Canada and War on Terror Update

I suppose it is only fair to say that Canada is considered to be one of the happier cases when it comes to integrating minorities into their society, but even the Canadians are having to deal with the international phenomenon of radicalized Muslim youth. I only wonder if this is still a growing phenomenon, or is it outdated reporting?

Is it too happy to think that Islamism has been flatlining? Is one getting carried away that there has not been any significant attacks in our country? Though, there is the new scare report about credible intelligence that Islamists are considering surgically implanted bombs to get around our heightened airport security. And lord knows that the Middle East is still boiling over and the developing tendencies do not look very promising.

_ _ _

And herein lies a common misconception amongst “mainstream” Canadians: They’re convinced that, in the average Muslim household, it’s the parent who represents conservatism and tradition, and the Canadian-born children who are modern and fighting against this oppression. This is a falsehood.

Many of our parents, who immigrated here from Muslim countries in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, did so specifically out of their respect for Western values. Elder Muslims may be modest and socially conservative in their personal lives. But, by and large, the parents in Muslim-Canadian households believe in the core values of this society. Their values systems were not based on religion but on political freedom and the desire to separate religion and state.

It’s their children – in desperate need for identity – who have turned to conservative, hard-line and politicized Islam for the answers. This trend to embrace a politicized Islam has led to bloodshed in many parts of the world and is growing rapidly – and going unchecked – in Canada.

...

Muslim youth have fooled themselves into believing there was a golden age of Islam they’d like to bring back to Canada, a golden age that could bring us all into the Dark Ages. And their parents don’t know what to do.

-- NATASHA FATAH for The Globe and Mail

( Boob Bombs )

Canada and War on Terror Update

I suppose it is only fair to say that Canada is considered to be one of the happier cases when it comes to integrating minorities into their society, but even the Canadians are having to deal with the international phenomenon of radicalized Muslim youth. I only wonder if this is still a growing phenomenon, or is it outdated reporting?

Is it too happy to think that Islamism has been flatlining? Is one getting carried away that there has not been any significant attacks in our country? Though, there is the new scare report about credible intelligence that Islamists are considering surgically implanted bombs to get around our heightened airport security. And lord knows that the Middle East is still boiling over and the developing tendencies do not look very promising.

_ _ _

And herein lies a common misconception amongst “mainstream” Canadians: They’re convinced that, in the average Muslim household, it’s the parent who represents conservatism and tradition, and the Canadian-born children who are modern and fighting against this oppression. This is a falsehood.

Many of our parents, who immigrated here from Muslim countries in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, did so specifically out of their respect for Western values. Elder Muslims may be modest and socially conservative in their personal lives. But, by and large, the parents in Muslim-Canadian households believe in the core values of this society. Their values systems were not based on religion but on political freedom and the desire to separate religion and state.

It’s their children – in desperate need for identity – who have turned to conservative, hard-line and politicized Islam for the answers. This trend to embrace a politicized Islam has led to bloodshed in many parts of the world and is growing rapidly – and going unchecked – in Canada.

...

Muslim youth have fooled themselves into believing there was a golden age of Islam they’d like to bring back to Canada, a golden age that could bring us all into the Dark Ages. And their parents don’t know what to do.

-- NATASHA FATAH for The Globe and Mail

( Boob Bombs )

Tongue Me, Baby

If you think feeding your cat or dog can be pricey...

(Courtesy of InspirePlease)

Tongue Me, Baby

If you think feeding your cat or dog can be pricey...

(Courtesy of InspirePlease)

Genesis 14

I have somewhat lamented how, as a secular (vulgar?) matter of basic reading pleasure, the foundational sacred text of our culture is not exactly a fast page-turner, and it is not as fun as, say, the Iliad, and that this is certainly true with respect to the key story of Abraham, a plainly told tale of nomadic shepherds.

That criticism makes Genesis 14 that much more of a notable chapter, for in this chapter we find Abraham taking on some martial coloring, realizing glory on the battlefield - getting on his Rambo, so to speak.

Nevertheless, if you are hoping to find great swashbuckling adventures and pulse-racing tales of derring-do with heartwarming scenes of camaraderie that can only be truly found among a hearty band of brothers who have faced together the hell of war, you would do better to stick to your Iliad. We only get a dry, sparse recording of the bare facts.

Even more briefly, an alliance of kings took on another alliance of kings, and Lot, Abraham’s nephew, got caught up in this war and was captured. In order to save Lot, Abraham gathers up his men and rides into battle. Like I said, we do not get to live any parts of those battles, but are simply told that he won. As Alter reinforces the point, it is still a striking and surprising chapter, even suspicious:

Scholarship is virtually unanimous in identifying this chapter as the product of a different literary source from the three principal strands out of which Genesis is woven.... Abram, having been promised national tenure in the land in the immediately preceding episode, is now placed at the center of a different kind of narrative that makes him a figure in the international historical scene, doing battle with monarchs from the far-flung corners of Mesopotamia and treating with the king of Jerusalem (Salem), one of the principal cities of Canaan.

