<OT> -- WAY OT Re: So it goes . . .

[Bill Campbell]

On Wed, Apr 07, 2004, David A. Bandel wrote:
>On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 10:29:01 -0700 
>Condon Thomas A KPWA <tcondon at kpt.nuwc.navy.mil> wrote:
...
>> Please go to the Snopes site and read on the Islamic legend.  It has
>> some basis, but is not factual.
>> 
>> http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/allah.asp
>
>Thanx for that link.  Interesting.  I note that there also isn't a flat
>out denial that this (the Jihad thing) is rubbish either.  Perhaps some
>of the more extreme Muslims do hold this belief (though I'd like to
>think not).  OTOH, I don't get the idea of committing suicide and
>deliberately trying to take as many infidels with you as possible.  The
>whole thing is just so foreign to my notion of right and wrong it goes
>off the scale (in the direction of wrong).

Like many things religious, there's a large emotional factor.  My brother-
in-law is an Iranian muslim, and was minister of vocational education under
the Shah, hardly a supporter of Khomeni and his crowd (Mohammed, my sister
and their two boys were in the U.S.  at the time of the Shah's fall, and
lost their house and all possessions in Iran).

In spite of all that, my sister said that she had a hard time convincing
him not to go back to Iran to participate when Khomeni called for Jihad.

>Wonder if you could find a Muslim or site that would explain this whole
>"suicide bomber" thing in a way I could understand?  I'll bet it goes
>back to religion/religious beliefs no matter how someone wants to paint
>it.

Religion has often been used as a method of gaining or maintaining power.

King Henry the 8th of England formed the Anglican church, and used it as an
instrument to promote the philosophy of divine right of kings and
primogeniture.  For a very interesting view of this, see the chapters on
the reformation in Brooks Adams' book, ``Law of Civilization and Decay''.
Demagogues get their power by exploiting the fears and prejudices of
people, often through religion.

Bill
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