Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Friday, December 28, 2018
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Monday, December 24, 2018
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Monday, December 17, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Friday, December 14, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Monday, December 10, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Friday, December 7, 2018
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
What Does Sharia Law State About Jihad?
What does Sharia law say about Jihad?
Maliki School, jurist Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 996):
“Jihad is a precept of Divine institution. Its performance by certain individuals may dispense others from it. We Malikis maintain that it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace the religion of Allah except where the enemy attacks first. They have the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax (jizya), short of which war will be declared against them.”
Hanbali School, jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), popular with modern terrorists:
“Since lawful warfare is essentially jihad and since its aim is that the religion is God’s entirely and God’s word is uppermost, therefore according to all Muslims, those who stand in the way of this aim must be fought. As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their likes, they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words (e.g. by propaganda) and acts (e.g. by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare).”
Hanafi School, Hedaya, classic manual of Hanafi laws, 12th century:
“It is not lawful to make war upon any people who have never before been called to the faith, without previously requiring them to embrace it, because the Prophet so instructed his commanders, directing them to call the infidels to the faith, and also because the people will hence perceive that they are attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this consideration it is possible that they may be induced to agree to the call, in order to save themselves from the troubles of war” If the infidels, upon receiving the call, neither consent to it nor agree to pay capitation tax, it is then incumbent on the Muslims to call upon God for assistance, and to make war upon them, because God is the assistant of those who serve Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet, moreover, commands us so to do.”
Shafi’i School, scholar Abu’l Hasan al-Mawardi (d. 1058):
“The mushrikun [infidels] of Dar al-Harb (the arena of battle) are of two types: First, those whom the call of Islam has reached, but they have refused it and have taken up arms. The amir of the army has the option of fighting them”in accordance with what he judges to be in the best interest of the Muslims and most harmful to the mushrikun” Second, those whom the invitation to Islam has not reached, although such persons are few nowadays since Allah has made manifest the call of his Messenger”it is forbidden to”begin an attack before explaining the invitation to Islam to them, informing them of the miracles of the Prophet and making plain the proofs so as to encourage acceptance on their part; if they still refuse to accept after this, war is waged against them and they are treated as those whom the call has reached”
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Monday, December 3, 2018
Religiosity of 9/11 Islamists
Religiosity of 9/11 Islamists
911/hearings/hearing3/witness_emerson
last-night-document in Arabic Released by the FBI
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Science, Adam & Eve
/Every-person-spawned-single-pair-adults-living-200-000-years-ago-scientists-claim
The study has been misunderstood by some religious parties who thought it meant that we all came into being in some seminal Big Bang-typed event 100,000 ago, but this isn't what the findings actually suggest.
What Stoeckle and Thaler's findings point to is that our species has to revamp far more often than we thought, and we do so in unison with all animals.
Their objections to a religious understanding seems superficial. The Bible does say we came from a couple, and the earth and it’s inhabitants has been destroyed with a race of giants, Noah, and the end of the world. Also, everything in the earth is a part of God’s creation.
https://biblehub.com/romans/8-22.htm
https://biblehub.com/romans/8-22.htm
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
How Islamic is the Islamic State?
ISIS
Haykel
A 2015 article in The Atlantic by Graeme Wood - "What ISIS Really Wants" – and the controversy it has given rise to, has brought once again to the fore questions about the kind of role scholars of religion can legitimately and usefully play in ‘defining’ religion in the public square. Wood, citing heavily the work of the Princeton Scholar of religion Bernard Haykel, is of the view that ISIS is Islamic, rooted in the textual tradition its supporters employ to authenticate their actions. In a response to this article, also in The Atlantic, Caner K. Dagli, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, is sharply critical of Wood, writing, "On what grounds do non-Muslim journalists and academics tell Muslims that their judgment that ISIS does not take a full and fair view of the Quran and Sunnah (the example and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) amounts to a 'cotton-candy' view of Islam, while these non-Muslims retain the right to judge how 'serious' ISIS is in its understanding of core Islamic texts?"
