Andrew K:           The Bridge Between East And West

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by ANDREW K.


INTRODUCTION

After the last Gulf War had pretty much ended, I thought, well well, now we might have a little peace on the earth. By peace I was mainly referring to the fundamentalist, militant Muslim movements.

But then around the middle of May, year 2003, I heard news of another suicide bombing of a U.S. Employees residence compound. This bombing took place in the capitol city of Saudi Arabia. Besides there was every indication to believe that this attack was also linked to the fundamentalist, militant Muslim group known as Al-Quida.

INDEX TO THIS SITE...

Does the Koran incite violence?
Hijackers'  Doc.
Bin Laden Video
Islam - Blasphemy
Female Suicide Bombers
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
I'm Not a Christian
Hammurabi Code
Koran Suras
Islamic Tolerance
Atheist's Guide
Islamic - Sex
NEWS on Religion
Faith-Based Vision
Religion Survey
Does the Bible  incite violence?
The Rosetta Stone
Media White Paper
What THEY Say
Islam in the News
Doctored Missile pics
A Bridge Between
Religion of Peace Demonstration
Mormonism vs. Islam
Richard Dawkins on "god is not Great"
Humor

That morning I happened to be in Lexington, Kentucky, and I happened to catch two of the following headlines on the same day in a local newspaper: " SAUDIS IGNORED U.S. SECURITY REQUEST, AMBASSADOR says; BY JOHN J. LUMPKIN OF ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Saudi Officials did not respond to American requests for extra security at residential compounds in Riyadh in the face of warnings of imminent Al-Quida terrorism, the U.S. ambassador said yesterday. Whether extra guards would have stopped the assaults Monday on the three compounds is unclear, but Ambassador Robert Jordan suggested the Saudis had not done enough to fight terrorism. "We contacted the Saudi government, in fact on several occasions to request that added security be provided to all western residential compounds and government installations in the kingdom,” Jordan said on CBS 's, The Early Show.

"But they did not, as of the time of this tragic event, provide the additional security we requested...”

The Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud said,” There was news coming from everywhere that they were planning a major attack." Several U.S. officials said that even if security had been improved at the compounds, it is unlikely the attacks could have been stopped, given the number of attackers with automatic weapons... Suspicion that AL-Quida carried out these attacks grew yesterday as a six-member FBI team made its way to Riyadh to assist in the investigation.

Saudi officials linked the attacks to an alleged Al-Quida cell they have been hunting for in recent weeks. They said 15 Saudis took part in the strikes, nine of whom appear to have perished as suicide bombers." And now here is an excerpt from the second headline of the of the same newspaper on the same day."


OTHER VOICES -- TERROR IN SAUDI ARABIA
GUEST EDITORIALS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT HERALD - LEADER VIEWS
The deadly suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia serve as a reminder- if anyone needed it -that the threat of terrorism out of the Middle East is still very much with us. The attacks, which seem to have killed at least 20 people were aimed at several compounds that house westerners working in the Saudi capitol of Riyadh.

Within the walls of the compounds, non-Muslims are able to replicate something akin to lifestyles, they had back home... But the enclaves have always affronted Islamic fundamentalists, and for terrorists, the compounds serve as a handy symbol of the modern western culture they despise...

Many in the western world will always view the tragedy of 9/11 as being about America, but to the people who carried it out, the terrorism attack was as much about Saudi Arabia.

The United States is a supporting player in the terrorists’ own internal political drama, which centers on a fundamentalist religion, a grandiose vision of their own role in the world affairs and an anger at the Saudi government's alliance with non-Muslim western nations... (New York Times).

I think it was pretty much to do with this kind of news items dotting all over the country in the papers and TV, that caused ordinary people like me to stop and think, "What is going on?" And the second news item basically sums it up by saying,"...which centers on a fundamentalist religion and a grandiose vision of their own role in the world affairs."

So it is this false grandiose vision, which is the main culprit, here.
 


MY PERSONAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
I was born in the Punjab Province of India. I was only about 1 1/2 years old when my whole family had to migrate to the newly formed Islamic State of Pakistan. I think this partition of India was one of the most shocking events that took place in India as a society. And the sad part is that the whole concept of this partition was based on religion. So as a result of this religious division of the country a large population of Muslims had to just pick up what they could of their belongings and move to a different part of the country (Of course the same thing was true with the Hindu population as well). This really was a very bloody partition; the opposing party, in many instances, massacred a whole trainload of poor people.

