January 31, 2007

Religion Of Peace?

What do you think of these numbers?

In a poll conducted five months ago, and broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 TV, nearly 25% of British Muslims said the July 7, 2005, terror bombings in London, which killed 52 innocent commuters, were justified. Another 30% said they would prefer to live under strict Islamic Sharia law rather than England's democratic system.

Now, one in four justifying terror may not be a majority, but it certainly isn't a "small fringe" either.

In other countries, the figures are no less unsettling. A survey published in December found that 44% of Nigerian Muslims believe suicide bombing attacks are "often" or "sometimes" acceptable. Only 28% said they were never justified.
According to the annual Pew Global Attitudes Survey, released in July 2006, "roughly one-in-seven Muslims in France, Spain and Great Britain feel that suicide bombings against civilian targets can at least sometimes be justified to defend Islam." The report also found that less than half of Jordan's Muslims believe terror attacks are never justified. In Egypt, only 45% of Muslims say terror is never justified.

Now you may argue that these views are not representative of Islam – but they are not the views of a tiny minority, either. Rather, such views are clearly those of a large minority of the Muslims in the world, and must therefore be grappled with as a part of a larger reality – one in which appeals to the more “high minded” views of Islam are likely to be ineffective given the more radical views of the jihadi pigs and their supporters.

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January 30, 2007

Toilet Uproar In London Jails

Involving, of course, our friends the Islamists.

Toilets in one London prison are getting a face-lift — or rather, a change in direction — to accommodate Muslim inmates who can't use them while facing Mecca, a British newspaper reported.

Government officials ackowledged using tax dollars for the changes to the facilities, but maintained that moving the toilets was part of "on-going refurbishment," according to an article in The Sun.

Islamic code prohibits Muslims from facing or turning their backs on the direction of prayer when they use the bathroom. Muslim prisoners complained of having to sit sideways on toilets so as to not break code.

Personally, I’m for turning them all towards Mecca. If the inmates don’t like it, they can hold it until their release – or consider not engaging in criminal conduct so that they don’t come back again.

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January 27, 2007

Egyptian Cleric -- Islam Forbids Woman President

Does this mean that Hillary can't count on the Muslim vote in 2008?

Islam bars women from becoming head of state, Egypt's top Muslim cleric or mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, ruled in an official fatwa or religious edict published.

"Under Islamic sharia (religious law), a woman cannot be head of state because it is one of the duties of the position to lead Muslims in prayer and that role can only be carried out by men," said the fatwa carried by leading state daily Al-Ahram.

Gee -- does this mean a vote for the Hildebeast is a vote against dhimmitude?

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January 23, 2007

Cruise As Christ?

If you needed any more evidence that Scientology is a cult for over-privileged, intellectually-deficient celebrities, here it is.

TOM Cruise is the new “Christ” of Scientology, according to leaders of the cult-like religion.

The Mission: Impossible star has been told he has been “chosen” to spread the word of his faith throughout the world.

And leader David Miscavige believes that in future, Cruise, 44, will be worshipped like Jesus for his work to raise awareness of the religion.

A source close to the actor, who has risen to one of the church’s top levels, said: “Tom has been told he is Scientology’s Christ-like figure.

“Like Christ, he’s been criticised for his views. But future generations will realise he was right.”

Cruise joined the Church of Scientology in the Â’80s. Leader L Ron Hubbard claimed humans bear traces of an ancient alien civilisation.

UhhhhhÂ… yeah.

But then again, what do you expect of a hoax made up by a hack science fiction writer?

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January 21, 2007

Burma To "Destroy The Christian Religion"

There is a silent persecution going on in Burma, and most people do not know about it. What is more, the hints have been available for some time, but little has been done.

Now there is a document available that makes this evil undeniable.

The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", the incendiary memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state.

The text, which opens with the line "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised", calls for anyone caught evangelising to be imprisoned. It advises: "The Christian religion is very gentle – identify and utilise its weakness."

Its discovery follows widespread reports of religious persecution, with churches burnt to the ground, Christians forced to convert to the state religion, Buddhism, and their children barred from school.

Human rights groups claim that the treatment meted out to Christians, who make up six per cent of the population, is part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism.

The term for such a program is "genocide".

Will people of good will speak out?

Will world leaders?

Will the United Nations?

More to the point -- will anyone do anything to stop it?

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January 18, 2007

Someone Needs To Ask Obama

I condemned those wanting to make an issue of Barack ObamaÂ’s name and Muslim upbringing. I found their rhetoric disturbing at best, and un-American at worst.

