{"id":1611,"date":"2014-08-15T13:33:39","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T17:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/?p=1611"},"modified":"2014-08-15T14:10:34","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T18:10:34","slug":"my-religion-can-beat-up-your-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1611","title":{"rendered":"My religion can beat up your religion&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Fighting-gods.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1613\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Fighting-gods.jpg?resize=208%2C242&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Budda and Jesus in a wrestling match. Retrieved from: http:\/\/kashlynnebirmingham.com\/religion-versus-relationship\/fighting-gods\/\" width=\"208\" height=\"242\" \/><\/a>I ask &#8220;Why&#8221; &#8211; \u00a0a lot. \u00a0Maybe I shouldn&#8217;t, but I do. \u00a0In fact, that is the primary reason for my little piece of the blog-o-sphere &#8211; it is an attempt by me to understand the world around me. I&#8217;m attempting to understand why all this craziness is happening with the radical Islamic extremists, Hamas vs. Israel. \u00a0Seems the world is just going nuts.<\/p>\n<p>The other day, I stumbled upon a pretty neat Tumblr picture posted by <a href=\"http:\/\/38.media.tumblr.com\/20642a7fcf5eb99994982c4ce05f68e6\/tumblr_n1iniaKVhb1qb2vwyo1_1280.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Rod Christiansen<\/a>\u00a0that is pretty cool. \u00a0It is a map of the world with a little circle drawn around the Mid-East. \u00a090% of the world&#8217;s problems arise out of this area; which is also home to the three of the worlds main\u00a0religions (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/pages\/frontline\/teach\/muslims\/beliefs.html\" target=\"_blank\">Islam<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewfaq.org\/beliefs.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Judaism<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.religionfacts.com\/christianity\/beliefs.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Christianity<\/a>). A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.religionfacts.com\/islam\/comparison_charts\/islam_judaism_christianity.htm\" target=\"_blank\">summary<\/a> for those, like me, who love charts. \u00a0My basic question is: why can&#8217;t we all just get along? I then ran across another cartoon which had more to do with my questions. I liked this cartoon and it&#8217;s accompanying <a href=\"http:\/\/nayzak.deviantart.com\/art\/Why-not-read-the-Qur-an-207060196?offset=0#comments\" target=\"_blank\">article<\/a> by the user &#8220;Nayzak.&#8221; \u00a0 Nayzak&#8217;s (from his posts, I assume he is Muslim) take is that there are no verses in the Qur&#8217;an instructing Muslims to strap bombs upon themselves and blow up as many people as possible nor that there are versus instructing Muslims to kill their wives. \u00a0In the commentary surrounding his artwork, he makes the comment that if no one is attacking, there is no reason for a Muslim to attack another. \u00a0In shourt, the only legitimate use of force is for self-protection. \u00a0I wonder if the fanatics are reading the same Qur&#8217;an as Nayzak? \u00a0I would invite you to visit his cartoon\/article and review the comments. \u00a0I found the article to be interesting; but what I really enjoyed reading were the follow on comments. \u00a0I would ask that you pay particular attention to those comments posted around 12\/7\/2012, between 1\/3\/2012 &#8211; 2\/17\/2012, and between 4\/30\/2011 -5\/2\/2011. \u00a0I think the comments on these dates were the most insightful. \u00a0After reading through the comments however, I still have questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why is that the Muslim faithful do not rein in their fanatics?<\/li>\n<li>If Islam is truly the faith of Peace, why are Christians (and other sects of Islam) in Iraq being killed?<\/li>\n<li>Why does ISIS want to exterminate the <a href=\"http:\/\/religion.blogs.cnn.com\/2014\/08\/08\/who-are-the-yazidis-and-why-does-isis-want-to-kill-them\/\" target=\"_blank\">Yasidis<\/a>? \u00a0I don&#8217;t understand!!!<\/li>\n<li>Finally; why do the citizens of Gaza allow their government to continue to send rockets to Israel, when they know how Israel will respond? \u00a0If Hamas was a government [truly] concerned about their citizenry; they would stop. \u00a0I don&#8217;t understand the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpost.com\/Opinion\/Failing-to-see-the-broader-picture-371154\" target=\"_blank\">thought process<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I don&#8217;t understand, and would really like someone to explain to me where all this killing (in the name of Allah [or some other entity]) is for the greater good of mankind; I just don&#8217;t get it. \u00a0Is there a religious war looming between the West and Islam? \u00a0I hope not; I wonder how the other <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adherents.com\/Religions_By_Adherents.html\" target=\"_blank\">religions in the world<\/a> are going to react? Will Islam attempt to overcome them also, or do they just not like Christians &amp; Jews because of our similarity? \u00a0On the other side of the spectrum, we have Sheik Yer&#8217;Mami (gotta love that; not one bit of satire there!) whose satirical website offers an interesting, while opposing view to the one above (Nayzak&#8217;s). The Sheik wrote about whether we <a href=\"http:\/\/sheikyermami.com\/%E2%80%9Cwe-must-respect-religious-differences-%E2%80%9D-really-hell-no-we-must-not\/\" target=\"_blank\">should respect religious differences<\/a> between the West and Islam. \u00a0If nothing else, it was a unique perspective. \u00a0There are websites all over that give conflicting information, and if you read far enough you&#8217;ll find sites that condemn either the Qur&#8217;an or the Bible. \u00a0The Sheik had a pretty good read that <a href=\"http:\/\/sheikyermami.com\/bible-and-quran-equally-violent\/\" target=\"_blank\">compared violence in the Bible to violence in the Qur&#8217;an<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There was (she has passed on) a journalist and author, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oriana_Fallaci\" target=\"_blank\">Oriana Fallaci<\/a>. \u00a0In 1979 she <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2006\/06\/05\/the-agitator\" target=\"_blank\">interviewed<\/a> the Ayatollah Khomeini, shortly after the revolution which overthrew the Shaw, and the imprisonment of the US Embassy staff.<\/p>\n<p>My faith (I believe each person&#8217;s faith is unique to them, there is no cookie cutter approach) is built around forgiveness and tolerance of others. \u00a0I may not agree with you; but you have the right to believe what you want &#8211; <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>as long as it doesn&#8217;t impact the rights of others<\/em><\/span>, me included. What are our rights? \u00a0I discussed this in my last post about <a title=\"What are America\u2019s Core Values?\" href=\"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1605\" target=\"_blank\">America&#8217;s core values<\/a>, and what is meant by &#8220;Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.