Letters to the Editor
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Your point being... ?
Have you taken a peep at the new flag of Kosovo?
White five-pointed stars on a blue background, like the U.S. flag.
The Council of Europe flag has thirteen yellow stars on it.
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Where is Timmy?
Does anyone here honestly believe Timmy gets to ask his own questions?
"His" show is as orchestrated as a football broadcast. The "knowledgeable" sportscaster has an ear piece, just like our president.
Timmy is a bumbling drunk, nothing more. But, cuz he's on TeeVee, he's smart. I mean, they don't put dumb people on TeeVee, do they? I wish I was smart enough to be on TeeVee. Maybe if I watch enough TeeVee I'll get smarterer.
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Somewhat Off Topic
I can see that I missed the center of this debate and came in on a grapevine. Oh well. I've been noticing the news cycle going this way, as Glenn said recently. Drudge introduces an accusation, the media corner the personage with the accusation, no matter how stupid, then the headline is "Obama denies he is too muslim", or whatever. Even Salon is doing this now, if anyone saw the article about how its ok to have an Arab name. OF COURSE ITS OKAY TO HAVE AN ARAB NAME!!!! We don't need an article on Salon bringing it up as an issue worthy of debate.
On a tangent. I don't know if anyone uses Newshoundsblog on Youtube, but it seems Youtube pulled their plug...anyone know the ostensible reason?
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OT but interesting
Pamela Hess (AP) also reports that at that same congressional hearing, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, the Defense Intelligence Agency director, "said he considers the harsh interrogation technique known as waterboarding to be inhumane. That would put it outside the bounds of U.S. law, which since late 2005 has prohibited cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees.
from today's Froomkin
Ummm. The Hague Convention banned inhumane treatment in 1907. I thought U.S. military generals were supposed to know these things.
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The US flag?
Sure, except without the red (why would anyone be against the color red in the new flag I wonder? hmmmmm....) and white stripes, and the inclusion of the map, and that the stars are not in the corner. The Flag of Kosovo is exactly how I imagine the American flag would look if politically correct to the extreme, paranoid Communitarians from outside the US designed it.
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JUST LIKE the Stars and Stripes
Quick comparison...
The Flag of Kosovo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Kosovo.svg
Which of the following does the Flag of Kosovo resemble more?
The EU flag (Blue/Yellow):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Europe.svg
Or the US Flag (Red/White/Blue):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg
I know it is a tough call, but really look close... really...
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Fascinating
Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts
By Robert Pigott
Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News
Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.
The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.
The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad.
As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia.
This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation. Not exactly the same, but... it's changing the theological foundations of [the] religion
Fadi Hakura,
Turkey expert, Chatham House
But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.
It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted.
'Reformation'
Commentators say the very theology of Islam is being reinterpreted in order to effect a radical renewal of the religion.
Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion.
Some messages ban women from travelling without their husband's permission... But this isn't a religious ban. It came about because it simply wasn't safe for a woman to travel alone
Prof Mehmet Gormez,
Hadith expert,
Department of Religious Affairs
Turkish officials have been reticent about the revision of the Hadith until now, aware of the controversy it is likely to cause among traditionalist Muslims, but they have spoken to the BBC about the project, and their ambitious aims for it...
more...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7264903.stm
Pat Lang:
(You can google Ijtihad)
Turkey, Hadith and the Gate of Ijtihad
"According to Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey from Chatham House in London, Turkey is doing nothing less than recreating Islam - changing it from a religion whose rules must be obeyed, to one designed to serve the needs of people in a modern secular democracy. He says that to achieve it, the state is fashioning a new Islam. "This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation," he says. "Not exactly the same, but if you think, it's changing the theological foundations of [the] religion. " Fadi Hakura believes that until now secularist Turkey has been intent on creating a new politics for Islam. Now, he says, "they are trying to fashion a new Islam." Significantly, the "Ankara School" of theologians working on the new Hadith have been using Western critical techniques and philosophy. They have also taken an even bolder step - rejecting a long-established rule of Muslim scholars that later (and often more conservative) texts override earlier ones. "You have to see them as a whole," says Fadi Hakura. "You can't say, for example, that the verses of violence override the verses of peace. This is used a lot in the Middle East, this kind of ideology. "I cannot impress enough how fundamental [this change] is." " BBC News
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Our German friend, Bernhard, brought this to my attention. I had not heard of this development before. This is of the greatest importance to the future of the Muslims.
The Islamicate civilization has long suffered from a rigidity that defies logical evolution in the sacred law.
This reformist activity can be seen as a restoration of the essence of a great religion, just as the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation can be seen as restorations.
For the Turkish government itself to be doing this, at a time when that government is strongly influenced by religious political party strength is, in itself, a kind of miracle.
If I were a Muslim I would take that as a sign of God's will. pl
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2008/02/turkey-hadith-a.html