Eid Mubarak?…Eid Mubarak!

What is Eid?

 

There are a few times when I miss the old country and my old friends, and Eid is among those times.

 

Eid in America is bittersweet event; on one hand there are the factionalized Muslim communities who insist on having Eid on at least two different days and sometimes, three. The inevitable and never-ending Moon-sighting controversy where Muslims cannot agree on whether to believe the science that accurately predicts to the minute, when the new moon will show and where or, to believe the old man on a hilltop claiming he saw the moon even as he points to en entirely different direction.

Should we accept the date set in Arabia? after all, that is where the final word on Eid is because that is when Haj is over.

Should we accept a global concept of moon-sighting where if it is sighted at one place, it is sighted all over the world or, should we accept local sightings by OUR religious scholars?

 

A Rabbi friend of mine told me that Jews addressed this problem (they too, work on the Lunar Calendar)…hundreds of years ago! They decreed that all holidays (except for Yom Kippur) would be observed for one extra day, just to be sure they observed it on the right moon-sighting day. Today, Reform (Liberal) Jews have removed the second day observance because they believe that it is scientifically possible to accurately determine the correct day.

 

Muslims’ dithering about when are our holy days, is what keeps us from having an actual holiday for Eid; if Muslims cannot agree when to hold their holy days, then how can we get our schools to agree on when the holy days are so they can give our children a holiday?

 

It never ends; we are doomed to celebrate our holy festivals on two, maybe three, different days. That’s the bitter part…

The Soldier in Kandahar

The soldier’s gaze wandered across the stony Kandahar desert , looking for signs of life, any signs of life. He did not like this land where it was so hot and so dry and an enemy behind every rock; he missed his own land where his family had a good life, but he knew he was here because he wanted to protect them THERE.

Burning the Quran

Okay tell me, who had heard of the Dove World Outreach Center (http://www.doveworld.org/) before their leader Terry Jones decided to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, 2010?

 

That’s right, not a handful of people outside of his two-mile radius.

 

Terry Jones…Doctor Terry Jones, who spouts Robert Spencer’s language when describing Muslims and Islam, decided to burn copies of the Quran and suddenly he was propelled into great fame across the ranks of Muzlem-fearing Americans and into Europe. Here’s the best standard for the right to freedom of expression! let us ALL burn the Quran just to show how much we love our great “freedoms”…freedoms to bash Muslims and Islam, that is; similar “freedom” is hardly ever exercised against the more powerful minorities like Jews or Blacks.

Supreme Court: Torture is Fine

The “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” is fast spiraling down where it is less brave and even less free each day…and each day, the chapters of our history become darker and darker.

 

I used to believe that Obama would be like a breath of fresh air and he would start to process towards a freer society, instead of the deep hole where we had been consigned to; a place where terrorism by the US was okay, where persecution of a specific class of people (Muslims) was not only okay, it was the primary goal.

Detained…for being “Muzlem”!

 Good old Nevada! They don’t call it the sin capital of the US for nothing!

People can be fondling each other in public and that doesn’t even get them a sideways look.

People can be dancing almost naked in the street and its, “ho, hum!”.

People can be soliciting for prostitution with pictures of naked women and it doesn’t even slow down the passer-by.

…but some MUZLEMS…prayin’??!!

“Holy smokes!!! Call out the national guard! them Trrrrrrsts are on the move…git yr gunz! watch out, AMERICA (by God!) IS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED…IS ANYONE LISTENIN’!!!!”

Can a Muslim be a good American?

(first published April 5, 2007)

Wow.

Who in his right mind, would even pose such a question?

The language of “War!”

Today’s (8.14.2007) news featured an attack by Israel, on Gaza, killing ten Palestinians including “gunmen”, “Hamas terrorists” and an elderly mother “being used as a human shield”.

“Well done IDF!” was the most-voiced comment in Israel…great glory and righteousness on the part of IDF; Israel may survive yet another day.

In strategy and tactics of war, the most important weapon is the language of war.

The Reality of Suicide Bombing

Most people of good will should be able to condemn not only suicide bombing but ANY act of wanton killing whether it is done by our side (“good guys”) or the their side (“bad guys”). Unfortunately the Israel/Palestine dispute has so polarized people that they have no hesitation in condemning the other side without ever seeking to understand. All too often, seeking to understand the other is seen as taking sides by people blinded by partisanship.

Iran, Muslim nations, THE BOMB & other WMDs

Iran has been the whipping boy for the US and an obedient West ever since Iran made the grave “mistake” of kicking out the Shah. This over-reaction is based on several factors; that a country should dare to oppose the wishes of Rome (US) and then, take prisoner an entire diplomatic staff and THEN vilify Rome at every turn.

As if this were not enough, Iran then had the nerve to lambaste Rome’s Praetorian Guard (Israel) that maintains “balance” and order in the far-flung reaches of the Empire and keeps the dogs at bay.