MUHAMMED’S PAIN
What they do in my name is an abomination
Worse than blasphemy because they mock God
And use terror to seize power and then kill.
But my pain is not like their pain of eternal hell.
“The power is God’s alone.
And God is stern in punishment.”
(Qur'an)
But look, the willful usurpers. Their power
Comes from the barrel of a gun, from terror.
They oppress women which is strange because
The Qur’an says women and men are equal.
How many times in the sacred Qur’an
Is it said that non-combatants cannot be attacked?
As for the hadith, Muhammed’s own words,
they are even more explicit:
“If two Muslim parties are at war,
Determine who started it
Then attack the aggressor.”
“If Muslims are faced with a contest
Between a righteous non-Muslim lord and
A non-righteous Muslim,
Fight for the righteous non-Muslim lord.”
Consider for example the Qur’anic verse:
“Those who believe and those
Who follow the Jewish scriptures,
And the Christians and Sabians
Anyone who believes in God
And the Last Day, and
Who work righteousness
Shall have their reward
With their Lord. On them
Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(Qur'an 2:62)
So Islam insists that Jews and Christians and anyone who recognizes
Higher Mind, God, are believers to be protected and respected.
As for the indiscriminate slaughter of non-combatants, civilians,
The voice of the Qur’an is furious:
“If a man kills a believer
On purpose, his recompense
Is Hell, to abide therein
Forever. And the wrath
And the curse of God
Are upon him A dreadful penalty
Is prepared for him.”
(4:93)
Muhammed’s hopes for the Middle East are very different from the situation in the Islamic world today.
God in the Qur’an calls for brotherhood, and condemns divisive accusatory talk, lies told against others,
as does the Judaeo-Christian commandment:
“Thou shall not bear false witness against another.”
It is not hard to see how hate speech rises to oppression, then terror,
Resulting in a fearful chaos, burnt out wastelands like Gaza, Chechnya,
Southern Lebanon, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Somalia and the Sudan.
Ethnic/sectarian groups fall victim to their own propaganda
And rise up to take power. Liberal secular people would
Shut them up if only Israel and the USA did not give
The Arab and Persian radicals a pretence of truth..
God has no chance in an environment where ego is in charge.
Humanity has no chance if left to a dim self-willed clergy
Be they rabbis, priests or mullahs.
Behind every real religion is a real way
Or there once was a real way
A way to develop, grow with God.
But the fractious personalities
Cover and dominate the Essence.
Any growth of essence
Is at the expense of personality. Therefore
Go against the ego and the small mind.
But this is not the way of loud popular sects.
Their leaders are self-selecting and gloat.
Even their children become violent serial killers.
Any way in which ego rules is cut off from truth..
Any way which claims to be the exclusive
Way to God, is not nearly humble enough
To be granted access to – the Power.
But look at how it is on Earth. The loud
Ostentatious religion is what it is -
A display of the ego, a usurpation
Of the body and the body politic
By willfully ignorant personality.
So do not ever think a viable political
Religion can arise from the sects,
From self-appointed clergy
Who do not doubt themselves.
They think they know, but
the way to God is not to know.
The ugly truth is that most Muslims
Have not the classical Arabic skills
To be able to read the Qur’an.
The mullahs and the ayatollahs
Were, are, unfamiliar with critical approaches.
They have no liberal education.
They were never taught to doubt
The crude constructions in their heads.
For some reason they believe they can select
Some verses in the Qur’an and ignore others.
Muhammed was not much of a warrior.
He was forced to fight to save himself
His family and friends. Only after his death
Did the Muslim Arabs move out of Arabia.
There are verses urging Muslims to fight,
But they were handed down as contemporary guidance
For Muhammed’s immediate situation.
They were not intended to be
Universal proverbs.
Muhammed doubted himself, his head,
So Angel Gabriel moved to encourage him.
This is the man who, when he first started hearing
The words which are now the holy Qur’an,
Thought he was going insane and wanted
To kill himself.
Contrast that with the hard-hearted mullahs
And ayatollahs and their executors.
People think conflict in the Middle East is normal
But it is not normal. It is already the worse case scenario.
Because the fundamentalists are so full of themselves,
They can’t escape but aim to kill and to maim.
They are what they are: they can only be themselves.
And their stupid ideas and behaviors help no one.
They do not benefit from experimentation, or cross-fertilization.
They do not think for themselves.
God says in the Qur’an: “There is no compulsion in religion.”
But it seems many neighborhoods fear armed thugs
Backed up by renegade self-willed “clerics of the ego.”.
They each give what the other needs,
The thugs get some legitimacy
The clerics lethal power and protection.
Instead of looking at themselves,
They blame outsiders for their problems.
It is God that leads them astray
And Eternal Hell is their just reward.
