It’s interesting, ten years later. Today I can shed the tears I could not shed then. Perhaps it’s the shock that has worn off.
I was teaching algebra to college students. Class started at 8am, and we took our first break at 9am. I left the break with word that a plane had hit the towers. At the 10am break, I watched a tiny television, and I knew we had been attacked. There was a half hour left of that class, that I managed to forge through. At 10:30am we switched classes, and I didn’t teach anything. We were all in shock, and no one could think about manipulating x’s and y’s.
In the days that followed, we learned that followers of Islam had declared Jihad on America. We learned that a man named Osama Bin Laden had succeeded in attacking us on our soil. We learned that Islam was a religion we were terribly ignorant of.
I have the fortune to have befriended some Muslims online since then. I have had the opportunity to learn about what it teaches. I have had the chance to be proud of our military, and ashamed of those who would rather be cowards than stand up to evil.
Today, I have the misfortune of seeing a president who seeks to placate those who might be called to Jihad. I have the misfortune to see organizations like CAIR seek to protect Islam from criticism, rather than help guide it to be the religion of peace so many like to call it. Today, I see people in the media who have forgotten that there is an enemy that has declared war on us.
I remember 9/11. I remember that we were attacked. I remember that the enemy is still out there. Evil is real. We have only two choices: fight it with all our strength, or succumb to it.
If you are a Muslim, you have a choice as well: guide your fellow Muslims to a path of peace and justice, or join them in evil. If you mindlessly defend your brothers, you have joined them in evil.
Tags: 9/11
September 15, 2011 at 2:42 pm |
> I knew we had been attacked
Scared being attacked?
> In the days that followed, we learned that followers of Islam had declared Jihad on America. We learned that a man named Osama Bin Laden had succeeded in attacking us on our soil. We learned that Islam was a religion we were terribly ignorant of.
Any proof that Muslims and so called osama bin laden did that?
> I have had the chance to be proud of our military, and ashamed of those who would rather be cowards than stand up to evil.
Proud of your military whom attacked Afghanistan, Iraq without any soild reason. It is your country interfering in the inner activities of almost every country of the world.
What about those whom are daily attacked by your and your fellas air strikes? You were scared just by hearing that a plane crashed into WTC.
Think of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Sudan, Chechnya, Serbia, and even more and more and more even all countries of the world.
> If you mindlessly defend your brothers, you have joined them in evil.
You are defending your brothers You are the evil of evils you are the axis of the evil.
What took you to vietname and korea? What you need in Iran and Pakistan.
> I have the misfortune of seeing a president who seeks to placate those who might be called to Jihad.
Because you, your president and your fellas failed to defend the so called jihadis. That’s why they are seeking to placate with them.
Have you ever thought of the innocents which are killed daily by your air strikes and other resources. You kill in million every day. You kill the innocents. You are the evil. Why you are interfering in every one’s job?
Remembering the 9/11 accident untill today and never asked about the every day’s million * 9/11 that you are distroying.
Think over it. It’s your statment ” If you mindlessly defend your brothers, you have joined them in evil.”.
September 15, 2011 at 10:24 pm |
I find it ironic that your site is based on my favorite programming language, yet you take a diametrically opposed view on this issue from mine.
Actually, I was not scared, then or now, by the attack. Perhaps that is the fortune of not living near a likely target. What scares me is the knowledge that some people, perhaps even you, want to impose Sharia law on the entire world. The knowledge that if my wife were raped, she would be stoned for adultery while her attacker would likely be allowed to go free. The knowledge that my views on Islam and Mohamed would be likely to get me beheaded. That scares me.
What comforts me is the knowledge that I must answer to God, and that my relationship with Jesus means that if that time comes to pass, only my life, but not my soul, would be in danger.
Regarding who performed the attacks, we have LOTS of documentation that Muslims carried out the attacks. Osama claimed credit. Perhaps you think he was lying?
