Children of Jihad

look and learn

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Do you see “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand”

And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Do you see “behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” Do you see “behold behind him a ram”

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Do you see “stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand” “but as captain of the host of the Lord”

Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,
To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.

Do you see “thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel”

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Do you see “saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven” “having a drawn sword in his hand”

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

Do you see “but as for these sheep, what have they done”

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

Do you see “I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul”

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.

Do you see “let the angel of the Lord chase them” ”let the angel of the Lord persecute them”

Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

Do you see “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them”

“And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand”
“behold behind him a ram”
“stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand” “but as captain of the host of the Lord”
“thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel”
“saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven” “having a drawn sword in his hand”
“but as for these sheep, what have they done”
“I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul”
“let the angel of the Lord chase them” ”let the angel of the Lord persecute them”
“Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them”
“took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Do you see “If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Look "The book of the generation of the son's of Abraham"

The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

Do you see “set Ephraim before Manasseh” “Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”

Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

Do you see “plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance”

Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

Do you see “Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you” “and hath given you this land”

When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:
According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein.

Do you see “in mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein”

And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Do you see “in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.”

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Look “she dwelt under the palm tree” do you see “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree”

well dave, you really have been given an answer over and over again-

if it is "hard to swallow" for you as a non-muslim- consider that you are not really making much of an attempt to actually understand-

here it is dave-
several of your examples go back in time a bit and are not things as they stand on the ground right now

o, answer to #3- turkey

on the ground today?

why is the government of burma killings its peaceful buddhist monks?

why does india exploit its own children so abysmally with child labor?

and certainly no one will say that the dalit caste of india is sharing the same beneifts that the upper castes are- and theyre the same ethnic group!
not even a minority, but its own people!
and why did indians burn their widows ALIVE on the funeral pyres of their husbands a scant 20 years ago?

see, dave- im not attacking india-
i know you live there-

you are asking muslims to justify mans inhumanity to man-

we cant do that
you cant do that

it would be ridiculous, ugly and false (also childishly simplistic and narrow minded) for me to ask why all hindus allow such debased treatment of their children and weakest elements of their society-

so i dont do that.

because it is a rhetorical question that no human can answer-

what is man so cruel?

i dont know dave-

why are people afraid of what is different and try to control or eradicate it?
alot of reasons, but not one of them doctrinally islamic.

not one dave.

im not on the defensive dave (even though the question, rhetorical in nature seems more like an excuse to list 'muslim countries policies, and actually, although you deny it at the outset- really is an offenseive 'question'.

so im not on the defensive (although that is ones nature when offended upon) because i havent done anything to defend-

to rephrase your own statement-

your attack on islam (your own words, that you must recognize as true at some level or you wouldnt disclaim it)is not really shedding any light on anything.

theres alot of injustice and inhumanity and prejudice in the world dave-

whenever you take a select grouping of people, and ascribe only negative aspects to them- it kind of feeds into that prejudice rather than shedding any light on anything.

its kind of a conversation killer as opposed to a dialogue starter

obviously, it hasnt been working for you

why not try another approach? one less accusatory and blame heavy finger pointing?

Religious persecution is not allowed in Islam.
"...attacking a religious group (fitnah) is more severe than a plain attack (qatl)" (2:190-193)

"There should be no coercion in religion" (2:256)

I have tried again and again to point out that the reality on the ground points in a different direction from the open-minded, peaceful nature of Islam and tolerance for non-Muslims.

Some Muslims on these blogs say that the Islamic regimes you see around the world are not truly Islamic. This line of argument and defense of the faith is difficult to swallow for non-Muslims. Consider the facts as they exist on the ground today:

1. No religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, etc. The Saudi Arabians did not even allow American soldiers to wear a cross on Saudi soil. It is hard to believe that Saudis are not good practicing Muslims. Do you mean to say that they need to be even better Muslims?