My whole family had embraced Islam as its  religion and most likely had converted to Islam from some form of Hinduism about a century ago.

So to make the whole story short, I was raised as a little Muslim boy and said my 5 times of daily prayers.

I got my basic education in Pakistan in Civil Engineering. Then I migrated to U.S.A. in 1969 and went to University of Utah and got my Master of Science degree. Currently I have residence in Salt Lake City where I maintain my license as a Structural Engineer, to make a living. However I always had interest in different religions. So I went to different churches in Salt Lake City including the Mormon church, a few of the Christian churches and the Bahai's.

Amazon.com

Why I Am Not a Muslim,
by Ibn Warraq

Raised in the Muslim faith, Warraq came to reject religion and now spends his time lecturing and writing. He recently authored a piece "Islam, The Middle East and Fascism" which critiques the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an.

The Quest for the Historical Muhammad
 by Ibn Warraq

Publishers Weekly, March 6, 2000
"... Warraq has provided a highly readable critical survey of the literature of this quest..."

Now first church I joined in USA was Jehovah’s witness, which I joined after I had been in USA for about 4 years, after which I married a Jehovah’s witness girl. But soon I discovered that this was a very non-progressive church to the point of not accepting blood transfusions or letting their kids opt for formal college education.

So while going door to door I was challenged by a Mormon missionary who said,” The Lord shall let you know if the Mormon Church is true or not and all I need to do is ask for it". So I did. I got baptized as a Mormon and prayed for it but I never had any indication from the Lord one way or the other. So I just became an inactive member. Now I believe the best religion for any adult is probably the one they are raised with as a boy or girl.

So I still enjoy saying my daily prayers.
 


CHOICE OF RELIGION FOR ALL OF US
The best religion one can have is generally the one that a person is raised in as a little boy or a girl. One of the main reasons for us to have a religion is to derive comfort, hope and love for one another. For any religion, the following characteristics are necessary for it to help people in general.

1. AUTHORITY, so people would take it as serious enough like at least on the level of a strict government. I guess that is why lot of the Judeo-Christian churches (Including the Mormons and the Muslims) offers a measure of punishment after death, for every sin committed in this life.

2. RITUALS; they are but little actions people enjoy repeating on regular basis for a collective expression.

3. BIG QUESTIONS; Usually every religion has to invent some answer to questions like "Where do we come from ? Why are we here? And where do we go from here?

4. GRACE; It is basically the strong belief that reality is on our side. This I think helps people in times of crisis to know that are on the right and helps them stay calm.

5. Mystery; this is like a little shade in any real photo. It means that nothing in life is finite.

Now in an average persons 's lifetime, all the contents of his/her life are made up of:

1. Statements made
2. Actions or non-Actions
3. Giving or taking of favors and charities
4. Good or bad manners
5. Faith
6. Love or Hatred of people and/or god.
7. Preaching 8.meditations
9. Concepts
10. Prayers
11. Hope or lack of hope
12. Sex
13. Procreation

Now everything we ever do, most likely falls under one of the above categories. Next we are just dealing with a modeling problem. So now let us introduce an importance multiplier with each of the above 13 variables. Then we can do a regression analysis and possibly come up with an equation that can equate sum of all of the above multipliers to one optimum value for each individual. This individual optimum value can then be broken down into more or less idealized values which is nothing more than a new set of multipliers that one can use for his/her daily mix of things to follow. This daily mix is really the word I prefer to use is nothing more than a weighted combination of above variables that one can mix for one to do on a daily basis i.e. to do one activity after another. Anyhow, this is the most rewarding way for one to keep busy to accomplish anything, keep healthy and just be full of life, hope and love. This I think is an idea to tailor your own religion, especially if you are not too happy with your present one; like you shall see it soon that I am not.