Don't let the Middle East (or Texas) colonize your head, or determine whether you're warm, or mobile, well fed. What you don't know will kill you.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Don't let the Middle East (or Texas) colonize your head, or determine whether you're warm, or mobile, well fed. What you don't know will kill you.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza may have been technically legal, but disproportionate. The Arab world gets no accurate reportage, as everything is Israel's fault. There are two sides to this issue. On both, extremists hold sway - they need each other and call up each other. It's foolish not to surrender - Israel is too strong. If the Arabs opted for peace, Israel would fall under strong pressure to correspond.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza may have been technically legal, but disproportionate. The Arab world gets no accurate reportage, as everything is Israel's fault. There are two sides to this issue. On both, extremists hold sway - they need each other and call up each other. It's foolish not to surrender - Israel is too strong. If the Arabs opted for peace, Israel would fall under strong pressure to correspond.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Obama Eyes the Middle East
Like some Central Asian conqueror of Old, Obama eyes the Middle East. Where to put his efforts? and to ask - or tell - who, what, to get the momentum back.
True commitment to peace would of course demand cessation of terrorist capers by the Arabs and the roll back of Jewish settlements outside Israel. It's a land grab. Why the USA should condone it is pledging a callous, willful ignorance.
Syria needs to be brought in and Obama should be able to mouth apologies for recent armed incursions, driving Israel and Syria like sheep on the fold.(i.e., the Golan)
into a place wherein the ancestors descend and bid peace and mutual respect and a trust just as the border betwixt them has been so calm, so calm, with fruit passing through the checkpoints at Qunetra - why not just claim what already exists? Cannot Israel give up the Golan for an open Syria?
Turkey will surrender territory to the PKK as winter snow set in.
Iraq is sorting out a mountain of issues, ranging from re-admitting property holders to their original homes, to apportioning oil profits, to dicking with the US over a total American pullout. In order for Iraq to consolidate itself, the Americans must basically disappear.
Iran gets its financial wings cut off as the price for oil falls by half. No more carte blanche for Hizbullah. Ahmedinajad is fighting for his political life as the Persian know-nothings find themselves pinned down by nationalist ideology. The processing of Uranian continues, now with soem 6,500 centrefuges spinning.
Afghanistan bleeds again from its many wounds. If Obama lets the scheduled deployment of three US army briageds go through, then the Taliban better lay low. Pakistan is rolling up their village enclaves and terrorist teaching schools, finally, from Bajur to South Waziristan.
True commitment to peace would of course demand cessation of terrorist capers by the Arabs and the roll back of Jewish settlements outside Israel. It's a land grab. Why the USA should condone it is pledging a callous, willful ignorance.
Syria needs to be brought in and Obama should be able to mouth apologies for recent armed incursions, driving Israel and Syria like sheep on the fold.(i.e., the Golan)
into a place wherein the ancestors descend and bid peace and mutual respect and a trust just as the border betwixt them has been so calm, so calm, with fruit passing through the checkpoints at Qunetra - why not just claim what already exists? Cannot Israel give up the Golan for an open Syria?
Turkey will surrender territory to the PKK as winter snow set in.
Iraq is sorting out a mountain of issues, ranging from re-admitting property holders to their original homes, to apportioning oil profits, to dicking with the US over a total American pullout. In order for Iraq to consolidate itself, the Americans must basically disappear.
Iran gets its financial wings cut off as the price for oil falls by half. No more carte blanche for Hizbullah. Ahmedinajad is fighting for his political life as the Persian know-nothings find themselves pinned down by nationalist ideology. The processing of Uranian continues, now with soem 6,500 centrefuges spinning.
Afghanistan bleeds again from its many wounds. If Obama lets the scheduled deployment of three US army briageds go through, then the Taliban better lay low. Pakistan is rolling up their village enclaves and terrorist teaching schools, finally, from Bajur to South Waziristan.
Close in Efforts
Don't let the Middle East (or Texas) colonize your head, or determine whether you're warm, or mobile, well fed. What you don't know will kill you.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Strange Bedfellows
A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend. How odd it is when we see the leaders of arch-enemies talking in perfect calm and mutual comprehension. Why do the American neocons reject any contact, any talk, with a potential enemy. Just as Bush/Rice went to Israel, stating that the USA could not talk with HAMAS in Gaza, Israeli PM Olmert links up with Abu Mazin in Ramallah, Ishmail Haniye in Gaza, and the young Asad in Syria. What are they saying to each other? What would happen if they made progress, defusing the region, throwing the extremists out. The extremists, who are very well placed, would launch assassinations, car bombs, suicide bombers and rockets, trying to trick the Israelis into targetting Fatah positions.
Lebanon is the hallowed crucible for a gentlemanly mutual respect, based on the use of force.