However, it is not just non-Muslim academics and journalists and their critics who are engaging in the formation of representations of what is and is not Islamic through different media channels (responses and counter responses to What ISIS Really Wants are being played out across new social media, Twitter, blogs etc). ISIS/ISIL itself makes use of social networking to also engage in a process of making a claim on what counts as Islam and Islamic. This is a very public strategy that has involved the production and the global dissemination of videos of beheadings as well as the use of Twitter and Facebook to apparently lure young Muslim women, including those from North America and Europe, to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and engage in ‘radical’ ‘jihadist’ activities. This in turn has received no small amount of media interest and some emergent academic commentary from those wishing to document and better understanding the way that young women might be ‘radicalized’ in this way via new media.
This panel brings together experts from both academia and journalism that have engaged with:
1) The recent controversies over the way in which ISIS/ISIL is represented in the public square by academics and journalists; and
2) How ISIS supporters represent ISIS via different forms of new social media, including the rising concern over the radicalization of young women.
The panel session was recorded at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, GA, November 21-24.
Panelists:
Kecia Ali, Boston University
Caner Dagli, College of the Holy Cross
Sohaira Siddiqi, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Ayesha S. Chaudhry, University of British Columbia, presiding
Haykel
A 2015 article in The Atlantic by Graeme Wood - "What ISIS Really Wants" – and the controversy it has given rise to, has brought once again to the fore questions about the kind of role scholars of religion can legitimately and usefully play in ‘defining’ religion in the public square. Wood, citing heavily the work of the Princeton Scholar of religion Bernard Haykel, is of the view that ISIS is Islamic, rooted in the textual tradition its supporters employ to authenticate their actions. In a response to this article, also in The Atlantic, Caner K. Dagli, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, is sharply critical of Wood, writing, "On what grounds do non-Muslim journalists and academics tell Muslims that their judgment that ISIS does not take a full and fair view of the Quran and Sunnah (the example and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) amounts to a 'cotton-candy' view of Islam, while these non-Muslims retain the right to judge how 'serious' ISIS is in its understanding of core Islamic texts?"
However, it is not just non-Muslim academics and journalists and their critics who are engaging in the formation of representations of what is and is not Islamic through different media channels (responses and counter responses to What ISIS Really Wants are being played out across new social media, Twitter, blogs etc). ISIS/ISIL itself makes use of social networking to also engage in a process of making a claim on what counts as Islam and Islamic. This is a very public strategy that has involved the production and the global dissemination of videos of beheadings as well as the use of Twitter and Facebook to apparently lure young Muslim women, including those from North America and Europe, to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and engage in ‘radical’ ‘jihadist’ activities. This in turn has received no small amount of media interest and some emergent academic commentary from those wishing to document and better understanding the way that young women might be ‘radicalized’ in this way via new media.
This panel brings together experts from both academia and journalism that have engaged with:
1) The recent controversies over the way in which ISIS/ISIL is represented in the public square by academics and journalists; and
2) How ISIS supporters represent ISIS via different forms of new social media, including the rising concern over the radicalization of young women.
The panel session was recorded at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, GA, November 21-24.
Panelists:
Kecia Ali, Boston University
Caner Dagli, College of the Holy Cross
Sohaira Siddiqi, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Ayesha S. Chaudhry, University of British Columbia, presiding
Monday, November 19, 2018
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Monday, November 12, 2018
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Scientific Revolution By and For Christianity
Scientific Revolution By and For Christianity
Science
Dr. Mark Kalthoff addresses the false assumption that the scientific revolution, at its core, was motivated by a reaction against medieval Christianity. In fact, most of the architects of the scientific revolution were churchmen themselves, who did the majority of their work as members of a tradition, not as dissidents.
