Aljawhary said that she does not believe that the women-only gym hours discriminate against men.
"These hours are necessary because there is a segment of the Harvard female population that is not found in gyms not because they don't want to work out, but because for them working out in a co-ed gym is uncomfortable, awkward or problematic in some way," she said.
They will try to spin this as being for women, but it's really not. It's for Muslim women. Because there are plenty of men who don't go to the gym because they feel uncomfortable or awkward. Nobody is making a special "dorky, overweight man" time slot for the Quad.
Don't want to work out around guys? Go to Curves. Feel that it somehow isn't modest to work out around men? Step out of the dark ages. And, I think the modesty is somewhat BS anyways. Muslim women or not, 80%+ are probably exercising to "look good", which isn't modest on it's own. They other 20% are probably doing it for strictly health reasons.
I don't think it'd be a big deal if they had a special section for a few hours a week, but closing it off to another gender is a bit much.
I saw this episode a while ago, and thought to myself "That's got to be made up." Then, a few months ago I saw some PBS special on Mormons, which gave the story of Joe Smith. And, it was pretty much like the South Park episode except with "smart people" telling it. It still sounded like a pretty fantastical story.
One day, I asked a Mormon friend a line of questioning, which he didn't care much for. However, I think it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Basically, my questions were surrounding my notion that if you don't believe in how the Book of Mormon came to existence, you can't believe the Book itself. It's not like it's a text written eons ago, before written word or decent communications. It was a from around 1830.
I'm not sure why I think it's absolutely illogical for an intellectual person to believe the origin of this book, but I do. And, I'm not sure how someone could "follow" the word of a book which they don't believe it's origin. So, why/how could someone who doesn't believe the Book of Mormon was "found" as it is told it was follow the Mormon religion? And, out of all the scriptures out there, this is probably the most unbelievable coming-to-being that I know of. It's not a metaphor of an angel and golden plates, it's supposed to literally be an angel and golden plates.. in upstate NY. At least some other ones you know there is a metaphor or exaggerated story with it and everyone seems to know it.
I have nothing against Mormons. As many know, I was ready to move to Mormon Central (Utah). I agree and somewhat embrace many of the values in family and some morality which Mormons do. I just don't believe in their God, and if I did, I certainly think Joe Smith was a bit of a snake oil salesman. I can't explain the Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses, aside that if it were 1830 and someone which was in my family or closely associated to it asked me to sign something saying I was part of a divine circumstance and would be immortalized forever... I'd probably say "What the heck!"
Anyways... this makes me laugh every time. Saw it again the other night...
Pope tries to win hearts and minds by saving souls of unbaptised babies - World - Times Online
Don't worry, if your unbaptised baby dies.. it'll go to Heaven!!! Apparantly the Pope got a postcard from a dead infant:
Dear Pope,
I died, unbaptised, as an infant. Just wanted to give you a shout out from Heaven. That's right, Heaven! Dante was wrong, there is no limbo! Please pass the word.
Berlin opera pulled over Muhammad scene - Yahoo! News
The opera had a scene where there is a presentation of the severed heads of Poseidon, Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha. In fear that Buddhists would be rioting in the streets, they decided to pull the opera. Wait, no, it wasn't the Buddhists it was the Christians who they feared would be offended and riot. Sorry, that's not right.. it were the old-time Greeks who worship Poseidon.
Psych! It was because of fear that Muslims would riot! Buddhists and Christians don't care enough to riot and cause a 'security risk'.
What bull. Have some balls people. Well, I guess we're talking about thespians here... so, ACT like you have some balls!
About 1,000 Pakistani clerics, scholars demand pope's removal, warn West of consequences
About 1,000 thin skinned clerics and "scholars" simply keep on whining and threatening the West because of what the Pope said.
The "Pope, and all Infidels, should know that no Muslim, under any circumstances, can tolerate an insult to the Prophet (Muhammad).... If the West does not change its stance regarding Islam, it will face severe consequences," it said.
You know, I think the word "infidel" will be the next term to be seen as offensive. I know I fall under that term, and sure don't ever seem to like the tone of how it's used. But, again.. more Muslims here threatening with "severe consequences". That's pretty much all these clerics seem to do, threaten instead of have actual dialog towards understanding.
Ok, none of that is really new, or surprising. But, something else they said was:
"Jihad is waged to rid an area, state, or the world of oppression, violence, cruelty, and terrorism, and bring peace and relief to the people. History is full of incidents where Muslims waged Jihad to provide relief to people of many faiths, especially Jews and Christians," it said.
I'd LOVE to know what jihad was waged by Muslims to provide relief to the Jews. Or Christians, for that matter. Anyone know? They don't seem to mention when this amazing waging of Jihad to benefit the Jews was.
