A Radical Cleric Gets Religion

Shiite Iran now holds sway over not only its own territory but also wields enormous influence in Iraq,Syria and Lebanon.In the future,a nuclear capable iranian military will be able to send tank battalions and troops unhindered and unopposed right to the border of israel itself.Its fighters and bombers will fly from bases all across this wide region with no need to ask for airspace permission and they may very well be able to drive the Jewish people into the sea.A decade ago that would have been an Iranian mullahs pipe dream.Now it is coming true and you are being used to make this previously impossible dream possible.

All religions are tools of the wise to control the masses; if you neglect Christianity in this assessment, you are just as great an idiot of those you condemn for their opinions. History is a giant chalkboard full of trial and error, yet humanity is too stupid to learn and comprehend its lessons before blindly stepping out to the battlefield. We are molded to allow the same mistakes to happen as our ancestors did before us, and theirs before them.

Christianity has no jihad? Open your eyes. After the dawn of Christianity, a relatively new religion in the scheme of world history, the Roman Catholic Church initiated the Crusades, but only after Christianity outperformed Paganism. The Crusades gave the Roman Catholic church the power it needed to control the known world, while at the same time vastly improving its wealth amongst the royalties of the old world. The problem throughout the world, then as today, is that power corrupts. Men make the mistakes that pull us away from our gods. If you look at any of the historical accounts of our saviors -- Yeshua (or Jesus of Nazareth, as the Greeks translate), John the Baptist, Mohammed and others -- would you think any single one of them would be proud of our "accomplishments" in their name? The simple answer is no. As Mahatma Gandhi once stated: "I like your Christ. I dislike your Christians; they are so unlike your Christ." This holds true for all warring religions today. To instigate a holy war in the name of their savior goes against the ideologies of those very saviors. I've read the Book of John, but before you are short to respond, understand how the "Word of God" that you know as the Holy Bible has been translated and modified to suit the religion's needs of the time. If you feel that the St. James Version of the Bible is the exact word of God as passed down through the ages, you are just as victim of religious propaganda as an Islamic extremist capable of strapping a bomb to himself and blowing up a group of civilians in the name of God.

Now, I'm not bashing religion in general; there are far more positive attributes to religion and faith than negative ones, but regardless of who one's personal Messiah is, follow the lives and actions of their saviors, and don't fight one another because of it. This bigotry allows the shadows of the world to remain anonymous while the sheep of the world fight their wars for them.

Also, to the individual who stated that Christianity began at the death of Jesus? Where are you pulling that information from? Christianity began as a cult in the Cappadicoa Caves when St. Paul the Apostle instilled Jesus??? teachings to those without faith. It wasn???t until Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

If you want to know the word of God, then go back and learn the languages of the Babylonians and the Sumerians, as all popular religions today derived from their stories and texts.

I am sick of all of you idots lumping Christianity in with other religions when you discuss terrorism. Jesus Christ who is our leader and savior "died" for the benefit of his "friends". His character is one of love and compassion. Anything else someone may have done in his "name" without his principles of love and service is purely "man-made" and un-authentic. Christianity has no "JIHAD" so before commenting read the book of "John" and learn the character of our leader.

I am sick of all of you idots lumping Christianity in with other religions when you discuss terrorism. Jesus Christ who is our leader and savior "died" for the benefit of his "friends". His character is one of love and compassion. Anything else someone may have done in his "name" without his principles of love and service is purely "man-made" and un-authentic. Christianity has no "JIHAD" so before commenting read the book of "John" and learn the character of our leader.

The other thing you have to remember about the Muslim masses is that most of them are very primitive. They are maybe a generation or two removed from goat herders, but now they have TV's, money, and weapons. They still have the same village lynch mob mentality. This is what you are witnessing when you see Muslims rioting at the sign of the slightest insult. Imagine the villagers attacking a castle with pitch forks in the old days, and that is what you are seeing now. Hopefully this will improve as they become more cultured. But there is also an element of Islamism that is conniving and evil. This movement grabs middle class educated youth and indoctrinates them with hate against Jews and the USA. The movement is also a demagogue to the uneducated masses. This movement is the real villain. It is our true enemy and the leaders of the movement are in Hizbullah, Hamas, Wahabi lunatics in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