This video is an excerpt from Hillsdale’s Online Course: “Western Heritage,” featuring Mark A. Kalthoff, Henry Salvatori Chair of History and Traditional Values, and chairman and professor of history.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Monday, November 5, 2018
Introduction: The Modern Presidency
Overview:
The American presidency is often called the most powerful office on earth. This is so not only because the nation which elects the president is the most powerful nation on earth, but also because the American Founders designed the office to be strong and effective. However, the Founders also placed certain restraints on this power, which are necessary to maintain liberty and protect citizens’ rights. The modern understanding and structure of the presidency are a threat to freedom due to the accumulation of all three powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—in the executive branch and the breakdown of constitutional restraints.
The American presidency is often called the most powerful office on earth. This is so not only because the nation which elects the president is the most powerful nation on earth, but also because the American Founders designed the office to be strong and effective. However, the Founders also placed certain restraints on this power, which are necessary to maintain liberty and protect citizens’ rights. The modern understanding and structure of the presidency are a threat to freedom due to the accumulation of all three powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—in the executive branch and the breakdown of constitutional restraints.
Discussion Questions
How can we understand the presidency as a response to the weakness, and ultimately the failure, of the Articles of Confederation?
How is the presidency fundamentally limited by the Framers' Constitution? How have such limits been broken, and can they be restored?
Does the constitutional design of the presidency require that a person of virtue hold the office?
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Septembers of Shiraz
Septembers of Shiraz
Septembers of Shiraz is a 2015 American drama film directed by Wayne Blair and written by Hanna Weg. It is based on Dalia Sofer's 2007 novel The Septembers of Shiraz. The film stars Adrien Brody, Salma Hayek, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Anthony Azizi, Bashar Rahal and Alon Aboutboul. The film was released on June 24, 2016, by Momentum Pictures.
The film is based on the novel by Dalia Sofer.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Ian Hunter, Mott The Hoople, TV Appearances
Disco 2 - French
October 10, 1970
Mott the Hoople
Bridget St John
April 15, 1971
Mott the Hoople
Hookfoot
Disco - German
Show 39
March 2, 1974
Mott The Hoople - Roll away the stone
Dan The Banjo Man - Dan The Banjo Man
Sweet - Teenage rampage
Danyel Gerard - Ti-lai-lai-li
Alvin Stardust - My coo ca choo
Barry Blue - Do you wanna dance
Ide + Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits
Jürgen Marcus - Irgendwann kommt jeder mal nach San Francisco
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Happiness is me and you
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Who knows, perhaps maybe
Hits A GoGo - Swiss
1972 (episode 13?)
Mott The Hoople - Drivin' Sister
Kaminski & Gottemeier - Hauptsache daß man von Gestern ist
Wind - Josephine
Lynsey De Paul - Sleeping Blue Nights
Greater Union - Heaven Help
Greater Union - Jimmy Webb Medley
Deke Leonard - Diamond Road
Wind - The Princess And The Minstrel
Amiel Cartwright - Pretty Baby
Mott the Hoople – Honaloochie Boogie
Lynsey De Paul - All Night
Wolfe Tones - The Black Ribbon Band
October 10, 1970
Mott the Hoople
Bridget St John
April 15, 1971
Mott the Hoople
Hookfoot
Disco - German
Show 39
March 2, 1974
Mott The Hoople - Roll away the stone
Dan The Banjo Man - Dan The Banjo Man
Sweet - Teenage rampage
Danyel Gerard - Ti-lai-lai-li
Alvin Stardust - My coo ca choo
Barry Blue - Do you wanna dance
Ide + Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits
Jürgen Marcus - Irgendwann kommt jeder mal nach San Francisco
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Happiness is me and you
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Who knows, perhaps maybe
Hits A GoGo - Swiss
1972 (episode 13?)
