Monday, September 8, 2008

The title says it all...

From Slate:

What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick

A theocrat is a theocrat, whether Muslim or Christian.

By Juan Cole

Oh. My. G-d! Read the article if you can stomach it, at Slate. So the Muslim theocracy is equivalent to the Christian theocracy. Hmm. Let’s see, point-by-point:


How does Islam deal with non-believers? From the Koran: 4.89 : They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - 2:191

If you should die or be killed in the cause of Allah, His mercy and forgiveness would surely be better than all they riches they amass. If you should die or be killed, before Him you shall all be gathered. - 3:157-8

But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever you find them. - 4:89

Allah will humble the unbelievers. Allah and His apostle are free from obligations to idol-worshipers. Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers. - 9:2-3

Fight those who believe neither in God nor the Last Day, nor what has been forbidden by God and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are People of the Book, until they pay the tribute and have been humbled. - 9:29 (another source: ) The unbelievers are impure and their abode is hell. (another source: ) Humiliate the non-Muslims to such an extent that they surrender and pay tribute.

O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. - 9:73

When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds, then set them free, either by grace or ransom, until the war lays down its burdens. - 47:4


How does Christianity, or Judaism, or any other religion you know of deal with non-believers? Certainly not like this!


How about making friends? From the Koran: 5.51: O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.


If I’m not mistaken, the other religions have no similar rule. The point of this is, Islam is unlike other religions. While Judaism and Christianity (the basis of our culture) has a small set of Commandments, the theology is primarily a personal mindset helping to define the individual’s relationship with the Creator. Islam is very different. It commands the adherent in inflexible, violent ways of personal, societal, military, criminal, civil, and every other aspect of life.


There are no moderate Islamists, because Islam punishes apostasy with death -- except in this country, since Sharia law is (thankfully) not in effect. But if Islam gains strength here, so-called moderates would become orthodox, for fear of punishment.


So the statement “A theocrat is a theocrat, whether Muslim or Christian” is made either in ignorance of the realities of Islam, or were written to deceive. You decide which.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Just who are the Democrats?

There are different kinds of people rooting for Obama. Speaking in the broadest possible generalities, they fall into three groups: the traditional Democrats, airheads, and Socialists.

Old school Democrats are the heart of the party, of course, but losing their stomach for the recent swing leftward. These people are good Americans, who care more for fairness for the little guy than being competitive. They are willing to sacrifice freedom for an assuredness of outcome. They want to get their job and never have to worry about looking for another. They appreciate Unions more than their employers, because the Unions promise them stability and guarantees, while the employers reward value and ambition. The main events of their lives: birth, first job, marriage, kids, retirement, death. The important stuff happens in between, but it’s all day-to-day, Budweiser state fair, tv watching, NFL and NASCAR stuff. There’s nothing wrong with this outlook. To some people, the job and the chase for an ever higher salary is a low or non-existent priority. It’s another hue in the American palette.

The primary target of the Democrat party is the second type. These are the born followers. During the ‘60’s, these were the kids who became non-conformists to fit in with the cool kids, wearing the anti-establishment uniform of tie-dye shirts, ragged blue jeans, long hair, and of course, mind-expanding altering drugs. These are generally intellectually lazy types: In school, they could never master math, never grasped science, and couldn’t handle all the dates in history class. They might have enjoyed art class, poetry, acting, music – all the subjective courses that required simple mimicry to squeak by, instead of mastery of processes of reasoning. [Important note: in the arts, there is no “right” or “wrong”. Everything is relative. Expanding on this nonsense, it is not a stretch to see how the same lack of values has been applied to other areas, such as moral relativism]

Success in this artsy universe requires a smidgeon of talent and recitation of buzzwords, phrases, slogans, and acceptance by the like-minded. This explains why Hollywood leans so heavily to the left. Actors are basically people with no personalities of their own who pretend to be people with personalities. They likewise have no substantial intellect or skills – hence their attraction to Hollywood, despite the ridiculous odds against success there. These people, like fish swimming in schools, will dart in the direction of the group, justifying thoughts by “feelings” and “vibes”. If pressed for something that sounds rational, they will establish an arbitrary “truth” (e.g., Bush lied us into the Iraq war) and draw a pained logic from that point. These people use arguments such as “well, everyone knows…”, “Karl Rove plotted…”, “the NY Times wrote that…”. They don’t question the prevailing left-wing wisdom – ever – they build upon on it.