2. Iran's record on minorities is terrible. They have persecuted Bahais, Jews, Zorastrians, and other minorities so much that most have fled Iran. If you say Iranian mullahs are not good Muslims in Iran, they may put you to death for saying that.

3. Most Islamic countries have no track record of democracy and secularism. The question is how come Islam and democracy/secularism cannot co-exist? Can a Muslim seriously think of a non-Muslim to hold a powerful political post in a largely Muslim country? Why don't we see more of such appointments/electoral results in Islamic countries?

4. Pakistan was founded as an Islamic country. Can we expect secular parties to exist in Pakistan when the constitution has no room for secular parties? Can a Hindu or a Christian ever, I mean EVER, hold an important political office in Pakistan? Therefore, for voters, it's going to a choice between religious parties or the military. What other outcome can we expect?

I would appreciate it if Eboo Patel and other Muslims can comment on these observations that are derived from the current Islamic political scenario. Again, please do not take these comments as attacking Islam and go on the defensive. That approach does not shed any light.

Ibrahim -

Trust me - its on every single blog he can find from his funny little apartment. Everywhere you go - he is there with his wierd little outbursts.

Initially, I felt sorry for him. Now, he is just an annoying little mosquito.

CCNL - You are irritating.

To This guy who calls Himself Lberated
I, for one , am sick and tired of reading the same post over and over and over.You do not seem to be able to add to any topic besides pasting this essay which looks like it has been taken freom some Atheistic Newsletter.Get a life or get lost.

The Islamic political and religious culture has a significantly sized element of radicals who promote the indoctrination of youth in the ways of violence, teaching them that it is the way to their salvation. Along the way, the radicals, when they succeed, gain political strength within their culture, which in much of the world is woefully uneducated in any of the elements of life that inform liberal western thinking.

Christians, of course, faced similarly oppressive religious guidance and managed over the centuries to eliminate it from the political cultural arena. We still have some radical thinking and acting religious groups in the west, but they rarely rise to anything significant in the political arena.

Islam will not be rid of this menace until there is something on the order of a 'reformation' that overrides any teaching of violent behavior as the road to Paradise.

I see it as this simple.

CCNL - Here we go again

The same copy/pasted idiotic posts that are on countless other blogs. Dont you sleep, eat, etc??? Do you have a life? A family? Or have they given up on your faulty "neurons" too?

Samer-

"Why did he choose the title "children of jihad"?

He is saying young impressionable children are being indoctrinated to believe:

"Allah is their objective. The Prophet is their leader. Qur'an is their law. Jihad is their way. Martyrdom is their highest hope.”

Go to youtube and enter "children of jihad".

This will give you an idea why these children are "of jihad" not "of the middle east".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAHHjfUxERY

Why did he choose the title "children of jihad" instead of 'children of the Middle East'? i mean, jihad gets more dollars and attention, right?

Commentator,

Truths/proofs about the flaws in contemporary religions (for the Commentator only since he/she apparently has not seen these before):

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/warmongering 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 and myths surrounding the founders of said rules of life.

Mr. Patel,

Hey, I like your style. First I read your article about evangelicals in which you espoused the idea that (gasp) they are not all the same. A logical idea for me, but evidently shocking to many. And here you are at it again. We can't predict what Muslim youth will do simply based on the fact that they are Muslim. Again (gasp!) what a revolutionary thought for some.

In fact, as a Christian I believe firmly in the potential each man and woman has for good. I believe that we are all created in the image of God and that it is constant battle for all man and woman to let that godly nature reign in their thought and deeds. I believe the same for Muslims whether young or old. I believe they have been created in the image of the very same God that has created me.

Each individual no matter what faith they have been raised in, is given the opportunity in life to allow their god-like nature to overcome their sinful nature. Our god-like nature is one that is loving, patient, kind, merciful, forgiving, wise, etc... Our sinful nature is just the opposite: hateful, impatient, cruel, unmerciful, unforgiving, etc... God gives each man and woman the opportunity to resemble Him or to resemble the Father of lies.

