If only everyone were so soft. This report, in any case, if it is correct that even Filipino converts to Islam don't believe they will go to heaven if they commit suicide -- a hangover of their Christian beliefs -- shows the difference between the two religions and the hollowness of moral and theological equivalence arguments. From GulfNews, with thanks to Jihad Watch News Editor Eric Schwappach:
Manila: Militants have a hard time training Filipinos to be suicide bombers because of their soft-heartedness, a source told Gulf News."Filipino Muslims and Christians, who are converts to Islam, could not muster enough courage to become suicide bombers because they do not believe that they would go to heaven after committing suicide," said a source, who preferred anonymity.
His information came from those who have met foreign trainers in various camps in the south, he said.
At the same time, Muslims and converts could not leave bombs in places where there are children and women, he added.
The "cultural mindset of rebels in the Philippines" has made it harder for foreign militants to train suicide bombers in Metro Manila or in Mindanao, he said.
It's really a testament to the power of residual Christian beliefs that these poor souls wont give into suicide - regardless of the cause.
Any religion that sanctions murder as a "holy" act is not worshipping the God of the Jew or the Christian.
Remember, Allahu Akbar means "Allah is greater", not God is Great. Islam distinguishes itself as "the Other", the religion of a god who is not the God of the Jew and the Christian. And who do we know who said he was greater than God?
Sort of lends support to the idea that Muslims are truly worshippers of a "dark lord" and not the true God.
"Muslims and converts could not leave bombs in places where there are children and women..."
-- from the article above
Imperfect, clearly, in the quality of their faith. Take them to the Middle East, to special training camps. Let them get the real thing, the complete Islam, far from any remaining feelings of tenderness or compassion. Squeeze it out of them. The Nazis did it. The S.S. was good at it -- not that its volunteers needed much training in bestial behavior. Many were to the manner born.
In the Philippines, it seems there is something in the atmosphere, something a bit too goodness-and-mercy-shall-follow-you-all-the-days-of-your-life that is getting in the way of the full Islamic message. Something to work on. Something to get rid of. Something to remove.
Until the zombification process is complete. Look into the eyes. Properly dead, like the eyes of Mohammad Atta? Good. Now we can begin. Here is where the wires are, and here...
The Filipino women need to be made more pure, follow the straight path and not transgress the limits set out by Allah. The young men need to be free of temptation - those women need veils and burqas, lest the men be tempted to value this life. Then they will develop a correct attitude toward the great whorehouse in the sky.
Quijybo
It almost sounds like the source was upset that the Filipinos are too "soft" to become suicide bombers. Why would the religion of "peace" who worships the god of "mercy and compassion" be so worried about Filipino muslims not being able to be suicide bombers, and able to place bombs where there are women and children? Sure, they aren't really true muslims without being able to kill innocent people indiscriminantly, but what does this say about islam? Things we already know, that it's a cult of death, that prides itself on human sacrifice to the evil one.
Filipino's might have a change of heart and go back to Christianity when they see the true islam equals death to all, including the innocents...
Its not only Filipinos who are too soft to become suicide bombers, according to this anonymous source, but also Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Yasser Arafat are/were presumably 'too soft' to become suicide bombers - but they are/were only too happy to entice the gullible and the uneducated with tales of virgins in Paradise if only they'd blow themselves and a dozen infidels up, but of course you couldn't get the likes of Ahmadinejad or Khamenei anywhere near a bomb vest for love of money. Picture Zarqawi - the 'little big man' who is in his element when severing the heads of helpless hostages, but I'll bet he bricks himself if he ever sees the gun muzzles of US Marines pointing at his head.
Sheik, you are definitely on to something. Sexual repression is the key to tyrrany and this death cult. It is no coincidence that Muslim women are becoming liberated in the west, rejecting the veil, and trying (however vainly, due to doctrinal impossibility or the threat of death at the hands of their loving father and brothers) to reconstruct their religion. I am glad JW memorializes the women who die in this cause. That is REAL martydom.
Quijybo
However it doesn't inhibit them from conducting other forms of terrorism, like kidnapping tourists,Philipinnos and gleefully beheading them.