However, there is one issue related to that upbringing that should be raised with the Senator/Presidential wannabe. It relates to the fact that he was raised a Muslim -- and the consequences of his having renounced that faith and become a Christian. Does he feel threatened due to his status as an apostate Muslim? As an apostate Muslim, is he willing to condemn the sharia law provisions that require death for an apostate.

The odds are high that he will answer no to the first and yes to the second. As an oily politician, he will try to squirm out of a clear definitive yes with no wiggle room. But it should not be difficult for a smart journalist to get him to agree without reservation that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states...
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.
...applies to Muslims

Once Obama condemns the Moslem tradition of death for apostasy, then he can be asked:

The Koran famously quotes Allah as saying in chapter (sura) 2, verse 256 that there should be ‘no compulsion in religion.' Yet numerous sayings of Mohammed known as hadith which form the basis of Islamic Sharia law quote Mohammed as saying ‘If a Moslem discards his religion, kill him.' So are you telling Moslems that Allah was right but Mohammed was misquoted, and their Sharia law tradition on apostasy is wrong?

You can see how much fun there is to be had with this.

Now I don’t particularly like the “gotcha” tone of the above excerpt, but I do think it is a valuable question to raise in the context of a Presidential campaign.

I also think there is one more to raise. If elected, would his status as a Muslim apostate interfere with his ability to conduct foreign relations with the Muslim world – not because of any wrongdoing on his part, but based upon the rigid chauvinism and intolerance of Islamic culture in matters of religion.

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January 17, 2007

More Wacky Imams

Not that there is any connection between Islam, anti-Semitism, and terrorism.

SYDNEY'S most influential radical Muslim cleric has been caught on film calling Jews pigs and urging children to die for Allah.

Firebrand Sheik Feiz Mohammed, head of the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool, delivered the hateful rants on a collection of DVDs called the Death Series being sold in Australia and overseas.

"Today many parents, they prevent their children from attending lessons. Why? They fear that they might create a place in the their hearts, the love, just a bit of the love, of sacrificing their lives for Allah," Sheik Feiz says in the video.

"We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid (holy warrior). Put in their soft, tender hearts the zeal of jihad and a love of martyrdom."

* * *

"The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the highest point, the pivot, the summit of Islam is jihad," he declares in the film, before denouncing "kaffirs" (non-Muslims).

"Kaffir is the worst word ever written, a sign of infidelity, disbelief, filth, a sign of dirt."

In an excerpt from a video lecture series called Signs of the Hour, Sheik Feiz then ridicules Jews as pigs.

Not that he is an extremist – for Feiz stated just a few weeks ago that Islam in Australia isn’t about such things.

"There are no sheiks preaching chaos there. No one is telling people to raise arms against the Australian community," he said.

Yeah – just us pigs and kaffirs.

Religion of Peace.

My.

Ass.

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January 15, 2007

An Acceptable Prejudice

I'd love to commend the Washington Post for their great article on a young man from a strict evangelical background attending a secular university. It really is a great article -- but there is a real story in the article that gets overlooked by the paper.

Which is not to say the article doesn't have a promising beginning.

Danny Leydorf's world was about to be turned upside down, and he couldn't wait.

The extroverted teenager had shined at the mostly evangelical Annapolis Area Christian School since kindergarten, but now he wanted to test his faith in a more diverse world. With hopes of becoming a lawyer or politician, he badly wanted to understand people who didn't think like him.

"I feel like I exist to be interacting," the lanky, towheaded 19-year-old said eagerly one day last summer, shortly after his graduation, "and part of that is just getting out there."

So he'd deliberately picked a large, secular college: the University of Maryland. But the week before he was to leave, the wider world dealt him a blow.

And that blow is, in my opinion, the story that the article misses. Here it is.

"I hate evangelical Christians," read the Facebook.com profile of his roommate-to-be, who had seemed so perfect on the phone. He loved politics and "The Simpsons," like Leydorf, and they even had the same views about how to set up the room. Could it still work?

Excuse me -- the focus of the article remains Danny Leydorf's experiences? Shouldn't the Washington Post instead be writing about "The New Intolerance" at institutions of higher education?

Or is the level of intolerance towards Christians in our elite media institutions so high that those who report and edit there cannot even recognize such bigotry for what it is? And are those readers who do not recognize the bigotry in the roommate's words really suffering from their own bigotry-induced blind-spot?

By the way -- I still encourage folks to read the article, despite this obvious flaw.

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Those Tolerant Wahabbis!

If this measure goes through, it is time for those of us in the West to quit giving a damn about Muslim sensibilities and their easily hurt feelings.