It looks like the tale is stuck into the book, perhaps to address readers like our Monk, to build up Abraham’s manhood with some requisite martial glory, validating his role as the primary patriarch of God’s chosen people.

In doing this, however, we see elements that consistently build on the Abrahamic theme of being a true God-fearer, a man of absolute faith. Having saved Lot and returned from victory, and thus restoring the fortunes of the defeated kings, he is offered rich rewards, but Abraham responds quite unconventionally:

Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raised my hand in oath to the Lord, the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take not a single thread or sandal strap of all that is yours, lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ Nothing for me but what the lads have consumed. And as for the share of the men who came with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, let them take their share.” (Genesis 14: 22-24)

Thus we see that Abraham, now great in the eyes of worldly men, a leader and conqueror of men, he still conducts himself as a humble follower of God with undivided loyalty. He understands that the victory is God’s, and that he was merely blessed to be the mortal instrument of God’s glory.

Genesis 14

I have somewhat lamented how, as a secular (vulgar?) matter of basic reading pleasure, the foundational sacred text of our culture is not exactly a fast page-turner, and it is not as fun as, say, the Iliad, and that this is certainly true with respect to the key story of Abraham, a plainly told tale of nomadic shepherds.

That criticism makes Genesis 14 that much more of a notable chapter, for in this chapter we find Abraham taking on some martial coloring, realizing glory on the battlefield - getting on his Rambo, so to speak.

Nevertheless, if you are hoping to find great swashbuckling adventures and pulse-racing tales of derring-do with heartwarming scenes of camaraderie that can only be truly found among a hearty band of brothers who have faced together the hell of war, you would do better to stick to your Iliad. We only get a dry, sparse recording of the bare facts.

Even more briefly, an alliance of kings took on another alliance of kings, and Lot, Abraham’s nephew, got caught up in this war and was captured. In order to save Lot, Abraham gathers up his men and rides into battle. Like I said, we do not get to live any parts of those battles, but are simply told that he won. As Alter reinforces the point, it is still a striking and surprising chapter, even suspicious:

Scholarship is virtually unanimous in identifying this chapter as the product of a different literary source from the three principal strands out of which Genesis is woven.... Abram, having been promised national tenure in the land in the immediately preceding episode, is now placed at the center of a different kind of narrative that makes him a figure in the international historical scene, doing battle with monarchs from the far-flung corners of Mesopotamia and treating with the king of Jerusalem (Salem), one of the principal cities of Canaan.

It looks like the tale is stuck into the book, perhaps to address readers like our Monk, to build up Abraham’s manhood with some requisite martial glory, validating his role as the primary patriarch of God’s chosen people.

In doing this, however, we see elements that consistently build on the Abrahamic theme of being a true God-fearer, a man of absolute faith. Having saved Lot and returned from victory, and thus restoring the fortunes of the defeated kings, he is offered rich rewards, but Abraham responds quite unconventionally:

Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raised my hand in oath to the Lord, the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take not a single thread or sandal strap of all that is yours, lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ Nothing for me but what the lads have consumed. And as for the share of the men who came with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, let them take their share.” (Genesis 14: 22-24)

Thus we see that Abraham, now great in the eyes of worldly men, a leader and conqueror of men, he still conducts himself as a humble follower of God with undivided loyalty. He understands that the victory is God’s, and that he was merely blessed to be the mortal instrument of God’s glory.

A Political Press Tart Bares All

"When people find out that I worked for Ralph Reed during the 2000 Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, they always ask the same thing: Was it true Ralph told voters that Senator John McCain fathered a black child? And my answer is always the same, 'How would I know? I was in a Greenville hotel room giving Ari Fleischer a blow job.'"

-- Lisa Baron

Thus she opens her... uh, I guess we would call it a 'kiss and tell' book, titled "Life of the Party: A Political Press Tart Bares All". I'm thinking this might make for some good Saturday night quotes.

A Political Press Tart Bares All

"When people find out that I worked for Ralph Reed during the 2000 Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, they always ask the same thing: Was it true Ralph told voters that Senator John McCain fathered a black child? And my answer is always the same, 'How would I know? I was in a Greenville hotel room giving Ari Fleischer a blow job.'"

-- Lisa Baron

Thus she opens her... uh, I guess we would call it a 'kiss and tell' book, titled "Life of the Party: A Political Press Tart Bares All". I'm thinking this might make for some good Saturday night quotes.