Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem
May 1, 2008
Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem, self-described (former) Palestinian terrorists, spoke at the University of Colorado here in Boulder the other night. I had the opportunity to attend.
It was interesting timing. On Sunday, after a couple of days of web surfing, I had ordered Walid Shoebat’s book “Why I Left Jihad.” On Monday, I happened to open the local paper while waiting for an oil change on my car (no irony intended). The front page article was about Walid Shoebat. I discovered he would be speaking at the University that evening.
All (free) tickets were gone, but they did have about 200 tickets available at the door. I arrived early, anticipating quite a turn out.
Indeed, the hall was full, and security was tight.
Kamal Saleem spoke first. He described his life growing up in Palestine. It was a mostly unsurprising account: the education his family and school gave him about how the Jews were the enemy, the Holocaust was a hoax, America was the ‘Great Satan,’ Israel was the ’small Satan,’ and one day Islam would be the one true religion displacing all the others, worldwide. At that time, he became resolute for jihad. Obviously, at a very early age. I found particularly humorous how, given the education he had at the time (which, again, said the Holocaust had been a hoax), he asked his teachers in his school “how did they get the Jews to be so skinny? What diet were they on?”
Walid Shoebat was next. I might call him “the headliner.”
His descriptions of his childhood were similar. He emphasized the impact it had on him at a very early age. He held and fired an AK47 at the age of 6. At 7, he ran his first bomb supply mission from Syria through the Golan Heights. Like Saleem, he was instilled with the desire to fulfill jihad; to become a martyr.
“In my right hand, I had the Koran. In my left, the AK47″
Walid Shoebat is a darling of conservatives, particularly among Christians (since, of course, he converted to Christianity).
He is a self-described member of the “far right.” A quick search on YouTube will turn up many of his appearances in prophecy-oriented Christian discussions. I haven’t bothered to watch all of those (I pretty much know what to expect). But I know he is often a speaker in such arenas.
Walid Shoebat is also a focal point of controversy. Some say his story of being a (former) terrorist is unverified, even perhaps fabricated. Some say he is simply a mouthpiece for the Christian Right. He is never a critic of the current administration. From him I found not the slightest criticism of the invasion of Iraq.
Boulder being “liberal” (albeit mostly “limousine liberal”), and this being a presentation at a university, you can imagine the reception.
Actually, it was somewhat mixed. The members of the Arab Student Association were none too pleased. He was heckled a few times, and during the Q&A session the discomfort of Arabs in the room was palpable. A few people were escorted out by rather well-armed police.
On the other hand, he received a huge applause for describing what he wanted to see from American Muslims if, indeed, they loved America: “I want to see you with headbands in Arabic and with signs in English: ‘Allah bless America.’” There were other points in his presentation where he aroused substantial emotional support. Again, please keep in mind I’m referring to the notoriously “libral” Boulder, Colorado.
Mr. Shoebat invoked many of the well-known passages in the Koran that support what we today call terrorism. “What part of ‘kill’ do you in the West not understand?” he said.
Koran: 9:5
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
This Sura in the Koran is oft quoted by both critics of Islam and terrorists themselves. In fact, Muslim terrorists cite it to justify their violent jihad. Critics of Islam claim that it commands Muslims to act with aggression towards the non-Muslims (polytheists) of that period, and contributes to Islam’s final theological doctrine of aggression towards all non-Muslims of all times. Apologists for Islam claim that this passage is purely defensive.
Personally, I find the apologists’ argument to be simply ludicrous. Of course, when I say that, I find more than one Muslim telling me that, since I can’t read Arabic, I have read a mis-translation. Also, it seems, even if I had a proper translation, I wouldn’t understand the context.
Y’know … I have to say….I don’t read German. But I don’t think I need to be fluent in German and German history to get the overall gist of “Mein Kampf.”
