1 Well.. the land of his people is occupied by a foreign army. International law recognizes (a) that East Jerusalem is occupied territory unlawfully held by the Israelis and (b) that people have a right to take up arms and resist occupation of their lands. His rhetoric is blustery, but then again look what comes out of Bush's semi-literate mouth.

The United States Constitution, a fine document, also authorizes this sort of jihad. And don't forget-- many of the Palestinians are Christians. Why you fail to support them in their very American struggle for their property and rights and freedom from occupation, I don't understand.

2 Gee -- they lost their country, just like Manuel II Paleologus and his family did. Why don't they just shut up and accept it, like you seem to think that long-ago Byzantine Emperor should have.

Could it be that you believe in Muslim conquest (with the rest of the world submitting), yet reject the notion of anybody else taking land away from the Muslims?

3 Again, you're inconveniently ignoring the fact that many Palestinian Christians are suffering from Israeli theft and occupation.

You're also forgetting that Muslims adore and respect Jesus, peace and blessings upon him, as the finest of humanity. To the mostly atheistic Zionists, he is nobody important.

You're also forgetting that the current Pope considers the Protestants to "not be proper churches" who are probably destined for the Hellfire.


When earlier conquests took place, it was a change of political leadership-- the Muslim armies were forbidden from attacking women and children; they Christians and others weren't forced off their land-- they were protected. Roger II of Sicily, a minority among Christian leaders, but respected amonst Muslims acted in much the same way. Muslim law, for the most part, looks very favourable upon Christianity. Muslims with Christian parents, for example, are still expected to obey and take care of them respectfully, and it is a clear violation of Islamic law to attack any Christian places of worship. (I would be happy to see the people who firebombed the churches in the West Bank severely punished.) I personally work with one of Pope John Paul II's former advisors on international security; a Knight Commander of one of the Papal orders who has been my mentor for many years, and thanks to him, I can easily recognize that there is beauty within the Christian faith.

If I didn't know any Christians, and your blog was the only exposure I had to Christianity, I would think Christianity to be a bigoted, juvenile, small-minded thing. Think about that for a moment. You have a choice-- you can affirm your fragile ego by continuing to make ugly, juvenile comments about Muslims and thus accomplish nothing except contributing to the enmity in the world, or you can work with Muslims to address the many serious issues -- global warming, nuclear war, consumerism, materialism, the attack on family values -- that threaten us both.

What would Jesus (pbuh) do?

4 Hey -- what you call an illegal occupation is simply a "change of political leadership". Or is such a change only allowed to go one way -- namely in favor of Islam?

You are forgeting that Muslims blaspheme against Jesus by calling him a prophet and denying his divinity -- as such the claim that they "adore and respect" Jesus is mendacious.

And you misrepresent the teachings of the Catholic Church and this pope on Protestant Churches.

Ultimately, I choose to affirm the truth of Christianity and to rejectn the falsehood of Islam. If that makes me "bigoted, juvenile, small-minded" in your eyes, I could care less. And if my rejection of the active, ongoing violence committed in the name of Islam around the world contributes to emnity in the world, I guess I'll just have to live with that. After all, Islam has shown for that it is the enemy of Christians and the West since the seventh century.

5 Again, you're betraying the plight of the Palestinian Christians... the Christians of Bethlehem, no less... in favour of largely atheistic people of Jewish origin mindlessly driving women and children off their own land.

The gruesome thing about the illegal occupation-- and it is illegal under international law, which even the US Government officially agrees with -- is that it involves ethnic cleansing. It's not merely a change in political leadership, it involved the forced removal of people from their homes and the theft of their property. I would not support such actions in any case, even if they were done by people acting in the name of Islam. If the indigenous Jews has simply grabbed the levers of power but didn't harm the Palestinians, well, it wouldn't be a big issue really.

You are forgeting that many Christians didn't believe in the divinity of Jesus (pbuh) either. That only became a mainstream "Christian" belief hundreds of years later, after Christianity had been subverted by the Greco-Romans (starting with Paul, who never knew Jesus (pbuh)) who did a great job wiping out the many Christians (including Jesus' own brother, head of the Jerusalem Church) who believed Jesus (pbuh) to be the Messiah, but not Divine. This is an agreed upon fact amongst the academic community. See for example, Hyam Maccoby's "Paul the Mythmaker" (excerpt here) which demonstrates very clearly how inconsistencies in the Bible itself prove this claim.

And yes, the Catholic Church does reject Protestant churches as inadequate for salvation. This really isn't surprising, because many Protestant churches reject other Protestant churches as being valid, and many Protestants reject Papal authority as a matter of definition. The historical record shows very clearly that the worst enemy of Christians is... other Christians. Not the Muslim world. There are actually many wonderful examples of Christians and Muslims working together throughout the ages, doing the Lord's work.

The problem is that you reduce things to black-and-while, in a simple-minded cowboy fashion. The West would not be what it is today without Islamic influences, though people are unaware of it. I'm 100% Western and 100% Muslim-- but your simplistic worldview can't comprehend this. I offer you an open hand, in the spirit of Jesus, who we both at least respect, but all you can do is offer spite in return. I think that speaks volumes as to who truly represents the teachings of Jesus (pbuh). You can't stand the thought of a friendly, devout Muslim, because it would shatter your stereotypes.

As for being juvenile-- well, pasting in a cartoon with bacon replacing the face is surely juvenile; I'm sure even Pope Benedict would agree that it's not exactly high-minded scholarship that you're offering on this blog. Your "work" would be considered juvenile at any half-decent American junior high school. It boggles the mind that a fully grown man in his 40s would take the time to make such a silly thing.

Anyhow, since your blog isn't worth reading, I'm going to stop here. If you want to continue doing the online equivalent of masturbating for Jesus, well go ahead and do it alone or in a circle jerk with the other warbloggers. But if you wish to contact me in a true and loving spirit, to make the world a better place, you are most welcome to e-mail me-- you have my address.

6 You are right -- the West would not be what it is today wihout the Islamic influences of the Middle ages.

Unfortunately, Islam is stuck there, having contributed nothing of significance to the world since then -- except for terrorism.

7

The siteowner purposely forgets the Stern Gang and Irgun Squad initiated terrorism in the Middle East. But since he has sold his political soul to Israel(perhaps the 'Watchers Council 'requires this,the American "political class"certainly does) he will not mention such. And almost all Jews who have contributed to the Western world items of note have been estranged to a substantial degree from traditional organized Talmudism. Let the siteowner fume on, he is on the losing side of current history, as the Jew dominant neocons quagmired Iraq War and Hezbollah's heroic defiance of Israel hints.

 

The American political class give every sign of needing a severe chastening before it abandons what conservative Mike Scheuer called "Imperial Hubris."

8 Actually, Ken, if you read a little history you will find that Arab terrorism against Jews began shortly after teh Balfour Declaration, as Jews moved to the Holy Land and purchased land to set up kibbutz.  They paid the Arab owners fair market value -- and then had to fight for their lives because they refused to live as dhimmi.