I believe in the power and potential of each individual to resemble more closely each day God the Father. Of course it is hard to do if one does not know God. That is precisly what God asks of us as individuals. He asks that we may know Him so that we may know how should pattern ourselves. When we pattern ourselves after God, we honor Him and we in turn live more peaceful less hate-filled lives. When we choose to ignore God and the example He has given us, we rebel against Him and do harm not only to ourselves yet ultimately to the entire human race.

Thus this vicious cycle that we find ourselves caught in.

On and right after Sept. 11 01 we - USA- had the entire world on our side. We had an opportunity
to talk peace, interfaith dialog , healing and
dialog among the young generations. The opposite
happened, all because of one person: our Commander in Chief,that went to war for personal reasons( not only in my opinion, but in the opinion of respectable writers). We now know for sure that the WMD story was fabricated.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated, i don't think you are near liberation. defaming and attacking others without a sound proof, only proves your ignorance of the subject at hand.

The world can hardly become a better,more peaceful place,while we continue teaching our young that there's a skygod named Allah who lives in a place called Paradise,who you don't get to see until you're dead;and only then providing you've been good.If you've been a baddie you go to hell.
As this flies in the face of everything we know about the real world,we do great harm persuading our young that it is truth. It is not the truth.It is a wish.A hope.A faith.It is anything but truth.
It is in fact a lie,and maybe the greatest lie ever told.
Religion has outlived its usefulness.Primitive man needed it.It 'explained' everything to him.
But we have grown up now,and have to put aside childish notions of gods and eternal life.
And we gotta stop lying to our children,and raising them to be fools.

.
Well, there you are.

As the article and the first eight comments show (and you can bet, the opposite parties will soon weigh in equal caustic, hate-filled comments), the Middle East problem is not about ot be solved. The war will go on and the young of both sides will get maimed, bloodied, traumatized, if lucky, and otherwise dead.

The "opinion-makers", "deciders," and "literati" and who have you in various positions of influene and authority, will see to that. And they have vast supportive groups backing them all the way to the spreading graveyards all over the world. All sincere and full of wisdom and divinely inspired too. From both camps and, more vociferously, from the fence-sitters, gawkers, and kibitzers too.

Instead, they lay the blame on the Koran, on the Bible, on religion, on non- or anti-religion, on political ideas, on economic dicta, etc., etc. And, as you can read from this blog's posting, on the youth as the "question" "terrifying" to the world. Yes, the voiceless, uncertain, groping, powerless youths of the world are the source of world insecurity about its future!

Expect, therefore, no meaningful changes.

This world has not even precisely defined its problems, much less agreed on antecedents or causes. Not on the Palestine-Israel Conflict. Nor on Global Warming. Nor on Immigration. Nor on Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Who is interested? Most call them "abstracts" and do not feel any urgency in comprehending much more confronting them.

Who wants to know why? And, what can we do? Such complex demanding queries that portend so much unsettling inconveniences for us! They could even shatter our feelings of superiority, our sensitive self-image.

We have our own domestic disputes, our private woes and dilemmas tax already our time, energies and financial resources. We will not forget that "charity begins at home," will we?

Now, then, these are concrete problems: the pre-teen children indulging in unprotected sex, schools distributing birth-control materials without informing parents, the spiralling prices of gasoline, deciding whether "unconditional forgiveness" is viable and good or not, and that thing about "water-boarding," and what-about-OJ? Etc.

We have enough problems of our own, don't we? A $9 Trillion indebtedness, for one. A soon-to-be shaky social security program, for another. Etc.

.

CCNL - here you are again

What I think what we need to do is de-contaminate your mind.

All this means is that in person muslim youth see you as human. It does not help in the abstract. These same young people are killing us and themselves if need be to do it.

Until the koran is "deflawed", no one is safe especially the children being brainwashed in Islam.