Mott The Hoople - Drivin' Sister
Kaminski & Gottemeier - Hauptsache daß man von Gestern ist
Wind - Josephine
Lynsey De Paul - Sleeping Blue Nights
Greater Union - Heaven Help
Greater Union - Jimmy Webb Medley
Deke Leonard - Diamond Road
Wind - The Princess And The Minstrel
Amiel Cartwright - Pretty Baby
Mott the Hoople – Honaloochie Boogie
Lynsey De Paul - All Night
Wolfe Tones - The Black Ribbon Band
Old Grey Whistle Test
June 25, 1974
Heavy Metal Kids - Hanging On, It's The Same
Pete Atkin - An Array of Passionate Lovers, Care-Charmer Sleep
Ian Hunter - interview
Loudon Wainwright III
JSD Band - Reel Call (film)
June 21, 1975
Camel - Snow Goose excerpts
Graham Central Station - Feel The Need (film)
Ronson & Hunter - Once Bitten Twice Shy (film)
The Tempations - My Baby (film)
ABC In Concert
Show 21
September 9, 1973
Uriah Heep - Sweet Lorraine, July Morning, Stealin' (David Byron, Ken Hensley, Mick Box, Gary Thain, Lee Kerslake)
Canned Heat - instrumental, One More River to Cross, Hot Fish, Looking for My Rainbow (Bob Hite, Ed Beyer, James Shane, Richard Hite, Fito de la Parra; Henry Vestine absent due to car accident)
Shawn Phillips - Moonshine, Dream Queen
Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes, All the Way from Memphis
Country Joe McDonald and his All-Star Band - Coulene Anne, Janis, Fish Cheer > I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag
The Midnight Special
December 7, 1973
Hosts: The Four Tops
--The Four Tops - "I Can't Help Myself," "Love Music," "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Standing in the Shadows of Love," "Sweet Understanding Love," "Keeper of the Castle" & "One Woman Man"
--Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - "The Cover of Rolling Stone," "Life Ain't Easy" & "Insane Asylum"
--John Mayall - "California Campground" & "Room to Move"
--Mott the Hoople - "Drivin' Sister" & "Hymn for the Dudes"
--Shawn Phillips - "Baby's Breakthrough"
--Todd Rundgren - "Black Maria" & "Hello It's Me"
Just Another Night, 9/79
Friday, November 2, 2018
Halal
Halāl (Arabic: حلال ḥalāl, "permissible"), also spelled hallal or halaal, is any object or action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term covers and designates not only food and drink but also all matters of daily life.[1] It is one of five Ahkam—fard (compulsory), mustahabb (recommended), halal (allowed), makruh (disliked), haram (forbidden)—that define the morality of human action in Islam.[2] Mubah is also used to mean "permissible" or "allowed" in Islam.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Islamic (Sharia) Law in America, J. Christian Adams, Minnesota
Islamic (Sharia) Law in America, J. Christian Adams, Minnesota
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uB6gps7dkUA
Muslims in the USA want Sharia law and say they will not follow US laws, 4:26
https://youtu.be/uB6gps7dkUA
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Qur'an Textual Problems
Qur'an Textual Problems
The Qur’an was not collected before Mohammed died.
Significant parts of the Qur’an were obtained from its reciters and memorizers but not from manuscripts. The accuracy of those codices is questionable because many reciters and memorizers of the Qur’an had already been killed in the battles of the war of the apostasies (ridda), which raged for seven months in Arabia in 633 right after the death of Muhammad. In fact, portions of the Qur'an were irretrievably lost in the Battle of Yamama when about 450 of the companions of Muhammad who had memorized the text of the Qur’an had perished:
“Many (of the passages) of the Qur'an that were sent down were known by those who died on the day of Yamama ... but they were not known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman (by that time) collected the Qur'an, nor were they found with even one (person) after them” (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif, p.23).
In fact, Aisha, youngest wife of Muhammad, testified that certain verses of the Qur’an on suckling and stoning were lost (Muslim 8.3421). Second caliph ‘Umar bin al-Khattab stated emphatically that certain verses, including the verse of stoning adulterers, were lost (Bukhari 8.82.816-817; 9. .424; 4.52.299; 5.59.416, 421; Muslim 5.2286).
