PATHOLOGICAL LIAR-

A pathological liar is usually defined as someone who lies incessantly to avoid the truth, get their way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as coping mechanism developed in early childhood and it is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder. A pathological liar is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get one's way). Pathological liars have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. A pathological liar often comes across as being manipulative, cunning and self-centered.

every 4 years-

alligators 1
crocodiles 8,000

youre an idiot

you didnt even read the post you idiot

Victoria

Your first statement was-

"gators kill, but they kill other gators and animals"

You changed your position. No apology. That makes you a liar.

since you're an anonymous coward, i can say this-

IDIOT
now go take your foot out of your mouth

from animal planet

Q&A 6. Which is more dangerous – a crocodile or an alligator?
Leeds, England

Crocodiles are much more dangerous than alligators. Both crocodiles and alligators belong to the order Crocodilia, and both are referred to as crocodilians. The largest and most ferocious of all crocodilians is the estuarine, or salt-water, crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). This aggressive animal may be responsible for more than 2,000 HUMAN DEATHS EACH YEAR. In some areas, it is feared more than sharks. C. porosus is the largest, living reptile. Its average adult length is 4.3 to 4.9 meters, but lengths as great as 7.2 meters have been recorded. The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is also a dangerous predator and may be responsible for more than 2,000 human deaths each year. In the United States, the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is considered more aggressive than the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). The aggressiveness of crocodilians should be respected. People should not feed crocodilians and should not swim in waters they inhabit. Children and dogs (convenient-sized prey) should not be allowed to walk alongside waters inhabited by these potentially dangerous reptiles.

CROCODILES
The larger species of crocodiles can be very dangerous to humans. The Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles are the most dangerous, killing HUNDREDS of people each year in parts of South-East Asia and Africa. American Alligators, Mugger crocodiles and possibly the endangered Black
Caiman, are also very dangerous to humans.

CROCODILES are the LEADING CAUSE of ANIMAL RELATED DEATHS as of 2001.

VS.

GATORS

take the kids to visit gatorland

http://www.gatorland.com/

Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. Unfortunately, this has led humans to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a way that provokes them. There are laws against feeding the alligators but some people continue to feed them nevertheless, resulting in some of the alligators losing their fear of humans and in turn, choosing to approach humans instead of moving away.

Human deaths caused by alligators have increased. While there were only nine fatal attacks in the U.S.A. between 1970 and 2000, eleven people were killed by alligators in the five years between 2001 and 2006 alone.

Alligators do tend to be wary of humans, but overconfidence has led some people to enter the animals' habitat in ways that provoke aggression.
wikipedia

BY THE FIGURES YOUVE PROVIDED ANON

17 alligator related human deaths in 58 years
approx- less than 1 every 4 years

compared to

2000 crocodile related human deaths every year

so, every 4 years-

alligator - 1
crocodiles- 8,000

get it?

Victoria said:

"gators kill, but they kill other gators and animals"

then

"alligators rarely if ever attack humnas from hunger- but from survival, and the deaths that have occurred (small in numbers as they are) are from injuries sustained- not being eaten."

Victoria reminds me of someone who couldn't tell the truth if it slapped her in the face. No wonder Islam attracted her as a convert.

Truth exists. You have to really work at telling lies and even then they don't stick over time.

"it means you have memorized by heart and can recite out loud the entire text of the qu'ran.
verbatim and without mistake"
quite a brain washing technique by any means.

We watch Pakistan this week in shambles and taking the slippery slope to hell.