I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Shoebat (briefly) after the event, before he was whisked off by his handlers. I pointed out to him that, during his presentation, he had mis-quoted Mr. Richard Dawkins. He invited me to engage in a discussion with him over email. I have started that discussion — we will see where that leads.
To be honest, I am not expecting much. He has a great gig going, and he doesn’t need some pinko like me confusing him with the facts. On the other hand, he apparently admires Christopher Hitchens, which I found quite ironic.
If you would like a taste of Mr. Shoebat’s lecture, this series on YouTube is pretty much the script he followed at CU Boulder.
Enjoy.
September 11
April 24, 2008
I don’t think bin Laden’s choice of September 11 is at all accidental.
From the British historian Hilaire Belloc’s “The Great Heresies” written in 1938:
“It has always seemed to me possible, and even probable, that there would be a resurrection of Islam and that our sons or our grandsons would see the renewal of that tremendous struggle between the Christian culture and what has been for more than a thousand years its greatest opponent.
The suggestion that Islam may re-arise sounds fantastic, but this is only because men are always powerfully affected by the immediate past. One might say that they are blinded by it.
But not so very long ago, less than a hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, Vienna was almost taken and only saved by the Christian army under the command of the King of Poland, on a date that ought to be among the most famous in history: September 11, 1683.”
Infidel
April 24, 2008
One November morning in 2004, Theo van Gogh got up to go to work at his film production company in Amsterdam. He took out his old black bicycle and headed down a main road. Waiting in a doorway was a Moroccan man with a handgun and two butcher knives.
As Theo cycled down the Linnaeusstraat, Muhammad Bouyeri approached. He pulled out his gun and shot Theo several times. Theo fell off his bike and lurched across the road, then collapsed. Bouyeri followed. Theo begged, “Can’t we talk about this?” but Bouyeris shot him four more times. Then he took out one of his butcher knives and sawed into Theo’s throat. With the other knife, he stabbed a five-page letter onto Theo’s chest.
The letter was addressed to me.
Whether you a re a person of faith, an agnostic, or an atheist, I highly recommend Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Africa (born Somali), the product of a Muslim upbringing, ultimately bravely abandoning her roots and becoming a controversial member of the Dutch parliament. Her story is one of incredibly bravery and an amazing capacity to overcome all obstacles. At the same time, it is a painfully clear indictment of Islamic misogyny, absolutism, intolerance, and the price we all pay for religious beliefs that contribute to insane actions.
Some of her criticisms could just as easily be leveled at any other organized religion, but her critique is certainly most scathing of Islam. But she holds back no punches against the West for failing to address the fundamental conflict between Islam and the West. For example, she faults multiculturalism:
“We in the west would be wrong to prolong the pain [of the transition of Islam to the modern world] by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.
This is not just a critique, however. This is her personal story. It is filled with vivid detail, personal trials, the charming and beautiful moments of adolescence, the tragedy of war and her conflict between faith and reason. It is both tragic and uplifting
I found this book so compelling I am reading it all over again even though I just finished it. This is one of those books which, when you close the final chapter, you ask yourself “what exactly do I have to complain about? Wow …”
I also recommend looking her up on YouTube.
I want the Witnesses to leave me alone!
