tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post6899373887645332691..comments2023-03-24T12:24:36.008+01:00Comments on Contessa Isabella Vacani: IRAN: SPIRITUALITY DEFEATS CONSUMERISM.Contessa Isabella Vacanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16353575283269950315noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-37684536232122145382009-07-25T19:50:44.642+02:002009-07-25T19:50:44.642+02:00Agreed, America shouldn’t possess the nuclear weap...Agreed, America shouldn’t possess the nuclear weapons, but the other statements are a little uncertain if you ask me. I mean how much we as Christians Really and I mean REALLY know about Islam? Not so much and that’s our main problem. We have been allowing the US media to scare us out of our senses concerning this matter even though each and everyone of us is perfectly capable of discovering it all on our own. I’m not saying I have it as a plan to become a Muslim, but I have read the Koran and have studied the laws adopted by the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, those laws were just and Humaine, I was extremely surprised to have discovered this for myself! As for the defeat in Vienna in 1681, it happened due to the decay of the Sultanic power in the Ottoman Empire and the power-thirsty prime-minister, Kara Mustafa, who thought more of his own interests than those of his Lord and Master.<br />For my part I am less prejudiced now against Islam than I was a few years ago, but then again I come from a Secularized Muslim republic of Kazakhstan where I as a Christian am free to practice my Relligion as I please. Here we are not made to cover our heads as some Western people imagine, there are different sides to every coin and I wish more people remembered that undeniable fact…Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16869268152801734007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-17361007414618837832009-07-17T15:26:08.187+02:002009-07-17T15:26:08.187+02:00Hi, John,
I understand your moral arguments agai...Hi, John, <br /><br />I understand your moral arguments against nuclear arms. But how does morality play in the light of pragmatism? Some countries do not care to be at risk, knowing untrustworthy opponents have no qualms about harming them. In that sense is not nuclear strength justifiable as a deterrent?jarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895952755225231011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-15053289058386374642009-07-13T19:47:02.577+02:002009-07-13T19:47:02.577+02:00Hey Jeanne, my friend,
Thanks for that! And sorr...Hey Jeanne, my friend,<br /><br />Thanks for that! And sorry for my delay in responding. Here is my response to yours, regarding that article:<br /><br />Fourth paragraph: I don't give a flying f--- about Schesinger's "credentials" and "experience". Bloody Stalin had more exeperience with thinking about nuclear war than Schlesinger did, but that doesn't mean Stalin was wise, let alone moral.<br /><br />And I won't bother to address each and every vapid, abstract "point" that the political prostitute Schlesinger made in that article. Because, as the Sufis say (and our friend Isabel can confirm this):<br /><br />"Commenting on nonsense only multiplies nonsense". <br /><br />God's truth does not need any opportunistic lifelong political whores like Schlesinger to pretend to explain what ought to be common sense: Nuclear weapons are evil and there is no excuse for anyone to have them or to use them. None. And the mere fact that Schelsinger personally knew the whoremonger JFK, does not change this truth. Glamour and temporal prestige does not change Truth; if it did, then the humiliating crucifixion of Jesus would have meant nothing...<br /><br />...but the Truth is Christ crucified, turning all worldly "power" upside-down.John Ballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-76303877527977954942009-07-11T15:09:11.806+02:002009-07-11T15:09:11.806+02:00http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726489588925407...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726489588925407.html<br /><br />Maybe this link will come out better?jarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895952755225231011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-1588108060190232562009-07-11T15:07:37.537+02:002009-07-11T15:07:37.537+02:00Hi, John,
A propos of your above post "...a...Hi, John, <br /><br />A propos of your above post "...as for nuclear weapons, America shouldn't have them, either ..." An interview with former US Defense Secretary James Schlesinger by Melanie Kirkpatrick appears in today's Wall Street Journal, on the subject of "Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726489588925407.html#printMode -I'd be interested to hear if Schesinger convinces you the US should maintain and upgrade its nuclear arsenal. <br /><br />Regards, <br /><br />Jeannejarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895952755225231011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-45181737942132451252009-07-09T12:14:45.976+02:002009-07-09T12:14:45.976+02:00And as for nuclear weapons, America shouldn't ...And as for nuclear weapons, America shouldn't have them either. In fact they're not even "weapons". A sword is a weapon; a firearm is a weapon; but a nuclear bomb is utterly inconsistent with any deed by a warrior, and it is impossible to use "defensively".John Ballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-41031057759264937972009-07-09T10:54:22.978+02:002009-07-09T10:54:22.978+02:00Hi Jeanne, good to hear from ya.