Islam is teaching violence and

MUSLIMS KILLING MUSLIMS IS A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC.

well lib, its certainly better (logically ) than the gator one- still insulting and untrue of course- but thats what you like to do so---do your thing.

http://www.paktribune.com/speakout/index.php?id=79

Constitution of Pakistan, Part II, Chapter -1, Fundamental Rights, Article 22 says:-
(1) No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own.
(2) In respect of any religious institution, there shall be no discrimination against any community in the granting of exemption or concession in relation to taxation.
(3) Subject to law: (a) no religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination; and
(b) no citizen shall be denied admission to any educational institution receiving aid from public revenues on the ground only of race, religion, caste or place of birth.
(4) Nothing in this Article shall prevent any public authority from making provision for the advancement of any socially or educationally backward class of citizens.

it seems the only fair thing would be to give a test based on reading, comprehension, memorization, and retention.

i think the question is designed to inflame emotions along religiously divisive lines- but its certainly valid- if it is a matter of religious discrimination and not scholarly attributes.

but we have the reverse in america with affirmative action-
so, the world is still an unjust and imbalanced place.

or perhaps there is someone here that will state affirmative action is not racially based education standards?

sara- being hafiz doesnt mean you're a muslim-
it means you have memorized by heart and can recite out loud the entire text of the qu'ran.
verbatim and without mistake
quite an academic feat by any means.

i guess if the young lady memorizes the entire bible by heart and can recite it at will-that would be comparable.

hafiz are known for their remarkable memorization capacity-
their training seems to spill over into toehr areas of expertise.
as medical students are required to memorize extraordinary amounts of information-

this particular superior proven training and practice of the ability to memorize should at least be taken into account, from an academic POV, don't you think?

it takes many many years of scholarship and discipline to achieve and is no small accomplishment.

you do not think it should be recognized?

not everyone can do it by any means, and is not an indication of religious knowledge- but of intellectual capacity.

17 alligators in 58 years?
well, so a little more research then and you'll discover that alligators rarely if ever attack humnas from hunger- but from survival, and the deaths that have occurred (small in numbers as they are) are from injuries sustained- not being eaten.

but you go do your own homework sneaky anon

now go find some croc stats

Victoria, Victoria, Victoria,

How about "Cancer vs. Islam"? Cancer eats at our bodies, Islam eats at our souls." ?????

"There is no guarantee that young people of faith will work for freedom and justice."

This brave young woman of faith has taken a stand for freedom and justice. She may not lead a civil movement. She may remain unknown to the world. But her actions are notable and inspiring:

"A young Pakistani student belonging to the Christian faith has posed an interesting question through a petition in the Lahore High Court. The question is: Am I, a Pakistani Christian equal to a fellow citizen who is a Muslim ?For those of the readers who missed the news item reported by an English daily, this young student belongs to a low income group, is a practicing Christian and extremely bright. She has been competing to get into the King Edwards Medical College but was beaten on the list by 20 marks by a Muslim student who got the extra 20 marks for being Hafiz--e-Quran. So, now this young Christian girl has filed a plea in the Lahore Court declaring that she and the Muslim student had equal marks but the latter got the advantage of religion. The young Christian student claims that ``this is discrimination against religious minority students and a violation of fundamental rights granted by the Constitution of Pakistan." The petition admitted by the Lahore High Court demands that either the LHC should rule to abolish the policy or should declare that a parallel policy should be made to award twenty additional marks to religious minority students on the basis of their religious knowledge. Fifty eight years after the creation of the country to ask such a question through the courts is both tragic and hopeful".

The poster Victoria is often untrustworthy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12791209/

contrary to adding to my understanding-
it seems you just revised your statement in light of new knowledge-

this new version is even murkier-

perhaps its time to retire that paricular quip

just yanking your chain lib- im in new york

i dont encounter many crocodiles

Victoria, Victoria, Victoria,

Let me rephrase the quote so you can better understand it:

"Alli-gators and crocidiles are born to kill other animals to include humans. With Muslims like the "compassionate" Malleck, it depends but with the koran as their operating manual you cannot trust any of them."

Ready for the Five Step Deprogramming to free yourself from those many years of Islamic brainwashing??

lib- i dont even know what the point of your gator analogy is-

gators kill, but they kill other gators and animals

are you saying muslims are gator killers?
and should anyone care particualrly?

its CROCODILES that eat people- not gators.

CROCODILES LIB- NOT GATORS

if you're going to make a crazy analogy- at least do your research so it makes sense on SOME level

despite your efforts to alert us all to the dangers of qu'ran wielding muslims threatening our gator population-

we all remain pretty much complacent on the subject

i think i speak for non-muslims here too

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated,

Well, NOW I give up on any possible salvation for you.

