Monday, December 26, 2005

Why European women are turning to Islam

This article gives a little bit of insight into the phenomenon of Muslim Converts (of which Yours Truly is one).

Fallot laughs when she is asked whether her love life had anything to do with her decision. "When I told my colleagues at work that I had converted, their first reaction was to ask whether I had a Muslim boyfriend," she recalls. "They couldn't believe I had done it of my own free will."

In fact, she explains, she liked the way "Islam demands a closeness to God. Islam is simpler, more rigorous, and it's easier because it is explicit. I was looking for a framework; man needs rules and behavior to follow. Christianity did not give me the same reference points."

Those reasons reflect many female converts' thinking, say experts who have studied the phenomenon. "A lot of women are reacting to the moral uncertainties of Western society," says Dr. Jawad. "They like the sense of belonging and caring and sharing that Islam offers."

(snip)

The early stages of a convert's discovery of Islam "can be quite a sensitive time," says Batool al-Toma, who runs the "New Muslims" program at the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, England.

"You are not confident of your knowledge, you are a newcomer, and you could be prey to a lot of different people either acting individually or as members of an organization," Ms. Al-Toma explains. A few converts feel "such a huge desire to fit in and be accepted that they are ready to do just about anything," she says.

"New converts feel they have to prove themselves," adds Dr. Ranstorp. "Those who seek more extreme ways of proving themselves can become extraordinarily easy prey to manipulation."

Click here for article

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Did he, or didn't he?

Apparently, a Muslim guy in Canada was elected to a government post (it doesn't say what), and some people claimed to have heard him say that it was a victory for Islam. Others (including the candidate himself AND others who did not even vote for him) deny this ever happened.

I hope that it is not true. I do not believe in mixing religion and government... Any time in history that a religious government has been established, corruption and oppression has ensued. Quickly and efficiently at that! Even if the government starts out on the right foot, eventually people become drunk with power and those lofty principles on which the nation was founded go by the wayside. Often by handing over power to their spoiled, incompetent sons. (wait a minute... that sounds familiar somehow..)

What bothers me, though, is that (with the exception of the article linked here), each and every article I found on this guy was posted on some extreme right-wing website with the absolute conviction that these accusations are true. You can practically hear them scream.. "The Moslems are coming! The Moslems are coming!"


click here for the article

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

My Seven Deadly Sins quiz result

What a proud, overfed sloth I am!!!


Greed:Medium
 
Gluttony:Medium
 
Wrath:Very Low
 
Sloth:High
 
Envy:Low
 
Lust:Very Low
 
Pride:Medium
 


Discover Your Sins - Click Here

Iranians Shrug Off Ban on Western Music

After his denial of the Holocaust (more on that later... blecch), this pronouncement by Iranian President Ahmadinejad just seems silly (as opposed to unspeakably offensive). Iranians seem to think so too:

"This president speaks as if he is living in the Stone Age. This man has to understand that he can't tell the people what to listen to and what not to listen to," said Mohammed Reza Hosseinpour as he browsed through a Tehran music shop.

Click here for more

By the way, you can read more about Ahmadinejad's political impotence in my previous post, Despite Leader's Harsh Words, Iran Is No Danger to Israel.

On the parquet, 'Great Satan' plays for 'Axis of Evil'

In the quest to build a professional basketball league and bolster Iranian hoop skills, teams in the Islamic republic are paying top dollar ($15,000 a month or more) to lure players away from Europe and America, which is still sometimes called the "Great Satan."

(snip)

Along the way, something else has happened. The American players have become ambassadors of sorts, for both countries.


click here to read more

Monday, December 05, 2005

Shadowy CIA-linked plane landed in The Sault, according to flight logs

I like how the plane is referred to as being "shadowy"

OTTAWA (CP) - A mysterious Twin Otter plane owned by an alleged CIA front turned up in northern Ontario this fall, raising unanswered questions about why it was there.

click here for full article

Report: U.S. Admitted Wrongful Detainment

Please see previous post.