The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.

The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — the group of senior Islamic clergy that reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The commission's damning of the letter "X" came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name "Explorer."

"No! Nein! Nyet!" was the commission's categorical answer.

Why?

Well, never mind that none of the so-called scholars manning the upper ranks of the religious outfit can speak or read a word of English. But their experts who examined the English word "explorer" were struck by how suspicious that "X" appeared. In a kingdom where Friday preachers routinely refer to Christians as pigs and infidel crusaders, even a twisted cross ranks as an abomination.

Let's see -- in the last several years we have had ice cream treats and basketball shoes pulled from the market because there was some vague resemblance between a design and some holy Muslim phrase. Out in California, a College republican group faces sanctions for abusing a Hamas flag because, unbeknownst to them, it contains the name of Allah. What next -- ill the right of those who follow the false prophet Mohammad to be free from offense require that the Western world drop the letter X (and, one would presume, T as well) because of their similarity to a Christian religious symbol?

Read the article for some of the other wonderful things this organization does in the name of Islam:

* declaring the world flat and immobile -- in 1974.
* forbidding the construction of churches in Saudi Arabia for 8 million guest workers -- and forbidding them to worship at all, in public or in private.
*forbidding women to work as sales clerks -- in stores that cater exclusively to women.
* restricting travel by women within the country or abroad.

Yep -- love those Wahabbis! And to think that their Saudi patrons are spreading their version of Islam around the world (including in this country) as the normative version of the faith.

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January 14, 2007

An Overview Of The Mormons

Given that so many folks are concerned about the religion of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, I think articles like this are important.

LIKE any religious community, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as the Mormons) will always cherish the locations connected with its foundation story. Not only the places in New York state where its prophet, Joseph Smith, said he received a vision of God (in 1820) and then a new set of scriptures, or the faith's spectacular headquarters in Utah, the state where Mormon pioneers found refuge. Also dear to Mormon hearts are parts of northern and central England where, soon after Smith had his visions, the faith won many converts.

In those early days, people in Britain who accepted Mormon teaching were told to sail west and join the growing band of “saints” who were preparing for the second coming of Jesus, an event which was expected to happen soon, and in the new promised land, the United States.

But now, after a century of spectacular growth, the Mormon movement is flowing in the other direction: while it continues to be centrally directed from its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, the faith has gained a foothold in virtually every country in the world—and the American share of church membership has fallen. In the north-west of England, for example, the Mormons want their converts to stay put and use their spanking new meeting-house and temple; and their keen young missionaries are as likely to be British or Danish (even, in one case, from Greenland) as American. And there is hardly anywhere (not even Mongolia, see picture) where the proselytisers do not reach.

It is a fairly balanced article, though one that does not go into much depth on theology. Still, articles like this are important for those who want to actually have some understanding of that faith. And while I think the final few sentences make a rather clumsy comparison, I encourage folks to read it.

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Even Liberal Jews Denounce Carter

When it comes to Judaism, you don't get much more liberal than the Reform branch. It is no stretch at all to note that they are the polar opposites of the Orthodox, and tend to be the folks most critical of Israeli policies. It is therefore important to note that even the Reform Movement is distancing itself from Jimmy Carter following the publication of his current book and the string of Jew-bashing statements he has made in the weeks since.

Outraged by Jimmy Carter's controversial new book, the nation's largest organization of rabbis yesterday pulled out of a planned visit to the former President's human rights center in Atlanta.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis, said it was protesting Carter's latest book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," which many say unfairly criticizes Israel.

Their statement is quite biting.

REFORM RABBIS CANCEL VISIT TO THE CARTER CENTER DURING RABBINATEÂ’S UPCOMING ANNUAL CONVENTION IN ATLANTA

THE CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS, THE WORLDÂ’S LARGEST GROUP OF JEWISH CLERGY, CITES FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTERÂ’S BOOK, PALESTINE: PEACE NOT APARTHEID

New York City (January 11, 2007) –The Central Conference of American Rabbis
(CCAR), which represents nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis, the worldÂ’s largest group of Jewish clergy, issued the following statement about the cancellation of a visit to The Carter Center during the CCARÂ’s March 2007 convention in Atlanta, Georgia:

For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent – Isaiah 62:1

“Our sadness emerges from our respect for the way that President Carter has largely used his retirement years. Many Reform congregations have participated in Habitat for Humanity-- one of America’s great examples of tikkun olam (repair of our world through social justice)-- which Mr. Carter has helped to popularize. So, too, The Carter Center has been an institution of dialogue and honest brokering in the name of statesmanship. In many ways, President Carter has demonstrated a gentle spirit and a commitment to such basic Jewish ideals as tzedek (justice) and chesed (loving kindness).