YOU HAVE WON!

Congratulations!

M. Malleck,

Hmmm, compassionate??? Give us a break!!! Followers of the koran don't know the meaning of the word. Your founder was an illiterate, hallucinating, warmongering, womanizing Arab. His followers today are the same as demonstrated by the 24/7 Sunni-Shiite bloodbath in Iraq and the unbelievable cruelty and stupidity of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated,

My fiend, I see you everywhere. But the comment is always spiteful, never compassionate.

I really pity you, but I don't give up hope for you.

Try to be more optimistic about yourself above all. Only then will you have the courage -- COURAGE, yes -- to see good in other people.

M. Malleck,

Until other "progressive" Muslims like yourself condemn the militaristic and anti-female passages of the koran, the following quote encompasses the current state of Islam:

"Gators vs. Muslims??? Gators definitely will kill. With Muslims, it depends but with the koran as their operating manual can we trust any of them?"

In 1971, in Halifax , Nova Scotia, under the mentorship of Gamal Badawi, a Turkish friend of mine, Attila Ketene and myself, then 19 and 23 respectively, we added the cherry-on-the cake of the just-completed project by the small Halifax-Dartmouth Muslim Community of the time of building, in Dartmouth, one of the earliest mosques in Canada. We had, with other fellow-students and Gamal already then Professor at St. Mary’s, wholly painted the mosque ourselves, leveled the ground to put the topsoil and do the landscaping from the roadline to the coastline of the lake on which the mosque was situated. So, the cherry-on-the-cake would be to build two row-boats. We organized regular interfaith events at the students’ union building, sometimes in collaboration with the International Students’ Association. Inspired by Ahmad Sakr’s recollection of how the then-Muslim Students’ Association (now ISNA, Islamic Association of North America) was boldly launched in the 1960’s with its local chapter at the University of Michigan, having a total endowment of only US$25, inviting the then-explosively controversial militant MalcolmX, just-returned from pilgrimage to Mecca, to be their guest speaker at its first launching conference, to the initial bewilderment then hearty collaboration of the Dean, we ourselves invited such inspired speakers and militants as Said Ramadan, late father of Tariq Ramadan, as well as the late Edward Said himself.

Thirty-six years later, after having lived in the flesh the Iranian Revolution, my wife and growing children having experienced, in the company of stalwarts such as Fatima Meer and Zulekha Mayat the harrowing years of transition from apartheid to a new dispensation in Africa with myself visiting every three months from my international job promoting African economic development, having agonized when my relatively close acquintance, Alassane Dhramane Ouattara, having served as Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire and saved the country from economic bankruptcy was then savagely brutalized and prevented from running for the Presidency of the country of his birth, I look back and tell myself: “ Elating experience, however difficult and full of sacrifices. If I had to do it again, I would force my way to the vanguard rather than remain mostly in the rearguard, as I did”. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the blessings that life has offered.

In the later years of my life, I read mostly science populariser books by Roger Penrose, John D. Barrow, Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan, Brian Greene, Ian Stewart Douglas Hofstadter, Abraham Pais, Roger Lewin; the range of subjects are: what is nothing, what is infinity, simplicity, complexity, chaos theory, impossibility, hyperspace, what is truth, do we know how to know, on understanding understanding, fractals and Mandelbrot sets, Game Theory, if superior beings exist how would we know, how to communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence, on the nature of good and evil, evolutionary morality, neuron-science and morality, what is thought, what is life, fuzzy logic, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, etc.

Yet I always come back to the Holy Quran. I have a significant amount of sympathy for Werner Heisenberg’s inclination to see a strong convergence between many ideas of the Hindu and Buddhist religions that the whole of the Universe is just one Ultimate Consciousness. But where he finds this idea of God being Ultimate Consciousness only in the Hindu religion whereas, to him, the Abrahamic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism don’t contain the same subtle mysticism, I find an even more sublime mysticism in the Sufi practice of Islam while, simultaneously, I find a mind-numbing clarity of the most advanced, cutting-edge scientific concepts in the verses of the Holy Quran. To cite just one example: the search for ultimate truth, for the core of consciousness, cannot avoid an appeal to the scientific algorithm known as ‘infinite regress’.