I personally don't think it has anything to dow with being soft, just an unwillingess to die, and a lack of sincere belief in Jennah and the reward of virgins, rivers of milk and honey.. Christian eschatology doesn't have such descriptions of Heaven, and I suspect that the Philipino converts image of heaven, is not up to Islamic standards.
but they are not "soft" by any means, in fact Philipino muslims are hardened fanatics, and they do blow up (with bombs) the infidel, they just don't do suicide attacks.
According to Special Operations.com Abu Sayyef (the Philipinno branch of Islamoterrorism The ASG is also one of the best organized terrorist groups in the world.They are known to have subunits (not splinter groups) operating on five of the Philippine Islands.And in spite of the geographical boundaries between the units, there appears to be little if any unity problem.Additionally, the primary unit, based in Patikul, Sulu, is believed to have its own distinct squads, tasked with different types of operations, such as demolition and assassinations.I
Unwilling to leave bombs that kill women and children? They are obviously unworthy of a "god" that demands more and more blood and death and gore and horror.
They will end up in Islamic hell, with all the other people who were unwilling to kill women and children, who believed in living in peace with their neighbors.
And so, in Islamic heaven, all the jihadists will be copulating and beheading and roasting each other over who is the most Muslim Muslim, and in Islamic hell, the infidels will float around sipping rose tea.
Interesting.
The Khmer people were once noted for their characteristic gentleness and congeniality...and they went on to produce the likes of Pol Pot and the genocidal Khmer Rouge.
Maybe there is a good reason that Islam doesn't allow drawings or paintings of Allah. Maybe he's afraid we would recognize his picture.
[No, I am not a fundamentalist. I am an atheist with a twisted sense of humor.]
This distinction absolutely deserves further study. I'm sure I'll be Googling for a while on this tonight!
Or not stupid and gullible enough?
Funny, it's my understanding that the prohibition against suicide slipped into Christianity when they began converting the pagans of northern Europe. Now it's being passed to Philipino Muslims. Interesting.
I had a necklace of shells,
brown, amber and gray,
a gift from my father,
from the war, from the Phillipines
and the Pacific, pictures of palm trees
and soft shy natives no westerner had seen.
Cornelius is right.
And how many generations
away are they from crystalizing their fear?
I have heard said it is only three,
then, when love is only a distant chord,
lonely and fading away as terror
strikes and the night grows darker,
and clouds will soon cover the moon,
do not fear.
Fear can be overcome again and again,
and courage can appear, can come back again.
Poetess,
I'm a singer-songwriter myself...and emphasize social and political commentary in my own work...(though I'm not adverse to introspective musings and the occasional romantic ballad).
I'm enjoying the style and content of your poems. You are liberated from the challenges of meter and ryhme that normally involve setting poetry to music. I envy that freedom you have.
This last piece of yours is noteworthy for its transformative nature...from the personal to the political...from the ominous to the hopeful.
I'm not surprised by this news. There is a certain friendliness and warmth in the Philippine culture, generally speaking. All the Filipinos I know are Christian, Catholic and Atheist though. Hmmmm...
God bless the Filipinos
"In the Philippines, it seems there is something in the atmosphere..."
That Hugh-ne-sait-quoi is simply 400+ years of Western influence on Filipino culture (Spanish Catholic culture beginning in the 16th century with the first wave of beneficent Western Imperialism, followed by secular American culture in the 19th -- both types of Colonialism far more amenable, for all their flaws, to letting local native pre-Muslim sensibilities flourish than was the supremacist Islamic Imperialism).
Read the history: Filipino Muslims were quite fanatical up through the early 19th century: the juramentados were Muslims who would charge suicidally into villages and army camps in order to kill as many as they could -- and themselves, to be received into Paradise. They caused a lot of problems and mayhem for a while.
Apparently, from this article, we see the long, slow, percolating, salutary effects of Western culture upon the Filipinos, giving even those among them who "revert" (and their heirs) a little something to resist the Muslim fanaticism.
Hi All,
Philipanos are a lot like Ahmadis in this respect. The softer gentler side of a loving Islam.
