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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Enough with the Apologies already!

There is an article from Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post that I would like to quote here because I have some comments afterwards that I feel are relevant.

Western reactions to Muslim "days of anger" have followed a familiar pattern. Last winter, some Western newspapers defended their Danish colleagues, even going so far as to reprint the cartoons -- but others, including the Vatican, attacked the Danes for giving offense.

Some leading Catholics have now defended the Pope -- but others, no doubt including some Danes, have complained that his statement should have been better vetted, or never given at all.

This isn't surprising: By definition, the West is not monolithic. Left-leaning journalists don't identify with right-leaning colleagues (or right-leaning Catholic colleagues), and vice versa.

Not all Christians, let alone all Catholics -- even all German Catholics -- identify with the Pope either, and certainly they don't want to defend his every scholarly quotation.

Unfortunately, these subtle distinctions are lost on the fanatics who torch embassies and churches. And they may also be preventing all of us from finding a useful response to the waves of anti-Western anger and violence that periodically engulf parts of the Muslim world.

Clearly, a handful of apologies and some random public debate -- should the Pope have said X, should the Danish prime minister have done Y -- are ineffective and irrelevant!!!!

None of the radical Islamic clerics accepts Western apologies, and none of their radical followers reads the Western press.

Instead, Western politicians, writers, thinkers and speakers should stop apologizing -- and start uniting. By this, I don't mean that we all need to rush to defend or to analyze this particular sermon; I leave that to experts on Byzantine theology.

But, we can all unite in our support for freedom of speech -- surely the Pope is allowed to quote from medieval texts -- and of the press.

We can also unite, loudly, in our condemnation of violent, unprovoked attacks on churches, embassies and elderly nuns.

By "we" I mean here the White House, the Vatican, the German Greens, the French Foreign Ministry, NATO, Greenpeace, Le Monde and Fox News -- Western institutions of the left, the right and everything in between.

True, these principles sound pretty elementary -- "we're pro-free speech and anti-gratuitous violence" -- but in the days since the Pope's sermon, I don't feel that I've heard them defended in anything like a unanimous chorus.

A lot more time has been spent analyzing what the pontiff meant to say, or should have said, or might have said if he had been given better advice. All of which is simply beside the point, since nothing the Pope has ever said comes even close to matching the vitriol, extremism and hatred that pour out of the mouths of radical Imams and fanatical clerics every day across Europe and the Muslim world.

Almost none of which ever provokes any Western response at all.


Maybe it's time that it should: When Saudi Arabia publishes textbooks commanding good Wahhabi Muslims to "hate" Christians, Jews and non-Wahhabi Muslims, for example, why shouldn't the Vatican, the Southern Baptists, Britain's chief rabbi and the Council on American-Islamic Relations all condemn them -- simultaneously?


Now the point is this: We in the West are a fairly tolerant and apathetic lot and we are not quick to anger. But, people in the Middle East should realized that when push comes to shove it really could get very dangerous for them!

(These have only been very minor shoves so far in the grand scheme of things. This includes 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq etc. etc. They are more of a political problem than anything else!)

Now this is not a threat or anything else but a heads up! All the terrorist acts have been but minor irritants in the psyche of the West. BUT, if it gets to the point where a united Europe and North America start to take the provocations of Islam personally and go after Muslim blood...... it could prove to be catastrophic for the Middle East! In other words, reign in your radicals!!

Your Observant Scribe;
Allan

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Oh really!

A few quick observations before the day gets underway.

*I normaly hate those "cutsy" messages on church and store signs (Like one one a high school billboard that said "seven days of this makes one weak!") and bumper stickers.

But, yesterday I actually saw a couple that I really liked .

The first was a sign in front of a travel agency. It said "GO AWAY!"

Then a bumper sticker that really struck home since I'm not nearly in as much of a hurry as I used to be. It said:

"I may be slow, but I'm ahead of YOU!"

*Next - some legislators in the States are starting to talk about putting up a fence between the U.S. and Canada as well as the one down by Mexico. Personally I think it's a great idea.

Maybe it will keep those assholes OUT!

(I remeber back in the 80's I was going from Sarnia to Port Huron for a bit of shopping and when I stopped at Customs the guy asked me for a passport. I told him I only had a drivers license and why did he suddenly want a passport or visa to get in. He replied: "We have to be carefull you know, there are a lot of people that want to get into this Country by any means possible! I looked him straight in the eye and said: "Why?" A minute later I was back on the Canadian side with a "refused entry" slip in my hand! I thought to myself, "fuck em," and went to our own mall. It's also one of the last times I felt an urge to go to the States.)

*Thailand has an unusual political system. It's a democaracy with a twist. They just had their 18th coup d'e-tat in a row.

