If jihad and holy war aren't a part of the "real Islam", then why is everyone so upset about this speech? You can read the outrage here, and, well, just about anywhere, for that matter.
It's often called a rhetorical question when you know the answer, folks. But do check out the speech, it's very good.
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Some of the misunderstandings are centered around the word jihad. It means "struggle".
The struggle can be spiritual, political or military.
Those who say Islam is about peace and etc. often say it is the spiritual struggle against temptation. However what they don't say is that the temptation they struggle against,is often the idea of freedom to live as you wish, free from sharia law and the other constraints of Islam. Which is why the United States is referred to as the great Satan, because we offer a living example of those freedoms true followers of Islam are supposed to oppose and struggle against. Which brings us right back to the political and military definitions.
Mom,
I might be "pro-choice" on education reform, but if I went around telling people I was "pro-choice" and everyone thought I was an abortionist, I wouldn't have much ground to stand on to object to being misunderstood; I would be guilty of a little semantic duplicity.
Muslims who object to jihad in the definition of holy war are being just as duplicitious - it's in the Koran, for Pete's sake. If "oppression" exists - subject to interpretation, thankyouverymuch - jihad is necessary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
jihad schmeehad, it means whatever they want it to mean when it's convenient for the spread of Islam. One day a cleric says it means inner spiritual peace, the next day an Imam says it means all out war against the infidels. Quite convenient to have such flexible broad meanings to justify means end. I still recommend the book by Joel Richarson I "tooted" before (LOL A.H.) it explains much of this. All the pope did was quote somebody from the 14th century and they had a cow, give me a break.
Mom and J-
It appears that there's been more than a cow had about the whole episode.
Is it just me, or have either of you considered that the Pope is no dummy and that this might be deliberate?
-AH
Good question A.H. This whole thing just get's more and more muddied. It's almost like let's have an East vs. West all-star game, winner takes all, we'll see who fries first. Pretty crazy.
BTW, the Bears look pretty tough, and you dont know how hard that is for me to say. Kudos.
Thanks J. I know that's not easy, and my condolences on starting out with a tough schedule.
-AH
I have considered it. The whole big broo-ha-ha about it has a staged feel. ( Maybe that's just because I was looking at the CNN site-"Watch Muslims around the world react with anger and disappointment"- what kind of news coverage is that?) Of course, it's not like a Muslim group would have to watch the speeches of any pope for long before they could find something "objectionable and offensive" to their beliefs.
That's pretty much the problem isn't it? We don't believe the same things and their belief is that anyone who doesn't agree with them needs to be eliminated.
I miss Reggie White and seeing members of both teams praying together before the game
Mom,
You know what, I don't miss that Reggie White! He terrorized Bear QBs for YEARS! j/k, he was a great player and a gentleman at that. Besides, my objection is a little disingenuous - the Bears really can't call a lot of their former signal callers "quarterbacks" by even the most generous definition of the term!
-AH
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