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.

*Note: I call her my daughter, she calls me Dad, I raised her for twelve years, but bottom line is that biologically she is not mine. Only in the heart, where the connection is tighter than blood.

Dear C:

I can’t begin to express how proud I am of you, and how happy I am that you have found M. He is a good, Christian man, with a sense of his Godly purpose, and just by looking at the two of you anyone can tell how much love is already there.

TMBWitW tells me that you had told her at Christmas that you wanted me to walk you down the aisle. I am honored. I am blessed to have a daughter such as you.

This started out as a note to you, before TMBWitW told me your decision, to tell you that your wedding day is YOUR day – not for anyone else, not for making others feel good, but to make a memory that you and M will share forever and ever. In that vein, I would have supported whatever decision you had made. Not because I am selfless, but because my love for you outweighs my selfishness and I want you to have the best day possible. That includes being happy with whoever walks you down the aisle.

I may not have been a perfect dad, since I was learning as I went, but I think you and your sister both turned out all right. Just remember that no matter what happens in your life, He already knew about it, and wants you to learn from it, to grow, and to move forward with the lessons. Never go back, never hold a regret, always live to the future.

May God bless your every day, may He shower blessings on your marriage, may He be always in the center of your life.

I love you.

Cary the Dad

I have been told that the explanation for many of the moves pulled off by other drivers on the road can be attributed to their retardation. They aren’t stupid, their brains just don’t work like most people’s.

Like the guy at the traffic light the other morning. I was waiting for the northbound traffic to clear, so I could make my left hand turn onto Indian School Road from 67th Ave., and the guy was (I thought) waiting for southbound to clear so he could turn onto west bound Indian School. Well, as it turned out, he was just lost. Silly me, seeing this guy sitting in the left turn lane with his left turn signal on, I assumed that he would be turning left. As soon as the northbound traffic cleared, I started my turn – and slammed on the brakes, because doofus cancelled his turn signal and gunned it northbound. Oddly enough, he looked at me like I was in the wrong place.

This guy’s cousin, or brother perhaps, rides a bicycle in the industrial area that I drive through to get to work. How do I know? The street that I use, Clarendon, runs east/west and has no stop signs until 35th Ave. Doofus’ cousin, Dorkus, came south in the predawn darkness on another morning from a cross street that DOES have stop signs and I barely caught sight of him – again, I slammed my brakes, because I really don’t want to hassle with the paperwork – and he wobbles by while acting like he had the right of way. Never mind that he had to swerve around the guy waiting at the stop sign in order to be at that place at that time – and the drivers of the two vehicles on the cross street, waiting at the stop signs, were shaking their heads in wonderment.

Doofus and Dorkus have a cousin in California (I know, it’s more like an entire family, but this one particular guy…) named Dorfus. One evening, leaving the strip mall behind Islands (best burgers in Arizona – I kid you not) I was driving towards Peoria Ave., on my way to run west and home. Dorfus comes screaming in from Peoria, all the way in my half of the driveway, and honks at me. I slammed on my brakes. As Dorfus swerved around me (and back to my half of the driveway) he continued to honk and indicate his IQ. I just shook my head and continued on my way.

People are retarded. It’s the only explanation.