To districthumanist, you either have read a few lines and assumed that I am anti-Islam or really didn't read the post I left several days ago. I have never said that the relgion of Islam is evil. There are moderate Muslims who speak out against the actions of radicals but they are few and far between. My understanding is not soley based on the programing decisions of CNN and FOX News. If there is a "media war" then the United States is losing to the postings and rants of the Arabic media outlets whose "air time" is filled with anti-American, anti-Israel, pro-martyr, and terroristic activities. Having been to Iraq twice and conducted missions which placed myself among the Iraqi population I can say with some level of knowledge that many "would be terrorist" is not just swayed to commit acts of terrorism based on some Al Qadia supported website. Watch a couple of hours of a station like Al Jazeria or read their website and tell me otherwise. Is every religion perfect? Of course not. If there is a God I surely hope that he is all forgiving and loving because the majority of world religions have used passages or messages in the effort for geo-political gains. But it is hard to discuss current world subjects when people are rehashing issues like the Crusades. Granted those historical events were full of destruction, death, and torture based on a religious ideas, but the current state we are in the discussion of what happened in the last several hundred years will not resolve anything. What is current? People are willing to kill themselves for a religious cause. Unlike the Japanese who crashed their aircraft into enemy warships these people kill the innocent and unarmed. In my personal opinion they are cowards because they attack "soft targets". Rarely you will see a suicide bomber attack a heavily armed outpost because the chance of killing anyone besides him/herself is limited. Jihad needs a big body count and the more dead that are counted the more that person is "assured" a straight path to a higher place. I am not anti-Muslim, what I want is at least the American Muslim society to be more "pro-active" and speak against such issues. The Arabic media does not give much air time for those who do not support such actions or promote the ideals of their station. Do not make brash comments on what you think a person knows or has experienced. I have been to the Middle East unlike others who made comments against the war and how they wouldn't serve but were thankful that the President didn't bring back the draft. That is one reason why I enjoy hearing from the anti-war crew, because they speak a lot of rubish and only a very few have left the confines of the United States.

MY NAME IS ZARI NAMDAR. I .WAS BORN AS MUSLIM IN IRAN IN 1960.AND LIVED UNDER THE BLACK SHADOW OF ISLAM . MY FATHER WAS AN AMBASSOR OF THE SHAH OF IRAN AND MYSELF WAS A GREAT SUPPORTER OF THE PAHLAVI REGIME.THE MODERN HISTORY SHOWS US CLEARY THAT THE KING OF IRAN WAS A VERY RELIGIOUS KING.HE HAD 2 THINGS IN HIS POCKET:A BOX OF MATCHES AND A KORAN.AND HIS FULL TITLE WAS AALA HAZRAT MOHAMMAD REZA PAHLAVI.WHICH MEANS:AALA=HIGHEST......HAZRAT=PROPHET. THE KING ,MOHAMMAD REZA PAHLAVI PUT ISLAM FIRST AND HIS NATION SECOND! HE FLED THE COUNTRY,AND HANDED IRAN WITH LOVE TO ISLAM!I ZARI NAMDAR CALL REZA PAHLAVI THE FIRST CONTAMPORAY MARTHYR OF ISLAM. PROPHET MOHAMMAD A CRUEL LEADER AND FOUNDER OF ISLAM ORDERED HIS FOLLOWERS ,YESTERDAY AND TODAY TO COQUER THE UNIVERSE WITH A SHARP LONG SWORD. IT IS INFRONT OF OUR EYES AND EARS .MUSLIMS ALL OVER THE GLOBE ARE INVADING AND SPREDDING THE GOSPOL OF ANTI-AMERICAN,, ATISEMITISM,AND DEATH TO ZIONISTS. WHERE IS THE VOICE OF SINCERE MUSLIM PEACE MAKERS?AFTER ALL THE SON OF SHAH {REZA PAHLAVI} NOW THE KING OF IRANIANS IN EXILE,IN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN HAS THE TITLE:AALA HAZRAT REZA PAHLAVI}WHERE IS HIS VOICE? LONG LIVE ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ZARI NAMDAR www.zarinamdar.com

The ironic thing about it is that Deuteronomy was part of the Torah, yet Christians were using its passages to justify the execution of JEWS!!!

"If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whom you embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries to secretly seduce you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' unkown to you or your ancestors before you, gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near you or far away, anywhere throughout the world, you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare him or conceal his guilt. No, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following. You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God..." (Deuteronomy 13:7-11). Adherents of Christianity, the "religion of peace," behold your own Bible! This very passage was used by the Church during the Inquisitions to execute tens of thousands of Jews, Muslims and "witches."

mcova Please recognize that this absolute nonsense is the root of the problem. We who have a grip on reality are increasingly realizing that unless we condemn zealots on both sides, we are all doomed. Please leave your superstitions in your church, and out of foreign policy, before you get us all killed. Frankly, you and your ridiculous indoctrinated babbling scares me far more than some third world simpletons who want to rule the world, because we know they never can. I just want to make sure you recognize that neither can you and your ilk.