Human foes have common interests. In each case, the politics of symbolic appeal gave way to a practicable contact, even a modus vivendi. Peoples' interests are basically the same. So it is natural that the squads, the 'teams', get to meet, know and respect each other. Live and let live.
Inside Iraq you can just imagine the intrigue and machinations. Two hundred armed 'rebel' groups vy for influence, money and weapons. Some are committed 'full time' to avenging deaths of family. Iran has been training hundreds of Iraqi Shi'a, mostly in technical courses, and then sending them back to Iraq to target Sunni teams and the Americans.
How curious and peculiar it would be to read the transcripts of some of those secret conversations between arch-enemies. The two enemies need privacy as they are technically committing treason. Each takes up the other's arguments.That's why it is so important to know the enemy, not just to survive, but to add his power to your own.
The Chinese and the Japanese suddenly declared (June 14 2008) that they've resolved competition in the South China Seas, agreeing to share what oil there might be.
The world saw the Iraqi army punching through Basra, Amara, eastern Baghdad. The Americans too are at it - in Iraq US soldiers hobnob with the leaders of the resistence, and learn that there is a whole 'bouquet' of rebel groups.
Even Sudan had solved the war between north and south, and how the oil was to be divided. Good things happen when enemies talk: South Africa, India, Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Lebanon are examples where enemies talked to great affect and effect.
Use your own imagination to stage little meetings between Mid East leaders. Remember, these secret conversations must be at some point "treasonouis." That is, you must recognize, even take up and carry forward, the interests of your enemy. So weird things can be said. Like this fictional dialoque" ASAD to Olmert: "We want the Golan heights back." OLMERT to Asad: "Are you ready to join us in cutting off the hand of Iran?"
Feel free to post your own imaginative comments.
'A wise friend is better than a foolish enemy' , the official motto for the Middle East Speculum since 1988.
Lebanon is the hallowed crucible for a gentlemanly mutual respect, based on the use of force.
Human foes have common interests. In each case, the politics of symbolic appeal gave way to a practicable contact, even a modus vivendi. Peoples' interests are basically the same. So it is natural that the squads, the 'teams', get to meet, know and respect each other. Live and let live.
Inside Iraq you can just imagine the intrigue and machinations. Two hundred armed 'rebel' groups vy for influence, money and weapons. Some are committed 'full time' to avenging deaths of family. Iran has been training hundreds of Iraqi Shi'a, mostly in technical courses, and then sending them back to Iraq to target Sunni teams and the Americans.
How curious and peculiar it would be to read the transcripts of some of those secret conversations between arch-enemies. The two enemies need privacy as they are technically committing treason. Each takes up the other's arguments.That's why it is so important to know the enemy, not just to survive, but to add his power to your own.
The Chinese and the Japanese suddenly declared (June 14 2008) that they've resolved competition in the South China Seas, agreeing to share what oil there might be.
The world saw the Iraqi army punching through Basra, Amara, eastern Baghdad. The Americans too are at it - in Iraq US soldiers hobnob with the leaders of the resistence, and learn that there is a whole 'bouquet' of rebel groups.
Even Sudan had solved the war between north and south, and how the oil was to be divided. Good things happen when enemies talk: South Africa, India, Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Lebanon are examples where enemies talked to great affect and effect.
Use your own imagination to stage little meetings between Mid East leaders. Remember, these secret conversations must be at some point "treasonouis." That is, you must recognize, even take up and carry forward, the interests of your enemy. So weird things can be said. Like this fictional dialoque" ASAD to Olmert: "We want the Golan heights back." OLMERT to Asad: "Are you ready to join us in cutting off the hand of Iran?"
Feel free to post your own imaginative comments.
'A wise friend is better than a foolish enemy' , the official motto for the Middle East Speculum since 1988.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
American presidential candidates tripping or what?
Hilary Clinton, Baraq Obama and John McCane have all "evolved" strategies for the Middle East. Yet how any of them hope to succeed if they fall back on outdated (and unjust) policies? And the Good ol' USA sure needs some help - and fast.
There's much banter about alternative energies but come on now, it is impossible to make a shift like that. Maybe over 100 years - or by a series of oil shocks (shortfalls). So start by insuring petroleum supply.
As you know, the USA consumes a cool 20 m/brl./dy of petroleum. What you don't know (probably) is that both government and oilo firms turn cartwheels every day just to keep that 'normal' oil coming.
All the big oil producers are getting ready to implement preferential pricing. Poor countries will pay less for the stuff than big rich ones. It's only fair, I suppose.
Whether the OPEC will have the power to pull it off depends on whether Russia will join them.
So here, we're talking about the real economic axle of the modern world - petroleum - and the main candidates just don't get it. Obviously we must not alienate the producers too much.
The producing countries have not exactly benefitted from the huge amounts of US dollars. The only country producing oil which may have not weakened itself, is Libya. But that is highly qualified because Qaddafi did away with any rich private businessman.
