Soguessthefuckwhat?!? OBAMA WON THAT SHIT! ::high five::
There isn’t much more to be said on the subject that A) hasn’t been blogged in one of those OTHER blogs you read and B) that isn’t on TV so I will say no more about it other than I am superduper totallyfreakin scrumdiddlyumptiously excited about this presidency. And that I **might** have cried a tiny little bit when he gave his victory speech. But if anyone asks, I will deny it.
MOVING ON.
Religious intolerance. One of my many “are you sure you are living in 2008?” soap box issues.
I have been exchanging e-mails with my family about this stamp that was put out by the United States Postal Service.
Which was accompanied by this text in the e-mail:
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001!
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!
Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class Holiday postage stamp.
REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors. REMEMBER to pass this along to every Christian and/or Patriotic AMERICAN that you know!!!
REMEMBER when you had a brain cell? First of all, this stamp was put out in 2002. That’s right, two thousand fucking two…as in SIX YEARS AGO. Do some research cause this e-mail is older than your momma. Secondly, does anyone know what Eid is? ::Ben Stein voice:: Anyone? Anyone?
NO? But, surely you do! I mean, would you really ask me to BOYCOTT this stamp and not know what it is that you are asking me to boycott, would you? Indeed, apparently my family would. The exchange of e-mails is between the following people: my mom, my grandmother, my grandfather, my grandmother’s cousin, my aunt, my uncle and my other uncle. There is also a random guy in the e-mail list whom I don’t know.
In response to the “ban the shit out of this stamp” e-mail I said this:
And I am OK with it.
I have Muslim friends and they have holidays to celebrate too...just like Christmas for us. I encourage all to read about what Eid celebrates and not just shun it because it happens to be a Muslim holiday. The same as there are Christian extremist, there are Muslim extremist and that is who we have beef with; not your normal, everyday Muslim.
To which my Mother replies:
I think the issue is that you don't see Christian stamps because that would be indicative of "religion". But I don't know.
REALLY? Mom, come on!
So I reply:
All of these are available at the post office
Christmas
Kwanzaa
Hanukkah
The effin Christmas stamp has the Mother Mary on it for the love of baby Jesus! I started to write back to my mostly Catholic family that I bet the Baptist were pissed about that stamp, but I didn’t.
So after we cleared up the stamp thing my Uncle writes this:
You mean the so called "normal" Muslim who is a disgrace to the country where his lineage lies because of his "western values"?
Oh shit, son. And I write:
I mean the "normal" Muslim who had the right to believe and worship as he/she so wishes, and are not deserving to be tied to the few who use their religion to cover up their human desires to be destructive.
The same could have been said of Christian values when the crazies such as David Koresh and Timothy McVeigh did what they did. Of course, it was all done in God's name. Or even Hitler with his construed values of God and His "chosen" people. Or the KKK who's founding origin was in the Christian church.
Or the Buddhist in Sri Lanka who are using Buddhism to promote violence. As most are aware, Buddhism is all about peace and non-violent actions.
So many wars fought over religious intolerance. I refuse to be part of the ignorance.
Coexist!
This morning I get this from Uncle:
Take some time to become familiar with what each religion preaches and practices. Christians worship according to the principle and values written within the New and Old Testaments. Muslims, on the other hand, worship according to the Qur'an. Below is one of the milder excerpts from the Qur'an:
--"Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great"-- (Imagine if they don't obey)!
Haven't you read the papers lately??? Honor killings and such! I'm not talking thousands of years ago, not even hundreds. Talk about coexisting.....Right here in America!
So this morning I decide, enough with the few paragraphs here and there, I am gonna write a novel (and if you have actually stuck with me this far…check out this mini-book!)
E-mail is a difficult medium to discuss topics relating to religion, as the discussions are more complicated than what can be put in an e-mail. However, I have taken a great deal of time to become familiar with many different religions and am well educated and involved with Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hindu and even Wicca. I thoroughly enjoy discussing the various religions and what they are really about.
The Christian Bible is not the epitome of kind words and wonderment itself.
Here are some not so kind excerpts from the Bible:
2 Chronicles 15:12-13 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
Exodus 31:12-15 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.'
What is important to note is the time/place/circumstance this text was written under, it is important to use your common sense.
Are we really to kill someone because they do not believe in God? Or that they worked on Sunday? (or Saturday if you are Seventh Day Adventist or Jewish; Friday if you are Muslim and practice Islam)
We have similar (degrading) teachings about women in the Bible as well:
Ephesians 5:23-24 says "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."
Judges 19:24 "Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man."
Are women to really be completely subservient to their husbands? (naturally all the husbands are nodding their heads! LOL) Are father's to offer up their daughters to be raped? There are many, many things written in the Bible that is not meant to be followed by us today. There was a reason it was written in its time, but that time and law no longer applies to us now.
If we are speaking about the "normal" Muslim, when following the Qur'an, they would have the same sense as the next guy and know that you do not beat your women.
As far as the honor killings go, this again, an extremist point of view. In America we have so called Christian followers who beat their girlfriends/wives, abuse children, murder. The violence against women is not just in the Muslim world, thought it is easy to focus on that right now. It is in every country, religious or non-religious. The reason is because the religion doesn't make the person; we are all still human and are prone to human behavior. Believing God or Allah will not change that, though one would hope that some enlightenment would come from the guidelines that are set out in books such as the Bible and the Qur'an.
With that, I will end with some good words from each book:
Qur'an - The Amramites 3:103
You shall hold fast to the rope of God, all of you, and do not be divided. Recall God's blessings upon you - you used to be enemies and He reconciled your hearts. By His grace, you became brethren. You were at the brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you therefrom. God thus explains His revelations for you, that you may be guided.
Bible - Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.
Love,
Jess
