Right winger, Aug. 04, 10:11am post:Mr. Fatah is no coward, he fears for the safety of his family as well as himself. He knows the machinery of his faith and the factions thereof and is tuned in to what is going on. It’s a good warning, we had better get tuned in too. They may be a small bunch of wingnut bastards but we have to be ever vigilant. ET post, Aug. 04, 10:54 am: Elmasry, who lectures at McMaster University is a Muslim who is feeding off the lefty dogma, how else could he operate? He is like many others of his ilk, he has a higher,(in HIS mind) mission and is using our University as a tool to accomplish great things for his true cause. The statements this man has made is enough to sicken anyone with a modecum of human decency. He has made some apologies, but a statement or rant, once stated is never erased with an apology. The apologist is doing it for his own benefit, we know how they feel. Just ask Mel Gibson, we know his sentiments too. Anyone who trusts Elmasry is a fool.

12. Given the death threats and physical assaults perpetrated against Mr. Fatah, a muslim, I’ll be curious to hear how the leftists will blame such ill will on the actions of George Bush and Stephen Harper.

13. Iran vs. Kingdom Saudi Arabia. The game is afoot. Sit back and enjoy.
    George Bush is the croupier/dealer. …-
    Iranian Alert – August 5, 2006 – Iran MP: Muslims should Sanction Saudi Arabia, Ban Pilgramage
    Regime Change Iran ^ | 8/5/06 | freedom44
    Top News Story Stratfor An Iranian parliament member Aug. 5 called on Muslim states to impose political and economic sanctions on Saudi Arabia for Riyadh’s policies on the Lebanese crisis, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported. Rafat Bayat described the Israeli-Hezbollah war as a clash of opposing schools of thought. She called on Muslims not to go to on the pilgrimage this year, and to use the money to reconstruct Lebanon instead.
    A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran: Ebadi protests Interior Ministry ban Hezbollah equipped like the Syrian, Iranian army Russia warns Iran over deadeline Airbrushing Iran’s..
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678434/posts

14. Peace loving Muslims, where are you? Given what is happening in our world today there is no connection between Muslim/Islamic faith and peace, it does not exist. The truth is absolute , Muslims hate infidels, that would be everyone on the planet earth who doesn’t belong to their faith. Time we brought them to heel. Robert J.: So astute of you, clever prefix,”turd”eau, because he was a turd and we’re still cleaning up his mess to this day.

15. To lookout and new kid on the block. I agree with your observations, not necessarily the line of reasoning. Why can’t one be secular and have a strong believe in “love thy neighbour”, which is really a moral issue not a religious issue. I suggest that the Judeo-Christian principles that this country was founded upon are also common sense moral issues which I defend as strongly as you do the same Judeo-Christian principles.
    I absolutely agree that they are “inside the gates” and we need to wake up.
    lookout says
    “I understand what he’s saying but this really IS (Judeo-) Christian democracy vs a Muslim theocracy. And Christianity adding fuel to this fire’s a moot point: The Muslims keep it at white heat level all on their own. The West overlooks these facts at its peril.”
    This is not a moot point at all. Not only are we in a clash of ideals which threaten our western values, but also a propoganda war led by the MSM. This can be seen by looking at the polls for what’s happening in the ME. It’s not encouraging, yet most common sense people should understand that Israel is doing the right thing. Make it a Christian/Muslim issue and the MSM (rightly or wrongly) will skewer you and opinion changes even more. Make it a moral, pro-democratic, pro-western values argument and you’re better off.

16. That piece was one of the most bitterly ironies I ever read. By an organization trying to cover up the same killers, now persecuting the near mythical moderate Muslim.
    How can sane people miss the farce?
    The fact they don’t see it even while writing it epitomizes just how far things have devolved. Its terrifying to think these people are news distributors. The MSM act like our enemies. Lies, evasions, innuendo, rage, with blinkers so narrow there blind . Bacteria can not move out, of the hole there microscopic brains, have descended too.

17. Marcus, I hear you. But to disguise J-D values as simply “moral, pro-democratic, pro-western values” is really a cop out: a counterfeit too.
    Why do you think artists and authors insist on ownership of and correct attribution for their creations? In the same vein, it IS the JUDEO-CHRISTIAN dispensation that bequeathed to you and the rest of us the ethics you happen to hold. Just because the MSM might have a hissy fit is no reason to doctor the truth. That’s one of the reasons we’re in such big trouble. Spin so often supercedes truth.
    You notice that PMSH isn’t buying into the MSM’s spin or polls on the ME, even though it seems to be costing him and the PCs politically. That’s my man.
    Marcus, please think about what you’re saying here. You’re saying disregard truth to satisfy the maw of the Moloch-like MSM. E.g., Be an appeasing “surrender monkey”. It seems pretty unethical to me. However, as you’re not a Christian and hold to “moral, pro-democratic, pro-western values”, apparently unmoored from their roots, your conscience can probably do so quite freely. As a Christian, mine can’t.

18. P.S. Marcus, I admit that when I engage with MSM, I don’t use specifically Christian arguments, though the logical points I make are based on my J-D understanding of the issues. As Canada now considers itself a secular country–with not very good consequences, IMO–I understand that one’s argument’s not likely to be given much credibility if it’s from a particular faith base. (Unless it’s the faith of secularism!) Too bad for us.