According to “Legal Opinions” (part 1, p. 102) of Sheikh Kishk:
“The four most important commentators were ibn ‘Abbas, ibn Mas’ud, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, and ‘Ubay ibn Ka’b al-Ansari”
However, according to Bukhari 6.61.510, the caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (644-656 AD) commanded Zayd ibn Thabit together with Abdullah ibn Zubair, Sa’id ibn al-‘As and Abdul-Rahman ibn al-Harith to collect and edit the Qur’an. According to Islamic tradition, ‘Uthman’s text of the Qur’an was largely based on the text of the Qur’an in the possession of Hafsah (one of the wives of Muhammad and the daughter of ‘Umar bin al-Khattab). Other important Qur’anic codices were ignored. These important codices differed radically from Hafsah’s text though Mohammed favored Ibn Mas'ud.
Ibn Mas’ud was excluded from the committee despite the fact that Muhammad himself had considered him one of the best authorities on the Qur’an:
“Learn the recitation of the Qur’an from four: Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, Mu’adh ibn Jabal, and Ubai ibn Ka’b” (Bukhari 5.57.104; 6.61.521, 522, 524).
It is significant that Muhammad did not mention Zaid ibn Thabit in this list.
As a result, the two full chapters (Surahs) of al-Hafd and al-Khal’, which were in the Qur’anic versions of ‘Ubay ibn Ka’b, ibn ‘Abbas (a cousin of Muhammad) and Abu Musa, were eliminated. In addition, Surah al-Fatihah (1), Surah al-Falaq (113) and Surah al-Nas (114) were added (al-Suyuti, al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Qur’an, part 1, pp. 221-2). Those Surahs were not in ibn Mas’ud codex. More than 200 verses were dropped from Surah al-Ahzab (33) (al-Suyuti, al-Itqan, part 3, p.72). Al-Suyuti records the two deleted chapters (Surahs) of al-Hafd and al-Khal’ in their entirety in his “al-Itqan,” part 1, p. 185.
Twenty years after Muhammad’s death, the caliph ‘Uthman codified the revised Medinan codex and ordered the destruction of all other codices in order to standardize the consonantal text of the Qur’an.
After Mohammed's death, memorizers of portions of the Qur'an disagreed on verses of the text or were killed and thus portions of the Qur'an were lost forever. According to Muslim sources, Uthman collected what he wanted in the present text of the Qur'an and Uthman burned the portions he declined to include.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Sikhism
Women's Rights, Sikhism vs. Islam
Sikh Women vs. Muslims, Partition of India, 1947
Golden Temple
Sections include: Emergence of Sikhism, Life of Guru Nanak, Sikh Theology, The Ten Gurus, The Khalsa, Sikh Scriptures, Sikhism in India and the Diaspora, Rituals and Rites of Passage, and Sikh Holidays.
How do you know God exists in your scriptures?
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Islamist Reformation, Feminism
"I am a free-lance academic, passionately involved in debates on gender equality in law. As a feminist, I expose and criticize the injustices that these laws continue to inflict on women in some Muslim contexts. As a Muslim, I approach these injustices by stressing one crucial element in the tradition of Muslim legal thought: the distinction between Shari‘a (the ‘path’, found in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s practice) and fiqh (‘understanding’, the jurists’s efforts to deduce laws from these textual sources); this distinction enables us to see patriarchal laws not as ‘divine Shari‘a’, but as outdated human fiqh. My aim is to bring Islamic and human rights frameworks together in order to lay the basis for an egalitarian Muslim family law."
Fiqh (/fɪk/; Arabic: فقه [fɪqh]) is Islamicjurisprudence.[1] While Sharia is believed by Muslims to represent divine law as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah (the teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), fiqh is the human understanding of the Sharia[2]—sharia expanded and developed by interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (Ulama)[2] and implemented by the rulings (Fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them.
