What's All The HubBub—Bub?
It does not seem right that here we are in 2009 and the news still reads like that of our ancient ancestors’. It’s kind of like coming out of a coma in 2000 and hearing about 1930’s flappers on a daily basis without any mention that the Cold War had been over for decades or that the current hot button issue is Y2K.
Who's bad burrito dream are we having that Mexican gangsters raid our borders, and people still can say ‘Middle East Crisis’ or ‘Arab Israeli Conflict’ with a straight face? I mean reaalllly--do you mean to tell me that the USA had more secure borders by the end of the Spanish American War than we do with all the money and technology we have going on since then; and that reallly--- the Jews and the Arabs are not yet having each other’s children but enough time has gone by that Israelis and Palestinians are reincarnating as each other because that is the Universal knee-jerk response to such mule-headedness and rightly deserved Justice Served Cold? There are still Holocausts going on? And people starving? Fighting for oil? And pandemics like AIDS? And hoopla about a flu that kills less than 100 people globally because they don’t know not to raise a pig with a chicken? And elitists trying to dispossess have-nots? And even supremisist groups? And griping about who copulates with who-- or what--for all that it matters?
Clearly if these things are still going on they exist for no other reason than because the miscreants promulgating such behaviour think their own farts don’t stink. This post is a brief survey to explain just how this arrogance evolved and why it should have dissolved by now.
First, there is the inequity from a pervasive disrespect for women worldwide. The nasty latest bit of news being recent Saudi legislation using the Quran as reason to slap their women in the face for spending money. Clearly, these simians have no business interpreting the Law if they don't even bother to read it and familiarize themselves with its basic tenets.
If ever a woman deserved a beating it was Job's wife for no other reason than that Job swore to God he was going to strike her for being mean to him during his indisposal and this is about all God allowed him to strike her with to make good on his oath--a couple of blades of grass! And the implication here is that it is not supposed to hurt, and because it is a token gesture it was not to strike on the face or any other place that would be considered an affront! Ideally, this would lead to spanking her on the butt with some grass and that might lead to some great make-up sex.
(The Much Maligned) Holy Quran
Surah 38 SAAD ص
38:44 [And finally We told him (Job):] “Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break thine oath!”
Again the emphasis here is that it is not okay to hit a woman, and that you must keep your sworn oath.
So, if Saudi women are seeing fit to go out and spend all the Knee-And-Earth-All's ill deserved gains (a well-deserved moniker for the Saudi men since the recent passage of this 'Slap-A-Saudi-Woman' gaff) by shopping, they are merely doing their part to redistribute power, because that is what spending money is--a transfer of power and under no circumstance should women be mistreated for doing their part to keep the economy moving--I mean what the sand-dune else do the Saudi men need to be spending their money on?
And regarding the blatant disregard for women's rights in the so-called Islamic countries--there is absolutely no call for such behaviour based on Islamic principles-- so STOP! Not just the behaviour, but stop saying you are Muslims and committing such heinous acts in the name of Islam. According to the Quran you have violated every one of its tenets and are not deserving of any association with it. (Note how carefully I tread and avoid passing judgment since all I am doing is drawing a conclusion based on facts--Judgment left up to You).
This is what the Quran has to say about women, men and their equality; and I am not making this stuff up since the text can be traced back over 1400 years word-for-word. There are clear injunctions as to the proper treatment of women (and wives) and the consideration they are due.
Surah 2
The Calf
2:187 (your wives) they are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them.
Surah 3
Al-'Imran (Jesus' Family)
3:195 And their Sustainer answers their prayer in this manner: "I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours [in My way], be it man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other."
So if men and women are each an issue of one from the other, this is not just equality-but parity! And if men and women are like each other's garments, you can tell me the rest.
And this problem is not isolated to that region of the world. Here in the US we have laws espousing women's rights and a fair outward show of equality but the situation on the ground is dire, made all the worse because of the mad pretense.
One woman recounted to me her personal experience with her boss recently. Several years ago he made her the object of his unwanted attentions and since she is a decent woman and knows how to behave she rejected his advances only to find the very next day he had written a very bad note about her in her personnel file which has prevented her from finding work elsewhere and getting out from under his icky sphere of influence. After nearly 5 years she finally succeeds in getting reassigned so that she is at least not working directly under him, only to have her current supervisor appeal to her to take on her past duties in addition to her current ones, promising this would entail a promotion for her.
She concedes to the request, since she is in fact long overdue for a promotion, and once she fulfills her part of the bargain, the promised promotion does not come through. She has to go and appeal to the icky boss since the additional duties are in his area and he was the one who promised the promotion would ensue, only to have him call her a 'nasty word' for bringing up the subject (of a raise).
Granted, there are supposed to be mechanisms in place for her recourse, but she is terrified that her life will become even more of a living hell if she engages the system, since this guy is not just her boss, but the head cheese and she knows no one dare so much as cast a chiding glance his way.