It seems that when the government gets too rank they send in the army to throw them out and then have democratic elections to get a new government.

Until that elected government gets too smelly. Then they have another coup d'e-tat. Then they have a democratic election to............ well you get the idea!

*All sorts of fallout about that Maher Arar case I wrote about yesterday. People are starting to call for officials in the R.C.M.P. and C.S.I..S. to be fired.

These assholes shouldn't be fired!
They should be going to JAIL!

Your faithfull scribe
Allan w Janssen

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Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Meanwhile, back at the ranch! Or, The Ballad of Maher Arar!

There is a guy here in Canada by the name of Maher Arar who has had a lot of problems in the last little while.
This is: "The Ballad of Maher Arar!"

(With thanks to Greg Weston)

Now Maher is a Syrian born (Canadian citizen) engineer who has lived here in Canada for many years. While on vacation in Tunisia to visit relatives back in September of 2002 he was stopped on the way back home during a change of planes in New York .

To make a long story short it appears the R.C.M.P. and C.S.I.S. (Canadian Security and Intelligence Services) asked the U. S. to put Maher and his wife on a security watch list and described them as "Islamic extremists" suspected of being linked to al-Qaida. (To get the facts straight, Maher had run into someone {once, a long time ago}socially, who was linked to al-Qaida and he has since then been described as a "person of interest!"

Maher was arrested in New York and then eventually sent to Syria for interrogation. (It seems they can't use torture and all that stuff on U.S. soil) During the year he was confined he was............ well let's just say he survived and eventually got home.

Now there is an investigation into the whole affair and the shit has hit the fan. First of all is this quote: "Everyone who testified accepts that this description of Arar was wrong and should not have been given to the Americans. There was no basis for any such assertion." On top of this the inquiry found that senior R.C.M.P. officials realized their mistake but didn't want to admit any errors so they tried to back their original claims against Arar with all kinds of information that was exaggerated, distorted or just plain false! (THEY LIED!)
They even went so far as to alter their own police notes!!!!!!!!!

It goes further, the inquiry stated that: "The malevolence of Canadian officialdom didn't stop with Arar's arrest. On several occasions, even as the Canadian Government was trying to free Arar from his foreign dungeon, C.S.I.S. officials were telling the Syrians that it would be better if Arar was not let back into Canada."
(C.S.I.S. denies this but it is documented as true!)

In an effort to dispel the notion that Canada didn't want Arar back, Foreign Affairs tried to draft a letter to the Syrians saying that there was no evidence whatsoever that he was tied to any terrorist group or activity. Both the R.C.M.P. and C.S.I.S refused to put their stamp of approval on this letter and instead insisted on making even more false claims about Arar.

In the months before and after Arar's release, unnamed Canadian security officials conducted what Justice Dennis O'Connor described as a "smear campaign" of leaks to the media of supposedly confidential intelligence that was "inaccurate, unsupported and grossly unfair to Mr. Arar."

This all came to a head with a newspaper story by reporter Juliette O'Neill, who said that the leaks had come from the R.C.M.P. and G.S.I.S. in their attempt to defend themselves against allegations that the security forces had "sent an innocent man to be tortured in Syria."

Now listen to this.............. in response to this article the R.C.M.P. raided O'Neill's home, took her in for questioning and confiscated all her correspondence, notes, computers etc.

As for poor Arar, his life is all but ruined. But, the O'Connor inquiry has laid the groundwork for the mother of all lawsuits against the R.C.M.P. and the Government.

We can say that this time the man will get the Mounties, not the other way around!

What the HELL is going on here? Is it 1984 or is this a Police State? This is Canada for Christ's sake, not some two bit third world country.

I guess the only difference is that here in Canada, when these abuses of authority are discovered, we are allowed to sue the ass off the perpetrators instead of just quietly disappearing!

It's no wonder I hate the cops as much as the religious nuts.
(And we all know that cops don't lie, right?)

Your pissed scribe:
Allan W Janssen

Pope This!

There is a group called "Al-Qaida in Iraq" that yesterday warned that war against Christianity and the West will go on until Islam "takes over the world."

No apology by the Pope will be sufficient they said, while demonstrators in South Asia and Indonesia carried black flags and burned effigies of the Pope as well.

"Al-Qaeda in Iraq" went on to say: "You and the West are doomed, as you can see from your defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere!"

In Iran, meanwhile, supreme leader (doesn't this remind you of "fearless leader" on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show?") Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for protests against the U.S.

Ali argued that while the Pope may have been decieved into making his remarks, the words give the West an "excuse for suppressing Muslims" by depicting them as terrorists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right!

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Onward Christian Soldiers.

Never make a statement and say it is absolute or you will have to eat your words! I'm having them for breakfast!

Only the Islamists are fanatical and preach violence you say.
(Or at least I did.)