It was precisely in 1971, the date with which I started this brief recollection of my involvement in interfaith activities as a young man, that I read a book by a Japanese convert to Islam, one Kakutani, titled “Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Quran”. In particular, I retained from my reading of Kakautani, the Islamic theory of Epistemology. There are three ways of knowing: (1) ‘Ilm-al-Yaqeen (knowledge by reasoning); (ii) ‘Ain-al-Yaqeen (knowledge through verification by the senses – or the Galilean-scientific approach of confronting theories or hypotheses against the data); (iii) Haq-ul-Yaqeen (knowledge acquired by the neuron-scientific process of hard-wiring in the brain).

When Antonio D’Amasio published his recent book about Descartes’ Error, several scientists with unassailable reputations were shaken at what they construed partly as an attack on the Cartesian/Galilean scientific approach to knowledge and had to appeal to the ‘creature comforts’ that science has bequeathed to mankind to mount a credible assault against D’Amasio’s contention that there is another kind of knowledge that, while not necessarily at variance with the current scientific approach to discovering the laws of nature, is nonetheless not only valid but obvious and unassailable. So, this purportedly irreconcilable dichotomy between science and ‘superstition’ is utter nonsense. The emotions play a major part in certain hard, scientific truths.

If I had to relive my life as an interfaith activist, it is along these lines of faith as the discovery of Ultimate Truth that I would direct my efforts.

MIAMI (AP) -- A group of men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower were in the final stages of forming a homegrown terrorist cell dedicated to waging an Islamic holy war before they were arrested, a prosecution terrorism expert testified Tuesday.

Raymond Tanter, a Georgetown University professor and terrorism scholar for 40 years, said suspected ringleader Narseal Batiste and the other six had nearly completed the "radicalization process" and moved toward acts of terrorism before their arrests in June 2006.

Hallmarks of this process include religious conversion, operation within a military-style hierarchy and adoption of goals shared by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to destroy U.S. landmarks, Tanter said. The final stage - which he called "jihadization" - means the group is ready to plan, recruit and prepare for an attack.

"I believe that Mr. Batiste falls in the jihadization, or final stage of the radicalization process," Tanter said, adding the other members of the "Liberty City Seven" also fall into that category.

Evidence introduced at trial shows that Batiste "was talking only about violent jihad" and not other meanings of the Arabic word, such as self-examination, Tanter said.

The oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden taken by the seven men - captured on an FBI videotape - "is the manner in which al-Qaida binds individuals to the organization," Tanter said.

The oath was administered by a man Batiste's group knew as "Brother Mohammed" who claimed to be an emissary sent by al-Qaida to assist in the purported terror plot. In reality, "Mohammed" paid FBI informant Elie Assad, who testified earlier that he was playing a role under close watch of FBI agents.

I've just finished reading Eboo Patel's book and his little secret is now apparent:

Eboo is deeply influenced by the life of Christ and by the work of Christians in the world.

Ask, Eboo, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you.

INDONESIA Imprisoned Christians Sentenced - VOM Sources

The remaining Christian leaders imprisoned in April have been sentenced to five years in prison. They were imprisoned after a video recording of them praying for Muslims was leaked to Islamic organizations. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts in Indonesia, "The defendants have been found guilty of abusing the Quran, and the judge sentenced them to five years in prison. Their lawyers are planning to appeal this decision in East Java High Court in Surabaya."

For Anon only,

The USA dropped two atomic bombs on warmongering Japan to end WWII. Without said bombs millions of Americans and Japanese would have died in the invasion of Japan.

With respect to all religions and their flaws:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was probably a mythical character. If he was real, he was at best a combination of at least three men. 1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT. ***http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm

2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter possibly suffering from hallucinations, has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.
***http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

3. Mohammed, an illiterate, womanizing, warmongering, hallucinating Arab, also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

This agenda continues as shown by the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic train bombers in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani koranics, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino koranics.