Successful leftists of the second order are besieged by guilt because, under all the artificiality, they realize at some level that they are just plain lucky. But like the primitives they really are, they are also hoarders. They know there are people less fortunate than themselves who would benefit from charity, but want everyone else to pay for it. This is how they justify social program by the government. They seriously believe it is government’s role to be everyone’s Santa Claus, everyman’s sugar daddy. They take no personal responsibility for themselves or for their fellow man. As Arthur Brooks writes in “WHO REALLY CARES: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism”, Basic Books, 1996:
• Households headed by a conservative gave 30 percent more money to charity in 2000 than liberal families, despite earning less money, on average.
• In 2002, conservative Americans were more likely to donate blood each year, and did so more often than liberals.
• Conservatives are the most giving of their time and their money in every single possible area and every single possible bracket.
• Liberal young Americans in 2004 were also significantly less likely than the young conservatives to express a willingness to sacrifice for their loved ones: A lower percentage said they would prefer to suffer than let a loved one suffer, that they are not happy unless the loved one is happy, or that they would sacrifice their own wishes for those they love.

The third wing of the Democrat party is the most secretive, and most troublesome, and commanding the most control of the party…the true socialists. They do not love America; they just love the American Real Estate. The Socialists want to eradicate our way of government and economics, and even our behaviors, and replace them with a Socialist utopia. In many ways, they have already had some success. Our government is mired in funding all kinds of social programs, most or all of which could be done better in the private sector (more on this in future columns). The socialists want true income redistribution, state ownership of personal property through confiscatory income taxes, and state control or outright appropriation of commerce and industry. What’s in it for them, you may ask? In every historic example of socialism, the elites got to enjoy the fruits of the labor of the masses, while controlling or eliminating competing ideas…at least until the system collapsed under its own weight of corruption.

These Socialists knowingly tell half-truths and outright lies to gain power. They use double-speak as a matter of course. Just look at the jargon:

• Right to affordable health care: sounds innocuous, but what is meant is single-source (government) mandatory health insurance, or even a fully government-run health care system.
• Pro-choice: abortion is the only choice they promote.
• Tax the wealthy: really, confiscate even more money earned by taxpayers and redistribute it to those who neither earn nor pay taxes.
• Conserving energy/Containing Global Warming: really, curtailing your freedom
• Working Americans: non-working Americans and illegal immigrants
• Community Organizer: voter fraud enabler

These Socialists are really running the show, but are doing it in disguise. Obama can talk to both sides of an issue and get away with it…the socialists know when he’s lying, and the airheads have no working memory, they really like Obama because he’s so dreamy! But the traditional Democrats are losing patience. They are in the majority, and have been biting their collective tongue when they hear the doublespeak. These Democrats are not Anti-Americans, pro-abortion, anti-religion, anti-capitalists. They’re just willing to put up with some unwanted government programs so that they get their union jobs and free retirement benefits from Social Security. But enough is enough.

Once the smokescreen is blown away, and the Socialists are seen for who they are, it should not be difficult for the traditional Democrats to switch to the pro-American party. We’ve seen Geraldine Ferraro testing the waters on the other side on the single issue of a woman as a VP. This isn’t the only issue that’s pushing people over the edge. The entirety of the Democrat campaign has been a touchy-feely campaign custom-made to attract airheads. It’s much harder to answer policy questions with sufficient truthfulness without irritating true Americans, whether they are old Democrats or modern Republicans.