The United States acknowledged last year that the Central Intelligence Agency had wrongfully imprisoned a German man for five months, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

(snip)

Al-Masri, a Lebanese-born German national, says he was seized while on vacation in Europe last year and then brought to a U.S. prison in Afghanistan where he was tortured and interrogated for suspected ties to the al-Qaida terror group.

(snip)

The case, the Post reports, shows how pressure on the CIA to arrest terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has led to detention sometimes based on thin or speculative evidence.

click here for full article

Duh!

IS GEORGE BUSH THE WORST PRESIDENT -- EVER?

This is what those historians said -- and it should be noted that some of the criticism about deficit spending and misuse of the military came from self-identified conservatives -- about the Bush record:
  • He has taken the country into an unwinnable war and alienated friend and foe alike in the process;

  • He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;

  • He has deliberately and dangerously attacked separation of church and state;

  • He has repeatedly "misled," to use a kind word, the American people on affairs domestic and foreign;

  • He has proved to be incompetent in affairs domestic (New Orleans) and foreign (Iraq and the battle against al-Qaida);

  • He has sacrificed American employment (including the toleration of pension and benefit elimination) to increase overall productivity;

  • He is ignorantly hostile to science and technological progress;

  • He has tolerated or ignored one of the republic's oldest problems, corporate cheating in supplying the military in wartime.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Oh, crap.

Ok, as I read the rest of the article below, I became less concerned, but... the last thing we need is ANOTHER portrayal of Muslims As Terrorists. For those who don't believe that Muslims (or Arabs) are portrayed unfairly in movies and TV, check out the book Reel Bad Arabs.

'Sleeper Cell' awakens fears in Muslim viewers

In the first hour alone, the troubling images include a Muslim father killing his teenaged daughter for sleeping with a boyfriend and Muslims burying a friend, who they believe has betrayed them, to his neck and stoning him to death as he screams for mercy.

(snip)

Afterward, all three adults called the series disturbing and said they hope no one sees it. But all of the students said they'll recommend it to friends, mainly because of a key detail that appeared to mean much more to them than to the adults.

The teenagers noticed that "Sleeper Cell" is the first major TV series with a Muslim hero. Darwyn al-Sayeed (played by actor Michael Ealy) joins the terrorist cell, but viewers find out that he is an FBI agent trying to stop the terrorists.

Click here for more

Friday, December 02, 2005

Mustaqim - Musings of a flying Imam: The death penalty in Islam

I found this great article on the web today.. and traced it back to a really interesting blog written by a Muslim convert from Germany (now living in the UK)! The following article takes a very even-handed approach to the death penalty and Islam.

Mustaqim - Musings of a flying Imam: The death penalty in Islam

Thursday, December 01, 2005

We are Americans and we're here to spread FREEDOM!!!

First, Bush considers bombing Al-Jazeera--the one bastion of free speech in the Middle East--and now... fake news stories. Oh, boy! Aren't WE righteous, now?

U.S. military pays for 'news' stories in Iraqi papers

The military's effort to disseminate propaganda in the Iraqi media is taking place even as U.S. officials are vowing to promote democratic principles, political transparency and freedom of speech to a country emerging from decades of dictatorship and corruption. It comes as the State Department is training Iraqi reporters in basic journalism skills and Western media ethics.

click here for more

A pro-Israel Muslim speaks out

This is a really interesting article. I have always believed that the Israel/Palestine conflict is essentially a political one, not a religious one. Religion is invoked for propaganda purposes, but are Judaism and Islam inherently incompatible? I don't think so.

The solution is easy. Extremist Muslims ought to stop attacking Jews, and start attacking Israeli policy. Extremist Jews ought to stop attacking Islam, and start attacking Palestinian policy. Let this conflict which is growing in intensity throughout North America be about politics, and we can leave religion out of the matter.

click here for more