Scotsmanj, you are wrong There are many mainstream moderate muslims that condemn the actions and policies of islamic fundamentalists, their governments, and their organizations. You don't "hear them" because their voices don't sell ad space on CNN and Fox News or any mainstream media syndicates the way that Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida do. If you rely solely on the information that is pumped into your television as your main "news source", then you will never see the big picture (as evidenced by your comment).

William, Powellm is right. The bible is a story of how God loves us so much that he would sacrifice his own Son so that he could have a relationship with us. John 3:16 Without hope I would also tend to focus on all the negatives in this world. But I don't , only because spiritually I have accepted that God is who he is. He has created a universe that you or I will never,ever fathom. Yet by some coincidence we have this wonderful planet to live on. What are the odds of this? Have you ever thought of the odds of having a sun just the right distance, a moon with gravitational effects and a tilt of this earth just right so that it can sustain life. This is just some of the little things that can only come from a design. Not just random luck. The Bible said we would be seeing many distructive things near end times. Have you noticed. Things arent getting better, yet for those who trust in the Lord, all is calm. God is in control. And life is not about being comfortable and having my way here on earth. It is about God. And the Bible says God is love. Life is about loving your neighbor. So I pray for you brother that you ask God to reveal himself to you in a way that you will know it can only be Him. I too was once like you. I ask God to change my heart and Love crept in...

I assure you powellm, I have read the rag several dozen times. It is lies sewn together to poison the minds of the weak, and enslave the feeble. To say it has no evil is absurd. In addition, to claim it has not been at the root of many of the greatest tragedies of the past three millennia indicates an unwillingness on your part to open your eyes to reality. From Darfur to Auschwitz to Selma to Budapest to Constantinople, this wretched book has been used as justification for the slaughter of millions of innocent lives. It is an archaic relic from a shameful time in history where humans began to realize other humans minds could be manipulated to the point where they could be programmed to believe anything, no matter how absurd. Even our own government is infested with fools who have been poisoned into believing that the only way toward global peace and enlightenment is to drag our society down the laurel path of some nonexistent deity who wants to kill us all to save us.

William, while I agree that the seperation of chuch and state provides the means for the acceptance of others and promotes the ideals of a true democratic society, I haven't seen many Christians leaders use the Bible as a referrence or justification for any killing based or religious ideas. I am sure that the Neo-Nazi, White Ayrian Nation, or even the members of the KKK use the Bible as a way to warp what is written and what their own personal beliefs are. But my comments are not to subject the Islamic faith or even the Islamic culture totally ruthless or cruel. My only issue is that we do not see or view any moderate Muslims who denounce the actions of the Taliban, Al Qadia, Islamic Jihad, Hezbullah, Hamas, etc as non-true Muslims but terrorist. Even in the United States there are "legal" Islamic charities that ask for money for the building of mosques or educational tools, but they are a mere front company to laundry money for terrorist organizations. The sad part is that many of the Arab communities know this and still procede to give money to such activities. It is the "passive" acknowledgement and inability to speak out against those individuals is what I find fault with not their religon.

William speaks from ignorance of the true word of God, the Bible.Take the time to read it before you make comments,if you would you would know there is NO hatred in it.There is no call to jihad in it,there is nothing but grace,mercy and love found inside of its covers.The amazing thing about it is that the forgivness it speaks of is still offered to William and I hope and pray that he would take it before its to late.Our lord wants NO ONE to go to hell and offerers everyone a way out.God bless you William and I hope you will read Gods word with an open mind.But its your choice.God bless you.

It is not only Islam we have to worry about. Islamists are a disease on the far side of the world. Christian evangelicals are far closer to home, and just as great a threat. It is time we all wake up to the need for a clear separation of church and state. Without one, both this nation, and indeed this world are doomed. If men of good consciences don't not rise up to refute these ancient and absurd fairy tales we will all perish in the coming religious slaughter. The ironic part of it all is that for many of the worlds zealots, be they Muslim, Christian or Jew, this seems not only desirable but inevitable.

As long as God directs his/her followers to commit acts of kindness, care, and acceptance of other religious faiths then I agree with your statement. It is only when we use the word "God" as a means to justify the use of violence to promote a specific religious belief that the true meaning of a "fanatic" can be understood. Rogue scholars who preach strict adherence to the Qu'ran should either be revoked of their ability to profuse hate and death and those who know the real truth should start speaking against the uneducated majority and bring the view of Islam back to the ideals for which it was famous for.

It's extreamly good to turn to religion because GOD guides as through it in a possitive manner.