“RUNAWAY is a powerful and heart-breaking documentary about a group of young runaway girls who are taken to a women's shelter in Tehran, Iran. The film focuses on the sufferings of young girls who struggle to free themselves from the tyrannical and abusive power of their families, mainly their fathers, brothers, and stepfathers. The sisterly feelings of the girls towards each other, their spiritual strength, their courage to rebel, and their wit are shown with a great degree of compassion and empathy in the film. The filmmakers have beautifully criticized the patriarchal system of family and the destructive power of male family members over the lives of their daughters and sisters. One can imagine that the issue of confinement and abuse goes beyond the issue of class when it comes to the problem of domestic violence and the desire to control women through anger, aggression and madness.” - Mehrnaz Saeed, Colombia College Chicago
Divorce Iranian Style
Hilarious, tragic, stirring, this fly-on-the-wall look at several weeks in an Iranian divorce court provides a unique window into the intimate circumstances of Iranian women’s lives. Following Jamileh, whose husband beats her; Ziba, a 16-year-old trying to divorce her 38-year-old husband; and Maryam, who is desperately fighting to gain custody of her daughters, this deadpan chronicle showcases the strength, ingenuity, and guile with which they confront biased laws, a Kafaka-esque administrative system, and their husbands’ and families’ rage to gain divorces.
Scholar and filmmaker Ziba Mir-Hosseini, a specialist in Islamic law, gender and development and Professorial Research Associate at the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Law, University of London, is the recipient of the 2015 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. At the Marty Forum, Professor Mir-Hosseini will be interviewed by Diana L. Eck, Harvard University. The Marty Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to the public understanding of religion.
Michael Kessler (Georgetown University) and Ayesha S. Chaudhry (University of British Columbia), Presiding
Fight for equality for women in Islam: Musawah.
I am a free-lance academic, passionately involved in debates on gender equality in law. As a feminist, I expose and criticize the injustices that these laws continue to inflict on women in some Muslim contexts. As a Muslim, I approach these injustices by stressing one crucial element in the tradition of Muslim legal thought: the distinction between Shari‘a (the ‘path’, found in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s practice) an
Monday, October 22, 2018
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Led Zeppelin, BackMasking Satan
Check out this episode: https://itunes.apple.com/us/
Podcast 8.24 Satanic Imagery And Conspiracies In Modern Culture
Published June 19, 2015
This final episode in the
series looks at some ways in which Satan still finds a place within
modern culture. After discussing the importance of the film Nosferatu
(1922), I discuss Satanic imagery within the country blues (1930s) and
rock and roll. Then I conclude with a discussion of two Satanic
conspiracies of the 1980s, the Satanic ritual abuse scare and the notion
of backmasking in rock and roll.
At 37:00 you hear Led Zeppelin's, "Stairway to Heaven" played forward and backward according to backmasking: do you hear a reference to Satan?
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. Backmasking is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional.
Backmasking was popularised by the Beatles, who used backward instrumentation on their 1966 album Revolver.[1] Artists have since used backmasking for artistic, comedic and satiric effect, on both analogue and digital recordings. The technique has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of explicit songs.
Backmasking has been a controversial topic in the United States since the 1970s and 1980s, when allegations from Christian groups of its use for Satanic purposes were made against prominent rock musicians, leading to record-burning protests and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments.[2]
A well-known alleged message is found in rock group Led Zeppelin's 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven". The backwards playing of a portion of the song purportedly results in words beginning with "Here's to my sweet Satan" (listen ).[84] Swan Song Records issued a statement to the contrary: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards."[19] Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant denied the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway To Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."[85]
Friday, October 19, 2018
Metaxus on Christians and Political Involvement
Metaxus on Christians and Political Involvement, 2:23
What is the proper role for Christians in politics?