We all know that if a Muslim does not implicitly trust the Sunnah of Muhammad, he/she does not have real faith in Islam.
There can to be no inner psychological resistance to Islamic ideology. The danger of inner resistance to Muhammad's guidance in any of life's affairs is the danger of landing in the fires of Hell.
I know that but it's all a question of interpetration. If it talks about fighting the infidel I do so where appropriate on JW. In this way I still stay within Islam.
My sentiments extend further than the philiphinos. NO bombs ...period.
Hi all,
I know this is off topic but I'm sure that you will find this immensley interesting:
DECEMBER 7, 2005, could be a significant date in the political calendar of Islamic countries as 57 leaders of member-states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) would be converging on the holiest city (in the world) of Makkah to review the situation of the Muslim world, identify the malaise that afflicts it and draw up a comprehensive strategy to deal with it.
The extraordinary session of the 37-year-old organization has been convened at the initiative of Saudi King Abdullah to take stock of the world situation and determine the course of action for Muslim countries. The range of discussion and the terms of reference spread over a wide spectrum of issues, but primarily the core issue, would include the challenges that the Muslim world faces in the wake of 9/11, with particular reference to the distorted image of Islam in the West and hostility towards Muslims.
It is heartrending that despite the fact that Muslims represent one-fifth of the world’s population, possess 70 per cent of the world energy resources and 40 per cent of the available raw material, its total GDP is only five per cent of the world GDP. The entire GDP of the OIC member-states is a mere $1,200 billion as against Japan’s $5,500 billion. The failure of the Muslim world to embrace modern technology and spread education is obvious with only 500 PhDs being produced annually as compared to 3,000 in India and 5,000 in the UK. Political marginalization has thus been further compounded by economic depression.
The recommendations in respect of policies and programmes constitute a roadmap for the revitalization of the OIC, and cover a very wide range of human activity, but the main emphasis is on promotion of a comprehensive, civilizational and contemporary approach in the development of Muslim societies, enabling Muslims to shape their destiny.
The structural weakness of the OIC has also received a fair number of recommendations, with emphasis on reform and the empowerment of the secretariat and the need for conflict-resolution, interfaith dialogue and capacity building of the secretariat through setting up a think-tank for preparing Muslims to meet ideological and intellectual changes. The summit is to deliberate these recommendations and the Makkah Declaration will spell out a 10-year plan for the political, economic and cultural revival of the Muslim world.
The Makkah summit will be a unique event in the history of the OIC and the first genuine attempt to cope with the increasing hostility of the West that bases its attitude on wrong perceptions and interpretations of Islam. The recommendations of the commission of eminent persons would form the basis of a future strategy and plan of action.
The major question, however remains: whether the member-states have the wherewithal and the motivation to implement these measures. Looking at the track record of the OIC, there is little room for optimism. Besides, the inherent weaknesses of Muslim societies are so deep-rooted and widespread that it would require a generational effort to implement the recommendations.
The Muslim world is in a state of siege, gripped by ignorance, apathy, disarray and discord. Economic underdevelopment has consigned Muslims to the margins of the international power structure.
in the wake of 9/11, with particular reference to the distorted image of Islam in the West and hostility towards Muslims...the increasing hostility of the West that bases its attitude on wrong perceptions and interpretations of Islam...
Dog bites man.
Now how about a 'man bites dog' story, about a conference with a different agenda:
1 Israel - what's all the fuss about?
2 Mohammed and Aisha - not very nice, was it?
3 Conversion, dhimmi status or death - no wonder the infidels don't like us.
4 Beating women and treating them as breeding machines - bad idea?
5 Stonings and amputations - bad idea?
6 Could it - just could it - be our own fault?
7 A N Other, for completeness, to round it up to the magic number 7.
Am reminded of the l;egendary general Blackjack Pershing's feats in the philipines. Legend has it the man shot dead some filipino moslem rebels and buried them with pigskin ensuring they would never enter heaven (under islamic doctrine) in the sight of their captured compatriots who were then released to go spread the word. Apparently the martyrdom ops died a quick death....