19. Survival success is proportional to strength of a society’s underlying convictions. Beliefs have to be based on a solid source: a rock to anchor.
    A wishy washy society with beliefs flapping in the wind cannot withstand much resistance without collapse. It is a strong strength of conviction that leads to ready sacrifice among individuals to protect their society with all means necessary…that is what enemies of the West would fear the most if we ever wake up to our forgotten past.
    So long as the West remains entrenched in secularism we will be weak and defeatable in the face of a treacherous and bloodthirsty enemy. We won’t have the guts to protect our civilization with the sacrifice it needs to progress and survive.
    To be strong we must know we need to fight.

20. Martin B, an eloquent and wise analysis. I altogether agree with you.
    Marcus wrote, “Why can’t one be secular and have a strong believe in ‘love thy neighbour’, which is really a moral issue not a religious issue. [It IS religious: this maxim–for Christians, a COMMANDMENT–is embedded in the religious codes of most societies, long before secularism reared its ugly head.] I suggest that the Judeo-Christian principles that this country was founded upon are also common sense moral issues which I defend as strongly as you do the same Judeo-Christian principles.”
    Although I appreciate Marcus’s loyalty to morality, unmoored from its religious bedrock and resting on the sands of secularism, I believe, society-wise, it’s as weak and defeatable as you say. All one has to do is look around today and use one’s common sense: Are we a more stable, civilized, courteous, moral, altruistic society than we used to be? On all counts the answer is no.
    Martin, you wrote, “So long as the West remains entrenched in secularism we will be weak and defeatable in the face of a treacherous and bloodthirsty enemy. We won’t have the guts to protect our civilization with the sacrifice it needs to progress and survive.” Right on. A Globe and Mail poll over the weekend demonstrates your point very well. Re supporting the Canadian Afghanistan mission, 69% did NOT, while only 31% did. The 69% is spooked by casualties: They really seem to think that it’s time to get out of a war if there are any.
    You’re absolutely dead on re the fact that the will to sustain any degree of sacrifice is tragically diluted in a secular, will-o’-the-wisp society. And the people who want to cut and run have not the wit to understand that what comes next will be exponentially worse. They don’t like casualties, especially civilian ones? Our bloodthirsty, fire-in-their-bellies enemy revels in them. Now is definitely NOT the time to give up the fight.

21. Thank you for the kind words, Lookout. We can’t be united against the threat of radical islamic facism with a rainbow of beliefs. Strong common beliefs cement a society together like stone. Religion is the strongest source of commonality I know of.

22. Martin, Amen to that. I really appreciate your clear enunciation of the truth. I believe we’re doomed in the secular West as long as we turn our backs on truth and spin it every which way for partisan purposes.
    You say, “Religion is the strongest source of commonality I know of.” I agree with you. In the West, having decided that religion is child’s play, is it any wonder that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” (Isaiah: 53) And while the West has gratuitously thrown overboard our religious heritage–we’re very quickly using up the moral capital accumulated through many millenia (with goodwill, please note, Marcus)–our enemies are Crusaders for the Muslim faith, whose plans for the rest of us are Islam, dhimmitude, or death. How arrogant the lefties in the West are to disbelieve our enemy’s plans for us infidels!
    And let’s note that the Muslim faith doesn’t appear to have any commitment to “love thy neighbour as thyself.” And it most definitely doesn’t share the Christian definition of “neighbour.” With all due respect, Marcus, I wonder if you know the Christian definition of “neighbour.” (Most young people today have been deprived of the wonderful stories of their inheritance. We may have lots of things, but we’re spiritually and emotionally poor.) There’s a parable that Jesus told: It’s called “The Good Samaritan.” In it, “neighbour” is defined as someone very different from us–someone quite outside our comfort zone.
    The West has acted on that understanding and welcomed, with open arms, immigrants from far-flung places. We now have a conundrum: One group, in particular, which does not share our concept of neighbour, is abusing our hospitality. This group has not only militarily attacked us from their own territory, but is now attacking us from within the sanctuary of our own countries. And yet, the elites of the West continue to treat these attacks as mere mosquito bites. What fools! This is not only a betrayal of our own culture, but an insult to the seriousness of our opponents. They mean what they say.
    The children of the West have been severed from their Judeo-Christian heritage, with all the wisdom it has to offer: A mental image I have is of a gigantic, gourmet smorgasbord. By comparison, secularism offers a Ronald McDonald “Happy Meal.” The degradation and devaluation of our true heritage, which would provide the “cojones” for us to fight back, is a reality of tragic proportions. I believe that this betrayal of our authentic selves–our enemies know exactly who they are–will be our undoing.
    So, in effect, it’s “For McDonald’s and Ronald, into the breach!” (NOT! Which is why we’re altogether flabby and battle unprepared.)
    Kyrie eleison.

23. Lookout, talk about eloquence. Passionate piece of writing! Without the original Christian underpinnings in individuals of Western societies I believe that there would be no modern concept of democracy and justice. It’s all about “love thy neighbour”.
    You talk about “…very quickly using up the moral capital accumulated through many millenia…”. I only add that multiculturalism has been an experimental proof that taking the easy route is the one paved with good intentions with a very hot non-Kyoto destination.

24. Martin, roger that and many thanks. And don’t get me started on multiculturalism or Kyoto!
    Have a great day!