Hey clerics, let it drop already. We've moved past the Pope remarks and are concentrating now on Chavez. Keep up with the short-attention-span news already.. sheesh..
Scotsman.com News - Muslims link Pope to 'racists and bigots' over Islam speech
Muhammad Umar, chairman of the foundation [Ramadhan Foundation], said: "This attack on Islam and Prophet Mohammed by Pope Benedict is recognition that he has fallen into the trap of the bigots and racists when it comes to judging Islam on the actions of a small number of extreme elements. He is wrong in his analysis and I encourage him to study history through the mind of independence, not through pre-conceived prejudices."
Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98
On unbelievers is the curse of Allah. - Sura 2:161
Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - Sura 2:191
Allah has cursed the unbelievers and proposed for them a blazing hell. - 33:60
Unbelievers are enemies of Allah and they will roast in hell. - 41:14
"O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily God guideth not a people unjust." - 5:54
"People all over the world have come to realize that Hitler was right, since Jews . . . are bloodsuckers . . . interested in destroying the whole world which has . . . expelled them and despised them for centuries ... and burnt them in Hitler's crematoria ... one million ... six millions. Would that he had finished it!"
- Anis Mansour, Al-Akhbar, August 19, 1973.
"The English Historian David Irving's description of the so-called Jewish Holocaust by the Nazis in gas chambers as a big lie was enough to shake the foundations of Europe and turn Irving into a target for a campaign of slander..."
- Al-Ba'ath (Syria), February 7, 2000.
"...[The Israelites] have spread all over the world. Now Allah gathers them in this land. He brings them in groups from all countries of the world, in order to fulfill Allah's universal law: Judgment Day will come when Muslims fight the Jews, and the stone and the tree say: Oh, Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there's a Jew behind me, come and kill him. If the Jews were scattered throughout the world, how could we find them in order to fight them? The war between us and the Jews is a religious war. This is not a war over a path, a land or anything like that. The part of the Koran that was given at Mecca, before the Muslim even met the Jews, each chapter reveals who the Jews really are, their perversity and the danger they present. Our war with them is a religious war, and we must arm the nation with the weapon of faith."
- UAE Professor Mustafa Muslim, Al-Majd TV Saudi Arabia June 19, 2005
"Jewish tourists infected with AIDS are traveling around Asian and African countries with the aim of spreading the disease."
- Husniya Hassan Moussa, lecturer at the National Research Center, Al Ilm (Egypt) November, 2001
I'm not saying Islam is a violent religion, but the Koran sure states some seemingly violent and prejudice things. And, outspoken Muslims have spouted racists things for ages. I think the Muslim community needs to spend more time worrying and working on the Muslim community than getting mad at everyone else. We non-Muslims know there are radical elements which are giving you a bad name, and not all Muslims are evil terrorists ready to slit our throats. However, it would be more productive for Muslims to loudly decry those Muslims slitting the throats rather than words or cartoons by non-Muslims. My words here are more likely to cause a riot and protests than video taped executions of people done by extremists. That's sad.
Muslim Leaders Assail Pope’s Tough Speech on Islam - New York Times
The pope said:
He quoted a 14th Century Byzantine emperor as saying, “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
The interesting thing here is really how Muslim leaders cry and scream and tantrum whenever someone says something about Islam (or draws a cartoon lampooning Muhammad). They make so much noise, ask for apologies, say how offended they are, say how nobody understands Islam, yadda yadda yadda. Yet, I still don't recall any outcry like this about Muslims beheading people, blowing up busses, trains, planes, videos enciting violence, kidnapping, executing, etc...
So, don't say anything bad about Islam or you'll get riots and an earful. But, cut someones head off with a knife in the name of Allah and "freedom" and no prob.
Where is the outcry for these acts?
(Note.. links above not for weak hearted)
Kyla has two good friends, the "Megans". Last week I thought it would be nice to invite them both over for a sleepover on Saturday. One had company in town for the weekend and couldn't come. The other couldn't come because she had to go to church at 9am on Sunday. I held my tongue while speaking to the mother, so I'll vent on it here :-)
Why can't a 7 year old miss a day of church to have a sleepover with a friend? Will she burn in hell? Will she be scorned, stoned, put on the rack or in any other way harmed? I don't think so. I really don't get it. I bet God wouldn't get it either. Kids (should) have few sins to repent for, and surely God would want them to have sleepovers or otherwise do things fun on a Sunday morning once in a while. Why does she have to go to the 9am service? Even if there isn't a later one to go to, she can still be taken to the church to pray, light a candle, dance with snakes or do whatever she needs to in order to stay in the good graces of the Lord.
Can someone more familiar with Christian traditions explain to me how a 7 year old can't miss a 9am service to have fun? Or, is this just a case that the parents don't think they can/should miss it and aren't flexible with fun and religion? What if she was sick.. would she still have to go? How about if they were on vacation... do they need to find a church to go to? How about a blizzard? Well, I guess that would be Gods way of saying not to go... or a test to see who is the most committed, depending on how you look at it.