But with the publication of President CarterÂ’s latest book, Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid, we firmly disassociate ourselves from Mr. Carter and The Carter Center.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid contains numerous distortions of history and
interpretation, and apparently, outright fabrications as well. Its use of the term
“apartheid” to describe conditions in the West Bank serves only to demonize and delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the world. Its praise of such radical Arab “leaders” as Yaser Arafat and Hafez el Assad, and his attempted rehabilitation of such terrorist groups as Hezbollah and Hamas demonstrate either a clear anti-Israel bias, extreme naiveté, or both. In the light of the many mainstream critiques of his book, President Carter has made several public statements implying that something akin to a “Jewish conspiracy” has discouraged conversation about the Palestinians’ plight. These statements are not only false; they make subtle use of classic anti-Semitic themes, unbecoming for any fairminded person, much less a former President of the United States and Nobel Laureate.

We wish that President Carter had used his moral authority to press the Palestinians into a more rigorous pursuit of peace, to condemn terror unequivocally, and to decry the corruption and failures of Palestinian leaders. Instead, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is pervasive, biased and unfair anti-Israel propaganda. It ignores the facts of history, legitimizes the intransigence of extremists, and thus, further diminishes the prospect of real peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians.


We call upon Mr. Carter to better educate himself and his readers as to the true root causes of the Palestinian peopleÂ’s dire plight, and once again to dedicate his efforts to promoting peace, not prejudice, in the Middle East.

As the rabbinic body of Reform Judaism, the largest denomination of religiously
affiliated American Jews, our cancellation of the visit to The Carter Center reflects our continuing commitment to Israel, Zionism, and America’s role in the establishment of a just and lasting peace between the State of Israel and all her Arab neighbors.”

Once can only reach one of two conclusions as one looks at the continuing stream of outrage over Carter's book and statements -- either there is something fundamentally flawed (and probaby anti-Semitic) in Carter's work, or there really is a vast Jewish conspiracy to silence criticism of Israel in America.

However, given the number of responsible and respected voices speaking out against Carter, the reality is that there is really only one reasonable conclusion that people of good-will can draw.

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January 12, 2007

Those Wacky Imams!

Gotta love this sermon – available on CD from a leading mosque in England.

A leading mosque in London is selling DVDs that proclaim the coming mass extermination of Jews around the world on a "day of judgment." It also attacks Christian groups and the United Nations.

The London Central Mosque, also known as Regent's Park Mosque, is "the spiritual focal point for Muslims" throughout Great Britain, the European Jewish Press reported. It is also home to the Islamic Cultural Center, which educates Muslim children.

The report said that a British television station will air on Monday a documentary on Muslim extremism in Britain, and will report the selling of the DVD.

The DVDs are being sold at the London Central Mosque Shop. One excerpt shows a preacher, Sheikh Feiz, imitating the sounds of a pig and referring to the Jewish people who will be killed on the "day of judgment."

Another preacher, Sheikh Yassin, states that United Nations missionaries and Christians conspired to inject an AIDS virus in inoculations against diseases in Africa.

I’m sure there is some perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this, as we are most sincerely assured that the quotes are taken out of context and don’t really mean what they seem to mean – even the ones that are in perfect harmony with Koranic prophecies regarding the fate of the Jews.

After all, Islam is the Religion of Peace.

My.

Ass.

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January 09, 2007

Jewish Students Threatened Over Islam Documentary

I guess the Nazis in the administration and Islamo-Fascists in the Muslim Student Association are working together at Pace University to silence a campus Jewish organization -- and to target them with a police investigation if they dare to show a Double Minus Bad film at a meeting.

Pace University administrators threatened to sic the cops on a Jewish-student club if it went ahead with plans to screen a critically acclaimed film about radical Islam, the head of the group charged yesterday.

Michael Abdurakhmanov, president of Pace Hillel, said two deans warned that showing the documentary film would implicate club members as suspects in two hate crimes involving the desecration of the Koran at the university's lower-Manhattan campus last fall.

In addition, Abdurakhmanov said an assistant dean physically restrained him as he attempted to defend the film and his group in a meeting with administrators.
"The message was pretty clear, if you show this film, you're going to incriminate yourself," Abdurakhmanov said.