And who funds these acts of terror? The Islamic Shiite terror theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

4. Luther, Calvin, Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy talking flying fictional thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

5. Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’".

The caste/laborer system and cow worship are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."

6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."

"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"

Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circumstances of his life.

Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations/embellishments/lies and myths surrounding the founders of said rules of life.

E favorite,

The greatest heroes of reason in the history of this nation were Christians or Jews. People like Jonathan Edwards the greatest philosopher in the history of this nation and president of Princeton.

No regrets for the smiling murderers

The three Indonesians sentenced to die for the 2002 Bali blasts say that they are ready to be executed and their only regret is that Muslims were among the 202 killed in the attack.
Imam Samudra and the brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi are held at the top-security Batu prison, off the southern coast of Java. They were allowed to meet relatives yesterday in what is likely to be the last such visit before they face a firing squad, probably within the next two months.
Amrozi became known as the smiling bomber because of his constant grin during his trial. “People ask me, why am I smiling? I am happy because I will be united with 72 angels in heaven,” he said in an interview with Reuters and a local television network. “I have killed many with my bombs. I have been tested by spending time in this prison, but if you make infidels angry you will be rewarded.”
The Bali bombings, blamed on the South East Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah, were intended to scare away foreigners so that Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, could eventually become part of a larger Islamic caliphate. Instead, the attacks in Bali and Jakarta pushed Indonesia into a closer security and intelligence relationship with the US and Australia.
The bombers said that Indonesia’s ties to Washington and Canberra did not mean that they had failed. “What we did was to fight the soldiers of Zion and the cross,” said Samudra, who is considered to have been the chief planner of the Bali attack. Mukhlas added: “If there are victims among Muslims it was just an error. Muslims’ blood is not halal [allowed to be killed] and their killing was not intentional.”
The men are the only three involved in the bombings to be sentenced to death. Their lawyers have appealed, but the men have said repeatedly that they are ready to die.
“We have no regrets at all,” Mukhlas said. “The Bali bombing was intended to uphold the divine order. My brother Amrozi was visited by a dead friend in a dream last night, who told him that a flying creature with a golden saddle is waiting to take him to heaven. This is why we will not ask for pardon. This is about heaven and hell. Asking for pardon is a big sin.”

The persecuted Christians written about below are some more heroes of faith:

Christian Homes Demolished in Pakistan - VOM Sources
On October 19, local Muslims demolished homes belonging to three Christian families in the village of Lobhana, near Lahore, Pakistan. According to The Voice of the Martyrs' contacts, more than 70 armed villagers moved in with tractors and began destroying the homes. VOM contacts said, "They demolished and looted three homes and only stopped when the police arrived." Some of the Christians attacked reported that the Muslims threatened to kill them. VOM contacts added that the land where some of the demolished homes were located had been given to the Christian families by the Pakistani government more than 10 years earlier. However, some local Muslims claimed the land, intending to build a cemetery.

i noticed you seem to have failed to mention they were fighting against ISLAMICS. which is what every should do.
islam is a religion that demands hate of hindu, jews, christians, and tells people to live like moho did - the hadith. that means they can have sex with 9 year olds, order people to murder a poet who was nursing her baby as she was butchered. what did moho say? 'two goats will not butt heads over it."
did i leave out the lying, raping, murder, and cutting off body parts that the koran demands. and hostages, the koran is big on hostages.
so the story is not about monks - ITS ABOUT THE TERRORIST CULT CALLED ISLAM.

Gospel Singer Helen Berhane Granted Asylum in Denmark - VOM Sources
Eritrean gospel singer, Helen Berhane, who was released from prison in November 2006 after being detained in Eritrea for two years without charge, has been granted asylum in Denmark. Berhane and her daughter arrived in Denmark on October 19, after spending 11 months in Sudan. Her health remains extremely poor, due to the physical suffering she experienced during her detention. She cannot walk without assistance. During Berhane's detention, she was held for extended periods of time in shipping containers and tortured several times by authorities in an effort to force her to recant her faith.