March 24, 2008
I can’t stand it anymore! I came home from the store the other day and found my husband standing at the back door talking to a young lady. In the driveway, blocking my way into the garage is a minivan being driven by a young man dressed in a suit. Great, I thought, another one. My husband and I have lived in our new home for less than a month and this is the third time we have had a Witness on our door step. The first thing that I wanted to do was whip the door open and apologize to the girl, maybe tell her that he was visiting for Easter from his group home or something…anything to save her from all of his questions. The poor girl had no idea what she had gotten herself into when she knocked on our door. None of them ever do. She finally left after stuttering a little about Easter and her beliefs. I don’t know if she cried. Maybe she got into the van and they all prayed for our family. Maybe (please please PLEASE) they crossed us off the list of places to stop. Either way, we got noticed, for you see, I am married to a special man. My husband is TJM admin, and the Witnesses will never leave me alone. First I was invited to the memorial service for Jesus, and then they had a meeting of some sort to talk about who was qualified to rule the world. I would have LOVED to go to that one. I can’t remember why this poor girl was here this time. She told him that she had talked to me before, so I guess I am in her precinct. I should go back and read the “Porch Monkeys” article again. When we were first married we lived literally right next to a meeting hall. We would watch those little 6 year olds run into the building carrying their little brief cases. We were there for 4 years and were only visited once. I miss those days. My hubby told me that those “No soliciting” signs don’t work either. Did you know that? They aren’t solicitors. I guess I will just have to let TJM admin keep answering the door! Poor little Witnesses…
New Year, Same Quiz…Just for Fun
March 7, 2008
Last February was our first year on the net so not many came across this Easter quiz. I still think that organized religion as a whole makes about as much sense as rabbits laying eggs… Of course, if you are one of our fine readers that know your history, then you know that Easter was celebrated long before Jesus came along which means that you already know about the rabbits and the eggs…… Read more
Middle East earthquakes: It’s the gays what did it
February 24, 2008
SIX earthquakes have struck Israel and neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan in recent months, with two coming last week alone – and what is to blame? Homosexuality.
That’s the view of imbecile Shlomo Benizri, MP, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party, who, according to the Telegraph, believes that the tremors could be stopped by repealing various liberalising laws on homosexuality that have been passed by the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, in recent years.
Since decriminalising homosexuality in 1988, Israel has passed several laws favouring gay Israelis , including decisions to recognise same-sex marriages carried out abroad, and granting inheritance rights and other benefits held by married couples to gay partnerships.
Last Sunday, to the outrage of the religious Right, the country’s attorney general, Meni Mazuz, ruled that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.
In what Mr Benizri clearly believes is no coincidence, the first of last week’s quakes hit the country just two days later.
Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy. God says that if you shake your genitals where you are not supposed to he will shake the world in order to wake you up.
In 1999 this crazy god-botherer caused controversy by saying homosexuals were mentally ill. Quoted in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, he said he was “ready to fund the creation of special closed sections for them in psychiatric hospitals.”
An essay on free will - Section 2
February 21, 2008
By nature, some people are more inclined to enjoy certain activities. I’m sure we can all think of an instance, where you or someone you know just has that natural drive to do something. I have been a thrill seeker for as far back as I can remember. As a child, I would jump off of buildings into snow; I’d build jumps for sleds; I’d ride snowmobiles as fast as they’d go; I was into gymnastics and all sorts of physical things. No one pushed me to do these things. I simple had an innate (in born), strong desire for such things.
On another level, I was always searching for answers, and getting into arguments until something made sense to me. My mother joked that I would grow up to be a lawyer, because I would argue people into corners, and tear apart their reasoning until there was nothing left. My siblings were not like this. We grew up with the same basic environment, but I ended up being the only agnostic-atheist out of a long line of christian fundimentalists on both sides of the family. On my mothers side, their history goes back to the Mennonites (similar to the Amish). My mother’s family helped found one of the largest churches in my area. On my father’s side, we have missionaries. So, here I am, the little black sheep. I take no credit for my release from religion. I was simply lead to it by my strong drive to face reality.
Now, I can’t prove for certain what exactly caused me to be the way I am, but we can look at some obvious, more extreme cases which are scientifically proven to be founded in biology. Look at certain mental disorders, such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. These are caused by pre-natal exposure to alcohol.