PRELUDE TO BUILDING A BRIDGE
The need for such a bridge between the East and the West cannot be overemphasised.The need for such a bridge simply intensified with each episode like the first Gulf war,the war in Bosnia Area, the war in Afghanistan and then the war in Iraq. So this hypothetical bridge between the East and the West will not only be great for people and information to flow across rather it will also help eliminate the long standing violence between the various religious groups,all over the globe. Recall now the name of this little booklet,"The Bridge between the East and the West."

So one may raise a question here, well the bridge over what? Now symbolically the brige is made up of a goodwill understanding between the East and the West. Let us say that the bridge is over a large river and again, symbolically, let us liken this river to a prophet and the prophet in this case happens to be Muhammad of Arabia.

So I guess now we can see a little more clearly as to what was separating the East from the West.

However it is not Muhammad who had any idea that he was to become such a river as to be the dividing force between the East and the West. So the big question right now is how to undo this force.
 


PSYCHOSIS OF MUHAMMAD
Muhammad’s Psychosis, based on the medical literature, a copy of which is attached herewith did include the manifestations of both Delusion and Hallucinations. Muhammad also suffered from O.C.D. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). So I am sure about the following facts about Muhammad.

1.That he heard voices that in reality did not exist.
2.That he saw angels that did not exist.
3.That he suffered from O.C.D., mainly to do with washing (As evidenced by Most Muslims in washing themselves five times a day (It does not matter whether they need it or not.)

In support of these findings I am writing a separate booklet for my Muslim brothers and sisters that can assist them in this transition. Here and now my advice to them is not to take Muhammad seriously when he acknowledged himself by saying, arising from his trance, inside this cave where he lay alone, terrified he rushed home to his first wife Khadija and said to her, "Either I am becoming a Prophet or a madman."
 


CONCLUDING REMARKS
I suspect the case for Muhammad to be very similar to that of Moses (Of the Jews) and Joseph Smith (Of the Mormons). I guess statistics also plays a role in it, that such a person is born on this Earth approximately once in every thousand years. Obviously it is not just the person alone, rather a whole bunch of other events also work out to be present there in the scheme of things to make a whole combination to open the locks to a false prophethood.

 However, please note in all three cases of a madman, posing as a prophet of god, the following:

1. All three men were known not to lie about anything. They were very honest, in all their dealings with their fellowmen.

2. The state of religious affairs was in a state of chaos in the immediate societies that each man was born in.

3. It seems anyway that each man was to fall into a very similar trap of starting a new religion, and the symptoms of Psychosis only enhanced them taking it for real and run with the idea of becoming god’s prophet rather than a man needing medical attention.

Of course with these three major religions out the window, that leaves us with Christianity and Buddhism. Now the leaders of these two, namely Jesus Christ and Buddha, they both seem to have pretty good mental status as far as any Psychosis is concerned. So I guess now we know our options for a religion as far as our future generations are concerned.

This booklet is particularly aimed at present day Muslims for them to wake up to the realities about Muhammad and not support the AL-Quida type terrorist organizations because with these suicide bombers all they are doing is killing themselves along with other innocent people.

So please let me just say this at the end to all of my Muslim Brothers and sisters, "DO NOT BE FOOLISH TO WASTE HUMAN LIFE. THE CAUSE IS NOT WORTH IT. This I am saying to all parties involved in this big mess."
 


What is FAITH

Please ALLOW COOKIES if you want to see the books

Amazon.com

Why I Am Not a Christian,
and Other Essays on
Religion and Related
Subjects

by Bertrand Arthur Russell

 "Great book, solid arguments,
a challenge to believers. Easy-
to-understand logic dominates
the work, presenting an almost
watertight case against
contemporary mythology.

The Holy Qur'an: Text,
Translation & Commentary

Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Editor)

 

Holy Bible:
King James Version:
Standard Text Edition

 Holy Bible on
Compact
Disc

  The God Makers  
by Ed Decker, Dave Hunt

Ken's Guide to the Bible
 by Ken Smith

With precision and pig-
iron wit, this compact
volume lays bare all the
sex, gore, and lunacy
that the Bible has to offer.

Off-Site LINKS
The Common Sense Religion
The Common Sense Church Service
Mormonism

An Atheist's Guide to Mohammedanism
Atheist Page
Bertrand Russell Society Home Page

Bertrand Russell and Alfred Whitehead also wrote the definitive Principia Mathematica
Islam in Europe


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