Humm (WWYMFSD), what would a young Muslim foot soldier do?

Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama, Gandhi etc., all protested peacefully, they did not, kill, burn, tear down public property or burn tires to get their message across, like the young Muslim foot soldiers of France, London Spain etc.

I tried to put together a list of things Muslim foot soldiers would "fight" for in the USA...

1. Foot washers in all American schools and Universities.

2. Prayer breaks for those Muslims working in assembly lines, meat-packing plants etc. Fresh Muslim refugees need to change the current suppressive anti-prayer laws.

3. Muslims cashiers must never be made to process a customer’s pork products and alcohol in check-out lanes.

4. All Schools must provide Hallal food.

5. Muslims must be allowed to slaughter animals in their back-yards for Allah.

5. Muslim women must wear hijjab, niquab, burka or whatever cover up they want in public. Anyone questioning them must be prosecuted for Hate crimes. Teach those haters a lesson.

6. Public swimming pools must have women-only hours, Muslim women cannot swim in the presence of men... only female life-guard can be present, the state will provide a female life-guard if necessary.

7. McDonalds will serve hillal burgers.

8. During Ramadan non-Muslims cannot eat lunch or drink water in the presence of Muslims, violators will be prosecuted under Hate Crime laws.

9. Three additional Muslim holidays be added to the calendar year, 2-Eid holidays and one Moharram.

and...

10. Airport security will not check or question anyone that fits a certain "profile" while they continue to harass the 80 year old Caucasian lady who just had knee replacement surgery.

Liberated christian,

Iran has not dropped nuclear bomb on innocent people. Secular fundamentalism is equally dangerous as religious fundamentalism. Your country have alredy dropped bomb weighing 800kg [since nuclear weapons cannot be used next best option]on innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan and killed more than one million people already. Put your house in order first.

The title of this essay bothers me. What we need in future generations are Reason heroes, not faith heroes

Norrie,

Apparently the birth stories of Buddha are not folklore for many Buddhists i.e. a major imperfection.

Then we have as noted before: "Fat Buddha is a "large perfection negative" as are the apparent embellishments of said Buddha. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/BUDDHISM/SIDD.HTM

Collect all the wise sayings of the ancients as did the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Muslim scribes did. What to call it?? Religious Evolution!!!!

testing

Sir:

Funny, isn't it, that RELIGION has been the cause of so many deaths!!

Concerned,

Thanks for your latest post.

It's a nice piece of folklore (if you like folklore) but rather ex post facto wouldn't you think?

Best to you.

Patel, is Hilton waiting for you to accompany her to Africa, I thought so.

When Bush/Cheney came to office, Trump, Gates, Winfrey and a few others were idolized for their wealth. Some of them, like professional ball players, inferred that hard work leads to success and that discounts talent, looks, and just plain goodluck.

Yuppies are not hard to figure out. The hippies of days past graduated, got a haircut and became full fledge members of the establishment. Well maybe not all of them. I remember the days of old, most revolutions start in whispers.

Funny but now alot of us are hoping for a revolution of law and order, a return to the "Rule of law" itself.

Combining religion with advocation of social change that uses our constitution as guiding star is nothing new. But advocating certain changes for personal gain is so old, so narcissitic and so selfish, I would rather now ignore some.

Resistance to change comes in many forms and yet change cannot be halted. Mankind is progressive in nature. Mankind does not like to suffer indefiently.

I think that a country based on a revolution against oppression naturally matures into higher prinicples of social orders. How many white Americans lost their lives fighting for the freedom of African Americans ? And did not Americans fight against the evil forces of the Nazi Empire throughout numerous soils occupied by westerners and arabs alike ?

So it is my opinion that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness will be extended to Hispanics as our land progresses. Is my hope that all Americans as brothers and sisters extend a hand to all refugees of failed regimes, failed economics, or social orders in general.