I once knew a guy who had serious behavioral problems. My girlfriend and I had him pegged for a FAS Disorder. One day, we were sitting in our sociology class in college, and the professor started talking about FAE (a term that is being phased out in place of FASD). Our “friend” (I use quotes because, by then, he had shown quite a bit of bad behavior) fit into the category so well, that it was ridiculous. His brother had some sort of retardation, so it stood to reason that his mother was drinking during our friend’s development as well. He had serious issues with compulsive behavior. He was a compulsive liar, and would act without thinking. He did not understand consequences and felt little or no sympathy for other people. On one hand, he could be a lot of fun, because he was just balls-to-the-wall crazy when we’d go out. On the other hand, he could be incredibly obnoxious, and could take things to far. When your “friend” starts talking about blowing up vending machines with grenade powder, making up stories about you and other friends, or breaking into various businesses, it’s time to call it quits. You might say some of this is normal post-high-school male behavior, but when you look at all of the other behavior involved, it’s right in line with FASD.
The point of all this is, from birth, he was inclined to this activity. He never chose to be subjected to alcohol in the womb, and have his mind warped. His exposure to prenatal forces is mild compaired to that of many others. Look at the brain of some people with an FASD. Besides FASD babies, we have crack babies, meth babies (it’s all the rave these days), heroine babies, and so on.
Substance abuse is not the only cause of biological problems. Some mental disorders are passed down through genes. Bipolar Disorder runs in my family. My great uncle had Bipolar Disorder; my brother and sister have also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so I’ve witnessed first hand what that can do to a family.
People that claim all of these disorders are made up, just to make excuses for people’s behaviors obviously have not actually studied them one bit. Why is it that everyone who has a degree in psychology or sociology accepts these things as valid disorders? Could it be because they study them thoroughly and have enormous amounts of scientific data to back it up? You don’t even have to be a scientist to observe many of these differences in humans with these diseases and disorders-you just have to spend time around them. Since we do have people that study these things, you can look at some of their findings. A picture is worth a thousand words:
FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders)
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0127302/ThinkFASpage4.htm
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)
http://www.adhd.org.nz/neuro1.html
Clinical Depression
http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_09_img0510.jpg
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
http://www.brainphysics.com/graphics/petscan.gif
Schnizophrenia
http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_09_img0510.jpg
Clearly, there is something wrong with these brains. I’m going to extremes with all of this to prove a point, but what you should be gathering from this is that your biology and environment define you.
Whether you have a disorder or not, these two elements shape and control your personality, and we have no reason to believe there’s anything else to it. It simply wouldn’t make any sense. If biology and environment can account for all of these aspects of personality, it’s obvious you have no magical “free will” spot somewhere inside of you.. The fact that you can severely change a personality through the physical manipulation of the brain proves that there is nothing overriding all of this. It might be a little scary, but you are a slave to these factors.
You can’t simply will yourself out of clinical depression; you can’t will yourself out of Bipolar disorder; you can’t will yourself out of FASD, or ADHD, or Borderline Personality Disorder, and so on. It’s not like people chose to have these disorders in the first place. These things ruin lives. That’s why they’re called disorders, because they’re horrible things that no one wants.
Now, for the sake of covering all bases, let’s pretend that there is some sort of “free will” center that hangs out inside of you somewhere, and that biology and environment don’t determine your personality and the choices you make. What would account for the difference in choices between two people if biology/environment were not factors? What makes the free will of one person stronger than that of another? If we are not all given a level playing field by having equal free will centers, then that must mean god is creating people with these differences.
Even if you believe that god can help you to not sin, why is it that all people sin? Is it because people don’t really want god’s help? If so, then can you be blamed for having a faulty design? People do not choose to not want god’s help anymore than many children choose to not like broccoli. Whenever you make a supposed choice, there is something in your head driving that preference, and it’s not under your control.