Best selling author Eric Metaxas explains what it means to "be political God's way." Metaxas is a board member of the Manhattan Declaration, a movement of Christians for life, marriage and religious liberty founded by Chuck Colson and over 100 religious leaders in 2009. Read, sign and share the Declaration at www.manhattandeclaration.org.
https://youtu.be/sQrtbVVpnjU
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Where Does Jesus Say He Is God?
Where Does Jesus Say He Is God?
Mark says it at the outset of his gospel (1:1).
The angel told Mary her child would be the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
John the Baptist said the same thing (John 1:34).
Nathanael said it (John 1:49).
Martha believed it (John 11:27).
The centurion said so (Matthew 27:54).
Jesus claimed that He said so (John 10:36).
Jesus clearly implies it in John 11:4.
The charge against Jesus was that He claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 27:43; John 19:7), a claim He never denied, and virtually admitted (Luke 22:70).
The Gospel of John was written to convince the reader that Jesus was the Son of God (John 20:31).
Why, you might ask, does Jesus not say so plainly. I think the answer is found in Matthew 16:15-17:
15 He said to them, “And who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!” (Matthew 16:15-17).
Jesus did not want Peter and His disciples to believe He was the Son of God just because He said so. He wanted God to bring them to this conclusion, based upon the evidence of Scripture.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Five Minutes of Heaven
Five Minutes of Heaven
Trailer, 1:55
Movie
Five Minutes of Heaven is a British and Irish film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a script by Guy Hibbert. The film was premiered on 19 January 2009 at the 25th Sundance Film Festival[2] where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award for Oliver Hirschbiegel, and the World Cinema Screenwriting Award for Guy Hibbert.[3] It was broadcast on BBC Two on 5 April 2009, and also had an international theatrical release.
The first part reconstructs the historical killing of 19-year-old Jim Griffin by 17-year-old Alistair Little in 1975, and the second part depicts a fictional meeting between Little and Jim's brother Joe 33 years later.
In Lurgan, Northern Ireland, during 1975 and the Northern Irish Troubles, the Irish Republican Army are targeting British loyalists and the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force are exacting revenge on Catholics they claim are militant republicans. Alistair Little, 17, is the leader of a UVF cell, eager to let blood. He and his gang are given the go-ahead to kill a young Catholic man, James Griffin, as a reprisal and a warning to others. When they kill Griffin, his 8-year old little brother Joe Griffin watches in horror. Little is arrested and sentenced to prison for 12 years.
In Lurgan, Northern Ireland, during 1975 and the Northern Irish Troubles, the Irish Republican Army are targeting British loyalists and the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force are exacting revenge on Catholics they claim are militant republicans. Alistair Little, 17, is the leader of a UVF cell, eager to let blood. He and his gang are given the go-ahead to kill a young Catholic man, James Griffin, as a reprisal and a warning to others. When they kill Griffin, his 8-year old little brother Joe Griffin watches in horror. Little is arrested and sentenced to prison for 12 years.
The Troubles (Irish: Na Trioblóidí) is the common name for the ethno-nationalist[11][12][13][14] conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict,[15][16][17][18][19] it is sometimes described as a "guerrilla war" or "low-level war".[20][21][22] The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998.[3][23][24][25][26] Although the Troubles mainly took place in Northern Ireland, violence spilled over at times into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe.
The conflict was primarily political, but it also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension,[27] although it was not a religious conflict.[11][28] A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants and consider themselves British, generally want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, who are mostly Catholics and consider themselves Irish, generally want it to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland. The conflict began amid a campaign to end discriminationagainst the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and police force in 1968.[29][30] The campaign was met with violence, eventually leading to the deployment of British troops and subsequent warfare.[31]
The main participants in the Troubles were republican paramilitaries such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA); loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA); British state security forces – the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC); and political activists and politicians. The security forces of the Republic of Ireland played a smaller role. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, and 16% were members of paramilitary groups.[6] There has been sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including a campaign by anti-ceasefire republicans.[3][25][32]
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