Qur'an Project

I have decided that I am going to press on with the reading. I will not be objective. I cannot be anymore as stated here a few weeks ago. This means that the Qur'an has a much higher burden of proof in order to convince me that Islam is the "Religion of Peace".

Expect posting of verses to continue soon. Thank for all those that have encouraged me to continue and for your patience.

Normally, I don't talk much about politics on Qur'an Project, but Al Gore's speech to MoveOn PAC demands a small comment.

This country dodged a bullet to the head in November 2000 when many (some say a majority) of Americans voted to put this nutjob in the Oval Office. I shutter to think what "President Gore" would have done in the wake of 9/11. I guess some would say that if he were President, then the Islamic wackjobs would not have had to attack us. There is not enough tinfoil in the world for someone who really believes THAT.

Just on the fallout from 9/11 and terrorism is enough for me to fall on my knees and that God that he is not in office. In fact, it may be that this one act of mercy on the USA will revive in me a real move back to spirituality and religion as a practice instead of as a hobby. Come to think of it, I may not have been able to say these types of things here if he were in office. It would be too politically incorrect to say "God" or refer to prayer unless it was a prayer to Allah. Worst case I would be in the same state as Nick Berg, beheaded due to my un-Islamic pronouncements prior to the establishment of the Islamic revolution in the US.

This is why I will vote Bush in November and encourage everyone I know to do the same. I am not a big fan of President Bush, but Mr. Kerry looks crazier than Mr. Gore did in May 2000. Imagine what President Kerry would be like in May 2008.

I am not some VRWC member, neocon, "Racist, Zionist, Nazi" (tm Moonbats, Inc.) etc... I didn't vote for Mr. Gore or Mr. Bush in 2000, I voted (and campaigned actively) 3rd party.

Via Instapundit: A good roundup of BLOG reactions to the speech by blogs4God.

If anyone in the history of the world (or universe for that matter) needs a severe Fisking, Michael Berg is it... Jeff Harrell of The Shape of Days has done a service to mankind. Here it is.

Via: INDC Journal

Bill Whittle has posted a new Essay that I found inspiring.

think about what it would take for you to kill your own daughter with a knife, with your bare hands, because she was seen in the company of a man not her husband or a relative? Think about that. Think long and hard. What kind of hatred and shame could drive a human being to do such a thing? What kind of pressures does that society bring to bear on an individual to make him capable of that? How different is their view of women, of family, of honor and shame? What would it take for you to murder your daughter with a knife, or a knotted cord - with your own two hands and against her pleading, her protestations, and her begging for her life? If your response wasn't "there is nothing that could make me do that," then stop reading right here and get the hell off my property.

Get off my property indeed...

No, this is not about reason, as we understand the term. This is about shame, it is about denial, and it is about transcendent revenge. Shouts of Allahu Akbar! were not overdubbed by western propaganda agencies as they sawed through Nick Berg's throat and twisted off his head. Those are authentic. As they got down to their filthy work they were screaming, over and over in a fit of religious ecstasy: God is Great! Nick Berg was nothing more than an animal sacrifice to them. That is Radical Islam.

The only thing that will appease them is your blood. All of it. Remember that.

I will remember, even if Nick Berg's poor excuse for a father dosen't.

You MUST go and read the whole thing right now. Michael Berg, you are excused from this assignment. I doubt that you would "get it".

LGF also has a story on Nick Berg's father, his incredible comments and apparent love for the terrorists that killed his son.

Here are some of my favorite LGF comments so far:

Frank_Mtl -

Poor Nick. Not only did he die in the most vile and violent way at the hands of bloodthirsty barbarians, but his own father has to shamelessly defile and insult his memory. Sickening.

Jeff S. -

Stupefying as they may appear, no one here should be surprised by Mr. Berg's ravings. He is merely being true to the creed of the L³: Politics Trump All. His statements are not a product of his grief. Michael Berg lost his mind long before he lost his son.

a to the k -

You don't expect Michael Berg to throw away his entire wordview just because some Arabs cut off his son's head, do you?

In his mind, it's always going to be: straight, white, Judaeo-Christian American males are war criminals; everyone else is just reacting to oppression.

We can't let these people determine any part of our future.

Dean's World has more on the 4 held in connection with the Nick Berg beheading. It turns out that they were (wait for it)... Saddam loyalists. Gee, who would have guessed? 2 have already been released and the other 2 have yet to be charged with anything related to Nick Berg.

The full AP story (via Fox News) is here.

Missed this one last week...

The post has large quotes from the Rush Limbaugh show as well as some snippets from other sources. It confirms again why we need to fight these assholes and why, for the future of humanity, we must win.

A Small Victory - the wrong enemy

I agree with Michelle on this one. Mike Berg is reprehensible.

He thinks that somehow these assholes that beheaded his son admired him and felt bad about doing it. If they felt so bad, maybe they SHOULD HAVE STOPPED

Jackass

cut on the bias has a post that touches on Nick Berg in the context of Moral relativism and religion. Susanna's views on the subject are very close to my own.

On my getting back to the Qur'an: Still can't bring myself to do it. I needed to put something under a leaking plant to protect the table it was on. The nearest suitable things were my copy of the Qur'an, a 6 month old trade mag and last week's newspaper. I found myself torn... That tells me I have a ways to go...

