Arabic Language Lesson

 Earlier in this blog I published a helpful item giving the definitions of some Arabic words in common use giving somewhat more complete descriptions of the meanings which seem to be different depending on whom the definition is being presented to. 

Here's another, courtesy of FrontPageMag: Kuffir, or Kuffar, or any of several varients in spelling. This word is presented to the non-muslim as referring to non-muslims in a very neutral way, but wait: The Koran uses it with rather different overtones:

Thus the Koran refers to kuffar as inherently “guilty” and “unjust” (10:17, 45:31, 68:35); terror is to be cast into their hearts (3:151); they are the “vilest of beasts” (8:55, 98:6), comparable to “cattle,” and “devoid of understanding” (47:12, 8:65); they are natural born “enemies” to Muslims (4:101), “disliked” and “accursed” by Allah (2:89, 3:32, 33:64), who further declares himself their implacable “enemy” (2:98).

Something to keep in mind if the word pops up in a discussion with a Muslim. 

Fun With Headlines In The New Year – Iran

Found on Strategypage, this article looking at how the world is and speculating on how it might be

I found the bits on Iran to be interesting in light of their recent adventurism in Iraq. President Rouhani says Iran never bows to superpowers but their history tells a different, and much longer story.

From Strategypage this:

First there is Iran, which has been a regional superpower for thousands of years but fell on hard times after the 7^th century because of a succession of damaging visits by invaders. First came conquest by the Arab revival (the initial wars of conquest by newly converted Moslem Arabs). This was humiliating because Persians never thought such a thing possible. That was followed by a devastating visit by the Mongols (1219-1221) after which came a series of exhausting wars with the Ottoman Turks and finally the Western nations and all their new tech and ideas.

The protests in Iran which have reportedly resulted in over 1500 deaths by the regime include some interesting demands by the protesters who are acutely tired of the Islamic dictatorship and are proposing some interesting changes:

Even more disturbing was that some of the protesters are calling for Islam to be banned and replaced with something else, like Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion that Islam replaced, violently and sometimes incompletely in the 7^th and 8^th centuries.

Replacing Islam with almost anything would be a big help to Iran or anyone else. RTWT, mainly the first link. It's lengthy but covers most of the world and in a lot more detail than you get from CNN for sure.

3 Popes?

It would appear that the Catholic Church now has 3 officially recognized popes.

Pope #1: Francis, located in Rome.

Pope #2: Theodoros II, located in Cairo

Pope #3: Xi Jinpeng, located in Beijing

Pope #3 ascended to his throne when Francis officially recognized the several Bishops he had appointed and withdrew his previous excommunication of them. When it comes time to select a new pope to replace Francis, one wonders how many Cardinals Pope Xi will send to Rome for the voting.

Democrats Religion Problem

Here's an article by the same name that covers the Dems problems with religion in some detail. Most Dem candidates attend some sort of church just to convince the religious constituents that they aren't really anti-religious crypto-Stalinists, even if they do subscribe to the doctrine that religion is the opiate of the masses.

You'd think that with an observation like that, they would come up with an opiate of their own to keep the masses in line with. Mohamed did.

If you like your faith, you can keep your faith, as long as it doesn't conflict with the party faith. Historically religion is the source of moral and ethical guidance and has generally served that function well. The left has no morals or ethics which is why they find the presence of the 10 commandments in front of a government building to be creating a hostile work environment.

If you're a Christian and don't want to make a rainbow frosted wedding cake with 2 brides or 2 grooms on top, a very tiny fringe group can sue you into oblivion. A Muslim bakery would probably have the same problem with making the cake but you notice that they never seem to have any problems with the LGBTQ crowd, probably for much the same reasons that PETA doesn't protest the use of leather down at the biker bar.

Morals And Ethics

I always found it interesting that the left was so uniformly adamantly opposed to displays of the 10 commandments on state capitol or courthouse grounds. Especially as the most corrupt politicians tended overwhelmingly to be Democrats. My take was that this sprung from Religion in general being the source of our morals and ethics, the left would of course see any moral or ethical guidelines springing from religion as creating a hostile work environment.

Here's a better explanation complete with optics:

Since their political philosophy is pretty much devoid of moral or ethical absolutes, to the left, the presence of the commandments on the building lawn is like showing a cross to a vampire.

Note also the love shown by the left toward Islam, the only major religion to include broad exceptions to every moral and ethical commandment.

Found here at Prager U.

The Gay Crusades

Here's a nice piece on the suitability, or lack of same of knuckling under to the LGBT bomb squad, specifically in North Carolina.

Comments on that one are Facebook only which unfairly excludes me since my principles forbid my giving away my ranch to Facebook. At least up to this point.

According to my quick reference The state may not establish an official religion nor may it prohibit the free exercise of whatever yours is. A Christian can deplore your practices, but may not interfere with them and vice versa. Therefore compelling a Christian to endorse a practice that his religion describes as abhorrent is in violation of the free exercise part of the first amendment. Georgetown, a commenter* there, may carry on with traditional Scottish culture and the rest of us will politely look the other way.

Now run along to the Halal meat market and threaten to sue if they don't provide pulled pork for your next barbecue.

*You must be wrong because as a right winger you must be ever so mean. And I demand you write a column praising my decision to marry a sheep because I am entitled to affirmation.

QOTD - Islam

"The future must not belong to those who insult slander* the prophet of Islam."
                                                            B.H. Obama

He must be serious.

*Posted before I had finished my first cuppa. Germany's Merkel has banned the YouTube video of the attack, preferring to position Germany with its head in the sand.