"DECEMBER 7, 2005, could be a significant date in the political calendar of Islamic countries ..."
This article that naseem refers to was in the Arab News this week. It truly understates the problem. 80% (from statistics published in the Arab News) of those PHD's referred to were in areas of Islamic History or Studies. None of the top 500 universities in the world are in the Muslim World. Only two Muslims have ever won Nobel ("hard", such as physics, chemistry, or mathematics) science prizes - one each for physics and chemistry. Both studied and did their work in the West.
This will not change until a child who wins a national science contest is more valued than a child who wins a Quranic memorization or recitation contest.
And as far as the "increasing hostility of the West that bases its attitude on wrong perceptions and interpretations of Islam" is concerned, I do not need to perceive or interpret anything. All I need to do is look around the world at what your Muslims are doing.
All the "dialogue" in the world will not counteract the murdering and beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in that bastion of Muslim "moderation" known as Indonesia.
jay
I think Cornelius made the best point (re the Khmer). I'd like to point out that while the Germans invented aggrieved nationalistic wars of liberation (during the Napoleonic occupation), they are also the people who produced the Mennonites, Dunkards, and scores of other pacifistic sects. De-christianized, they gave us May-His-Name-Rot-Along-With-His-Toothbrush-Mustache.
Further, don't underestimate the Moros. In the early 20th century, their "kinder, gentler" Monsoon-Islam Sufis would put some poor clod under a solemn oath to have his testicles tightly bound with a leather strap which would be removed only after the jurementado had either killed an American soldier or gotten killed himself. The USA fought a long, hard battle against them, and it is this tradition that is continuing in the rebellion now going on.
If today's Filipino--Muslim or Christian--won't become a suicide bomber, then it might be that they have more to live for today than their great-great grandfathers had.
The Filipino Muslim juramentados that I mentioned were the suicide chargers among the Moros.
Someone needs to do some research on the Islamic concept of Inghimass (suicide charging): it has been a part of Islamic expansion since at least the time of the conquest of North Africa in the 8th century. Does Inghimass derive somehow from the Koran?
Arab News story said "The Muslim world is in a state of siege, gripped by ignorance, apathy, disarray and discord. Economic underdevelopment has consigned Muslims to the margins of the international power structure."
State of siege? By whom? The Great Satan and their masters, the Zionist Entity, of course. And who caused the economic underdevelopment? Could it be a question of priorities, of Islamic nations investing in tools for war instead of tools for education? Nope, couldn't be that.
The jihadists are not interested in having more expensive cars, or bigger televisions. Devotion to Allah does not require them. Lack of material goods is not a negative, it shows piety. And what need is there for education, other than memorizing the Qur'an? If it's not in the Qur'an, there is no need to know it. This article makes it sound like there is something wrong, when in fact the state of the Muslim nations is just as it should be: uneducated, poverty-stricken, and filled with violence for the unbelievers (and Allah knows that even most Muslims are not the "true" believers). The only real problem that the article points out is that Muslims are at the margins of the international power structure. Now THAT'S something that Muhammed would have a problem with.
I would love to hear the debates at the OIC conference entitled "Biological, Chemical, or Nuclear: In Which Weapon Should We Pool Our Collective GNPs For the Coming Decade?"
"The jihadists are not interested in having more expensive cars, or bigger televisions. Devotion to Allah does not require them. "
Muslims have the governments they deserve. Muslims have the economies they deserve. Muslims have the lifestyles they deserve. And rest assured that these ultimate hypocrites, the Muslim Jihadi heroes of Islam, would indulge in every manner of consumerism and debauchery once they ascend to their supreme position above all, as they envision it.
Even though they are spiritually corrupt and soul-less beasts, they are physically still human. Their lust to achieve absolute power will, even more than it already has done, corrupt them absolutely. They are, perhaps, the worst sewage ever spewed forth into the world -- and the petri dish from which they grew -- the agar of Islam -- is a true garden of evil -- the well spring of the worst and most revolting depths that humanity can sink to. Islam is, when all is stripped away, little more than filth, perversion, lies, infection, decay, and poison.