Of course it was Qaddafi and our friend and ally Shah Reza Pahlavi who managed on 3 occassions to jack the price up five times (1971, 1973). Becuase New England by law burns only low sulphur crude, Qaddafi was able to demand a premium and Nixon had could either buy at the new price, or watch the Northeastern USA go dark and cold.
Why oil producing countries tend to come apart is a subject in itself. Best to study what happened to Spain when all that New World gold and silver flowed in.
By the rich, developed countries are in even a greater bind because their constituents believe they are entitled to cheap oil and have based their whole lives on it. None of us can imagine what life would be like without the sweet low sulphur fossil juice.
So somehow we must get back in the good graces with the oil producing nations. Very briefly, the USA must pursue a policy that improves the lives of stateless folk - the Kurds, the Palestinians, and Iraqi exiles.
We belief that the interests of all nations overlap and converge. What you want for your children - or for yourself - is virtualy identical to what an African or a Russian or an Arab would say. For example, American politicians are still, at this late date, believing that the USA must support Israel 'to the hilt' when in fact the security of the Israeli people depends on getting out of military responses and military solutions.
Whether Democrat or Republican, US administrations are terrified of the opprobrium of the Israel lobby as if most American Jews support it. They don't. AIPAC is much too brutal, much too right wing and imperialistic, if not racist, to have much support from American Jews.
Collective punishment is not exactly a good come on.
The new Gaza Authority - the HAMAS terror group - is not exactly popular in Palestine but its acceptability, its political capital, rises whenever Israel munitions kills a family. Like Israel, I put great hope and trust in the West Bank Fatah government of Abu Mazin, Mr Abbas.
Any one criticizing this publication of not supporting the genuine Muslim HAMAS, better know his Qur'an, because there is passage after passage which goes against what the Mid East terror bozos believe. They are not real Muslims.
Real Muslims, real Jews, real Christians, real Buddhists, would never have differences in their basic interests.
There's much banter about alternative energies but come on now, it is impossible to make a shift like that. Maybe over 100 years - or by a series of oil shocks (shortfalls). So start by insuring petroleum supply.
As you know, the USA consumes a cool 20 m/brl./dy of petroleum. What you don't know (probably) is that both government and oilo firms turn cartwheels every day just to keep that 'normal' oil coming.
All the big oil producers are getting ready to implement preferential pricing. Poor countries will pay less for the stuff than big rich ones. It's only fair, I suppose.
Whether the OPEC will have the power to pull it off depends on whether Russia will join them.
So here, we're talking about the real economic axle of the modern world - petroleum - and the main candidates just don't get it. Obviously we must not alienate the producers too much.
The producing countries have not exactly benefitted from the huge amounts of US dollars. The only country producing oil which may have not weakened itself, is Libya. But that is highly qualified because Qaddafi did away with any rich private businessman.
Of course it was Qaddafi and our friend and ally Shah Reza Pahlavi who managed on 3 occassions to jack the price up five times (1971, 1973). Becuase New England by law burns only low sulphur crude, Qaddafi was able to demand a premium and Nixon had could either buy at the new price, or watch the Northeastern USA go dark and cold.
Why oil producing countries tend to come apart is a subject in itself. Best to study what happened to Spain when all that New World gold and silver flowed in.
By the rich, developed countries are in even a greater bind because their constituents believe they are entitled to cheap oil and have based their whole lives on it. None of us can imagine what life would be like without the sweet low sulphur fossil juice.
So somehow we must get back in the good graces with the oil producing nations. Very briefly, the USA must pursue a policy that improves the lives of stateless folk - the Kurds, the Palestinians, and Iraqi exiles.
We belief that the interests of all nations overlap and converge. What you want for your children - or for yourself - is virtualy identical to what an African or a Russian or an Arab would say. For example, American politicians are still, at this late date, believing that the USA must support Israel 'to the hilt' when in fact the security of the Israeli people depends on getting out of military responses and military solutions.
Whether Democrat or Republican, US administrations are terrified of the opprobrium of the Israel lobby as if most American Jews support it. They don't. AIPAC is much too brutal, much too right wing and imperialistic, if not racist, to have much support from American Jews.
Collective punishment is not exactly a good come on.
The new Gaza Authority - the HAMAS terror group - is not exactly popular in Palestine but its acceptability, its political capital, rises whenever Israel munitions kills a family. Like Israel, I put great hope and trust in the West Bank Fatah government of Abu Mazin, Mr Abbas.
Any one criticizing this publication of not supporting the genuine Muslim HAMAS, better know his Qur'an, because there is passage after passage which goes against what the Mid East terror bozos believe. They are not real Muslims.
Real Muslims, real Jews, real Christians, real Buddhists, would never have differences in their basic interests.
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