Regarding your issues with our military presence in various parts of the Middle East, I am not as knowledgeable as I would like to be on the timing of our arrival in each country, or our military activities in each one. It does seem, however that you feel it is appropriate for Muslims to counter-attack us. Does that mean it was appropriate for us to counter-attack against Osama in Afghanistan after the Taliban refused to surrender him? If not, doesn’t that constitute a double standard?
If you had mentioned Libya, I would have agreed that America has no business being there. Afghanistan, we did. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein had been violation UN resolutions. If you feel removing him from power was inappropriate, you need to place your grievance with the UN.
My sense is that you define evil as any attack on Muslims or Islam. My sense is that you define good as any defense of Islam and Muslims. My question, if that is correct, would be this: Was Saddam Hussein, as he attacked Muslims in his country, evil or good?
Finally, I am 38. I was not in Korea or Vietnam. Both, as I recall, were picking up after France’s incompetence.
September 20, 2011 at 4:02 pm |
> What scares me is the knowledge that some people, perhaps even you, want to impose Sharia law on the entire world. The knowledge that if my wife were raped, she would be stoned for adultery while her attacker would likely be allowed to go free.
Not me and even any Muslim would agree with that. You have wrong thoughts about islam because you didn’t studied the message of Islam. It’s all about peace. Coming to the point of rape. No where in Islamic religion you will find that if a woman is raped punish here and leave the raper you should consider it oppsite. The woman should be set free and the raper should be punished. Regarding other cases as if both man and woman agreely involes in sexual intercourse with out marriage then both of them should be punished.
Further clarifying to you, what media and people say about Islam is all wrong. In Islam if you kill an innocent human it is as if you have killed the whole humanity — Holy Quran. Further in Quran it is writted in different chapter that ALLAH doesn’t orders you to kill and throw them out from their homes those who didn’t killed and thrown you out from your home. But ALLAH orders you to kill the throw out from their homes those who killed and thrown you out from your homes. This is a verse of the Quran.
In Pakistan, Muslims are fighting against muslims. Most of the even call them Islamic Jihad but that’s not right. It’s all wrong. Even against non muslims and with whom ALLAH orders and allows you to fight — is is not allowed to harm childrens, women and old people. These are not my words — that’s what out religion says.
If you come across the media and listen to people they will show you that opposite picture.
Osama’s topic is vast enough and I can prove it to you that American didn’t killed osama that was some one else.
Regarding to christanity, in bible it is mentioned, if to check some one that if he/she commited an adultery — use the bitter water test. I hope you would know what is a bitter water test. So, why the christians waste their time in courts and have cases even lost of money regarding the issue of adultery. Instead, why they don’t apply the bitter water test and solve the problem on spot.
I would adivce you, before having any opinnion about Islam our having some sort of image about any topic in Islam — you should study it in Islam and find out what actually islam says about it. I hope you will find it of peace.
If you want to have more knowledge about your religion and Islam — you can watch the conferences of Dr. Zakir Naik. You would find his videos all over the web regarding any topic. Whether was Jesus (P.B.U.H) really crucified, Islam and christanity, Quran and Bible in light of history and science and tons of more.
September 20, 2011 at 9:30 pm |
Unfortunately, then, it appears that there are many Muslims who are not living their lives according to the teachings of the Quran. Also, it appears that Al-Jazeera is one of the media outlets that supports the incident of the stoning of a rape victim. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/11/2008111201216476354.html
I find it interesting that you say attacking innocent women and children is not allowed by the Quran, but when I denounced the attacks on 9/11 as evil, you seemed to be defending the attackers who killed innocent women and children.
Regarding the bitter water test, my understanding is two-fold: 1) this was a command to the nation of Israel in a time before scientific methods were available. It does not apply to most Christians. 2) This is either an act of ingesting poison and being protected by God, or ingesting a non-poison and being cursed by God. In either case, would a guilty woman be likely to not confess unless she was certain of her innocence?
Finally, you assume I have no knowledge of Islam. This is not accurate. I have not studied it as much as I would like to, but all that I have studied so far does not make me convinced it is as you described. Dr. Naik does an admirable job of defending Islam, but I’ve noticed that he tends to debate Christians who are not the strongest debate opponents.