The previous post elicited a comment from “Habib” in which he defends his religion, denying that it is violent. He went on to ask about the history of Christianity, and dragged some religions that aren’t by definition “Christian” although they are catholic (as opposed to Catholic) in that they purport to follow the teachings of Christ.

“Habib” also invited me to enter a civilized debate. I laid down some ground rules, and am currently waiting on his reply.

Outside of the debate, I would like to point out that when Christianity is made fun of, Christians usually shake their heads, sigh, and pray for the ones who are making fun of us. Compare that to the reaction of Islamists over the existence of a cartoon depicting their beloved Mohammed.

Granted, the news blurb I read this morning said that several clerics tried to wade into the riots and plead with the rioters, but really, after preaching hatred and vitriol for so long, did they really think that the people would listen to them when they started pulling in the opposite direction?

“Habib”, and others who think like him: What purpose does rioting serve? Are you following what Mohammed would do? Is this how he would have reacted to critics of his time? Your answers should make you look deep into the writings of your “religion” and think about why the world views your group as unstable and dangerous.

I know why the world looks at Christianity with horror: we hold up a mirror that shows not your exterior but that which is deep within you – and if Jesus isn’t deep within you, the view is very scary indeed. No, we don’t have a perfect and clean history, but when elements of Christianity act up (Pat Robertson, the Bakers) they are quickly and lovingly rebuked into their place. Why can’t “we” control these loose cannons? Because “we” are not a centralized quasi-religious-political force; we have no central ruling figure that all members of Christianity recognize and heed; and we treat our transgressors with love, not stones and bullets.

First, their side of the story:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Armed militants angered by a cartoon drawing of the Prophet Muhammad published in European newspapers surrounded EU offices in Gaza on Thursday and threatened to kidnap foreigners as outrage over the caricatures spread across the Islamic world.

More than 300 students demonstrated in Pakistan, chanting “Death to France!” and “Death to Denmark!” _ two of the countries where newspapers published the drawings. Other protests were held in Syria and Lebanon, while officials in Afghanistan, Iran and Indonesia condemned the publication. In Paris, the daily France Soir fired its managing editor after it ran the caricatures Wednesday.

A Jordanian newspaper took the bold step of running some of the drawings, saying it wanted to show its readers how offensive the cartoons were, although its editor also said he did not want “to promote such blasphemy.” In an editorial, it also urged the world’s Muslims to “be reasonable.”

In other words, when you publish something less than flattering to the Islamic faith, they will take violent steps to rectify the issue.

In other news, NBC is attempting to upset Conservative Christians by casting Britney Spears *snort* as a featured chef on “Will and Grace” – apparently, Jack has a talk show on the show, and the network that his show is on, “OUT”, is bought by a Conservative Christian network. The name of Britney’s character’s segment is titled “Crucifixin’s” – NBC’s attempt to rile the Christians.

Two things here:

First, if this is the best shot that NBC can take to try to take a shot at Christianity, I gotta say it’s not much of a shot. Sure, they’re playing with blasphemy here, but it’s their stint in Hell, not mine. They know the truth, and refuse to hear it. Most of the Christians I have talked to about this have laughed at the premise and the players.

Second, if this is the best shot that ANYONE can take to try to take a shot at Christianity, then we don’t have to worry for a while. My gosh, can you imagine the uproar if this happened in a country ruled by Islam? Oh, that’s right – they don’t allow independent thinking in those countries. And the only time you see a homosexual portrayed on television is when they are being “judged” according to their “Religion of Peace.” And you certainly wouldn’t see a female on TV – after all, can’t be letting those wimmin getting all uppity and thinking they can have a life of their own, now, can we?

By the way, any representatives of Islam want to issue a point by point apology for the 4000 plus terror attacks carried out in the name of Islam since 9/11 alone?

Didn’t think so.

It was low tide. The young man stood on the outermost shelf of the reef that protected this island paradise, the crashing waves behind him, the coral cliffs that supported the flat top of the island more than a hundred yards away and thirty to forty feet high. The reef itself was only eight inches below the surface of the water; waves didn’t make it to this point because of the deep drop off at the end of the coral shelf. He had carefully made his way to this vantage point, gingerly stepping around the many sink holes that would be hidden from view in more turbulent water. His eyes scanned the many scars and cracks on the face of the cliff, knowing that each mark was man made-either with the picks and shovels of the defenders or the impact of high-explosive ordinance thrown from the invaders’ ships more than forty years in the past.

He searched and found the narrow slits at the tops of the cliffs, and followed them down twisted pathways to the narrow strips of dazzling white sand at the water’s edge. In his mind he replayed the words he had read – “…the landing craft ran aground on the reef… …as the ramps crashed down, we were sitting ducks for the Japanese guns in the cliffs… …I was the only one that made it to the beach from our LC… …they were dug in so deep we couldn’t get at them… …the water was red from the waves to the shore…” – and stood there, in the quiet summer sunshine, and listened to the ghosts of the Marines who had taken Tarawa.

He turned from the cliffs, and rejoined his fellow Marines as they regrouped at the base of one of the paths to the top. Pausing, they examined the shreds of leather that had been their boots before they stepped onto the knife-sharp coral shelf. The joking back and forth died down, replaced with the sobering realization of just what those young kids had faced in World War Two. Scrambling up the steep path, they found an opening into the warren of caves behind the cliff face. Moving from room to room, bent over double, they could see every inch of the defender’s territory from the base of the cliffs to the watery horizon. Idle kicking of the dust on the floor would turn up Japanese machine gun casings, bits of shrapnel, and the remains of cooking fires – signs of human occupation many years past.

Returning to the coveted airstrip, they boarded an older model cargo plane, ready to continue their flight back to the base on the island of Okinawa. The plane’s propellers strained against the wheel brakes as the engines were readied for the launch; assisted by an auxiliary jet engine, the plane leaped back into the clear blue sky over the Sea of Japan.