And that threatening to deport 12 million illegal immigrants is equal to threatening a holocaust because a self-chosen few ignored global econonmics, disease, poverty through greed, personal ambition, wealth and fame.

Really Patel, it's time for quite a few of us to park it on the front porch and say, "This is the torch passed to you in blood, sweat and tears now what will you do" ?

Norrie,

As per http://buddhism.about.com/library/blbudlifebirth1.htm

"Different stories surround the conception and actual birth of the Buddha. One has it that around the time of the Buddha's conception, Mahamaya had a dream in which she saw a large white elephant enter her side. This was interpreted by the Brahmins, or priests of the day, that the child would grow up to be a great emperor or a great holy man, the elephant being an auspicious symbol of sovereignty. Another tells how Mahamaya, on her way to visiting her relatives, gave birth to the Buddha standing up and holding on to a tree, which is why the Buddha seems to have been born at Lumbini rather than his father's town of Kapilavatthu. According to legend, as soon as he was born, the Buddha walked seven steps and announced: 'I am the highest in the world; I am the best in the world; I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being for me'."

See also: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/2lbud.htm

A new Mulla Oomar is under making in Burma by the Pentagon.Burma would soon be in turmoil. Why that area is looking peaceful? US is puzzled on that account for a few years, particularly since the Bali blast. US needs a base there. Reasons are very apparent. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India. Australia's next century is in doldrums.US is to maintain law and order. They have , I think, found a solution. Buddhist monks may be renamed "BUDDHIMAN" like the Afghan seminaries'students who were renamed from Talib to "TALIBAN" in the eighties by the Democrates and Republicans alike and both are now making it a point to win the election. Burma may be the discussin point of the next election between the two parties. Go ahead.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated,

I've read a lot about Buddhism but I never read the story about the Buddha's emerging from his mother's womb as a full-grown preacher.

[Isn't this more probably true of Mr. Robertson and Mr. Falwell - LOL - ]

You may recall that my "Buddhism" is a personal, Westernized Buddhism, shorn of traditional Buddhism's oriental and cultural baggage, and folklore of the sort you presented.

For more on this, please see my post this morning at 8:42 AM on Lisa Miller's thread, in response to a question on what I "believed about God".

Best wishes to you.

Norrie,

Fat Buddha is a "large perfection negative" as are the apparent embellishments of said Buddha. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/BUDDHISM/SIDD.HTM

And then there is this commentary from Professor Crossan: From: Will the Real Jesus Stand Up?
A Debate Between William Lane Craig
and John Dominic Crossan

By: Ron Maness
edited by
Paul Copan

Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998, 179 pages

"When I look a Buddhist friend in the face, I cannot say with integrity, "Our story about Jesus' virginal birth is true and factual. Your story that when the Buddha came out of his
mother's womb, he was walking, talking, teaching and preaching (which I must admit is even better than our story)---that's a myth. We have
the truth; you have a lie." I don't think that can be said any longer, for our insistence that our faith is a fact and that others' faith is a lie is, I think, a cancer that eats at the heart of Christianity."

Apparently "liberal" Buddhists don't believe in the birth story but the legend remains active.

What Ashin Kovida and the other Buddhist Monks did was noble and brave.

But is Ashin Kovida a "young person of faith", as you seem to suggest?

I doubt that any Buddhist is "a person of faith."

The Buddha said (paraphrased): "Don't believe anything I say because I said it. Go and figure things out for yourselves."

The Dalai Lama said (again paraphrased): "If traditional Buddhist beliefs are disproved by science, we must discard the beliefs and accept the science."

So over the entire 2,500 year timespan of Buddhism, the admonition has been to think for yourself and take nothing on faith.

Yet one more reason why Buddhism is superior, and more advanced than virtually any other belief system or religion.

Eboo,

You noted:

"This is how movements start – a few simple words bravely spoken, and a response by people tired of being oppressed."

Hmmm, we await your simple words, bravely spoken about the oppressed people in the terror theocracy of Iran!!! (or any other Islamic theocracy).

And how goes that response to the flaws in the founders and foundations of Islam as part of your youth response movement????