&#8221; \u00a0I believe most people are comfortable within their &#8220;ism&#8221; of which ever religion they adhere to, I am not here to expose one religion over another. \u00a0I have been accused of oversimplifying many things, and religion is one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Here is my example and how I feel about the various &#8220;ism&#8217;s&#8221; with each religious sect. \u00a0Let&#8217;s assume for a second that Chicago is Heaven. \u00a0My way of getting to Chicago is probably a little different from your way (you have your reasons for your route, as I do mine); but just because I like my route, it\u00a0doesn&#8217;t make it the <em><strong>only<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0way to get to Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>My country (the USA) was founded on the understanding and tolerance of others. \u00a0Our forefathers believed in a &#8220;creator&#8221; but didn&#8217;t go much further than that. \u00a0I believe the separation of church and state is such that our government will not mandate one religion over another, not that there should be no reference to the &#8220;creator&#8221; at all. \u00a0After all, our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.archives.gov\/exhibits\/charters\/declaration.html\" target=\"_blank\">Declaration of Independence<\/a> talks about rights bestowed upon all men by their &#8220;Creator.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There is a social contract in America between the government and it&#8217;s citizenry, they <a href=\"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1605\" target=\"_blank\">government&#8217;s function<\/a> is to enable its citizenry with the opportunity to pursue their happiness, which, as the founders understood it: would be the working towards the greater good, not just of this country, but the greater good in general, which in turn promotes self-worth.<\/p>\n<p>Til next time&#8230;don&#8217;t let your &#8220;ism&#8217;s&#8221; cloud your thoughts or guide you astray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I ask &#8220;Why&#8221; &#8211; \u00a0a lot. \u00a0Maybe I shouldn&#8217;t, but I do. \u00a0In fact, that is the primary reason for my little piece of the blog-o-sphere &#8211; it is an attempt by me to understand the world around me. I&#8217;m &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1611\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,16],"tags":[50,54,103,86,82,56,81],"class_list":["post-1611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rants-raves","tag-america","tag-foreign-policy","tag-politics","tag-religion","tag-rights","tag-stupid","tag-terrorism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1159,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1159","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":0},"title":"Voting day 2013","author":"DR D","date":"November 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Voting took place nationwide today.\u00a0 My race was pretty small, only our Governor, LT. Governor, Attorney General, and local races.\u00a0 After I voted, I was chit-chatting with one of the persons pounding the pavement in front of the poll places, and they stated that there were no major lines to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"I_Voted.__Did_You.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/2013-11-05_08-28-25_109-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":905,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/905","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":1},"title":"My take on gun control..","author":"DR D","date":"April 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Good morning everyone!\u00a0 My cat and I were in a deep discussion yesterday regarding all the ranting going on over gun control. It is my stance that there are already enough laws on the books regarding gun control, and that, prior to establishing new laws; it would be a good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":849,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/849","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":2},"title":"The Pope, the Church, and me&#8230;.","author":"DR D","date":"February 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.\u00a0 He will resign at the end of this month.\u00a0 He stated he was resigning for the good of the Church, and that is a reason that I can, and will, fully respect. There has been a lot of discussion on the news boards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Life&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/life"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":940,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/940","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":3},"title":"What\u2019s a Poor Congressman To Do?","author":"John Sweeney","date":"April 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"My congressman sent out an e-mail in which he was inexplicably whining about some backlash he\u2019s gotten from his constituents over some recent political decisions.\u00a0 He appeared genuinely perplexed at why we would be upset, and went on to wonder if compromise and \u201cgetting along\u201d would ever be possible in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AoM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AoM","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/rants-raves\/aom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15068,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/15068","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":4},"title":"Time to strap in and buckle up!","author":"DR D","date":"January 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is January 20th, 2025, Inauguration Day, which, by all accounts, should be a peaceful turnover of power from the current democratic president to a recycled republican president (yes, the lower cases are intentional). It would be really nice, if we could say this is the 46th peaceful turnover of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Life&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/life"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/20150703_121740-e1435963001338.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/20150703_121740-e1435963001338.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/20150703_121740-e1435963001338.jpg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":814,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/814","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":5},"title":"How do you organize your bills?","author":"DR D","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok...I admit it; I have a problem. No, it's not what you think, there is no 10 step program that will fix this. I have \"ma\u00f1ana\". I'm not sure when I contracted it, but I have it bad. It has begun to interfere with my home life. The boss lives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Household&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Household","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/household"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/silas-and-wine-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1611"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1616,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611\/revisions\/1616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}