Well then feast your pagan, unbelieving, sinfull, heathen, wicked, blasphemous, unworthy eyes on this:

www.jesuscampthemovie.com/

Then get prepared to really have the shit scared out of you in this ABC news feature!

www.youtube.com/watch

Your fearfull scribe:
Allan


Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) at; www.God-101.com
And the petition to have people mind their own business instead of yours at; http://www.petitiononline.com/moses/petition.html

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Monday, September 18, 2006

Short and not so sweet.

Just to get this straight, I remind you once again that last week the Pope quoted some 6-700 year old documents that basically said that some of Muhhamads teachings were "evil and inhuman" because they "spread their faith by the sword."

The Pope had to apologize for those remarks this week but just to prove how wrong he was some Muslims in Palestine went out and burned churches while in Somalia they killed a nun at a childrens hospital!
So there, take that Infidel!

Now here is where it gets even stranger. Muslim spokesman in different parts of the world have condemed acts by what they call "extremist elements" of Islam........ while at the same time calling on mainstream Muslims to practice restraint and not engage in any acts of violence in reprisal for the comments made by the Pope.

I may be a bit naive here but If Islam is such a religion of peace why do they have to issue an appeal for restraint in the first place.

Even though I am not a great fan of the Catholic Church, (or any other mainstream religion) I can't recall a single instance in the last five hundred years where the Vatican has had to call for calm and non-violence amongst the faithfull in regards to a perceived insult to Catholicism.

Remember boys and girls: Sticks and Stones my break my bones - but names will never hurt me...... So play nice!

Your Dismayed Scribe;
Allan W Janssen

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Sunday, September 17, 2006

"Oh Yea! Well so are you!"

A few words about what the Pope said about Islam this week and how it was recieved by the Muslim community.

Basically the Pope quoted from a fourteenth century document that said "Islam is a religion that is spread by the sword!" (Now this is nothing new since that is exactly how is was spread and as an example three of the first four caliphs to succeed Muhammed were murdered.)

Was it just a quote about a statement made six or seven hundred years ago or used as a springboard to address issues that are relevant today? Was it perhaps used as a statement to expose a flaw in Islam that needs to be addressed.

One of the factors to consider in this whole debate is what was the purpose behind the statement. (Look at the church burnings and murders because of it!) Has the Catholic Church changed its direction and started to address issues it sees in need of correction? Will this "change in direction" lead to further friction between the two great religions? How can the Catholic Church raise these issues with its own history of violence and subterfuge?

To "get things into perspective here," (God I love those words!) don't forget we are looking at two religions that are opposite sides of the same coin.

Muhammed and Islam was in an almost constant state of war from 622 c.e. to 661 c.e., had a civil-war between 656 c.e. and 661 c.e., serious episodes of violence in 680 c.e. and 692 c.e., another civil was between 744 c.e. and 75. c.e. and then further expansion by warfare until the Crusaders arrived.

Chrisianity, meanwhile, spread its influence through force and terror during most of its history. (Helped in no small part by the Hapsburgs)
Including that great party they called the "Inquisition."

So there you have it! Although it has not been declared for many, many years, (war) we have two great institutions vying for power by whatever means possible. For one to criticize the other is like the pot calling the kettle black!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) at; www.God-101.com
And the petition to have people mind their own business instead of yours at; http://www.petitiononline.com/moses/petition.html

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It IS what it IS! Isn't it?

Reading on the subject of Holy Scripture, whether in the Bible or Koran, I ran across dozens of essays and articles giving different opinions on what exactly is written in the Holy Books.

To make a long story short and "get things into perspective here,"
I noticed that time and again, without fail, passages from both books were explained and brought in line with doctrine by apologists who stated that they were mis-interpreted!

This is the common denominator I found in everything I read:

"No, it doesn't say that, it was mis-interpreted."
"It should be looked at in it's proper context!"
"MY interpretation!"

Then, "voila," a spin was put on it and the offending piece was brought into line with the proper dogma and doctorine.

Everything was subject to the correct "Interpretation,"

It wasn't the "Word of God" or anything irrefutable.
It was dependent on what people "interpreted" it to mean.

Nothing Divine there, just human wants, needs and hidden agenda's!

** God inspired the bible, he didn't write it.
People base their lives around the manic scribbling
of a bunch of desert baked primitives who ate bugs and honey! Of course they saw God!


In other words-you can make it mean whatever you want-
then just go nuts from there!

Your Scribe;
Allan W Janssen

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Ain't it the truth!

I saw an interesting article on my homepage - msn.ca - this morning called "How the Internet has changed our lives."
With my curiousity aroused I clicked on the site and got this message. "Unavailable due to technical problems!"
Yup, that about sums it up!"

Allan

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