As an Anglo-Amer...Hi Jeanne, good to hear from ya.<br /><br />As an Anglo-American lawyer steeped in the English legal tradition, I of all people would be horrified to see Shariah law in my native or adopted country. But that's not inconsistent with cosmopolitan exchanges of ideas and cooperation with Muslims, who are by no means homogeneous. <br /><br />And who said intermarriage is only between Western women and Muslim men? When I was a young man, my Catholic father advised me, tongue-in-cheek, to do what he did and "find a good-looking Protestant and convert her." ;-)John Ballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-49982734556737801682009-07-09T02:41:27.537+02:002009-07-09T02:41:27.537+02:00Hello, John,
While it could be a nice idea, as y...Hello, John, <br /><br />While it could be a nice idea, as you suggest, to "visit each other, occasionally emigrate and intermarry and exchange ideas in cosmopolitan ways," if offered the opportunity to emigrate and intermarry, personally, I would not wish to subject myself to the possibility of honor killing, the necessity of burqa/hajib wearing, male dominance, sharia law, and other features of Islam that don't appeal to me as a Western woman. Too bad so many compromises and capitulations are expected from us, too few from them, which is the main reason I do believe, as I stated, that "slowly but surely," the caliphate is coming.<br /><br />Regards, <br /><br />Jeannejarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895952755225231011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-88695567043560491202009-07-07T10:46:22.118+02:002009-07-07T10:46:22.118+02:00Just because the White House has become slightly l...Just because the White House has become slightly less in the pocket of Israel doesn't mean the Islamic Caliphate is taking hold in the West.<br />Every civilisation has some kind of natural boundary, such as Islam encountered at the Battle of Tours in 732 and then again after they retreated from Vienna in 1681. But of course we ought to visit each other, occasionally emigrate and intermarry, and exchange ideas in cosmopolitan ways.John Ballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-44904935452600632662009-07-05T14:38:06.657+02:002009-07-05T14:38:06.657+02:00Cara Isabella,
As always, I enjoyed your article...Cara Isabella, <br /><br />As always, I enjoyed your article on Iran. You say, "For some reason Iran is not allowed to develop its nuclear power," so that in the region, only Israel is given a pass to do so. The main reason for this was always cited as being that Israel was considered the only democracy in the area, the one country that could be relied upon to side with the United States. At present, that assessment may be changing, as President Obama has given evidence of having different ideas on Israel and Iran from those of his predecessors. In the past, our presidents have taken a firm stand in opposing the lack of democracy as espoused by Iran's hardnosed ruling ayatollahs and mullahs. That too, shows signs of changing in the Obama presidency. Slowly but surely, one sees signs of the Islamic caliphate taking firmer hold in the west, with sharia law advancing, accompanied by an increased U.S. acceptance of Iran developing their nuclear power.<br /><br />Baci,<br /><br />Jeannejarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16895952755225231011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159624446417849712.post-36367603382719099582009-06-29T11:45:17.852+02:002009-06-29T11:45:17.852+02:00You might enjoy a new movie, "Persepolis"...You might enjoy a new movie, "Persepolis", based on the autobiography of a young Iranian woman, Marjane Satrapi. The understated animation is refreshing in contrast to all the deliberately disorienting, brain-destroying computerised flashes and noises coming out of Hollywood these days. Trailer:<br /><br /> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nRmfivlUj0John Ballnoreply@blogger.com