Anyways.. I don't get it. Seems something like this can make a child miss out on something for no reason I'd expect anyones God to not understand.
Now.. for what I know, or think I know.
* The New Testiment does not denote any particular day for worship
* Sunday was originally used as the Sabbath by early Christians, which took cues from the Torah.
* Paul didn't teach people to keep the Sabbath, and instead taught that Christians shouldn't be judged on this.
* In the 2nd century, most Christians used Sunday as the day of worship (not Sabbath). It became known as "The Lords Day" during this time.
* The last and first day of the week were considered for a day of worship, but since Jesus rose on a Sunday, it seemed like an obvious day.
* Bacchiocchi argued that Sunday became accepted because it was what the Roman Catholic church said to do.. and you didn't go against the Roman Catholic church :-) But, the 2nd century RCC may not have had the power to change it everywhere, but did have significant influence.
* An Adventist theory is that because both Easter and Pentecost are on Sundays, the weeks between were considered holy. Christians began meeting on the Sundays during those weeks, and Sunday sort of stuck.
* Anti-Jewish sentiments brought about Sunday to be different from the Sabbath (Saturday).
* The popularity and influence that the sun worship of the pagan Romans accorded Sunday undoubtedly contributed to its growing acceptance as a day of worship.
I could keep going on with the arbitrary reasons which Sunday is the day of worship. But, nothing suggests God or Christ made the rule. And, I'm not aware of either explaining sin or hardship if it's not done. It seems to be more of a tradition, and something that can be skipped without making Satan smile.
In summary, she should let the kid have a sleepover!
Since I made a post about God, a bunch of the AdSense links have been Jesus links. I click on them sometimes to see what's at the other end. Maybe salvation! Maybe wisdom! Maybe confusion!
I just clicked on one of them, and the page has three phrases on the right side:
Call out to Him! He knows your thoughts and your heart. He has forgiven you for everything you have or will ever do, if you will only receive Him
This, to me, is saying that God knows what I'm thinking and what I feel in my heart. He is all forgiving ONLY AND ONLY IF I 'receive' Him. If I don't 'receive' Him, no fogiveness for me.
He made you. He formed you out of the dust of the ground and breathed life into you, and now He is calling you home
He created me from nothing. And, apparantly lives inside me rent free. But, if he calls me home by default, why would I need to 'receive' Him? Seems like I have if He calls me home. Unless he's on vacation.
The hand of God is reaching out to you. Don't turn away from him...accept His free gift of life. He loves you more than you can know
Ok, this one shows the contradictions I don't understand (as well as that last sentence puts the song Mrs. Robinson in my head). He loves me more than I can know, but the first verse says He selectively forgives. So, it's not unconditional love. But, what God would not love unconditionally, since He, according to the second verse, made me.
Subject says it all. Happy birthday.
Has anyone ever looked at you like this?
That blank stare.. maybe even the Evil Eye!! You know you need to be protected from this sort of evil. It's dark forces will drain every ounce of being from you. It's happening right now, just by looking at the image!! OH NO!! WHAT EVER CAN YOU DO??
Well, for a measly $26 plus shipping costs, you can order the Red String. That's right, the Red String. A piece of string, which is red. But, it's a special Kabbalah Red String.. which makes it redder than most other red pieces of string. And, stringier! From the site:
The Red String protects us from the influences of the Evil Eye. Evil Eye is a very powerful negative force. It refers to the unfriendly stare and unkind glances we sometimes get from people around us. According to Kabbalah, the critical need to confront the problem of negative influences cannot be underestimated. Kabbalah teaches us that we can remove intrusive negative influences by using tools such as the Red String!
That's right. Through the ages people have been protected by using a piece of red string about 6 inches long. It has scared off the worse demons of the underworld, kept the boogyman at bay, and has warded off thousands of evil people who don't like the color red.. or string.. especially a RED STRING!! AAAIIIEEE!!
To help keep all readers safe from the unflintching Evil Stare of the above photo of a heathen, I feel the need to counteract it's evil forces and bestow the Red String:
Travel wisely people. Carry your Red String in health, and be wary of religious items which are common items sold at 10000 times their normal price.
"Judge Rules Against Pledge of Allegiance"
The judge said:
You can't compel a citizen of the United States to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Exactly. Wouldn't that be.. well.. un-American to do?
So, I haven't mentioned anything about Iraq in a while. And, I'm still not going to. However, this article speaks about the videos shown of Uday and Qusay. Here is a quote from the article:
Hamza Mansour, secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front in neighboring Jordan, said the display violated Islamic custom.