If I were to give you a choice between getting shot in the face or getting a massage, you would choose the massage, unless you really, really, really don’t like being touched. Either way, your mind is already made up. You’re only going with what you have a preference for. Now, let’s take a situation where it’s a really hard choice, and part of you doesn’t want what the other part does. Many people use this as proof of free will, because there is an inner struggle. Let’s say that it’s a choice to either steal a wallet full of 100 dollar bills, or to return it to the owner. Part of you really wants that money, but part of you thinks you should return the money to it’s rightful owner. Some would say that this is a struggle between good and evil; that satan is tempting you, and it’s up to you to be strong, and use your free will to choose the right thing. So when you choose to return the money or keep it for yourself, you might say that you exercised your free will, because it was a hard choice and you had an interal struggle. Really, your brain is just struggling to decide the best course of action, and neither desire for either choice is outside of your physical brain. One just happens to be stronger than the other.
Now, let’s take something that isn’t a matter of good or evil (unless you consider certain deserts evil). If you are given the option between only eating ice cream or only eating cake for desert for the rest of your life, it will be a difficult choice if you like both of those almost equally. Does this mean that your brain is choosing one while your free will chooses another? Not at all. It’s perfectly logical and reasonable to have a hard time making a choice when more than one option is tempting. You most likely enjoy having money, but you also enjoy doing “the right thing.” Also, you most likely enjoy at least two different deserts. Now, when you look at your final decision, what was responsible for that decision? Did you choose to like one over the other, or was your choice based on what you simply desired the most? I think we all know the answer to that question
When we’re speaking of issues of right and wrong, it would make a little more sense to think that satan is tempting you to make the other choice, but when we’re talking about desert, I don’t think satan has a preference for one over the other…unless it’s devil’s food cake, but let’s not get into that. With this in mind, if you can have an inner struggle that is not over good and evil, does it not make
sense that all of these struggles are merely between different parts of your own self? Why anyone
thinks that having an inner struggle proves free will, I will never know, but hopefully, after reading this, certain people will never use it again.
Some of you might think I’m beating a dead horse with 10 different sticks, but when people don’t accept that it’s dead, you have to utterly destroy it…and then, send them a memo.
Now, whatever the reason you give for what determines our choices, it all comes back to god. In christianity and some other religions, god is the creator of all. In most religions, he is omnipotent and omniscient. If, at the moment god creates the first element of the universe (whatever that might be), he knows how everything will interact and play out, based on his creation, so our fate is set in stone. If god knows no boundary of time, and can see or be any where in history, present, or future, it’s as if he’s dictating every single event in time.
Reposted with permission of AKR
Can the Bible be Used to Prove Jesus’ Divinity?
February 5, 2008
Ru laid down the following argument at the forum. Thanks Ru. Read more
Atheism & the Rationality of Deism
January 28, 2008
We want to avoid saying beliefs when talking about Atheism. Why are we afraid to label our non-belief as a belief? Because when you label something as a belief or belief system there are some negative connotations that come alongside it:
- The stench of religion
- The erasure of individuality
- Group Morals
- Easily Manipulated Political Agendas
All that being said, I find it illogical to place those without firm beliefs in any category. How can you slap a broad label on millions of individuals with completely different viewpoints? You shouldn’t, but as many of you know; it happens everyday. You wouldn’t label “not collecting stamps” as a hobby or “bald” as a hair color, but it would seem as though many others may not have the same scruples doing similarly. Are there any associations or assumptions that can be made about those which do in fact remove God from the equation of existence? The lack of religious belief is the lack of the Arguments from Supreme Authority which attempt to interfere in even the most personal and private pieces of our lives; instilling guilt and fear. There is no absolute about any group. There are exceptions to everything it seems. Just because one is an atheist does not even guarantee that they accept any scientific explanation of anything.
One could dismiss it all and remain content with the understanding that we cannot know or trust in ill-motivated and government owned men. We can hope at least that there are enough checks and balances and the requirement of verifiable evidence to protect us at some levels from the establishment. There is no way to know at this time what occurred prior to singularity, but surely even this must have originated somewhere. Perhaps it is my limited understanding of this topic that makes this such an unattainable answer. Perhaps it is because it cannot be positively known. And if religions are correct, perhaps it is not for us to know. If you consider this life an experience, and an opportunity to learn the difference of good and evil than philosophically you can rest easy. If you assume that everything will be explained upon death, than the now might just become more important because you realize that you will have eternity for cosmic pursuits. The now could be spent doing good for your fellow humans in the now and for the future. There are a few issues I have with this method of thinking as well.