Found
This via SMASH.

I love a good smack down...

Via LGF: 4 Arrested in connection with Nick Berg's beheading.

Fantastic news if proven true! Let's hope the kingpin and head asshole (Abu Musab al-Zarqawi) is among them.

If anything ever justified an extremely painful and lingering death, this act is in the top 2 or 3. It really is too bad that we Americans are a bit on the squeamish side.

I really hate what these assholes have done to me...

Re: Nick Berg

Read this.

Via Instapundit I found This piece by Evan Coyne Maloney.

Mr. Maloney rightly points out that the prison scandal is a problem for the US only because we hold ourselves to a higher morality. I admire his stamina in watching the Nick Berg beheading, I have still not seen it because I still cannot bring myself to look. He points out that the butchers of Nick Berg used the prison scandal as justification for this horrific act, but they certainly don't need "justification" for acts such as these. The litany of pre-911 attacks that were unanswered is well documented in the posted article.


Here is the quote that struck a chord with me:

Put your hand on your neck and imagine a large knife sawing though it. (Stop and think for a minute...you can almost feel it, can't you?)

Yes, Evan, I CAN almost feel it and thanks for the reminder... This masterful piece of prose has added at least a week to the time that I will need to even consider watching the video.



I haven't commented on the prison scandal here mostly because it didn't apply to Islam or the Qur'an. I will not go into too much detail, but I think the media is obsessed with the pictures because of their slant toward Mr. Kerry's campaign. We need to address the crimes committed, anyone saying we shouldn't is saying that we should not prosecute jaywalkers because there are murderers out in the world. The beheading of Nick Berg is in a different class than the activities of the prison guards and requires a different response.

Jon Stewart said:

"No matter how hard we try, we just cannot out-pyscopath al-Queda. It just can't be done!"

I started this project with the best of intentions. I intended to read and interpret without outside forces shaping my views. As you look back at past posts, many will see that I have drifted somewhat toward the position that Islam is the "religion of pieces". I felt it as it was happening and made deliberate attempts to change my course and travel down the neutral path

Then there was Meirav. The brutal slayings of the Hatuel family brought me to the brink of hopelessness and mindless anger. I still carry the horror of this senseless act with me. It has fundamentally changed the way I think about Israel and Islam. Two year olds are NOT legitimate targets under ANY circumstances.

I have tried to continue, to press on, but I am filled with rage every time I pick up my copy of the Qur'an. I know, deep down, that I will never have the objectivity of innocence while working on this project because somewhere in this book cowardly assholes found the "wisdom" to kill Meirav, her sisters, her mother and her unborn brother.

Now there is another outrage. An act that sickens me to the bone, an act that could only be carried out by godless barbarians. Charles Johnson describes Nick Berg's beheading on LGF. The description alone made me physically ill. I will not even attempt to watch the video.

Previous acts of terror did not affect me as much as these two. I don't really know the reasons why, maybe they seemed part of the war or maybe I didn't identify personally with the victims. Maybe it took the death of a child the same age as my own daughter and the beheading of someone that could have been me (professionally) to point out the horrors of Islamic Fundamentalism.

I do not see how I can ever be objective again. I can never be silent and allow these bastards to operate unchallenged for fear of upsetting the "PC Police". If these assholes were looking to change minds, they have succeeded. I have gone from someone that was willing to listen and give their teachings a fair hearing to someone that will support any means necessary to rid the world of their kind.

My current plan is to put aside the Qur'an for a while and see where God takes me. Maybe I will pick it up again, maybe I will put it away and never look at it again. One thing is for certain; I will be active in the support of the war and will be calling for its escalation.

Does Allah endorse the Security fence?

You decide...

"They said: 'O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and the Magog (people) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render you tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?' He said: '(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute): help me therefore with strength (and labor): I will erect a strong barrier between you and them" [Qur'an 18:95-96]

Via Lileks: Meirav was two

If this doesn't bring it home, you should seek a professional. Perhaps a mortician.


UPDATE: This messed with my mind all day. I read about the killings before, but this post by Meryl Yourish made me really think about how horrible it really is. Now I feel bad for not feeling bad when I first read the story. Dam you/Thank you...

"Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. And if you catch them out, catch them out no worse than they catch you out: but if you show patience, that is the best (course) for those who are patient. And you be patient, for your patience is but from Allah; nor grieve over them: and do not distress yourself because of their plots. For Allah is with those who restrain themselves, and those who do good" [Qur'an 16:125-128]

The final verse of this quote is a point for the "Religion of Peace". I decided to go back a bit and include some context. With this context it is hard to see anything but peaceful intentions and direct contrast of terrorist doctrine. Yes, there is the trademark paranoia here (their plots), but it still stands against the actions of UBL and his thugs.

"We know indeed that they say, "It is a man that teaches him." The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear." [Qur'an 16:103]

I guess you need to speak (and read) Arabic in order to receive the word of Allah. I was of the opinion that the earthly things, such as language, were beneath Allah's notice. The biblical story of the "Tower of Babel" (Genesis 11: 1-9) is a story of God punishing the impudence of man by forcing different languages on them.

This seems more like a condemnation of all things foreign to me.