X-Message-Number: 20479
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:40:19 -0800
From: James Swayze <>
Subject: Opposing paradigms, will we survive them?
References: <>

>
> Message #20472
> From: 
> Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 11:06:22 EST
> Subject: Telling quote from father of Israel bomber
>
> Hello, life lovers...
>
> I was so dismayed by this comment off the current news that I thought I must
> copy it and post it where people of reason, goodwill, and a generally secular
> bent can see it.

<snip>

> Eleven people were killed and at least 48 wounded, eight of them very
> seriously, authorities said. Israel Radio said many of the casualties were
> school students, though hospital officials declined to give a breakdown.
>
> Israeli police identified the bomber as Nael Abu Hilail, 23.
>
> Abu Hilail's father, Azmi, said he was pleased with his son. ``Our religion
> says we are proud of him until the day of resurrection,'' Abu Hilail said.
> ``This is a challenge to the Zionist enemies.''
>
> End quote.
>
> Would you be proud of your son expoding noncombatants and children, for any
> political or religious cause?

No

> Do any of you agree with me that this is one supremely "sick, perverse" value
> system?

Agreed

>  What a contrast to the scientific humanism exhibited by most
> participants at the ALCOR conference!

Absolutely

> Yet there are about 1.2 BILLION Muslims...there are about 1 THOUSAND
> cryonicists.

Cause for worry

> Sorry to start a new thread not directly related to conference or cryonics.


I think survival from dogmatism IS directly related. It relates to how we are 
perceived. How we are perceived often has more to do with our perceiver's 
paradigm than with anything we do or try to appear as.

What to do? Change their paradigm. Is this really "the religion of peace" as it 
is portrayed/apologized, as?

> Observations?

Just this.

[begin quoted article]

Dozens dead in Nigerian riots


Newspaper article over Miss World pageant triggers clashes A Muslim woman walks 
past a church destroyed during riots in Kaduna, Nigeria, on Friday, the third 
day of sectarian riots triggered by a newspaper
article about the Miss World pageant.

MSNBC NEWS SERVICES


KADUNA, Nigeria, Nov.  22   Rioting by mobs of Muslims and Christians in the 
northern Nigerian city of Kaduna has killed more than 105 people and seriously 
injured 500 others, Red Cross officials said Friday
as thousands of residents sought refuge in army bases and police stations.

Trigger for riots in Kaduna?


'What would (the prophet) Muhammad think?  In all honesty, he would probably 
have chosen a wife from among them (the contestants).'   NEWSPAPER ARTICLE


MOBS OF Christian youths retaliated against Muslims on Friday in the third day 
of riots triggered by a newspaper article suggesting Islam's founding prophet 
would have approved of the Miss World beauty

pageant."The 105 are identifiable deaths," Nigerian Red Cross president Emmanuel
Ijewere told Reuters by phone from the capital Abuja, adding that the tally 
came from his field officers in Kaduna. He suggested

the toll could rise further.  "There are some houses that have not been entered.
It is possible that there are injured in these houses." Red Cross spokesman 
Patrick Bawa said 521 injured people had been

evacuated to Kaduna hospitals by Thursday night. Sporadic gunshots and shouting 
could be heard Friday morning by Kaduna residents who were still hiding in fear 
inside their homes.  Angry mobs have stabbed and

set fire to bystanders, while others have burned churches and rampaged through 
streets. Security forces were expected to be on heightened alert in northern 
Nigeria's biggest city of Kano a hotbed of sectarian
unrest during Muslim prayers on Friday.


CURFEW On Friday morning, plumes of black smoke rose above the city from 
makeshift barricades lit by angry mobs. Advertisement Authorities extended a 
round-the-clock curfew, although large numbers of people

were ignoring the order. In the neighborhoods of Ungwa-Rome and Larayi areas 
dominated by minority Christians witnesses said mobs of youths smashed windows 
and set fires in mosques used by the ethnic Hausa and

Fulani Muslims who dominate Kaduna, a cosmopolitan city of several million 
people. Rioting was also reported in Kabala Costain, one of Kaduna's many 
predominantly Muslim neighborhoods.

Fearful residents of all faiths were rushing into police stations and military 
bases for protection. "The soldiers have been very helpful, giving us bandages 
and first aid.  Everyone is here Muslims,

Christians and pagan.  We are all afraid of going home.  Only God knows when 
this will end," civil servant Habiba Ibrahim said in a telephone interview.  
Ibrahim spent the night at the city's defense academy,

near the government clinic where she works.Hundreds of soldiers and police were 
deployed to restore calm Thursday, although on Friday the rioters were running 
through the city to avoid them.


THIS DAY NEWSPAPER Street demonstrations began Wednesday with the burning of an 
office of This Day newspaper in Kaduna after the Lagos-based daily published an 
article questioning Muslim groups that have

condemned the Miss World pageant, to be held Dec.  7 in the Nigerian capital, 
Abuja. Muslim groups say the pageant promotes sexual promiscuity and indecency. 
"What would (the prophet) Muhammad think?  In all

honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them (the 
contestants)," Isioma Daniel wrote in Saturday's article. The newspaper ran a 
brief front-page apology on Monday, followed by a more lengthy
retraction on Thursday, saying the offending passage had run by mistake.


At least four churches were destroyed in the rioting, Ijewere said. Many of the 
bodies were taken by Red Cross workers and other volunteers to local mortuaries.
Young men shouting "Allahu Akhbar," or "God is

great," ignited makeshift street barricades made of tires and garbage, sending 
plumes of black smoke rising above the city.  Others were heard chanting, "Down 
with beauty" and "Miss World is sin." Previous

riots in Kaduna, a largely Muslim city with a sizable Christian minority, have 
escalated into religious battles that killed hundreds since civilian government 
replaced military rule in 1999. Islamic

fundamentalist groups have for several months warned of protests against the 
Miss World pageant, prompting organizers to postpone the finale until after the 
Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The pageant has also

drawn protests from other parts of the world. Contestants from five countries 
Costa Rica, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa and Panama are boycotting the 
event because Islamic courts in Nigeria have sentenced

several unmarried women to death by stoning for conceiving babies outside 
wedlock.  Nigeria's government insists none of the judgments will be carried 
out, although it has refused to intervene directly.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
[end quoted article]


Most noteworthy quote from those involved "...[sic]...Only God knows when this 
will end". As if!

James
--
Cryonics Institute of Michigan Member!
The Immortalist Society Member!
The Society for Venturism Member!


MY WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/~davidpascal/swayze/ While there follow the
links to photos of me and some of my artwork and a radio interview on Dr.  J's 
ChangeSurfer Radio program with me and the father
of cryonics Prof.  Robert Ettinger, author of "The Prospect of Immortality".
A RELIGION I actually recommend: http://www.venturist.org
A FAVORITE quote: Last lines of the first Star Trek the Next Generation movie.

Capt.  Picard: "What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived, 
after all Number One, we're only mortal."
Will Ryker: "Speak for yourself captain, I intend to live forever!"

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