Whether you admit it or not you are making assumptions. Religions, holy scriptures are all tainted by man. Men with motivations for power and control. As a lowly peon you are not privyed to truth. You are force-fed what is determined you can handle, because you are stupid and irrational; like stampeding buffalo. Who is to know what is real and what is manifested in our best interest? As one who has not researched all areas of discovery first hand, I could not with all honesty tell you I am certain of anything. I have not witnessed the birth or death of a star, galaxy, nebula firsthand. I have not reconstructed the human genome or split atoms in the storage room of my third floor apartment. I accept that I simply do not have the time or ability to encompass all areas of understanding in my lifetime. There are too many societal pressures that do not allow for a life of exploration and understanding. Here in the now we must focus on where we are and where we are going. America could eat you alive. Ask our homless millions. The forgotten and ill-labeled. The used and spent. The erased.
My Christian roots have certainly affected my way of thinking. A total disconnect has certainly not occurred for me. A desire for immortality, the need for greater meaning and importance still haunts me. Perhaps my thinking is too expansive because I require something more. If you consider existence at such an expanded perspective it is easy to feel small. If even our Universe must die than all pursuits are ultimately futile. But we do not exist on a timescale that large. In existence as we know it humans encompass less than 1%. But you could examine things from an alternative perspective. We are the universe. The same particles that have inhabited and explored the universe are within us all. Stardust. Organic elements such as carbon(from methane) carried here on comets whose reach stretch throughout our galaxy and farther are within us. When we die we shall return to such simpler places to perhaps become a piece of something or someone else. We become our parents because we are in some sense our parents, we are but an abberated clone of the combination. No matter how we attempt to disconnect ourselves from who our parents and even our society are we cannot escape because we are at some level, the same.
Deism, the belief in a god outside of religion. A personal relationship with whatever force is responsible for our creation, and what we are ultimately a piece of. To some degree this way of thinking is still illogical, because we cannot know. There is no verifiable evidence or any logical method with known evidence to assume that a creator exists. Where understanding stops, god is born. The problem is where in the chain, the equation, is god necessary? The more we know, the more we realize how little we truly know. The god concept, as far as I can tell, is the imagination of man in full effect. Internal debates wage inside many of us. Logic and desire conflict and struggle to overcome one another. Personally, there is no way to be 100% sure of anything; but as long as we remember to practice altruism and remember that we are just a piece of the whole we may just make our ignorance a little easier to tolerate. Irrationality on a theological or philosophical level is irrelevant unless it leads you to negative interactions with your fellow human. None are valid. All are valid. What’s the difference?
Atheist Christmas - PART 3
December 24, 2007
Lets go back in time to December of 2002, and we will return to the Part 3 of my original blog entry for December 25, 2006.
The story of a Catholic Teenager turned Atheist - finale
Silence, Reverence, & Peace…
The hallmarks of a Church. I just wish that the new age understood this before they had decided to take their previously unexpressed teenage angst and inflict it upon the Church and Christianity. I lived and still live amongst Christians. I understand Christianity much better than most of the true believers out there. After spending 12 years in bible classes, many years of church every single day (when I lived in Bahrain) & rest of the years, I visited church only on Sundays (after coming back to India). My knowledge about what I am and what I wanted to become was at a turning point. I had my path chosen already. The path of god. No, I wasn’t going to be a priest. I wanted to be out there helping people. The poor, those who are hungry, those who lack spirit. To give them strength, hopes for a better tomorrow. But my faith was to be put to an ultimate test. Read more
-
Atheist Blogroll
