"Islam is peace"

Saddly, more murder has been commited in the name of god, or allah, or whateve religious diety is the flavor of the month than stalin, hitler and nero combined ever achieved.
religious fundamentalism is so often blurred with politics that the "true believer" often misses the message of peace and brotherhood, which is basic to all the worlds religions.
as for those assholes in irag who are beheading noncombattants- they are a disgrace to the sword community and to islam.

I have some muslim friends and they are of the opinion that Jews are "bad" ie Palestine. So therefore blowing up Jews and whoever else gets in the way is just fine. There will never be peace in the middle east or anywhere for that matter so long as Jews, Christians and Muslims live in close proximity to one another. What is peace and can man truly understand it let alone manufacture it.

We are constantly at war and occasionally there is an outbreak of peace!

Even though I'm staunchly on the side of the Israelis, I'm for everybody having a homeland over there, IF it helps them coexist. Jordan should match Israel acre for acre any land they stake off for Palestine. They could use Jerusalem as the dividing point, with the land east of it, (extending an equal distance into Jordan) designated as the new Palestine.

I think everyone in the world can live in peace, given the proper perspective. That peace breaks out even occasionally proves it CAN happen. We just have to work on shortening the intervals in-between.

john,

i disagree - i think jews, muslims and christians should live in closer proximity. here's why: it is far too easy to hate a group, and a lot tougher to hate an individual. the staunchest racist may well have a friend or associate that he declines to include in the group he hates - offering something along the lines of "he's not like those other _____________(fill in the blank ethnic group)" as a rationale. the truth of the matter is not that the friend is different, rather he is perceived differently because there has been an opportunity to get to know the individual. individuals are brimming with great qualities, and once those are recognized, its a lot harder to hate the person.

[quote=Garry Cantrell]john,

i disagree - i think jews, muslims and christians should live in closer proximity.
Should is a nice point to make but not a valid reason to disagree I believe. I was not saying that there should not be peace in the Middle East I was stating fact. These groups live together and work together, play, talk and hate together. Each other even. The chances of breaking into another culture whilst retaining one's own is hard, I have tried. Therefore ignorance and prejudice remain, unfortunate as it may be. It is fact and never the twain shall meet.

[quote=John Hunter The chances of breaking into another culture whilst retaining one's own is hard, I have tried. Therefore ignorance and prejudice remain, unfortunate as it may be. It is fact and never the twain shall meet.[/QUOTE]

That's an opinion. I will never believe that hatred is a permanent condition. As Wayne Dyer said, "No one knows enough to be a pessimist!"

Yeah good point Bill, have to concede that one.
I live in New Zealand and although some say we have the best race relations in the world there is still an undercurrent of prejudice and mistrust. Among the indigenous Maori and European. That is not an opinion! It is direct observation. But it is not true for all or even the majority so things are O.K.. We don't have reserves or segregation or the like so we all live together warts and all and we all get on for the most part.
Is this relevant? I hope so. :-]

I live in a very mixed city, ethnically speaking. We have a very mixed group of students at out dojo, too. We all get along very well, so I reckon it must be a matter of circumstance when people don't. I think it's pretty cool living here because when we're hungry we can get any kind of regional food we want.

That's what got me thinking about what all the fighting in the rest of the world is about- For the majority of people in my town, the diversity is an enhancement to our lives. We don't even want everyone to be like us!

I did not add to this thread as it was originally being discussed - partly out of not wanting to dilute the brotherhood I felt with my friend, and partly out of cowardice. 10May06 - still a hot topic.

During the coffee with my friend he told me he was particularly impressed with one of our fellow students - a young lady from Japan. He said, 'they are very submissive, and that is good for a wife to be submissive to her husband'. Big gulp of soda for me - wishing it was beer, maybe some whiskey too. Then he asked "David, is your wife submissive." I paused, smiled and replied "Hell no! She's Irish, and a hillbilly to boot. I cook, I help clean, and if I get out of line she tells me off - I'm an arrogant piece of work and this is the only kind of wife I can have if I'm to become a better person."

He laughed derisively. Oh hell no! Things started to get ugly. Then I remembered I wanted to put this nifty message on the aikiweb, and that I really do love my friend. So, I said some diplomatic stuff, agreed to disagree, or that maybe I would catch on to seeing things his way some time in the future. He is a much younger man, so I made allowances. Nobody's perfect.

I'm still glad I posted the message. If I am fortunate enough to meet this man again I will embrace him, and wish to hear everything about his life. He's my friend.

Best I can do on this topic for now.

david

Bill Danosky wrote: Jordan should match Israel acre for acre any land they stake off for Palestine. They could use Jerusalem as the dividing point, with the land east of it, (extending an equal distance into Jordan) designated as the new Palestine.

OK, I know that this is an old post, but...

IMO, this is a flawed view, ignoring the events of 1948 and 1965. If the US decided to give back the land that they stole to the Indians: should Venezuala and other S. and C. American countries be required to follow suit?

No, IMO: the lands were stolen, under different circumstances; and that theft continues, today. It's the same, with Palestine, and the Apartheid wall, some of which is built on Palestinian lands.

We now return to your regularly scheduled forum-topic.

David Knowlton wrote: Best I can do on this topic for now. david

Actually, I thought you did pretty well. Kudos.