"The bodies of Uday and Qusay should have been washed, shrouded and buried immediately, but the Americans have no respect for our traditions and doctrine and they acted in a very unethical manner," he said.
I don't get it. Uday and Qusay (and Saddam) have been shown to be sadistic killers. They seem to do things (to the extreme) which are not part of the Muslim doctrine. Yet, people still consider them Muslims, and would expect that they would live and die as a Muslim.
So, what makes you a Muslim? It seems, based on the statement above and the mens lives, that if you are born a Muslim, then you are a Muslim no matter what. This, as opposed to how you live your life.
I would think that when a Muslim is responsible for murdering and torturing and oppress thousands of other Muslims they would sort of lose their "status" of being a Muslim. If you are a Jew and you have a tattoo, you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetary... but I guess if you murder thousands of people, you should still get full Muslim honors.
I just don't get it.
Tennessee School District Sued Over Ties to Evangelistic Crusade
Ahhhhh... those tolerent Christian children. Maybe one day they will understand Christ!
I went to see Geshe Konchog Kyab, a Tibetan monk, speak last Tuesday at Borders. I've tried to contact his school before, but they never returned my calls. But, this was a good way to see him, and learn about him. I'm still looking for a teacher in this area, so going was good.
He spoke about "Recognizing Our Human Potential". Not a whole lot of new information for me, since I have been studying/practicing Buddhism for some years now. He spoke a lot about anger and how it is a bad emotion. How to avoid anger, and how training your mind is the key. Pretty basic Buddhist (and Christian) philosophy. In all, he as good and I will try to make it to his center for practice.
Now, the people asking questions were another story. The first question: "So, what woud you do about 9/11?" If the man paid attention, he would have heard Geshe-la talk about non-violence... I guess missed that. Geshe-la answered well, saying he isn't a politician, and thinks peace-talks are better than violence. I agree, and disagree... but that's for another time. A few others seemed to think a Buddhist monk could give them some magic pill, or cure, for their personal anger and suffering. So, some of the questions I didn't care for. A few questions were good, and more relion based. Like believing in God(s), death, what happens when this world goes *boom* and we are all dead.
It was good to see, but I wish some people would at least read a little about Buddhism before asking questions like they did.
The American Athiests have a list of some biblical contradictions. Good list. I'm often baffled how people blindly accept the bible as true, and simply become sheep. I'm baffled that people who question their bible don't question their own religion and faith on a more serious level. To me, religion and faith is probably the most important thing on this world. I did much much much introspection before finding my religion (I found it, it didn't find me).
If there is anyone out there who could, from a Christians point of view, rebut these contradictions please do so.
In this article I read that some British teacher, at the Christian Fellowship School in Liverpool, is seeking to be able to use corporal punishment. Of course, I don't agree with any physical punishment on children (nice lesson you give when you smack a child), and I certainly wouldn't accept someone other than a parent smakcing a kid.
The article says:
His case partly centered around a biblical passage -- "Your rod and staff they comfort me" -- which he said supported the right of Christians to impose corporal punishment as part of their religious beliefs.
Well, I don't know this passage in context, but it alone doesn't seem to equate to corporal punishment. Is it really a religious belief of Christians to hit kids? Didn't Christ say something about turning the other cheek? I don't recall it being "turn the other cheek unless it is towards a minor misbehaving in a school and that is the only way your teeny tiny little mind can think of to impose some sort of punishment."
I know in some Buddhist monestaries it is customary for the abbot to strike students on the shoulders with a staff while meditating. This is done to clear the mind of the student, and help invoke enlightenment. That's the only thing I know of, from any religion, which regards any kind of striking. Of course, in this case, the students are there by choice and accept any pain in the name of attaining Samsara.
Seems like another case where some Christian bozo is interpreting the bible to suit his own desires. Maybe one of the priests who molested kids will use the same passage as a defense. "Hey, the bible said a rod is comforting, so I gave the kid my rod! I didn't know it meant a stick!"
This article explains how Rev. Andrew Furlong, an Irish Priest said:
"I don't believe the traditional understanding of Christmas, that God took human form and was born as a babe in Bethlehem"
He has believed this for 30 years. The church didn't like it, and he resigned. At least he didn't admit to diddling little kids... of course if he did he wouldn't have been forced to resign. Heresy, bad... molesting kids, just keep your mouth shut.
From The Washington Post:
"Even one act of abuse is too much," said Monsignor Peter Schonenbach, general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. "No one will say to a priest who has abused that it is fine to continue. If a priest abuses, his whole life changes with that. If a priest has abused and a complaint comes in and the bishop knows about the abuse . . . from that day on, the priest's whole life will be different. He may remain a priest but will never do ministry again."
It is pretty damn simple.. if you are a Man of God, you don't diddle little kids... period. It is unacceptable, illegal, and I'm sure God doesn't approve.