FLASH! From Liz Smith | 10/30/2009 3:40 pm
LIZ SMITH FLASH! A Question From National Review
Here we present a religious question from the opinion and editorial pages of the National Review magazine. And it’s a very good one, I think.
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November issue of National Review: "We all know that Jihadists believe that pious Muslim males will be rewarded with 72 virgins in paradise. What will those virgins actually be like, though? Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad al-Munajid has been telling us on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Majd TV. Main point: They will be white. Very white. ‘Allah said that the black-eyed virgins are beautiful white young women … whose skin is so delicate and bright that it causes confusion. They are like precious gems and pearls in their splendor, their clarity, their purity and their whiteness.’
"We (at the National Review) confess to some slight confusion ourselves. Is there a separate afterlife for pious but unwhite Muslim females? If not, where do their souls go? If so, what’s their reward? Perhaps we all get new bodies in paradise, with the gals guaranteed to get white ones. Another possibility is that Sheikh Muhammad al-Munajid is a gibbering lunatic.
"This is, after all, the man who last year issued a fatwa against Mickey Mouse, whom he described as "one of Satan’s soldiers.’"
***
I just love fanatical religions, don’t you? They make so much sense.
***
November issue of National Review: "We all know that Jihadists believe that pious Muslim males will be rewarded with 72 virgins in paradise. What will those virgins actually be like, though? Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad al-Munajid has been telling us on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Majd TV. Main point: They will be white. Very white. ‘Allah said that the black-eyed virgins are beautiful white young women … whose skin is so delicate and bright that it causes confusion. They are like precious gems and pearls in their splendor, their clarity, their purity and their whiteness.’
"We (at the National Review) confess to some slight confusion ourselves. Is there a separate afterlife for pious but unwhite Muslim females? If not, where do their souls go? If so, what’s their reward? Perhaps we all get new bodies in paradise, with the gals guaranteed to get white ones. Another possibility is that Sheikh Muhammad al-Munajid is a gibbering lunatic.
"This is, after all, the man who last year issued a fatwa against Mickey Mouse, whom he described as "one of Satan’s soldiers.’"
***
I just love fanatical religions, don’t you? They make so much sense.
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130 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
A Joke to enjoy:
A Jew, a Muslim, and a Buddist all die. When they get to heaven they see a glass wall and on the other side are hundreds of people singing hymns. The Buddist asks the Muslim "Who are they?" The Muslim has no idea so he turns to the Jew and asks "Who are those people?" The Jew turns and looks at the Muslim and the Buddist and says "Those are the Christians. They think they are the only who get into heaven."
Laurel, a fine joke backed by truth… and I am Christian. And yes, Christians can sing up a storm. Anyone who may doubt that only need to attend a Baptist sermon.. better yet, a funeral. Let the tapping and swaying begin.
Thanks so much! :)
I’d also like to point out that no one thinks women are stupid enough to want, or fabricate a reward of 72 virgins. We know better.
_______________
Sandy. Please. I know many women who would love a reward of 72 Chippendale dancers.
Sandy,
I would hope not……….If I’m going to get some of those goodies on the Other Side I want them to
have lots of experience…………..No fun having to train some dummy.
I am getting that most of the posters have a "live and let live" attitude. This is very American. It is actually a—sob, gasp—Judeo-Christian attitude, evolved after centuries of struggle, perception of a better way, and the actual opportunity to start in a new place.
For those of you who do not understand it, many Moslem countries are incredibly restrictive and intolerant as compared to other countries. For example, Israel is a "Jewish state". Although it is a democracy some of its laws come straight from the Jewish religion, such as the shutdown of most stores and activities on Shabbath, the Jewish seventh day of rest. However, even though public transportation shuts down, and normatively the Jewish religion forbids driving on Shabbath except for life-saving activities, no one stops nonJewish drivers from driving, taxi drivers from driving, or even nonobservant Jewish taxi drivers from driving, or even nonobervant Jews from driving, or even revving their motorcycles. In Saudia Arabia on the other hand, no one, not even a visitor, can practice his or her religion if it is anything other than Islam. Not even a contractor hired for example by a foreign company. I am sure some people must practice in private and I am sure that they risk being informed on and arrested. No one can wear clothing considered unacceptable to Islam or risk being imprisoned. And the list goes on. So the difference is very great.
So, you can perhaps find common ground over 72 virgins but I wonder if you will find common ground over living an unfree life as a second class, or worse, citizen or resident. It ain’t like the States, girlkins.
That is one of the misconceptions about Islam and again Islam recognizes Judaism and Christianity and recognizes that some Jews and some Christians have "kept their covenant" and in doing so honor god.
What people do not understand about Islam is the matter of public versus private behavior and the severity of punishment when the "line is crossed" has much to do with individuals violating very clear "expectation" in Islam of "respect" for others.
Where Western values have been allowed to be followed with regard to civil versus clerical law, the crime rates have risen. That is a sad commentary, actually, on our values.
While the fundamentalism of Islam has become a formidable threat nonetheless we could all learn from the value systems of Islam although its misogyny is something that few of us really can accept or learn from. It more than anything else is what has returned many Muslims to the Dark Ages of Islam although the fundamentalism of Christianity would do the same if we allowed it.
Carrying bibles in public is not practicing in private. And wearing those things in the street is PUBLIC. No they are not allowed to practice publically.
I’m not sure what you mean about "live and let live" in this context. But if you think I accept all the paternalistic, medieval, tribal interpretations of my faith being imposed on others- I do not. We need a reformation.
The religious law we are discussing is on its face extremely intolerant. However, leave that aside for a moment. There is plenty of testimony by those of other religions that they are even prevented de facto from practising their religions or certain aspects of their religions in private in Saudi Arabia. So, it is an intolerant law that is not even held up in practice. Maybe Muslims will see the light but I’m not holding my breath. Not only that but the backlash that is now forming in the US is unfortunately sweeping other, uninvolved religions into the argument just to be evenhanded, when it is solely the Muslims who are seeking to dominate rather than accomodate. This is like punishing all the kids in the schoolyard when it was only the bully who threw the punch. And that is all I have to say.