Now Pace is where someone desecrated a couple of Korans last fall – and partially for that reason the group was forbidden to show the film in October after Muslim students complained. Now the administration is threatening to investigate the group and its members if the film, Obsession, is shown, on the argument that the “anti-Islamic” film implicates the group in the desecrations. Interestingly enough, the university is not nearly so interested in investigating Muslims over the appearance of swastikas around campus.

Abdurakhmanov, a 20-year-old psychology major from Brooklyn, said neither he nor any member of his club had reason to believe they were suspects in the Koran incidents until the dean of students, Marijo Russell O'Grady, suggested it.

"Her words were if you show this film, the police will be looking into your records further," Abdurakhmanov said.

Maybe there is a need to start investigating the Muslim group that is objecting to the film. After all, their objection to the showing (and the free speech rights of Hillel) would seem to implicate it and its members in the anti-Semitic activities that have occurred on campus. In addition, an objection to a documentary about terrorist groups would appear to implicate the Muslim Student Association and its members in terrorist activities.

At least if you follow the logic of Pace administrators .

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January 04, 2007

Ripping Off The Church

Frankly, the information in this article does not come as any great surprise to me -- the financial oversight policies in place in most dioceses are such that embezzlement is almost certain to be caught at some point. And given that every parish -- plus the diocese and its subsidiary agencies -- have separate accounts, it isn't all that shocking that someone, somewhere, will try to put their finger in the till.

A survey by researchers at Villanova University has found that 85 percent of Roman Catholic dioceses that responded had discovered embezzlement of church money in the last five years, with 11 percent reporting that more than $500,000 had been stolen.

The Catholic Church has some of the most rigorous financial guidelines of any denomination, specialists in church ethics said, but the survey found that the guidelines were often ignored in parishes. And when no one is looking, the cash that goes into the collection plate does not always get deposited into the churchÂ’s bank account.

“As a faith-based organization, we place a lot of trust in our folks,” said Chuck Zech, a co-author of the study and director of the Center for the Study of Church Management at Villanova.

“We think if you work for a church — you’re a volunteer or a priest — the last thing on your mind is to do something dishonest,” Mr. Zech said. “But people are people, and there’s a lot of temptation there, and with the cash-based aspect of how churches operate, it’s pretty easy.”

Specialists in church ethics said they believed this was the first study to assess the extent of embezzlement in a denomination.

The reality is that most large organizations face some sort of attempt at embezzlement at some point. A local public university just lost a lot of money to a crooked professor. The school district where I work recently had a case involving an accounting clerk siphoning off enough funds to pay the salaries of three or four first-year teachers or a couple of computer labs. The Episcopal Church lost millions a couple of years ago to a crooked staff member in their national office. What I'm saying is that financial fraud happens wherever there is lots of money floating around.

Indeed, I'd love to see what a study of other denominations would show.

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January 03, 2007

Ellison’s Savvy Koran Move

I’m not one of those who has a problem with Keith Ellison using a Koran for his ceremonial swearing-in – indeed, I have been critical of those who do. But even if I did, I think I’d have to admire Ellison’s decision to tie himself to one of America’s greatest Founding Fathers with this brilliant choice.

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.

Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions.

Ellison will take the official oath of office along with the other incoming members in the House chamber, then use the Koran in his individual, ceremonial oath with new Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers' belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself," said Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert.

Whatever one’s view of Islam, it is hard not to see this as a well-intended move to pay homage to the founding principles of America – and the men who established the nation whose Constitution Ellison will swear to uphold.

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EllisonÂ’s Savvy Koran Move

I’m not one of those who has a problem with Keith Ellison using a Koran for his ceremonial swearing-in – indeed, I have been critical of those who do. But even if I did, I think I’d have to admire Ellison’s decision to tie himself to one of America’s greatest Founding Fathers with this brilliant choice.

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.

Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions.

Ellison will take the official oath of office along with the other incoming members in the House chamber, then use the Koran in his individual, ceremonial oath with new Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers' belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself," said Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert.

Whatever one’s view of Islam, it is hard not to see this as a well-intended move to pay homage to the founding principles of America – and the men who established the nation whose Constitution Ellison will swear to uphold.

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Is It Time to Stone Him Yet?

Well, there have always been false prophets, claiming to speak in the name of God.

In what has become an annual tradition of prognostications, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson predicted Tuesday that a terrorist attack on the United States would result in "mass killing" late in 2007.

"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."

Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

Robertson said God also told him that the U.S. only feigns friendship with Israel and that U.S. policies are pushing Israel toward "national suicide."

But given that the predicted tsunamis hitting the US didn’t happen in 2006, I think we can safely categorize Robertson – and disregard this claim.

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