SwiftVets.com

[Bob51]

[GenrXr]

[Me#1You#10]

GenrXr...if I understand Bob51's last comment, I believe he's stating that the "Little Red Book" is already of much less consequence than Steyn might imagine.

[GenrXr]

[Bob51]

Well, after 14 years in Hong Kong, I've only ever seen a little red book once down on Hollywood Road among old postcards and bric-a-brac. I've never heard it mentioned once in the mainland. My issue with Steyn's remark was more to do with the "if" on whether China might "become" an "advanced" nation. The interesting question is can it become an advanced nation in terms of economics and technology while remaining 'retarded' in political development. Or to put it another way, how long can the old guard hang on to habits of the past when young, technically savvy entrepreneurs see the future as theirs? I was at a long alcohol-fuelled debate before Christmas in the Foreign Correspondents Club where one party took the view that the liberating power of Internet Protocol was unstoppable, even in China. The opposing view was that the power of the Communist party could harness, filter and control any freedoms appearing from Internet developments. I favour the first point of view but expect everything possible to be done to curtail the emerging freedoms.

Bob51

[PhantomSgt]

An interesting article that emphasizes a point I made earlier:

Quran's 'war verses' at work

Posted: January 13, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Hal Lindsey

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The other night on FOX News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" show, I mentioned that the more a Muslim becomes serious about the Quran, the more radical he becomes. I pointed out that there are approximately 109 verses in the Quran that some scholars have called "the war verses. " They are called this because they teach violence and aggression against the "infidels," which means all people who do not accept Islam.
The Houston Chronicle reported Jan. 12 just how effectively those verses are used to radicalize Muslims:

Abu Hamza Masri, Britain's most prominent radical Islamic cleric, preached at a London Mosque that Muslims had a "religious duty to kill" Jews and "nonbelievers," a prosecutor told a jury here Wednesday. The trial is the first involving a high-profile imam since July's deadly bombings on the London public transit system. Police said those attacks were carried out by young Muslim men who attended and became radicalized in British mosques.

Thank God the majority of Muslims do not become devout followers of all the Quranic verses. But with radical imams interspersed through the increasing numbers of mosques being built in Western countries, young Muslim men – particularly – become potential time bombs ready to be radicalized.

You may ask: "Just what do these 'war verses' in the Quran teach that has so radicalized Muslims in virtually every century from the beginning of Islam?" The following is a sample of these verses. They are quoted from a comparison of eight different officially recognized translations of the Quran, with the N.J. Dawood translation being the principle one used:

· "Strike off their [infidel's] heads. Strike off their finger-tips! … because they defied God and his Apostle [Muhammad]." (Sura 8:12-13)

· "Make war on them [infidels] until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme." (Sura 2:193)

· "Seize them and put them to death wherever you find them." (Sura 4:89)

· "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you." (Sura 9:123)

· "When the sacred months [Ramadan] are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them; besiege them; and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent [convert to Islam] and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way." (Sura 9:5)
If a Muslim begins to take these verses literally and seriously, as all good Muslims are supposed to do – since they are taught that every verse is directly handed down from Allah, then it is easy to see how they could incite violent behavior toward "nonbelievers."
You may think there are no radical imams in America to be concerned about. Yehudit Barsky recently reported in the Jerusalem Post these disturbing facts:

The power of the extremist Wahhabi form of Islam in the United States was created with generous Saudi financing of American Muslim communities over the past few decades. Over 80 percent of the mosques in the United States "have been radicalized by Saudi money and influence." The people now in control of teaching religion to American Muslims are extremists.

Author Stephen Schwartz, in his book "The Two Faces of Islam," said the same thing: "The Wahhabi sect, backed by Saudi Arabia, controls 70 to 80 percent of the mosques in the United States." He went on to say, "These imams instruct, indoctrinate and certify the chaplains in the federal and state prison systems and in the military." It is a fact that a disturbing number of inmates in our prisons are converted to Islam – Jose Padilla being one notable example.

I do not believe the majority of Muslims have been radicalized. But these imams of the Wahhabi sect look for the Muslims who show signs of increased devotion. These are discipled toward the "war verses." Once radicalized, they encourage them to seek "advanced studies" in the training camps of such "devout groups" as al-Qaida.

I am increasingly concerned that a religion that has such a history of violent conquest and forced conversions at the point of the sword is being portrayed as basically a "peaceful religion that has been hijacked by a few radicals."

As I said before, most Muslims are not radical and do not want to fight a jihad against America. But it is through no fault of what is taught in the Quran. It is just that they have not embraced all the violent verses that are contained therein ... yet!

LINK:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48330

This brings the whole subject a little closer to home. Maybe to your neighborhood?
_________________
Retired AF E-8

Independent that leans right of center.