So which is better; a legal slap in the face, or to get surreptitiously screwed and harassed enjoying the right to protections against such behaviour under the Law?
If good people do not trust those in power to faithfully carry out the Law, then what are we if not a Nation of Laws?
When did the problem get so far out of hand? I don't know, but there is an interesting timeline proposed in the Maxie Time diary.
Now, for the make believe problem in the Middle East that's been dogging us for far too long and is historically the root of much undeserved elitist mentation.
The Covenant, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac:
Abraham was father to both Ishmael and Isaac, and by all true, consistent accounts Ishmael was born first, then later Isaac. Jews say that they are God’s ’chosen people’ because they have been fed a lot of pap about how they are the only people that descended from Abraham since some rabbis played fast and loose with the original Scripture. And then thinking to make a stronger point of it, they say Ishmael doesn’t really count as Abraham’s son because he was born of a handmaid--like, since when does a women’s job determine the father’s paternity?
This type of ‘I am holier than thou by birthright smut’ has stoked a lot of needless suffering in the general human populace in the name of religion, because who wants to be second best?
The root of all this evil is in the Semitic hyperbole of the original verb ‘to pick’ which when applied properly is intended to mean having made a selection, not ‘the only selection.’ For example, someone has many fine cars in their garage and if it is sunny outside they would choose to drive their Porsche convertible and if they were going for a long trip they would opt for the Mercedes CL63 AMG. It’s also akin to a teacher choosing a student to clap her erasers or act as hall monitor for the day—does this simple selection make any one car or student better than the others or the quintessential best-and-only-highly chosen-holier-than-my-mother? No? I didn’t think so.
Yet, this is what drives the modern-day Zionist argument that being ‘God’s chosen people’ somehow should justify a mad land grab in Palestine, not only displacing the indigenous population but also dehumanizing them to such a point as to make the rest of the world think it is okay to exterminate them all because they are squatting on land that God brokered to ‘His chosen people’ and that somehow God signed off on this bad behavior when He made a covenant with Abraham.
Well, let me tell you, mine may be the lone voice in the wilderness about this, but I know there is at least one Rabbi (I think he lives in Brooklyn) who agrees with me. The biggest joke is the inappropriate application of errant scripture that not only leads to thinking that Abraham had only given rise to a Jewish nation but that all the ‘begats’ in the Bible literally mean a direct line of descent (which is why staunch religious people think we’ve only been on Earth for a few thousand years).
In Genesis we get to know what exactly Abraham’s covenant with God is all about.
Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant with you (Abraham) and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. (Please note: Circumcision for males only because they have a penis (something cylindrical that has a circumference; what I'd like to know is which hairy monkey fell from a tree and started circumcising women?)
Abraham wasted no time in implementing this rule.
Genesis 17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. (Note: See, no Isaac yet, and Ishmael is Abraham’s first born son and only son at this time. Emphasis here not to set up who is better than who or what came first-- the chicken or the egg--but to establish that Ishmael is Abraham’s first born and entitled to all the rights of the first born, and there is no need for reiteration.)
Genesis 17:24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised...17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.
Isaac shows up later (4 Chapters in Genesis after Ishmael) and he is also part of the covenant.
Genesis 21:4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.
Now for the fireworks--some anonymous rabbi tries to pull a fast one and establish a prime piece of Mediterranean real estate for only one segment of the population while disenfranchising all others by making God into something that has the memory of a GNAT and a liar to boot.
Genesis 22:2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac (what happened to Ishmael?), whom you love (I wager that Abraham was a good man and loved both his good sons), and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him (if God is not a liar and Abraham was to sacrifice his only son, that would have been Ishmael, because he was an only son before Isaac made the scene) there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about (hmmm, 'I will tell you' later--this literary device is meant to be a cliff hanger?)."
Hebrews 11:17 By faith (not by Truth?) Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (Restating a lie, does not make it true, just more obvious, see argument above).
Hebrews 11:17 By faith (again, we are to take it on faith because there is no truth to it) Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (…no matter how often a lie is re-stated can it ever negate the truth?).
God had no reason to disregard or conveniently forget about Ishmael, in fact, He thought highly of him, had no reason to dispossess him of his rights as Abraham's first born son, and we know He had not killed him off before Isaac was born.Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation
Deuteronomy 6:10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, (this right here means that it is definitely not Palestine, because Palestine did not have large, flourishing cities that the descendants of Isaac and Jacob did not build, unless the already built-up Palestine is intended for other descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the conveniently forgotten first born Ishmael).
Where do I get the gumption to think that not all of Abraham’s offspring are entitled to this vacation spot and indeed it would include others from elsewhere?
There is evidence throughout the Bible, and Jesus was mistreated for his stand on it, but here it is from another source.
Quran Surah 2
The Calf
2:24 And when his Sustainer tried Abraham by [His] commandments and the latter fulfilled them, He said: "Behold, I shall make thee a leader of men. "Abraham asked: "And of my offspring as well? "[God] answered: "My covenant does not embrace the evildoers. (That’s where)"
2:135 AND THEY say, "Be Jews" - or, "Christians" - "and you shall be on the right path." Say: "No, but [ours is] the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to anything (that includes niggardly (not a racial slur, just another word for stingy beyond reason) clinging to a piece of land) beside God."
6:83 And this was Our case which We entrusted to Abraham against his people: [for] We do raise by degrees whom We will (Suddenly, the 'Chosen ones' aren’t so elite after all, because others can overtake them by merely being raised up a notch). Truly, your Sustainer is Wise, All-Knowing.
2:136 Say: "We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and ,their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them (this means no so-called Muslim can deftly execute someone for professing another belief). And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves."
Even current interpreters of the Quran mistake the clear language of the original text; fortunately, we still have the original text.
3:33 Behold, God raised Adam, and Noah, and the House of Abraham, and the House of `Imran above all mankind, (this makes it sound like some kind of favoritism, when in fact, they were meant to be followed as a good example; linguists can have a field day with this one).
3:65 O Followers of earlier revelation! Why do you argue about Abraham, seeing that the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until [long] after him? Will you not, then, use your reason?
3:67 Abraham was neither a "Jew" nor a "Christian", but was one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself unto God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to anything/or anyone beside Him.
4:54 Do they, perhaps envy other people for what God has granted them out of His bounty? But then, We did grant revelation and wisdom unto the House of Abraham, and We did bestow on them a mighty dominion (not necessarily land, but authority; and it has been established that the House of Abraham is not only comprised of Jews):
2:140 "Do you claim that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants were `Jews' or `Christians'?" Say: "Do you know more than God does? And who could be more wicked than he who suppresses a testimony given to him by God? Yet God is not unmindful of what you do.
37:100 [Abraham prayed]: “O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of [a son] one of the righteous!” 37:101 so We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]?37:102 And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father’s] endeavours, the latter said: “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be your view!” [Ishmael] answered: “O my father! Do as thou art bidden: you will find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!” 37:103 But as soon as the two had surrendered themselves to [what they thought to be] the will of God, and [Abraham] had laid him down on his face...(the good news is he didn't do it)
7:112 And [in time] We gave him the glad tiding of Isaac, [who, too, would be] a prophet, one of the righteous;
37:113 and We blessed him (Ishmael) and Isaac but among the offspring of these two (clearly referring to both Abraham's sons) there were to be both doers of good and such as would glaringly sin against themselves
The ones glaringly sinning against themselves, no matter how great a stock they think they come from, STINK!(That's why the tall, thin, blonde alien came down smoking--just to cover up the stench) They have been fomenting turf wars, lopping off people's heads, mistreating women and children, torturing, murdering, and marauding, destroying indigenous populations and dispossesing them of their rights and property, misrepresenting Scripture and bending it to their own misguided ends, telling children they are destined for doom and damnation for holding divergent views---that's who they are and that's why the trouble started, and the reason this arcana should be put to rest, so I can finally get some sleep around here!
If you have made it this far in this posting you might be asking yourself--Then who, who is all the good stuff being developed for if not the Jews, the Christians, or the in-name-only-Muslims? The answer was also given to you ALL so many years ago, but your collective arrogance won't let you accept it:
Al-Isra (The Journey by Night)
وَقُلْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اسْكُنُواْ الأَرْضَ فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ الآخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفً
17:104 And after that We said to the children of Israel: "Dwell now securely on earth - but when the promise of the Last Day comes to pass, We will bring you forth as a motley (varied, assorted, intermingled, dissimilar, mixed, contrasting, diverse) crowd!
And because they didn't follow sound advice and thought there was some advantage to to somehow getting it all, what did it really get them? A host of inconvenient, usually terminal, genetic diseases found on this planet.
As a postscript I would like to thank the cast of characters who made this possible:
Thank You! God, for not stepping on me when you landed in my kitchen, and for Your Subtle, Eternal Mercy that they perceive East as always East.
Thank you Michael for being a gentleman and your kindness in sending word to me in the hospital--nothing like keeping it Real.
Thank you Raphael for consoling my friend in the park that day; I was merely thinking out loud and didn't think anyone actually heard me, let alone took action; and you can image how floored I was when my friend related his story the following week at work.
Thank you John for doing the best impersonation of my late father ever; nothing like a little levity!
Thank you Gabrielle, just because I know I am not this eloquent especially since I have lost most of my language skills, and anyone who talks to me can make the same evaluation.
Thank you Capt. Alan Bennett for your great directions when East is West; I am grateful for having made your acquaintance prior to you moving on.
Thank you to all my teachers, dedicated and underpaid; the truth is no one can ever pay you enough, but that doesn't mean they should not try.
Husband...You heard me. I can't bring myself to ask any one more thing of you, so I have posted a puzzle to commemorate our last visit.
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