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Hvert menneske er sin egen gud. Det er ved å velge seg en annen at man fornekter seg selv og blir blind og urettferdig.

Livet er en bølgedal, og ingen klarer å holde seg på midten. Man er ikke engang nødt til bare å skylde på seg selv. Ulykken som rammer oss, har ikke bestemt det på forhånd. Den slår ned som lynet, uten å dvele ved sorgene den har forårsaket og er helt uvitende om dem. Hvis du vil gråte, så gråt; hvis du vil håpe, så be, men for all del, let ikke etter en syndebukk hvor du ikke finner mening i smerten.

Landsbyen var ikke rare greiene. Det var et gudsforlatt sted, trist som bare det, med usle hus av leire som hadde fått sprekker av vekten av elendighet, med hjelpeløse smug som ikke visste hvor de skulle gjøre av seg for å skjule hvor stygge de var. Noen radmagre trær ble spist opp av geitene, de sto der og led som galger. Ved foten av dem satt noen tafatte, ørkesløse menn. De lignet avdankede fugleskremsler etterlatt der i påvente av at virvelvinden skulle spre dem utover omegnen.

The governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, who is a Muslim, was assassinated
because of his defense of Asia and opposition to the blasphemy law.

Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet member, was shot
dead for he attempted to change the blasphemy laws.

The Supreme Court Judge later resigned in a handwritten letter
addressed to the President of Pakistan, without stating any specific reasons
for his resignation.
The chief Justice of Pakistan declined a request for the hearing of the case
of Asia.
Today, Asia Bibi no longer has a lawyer. No one dare to represent her
for fear of being killed.

/

a synopsis of her story :

Aasiya Noreen Bibi (Asia Bibi) was involved in an argument
with a group of Muslim women with whom she had been harvesting berries
after the other women grew angry with her for drinking the same water as them.

They angrily told her that it was forbidden for a Christian to drink water
from the same utensil from which Muslims drink,
and some of the other workers considered her to be unclean
because she was a Christian. Some arguments ensued.

Asia recounts that when they made derogatory statements about her religion,
she responded, "I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died
on the cross for the sins of mankind.
What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind?

She was subsequently accused of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad,
a charge she denies, and was arrested and imprisoned.
Before her incarceration, she had been repeatedly urged by her fellow workers
to convert to Islam, which she refused.
Later, some of the workers complained to a cleric that Asia insulted Muhammad.

A mob came to her house, beating her and members of her family
before she was rescued by the police.

The police initiated an investigation about Asia's remarks,
resulting in her arrest.
She subsequently was imprisoned for over a year before being formally charged.

She was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court,
receiving a sentence of death by hanging.
The verdict, which was reached in a district court, would need to be upheld
by a superior court. The appeal hearing was delayed five times.

Asia was put in solitary confinement in an 8 x 10 ft cell without windows
at the Lahore prison.
The Supreme Court suspended her death sentence for the duration of the
appeals process. To date, Asia is imprisoned for eight years.

Despite her case has received worldwide attention, she received less sympathy
from her neighbors and Islamic religious leaders in the country,
some of whom adamantly called for her to be executed.

Her family went into hiding after receiving death threats,
some of which threatened to kill Asia if released from prison.

The family declined to leave the country while she remained in prison,
but Italy, France, and Spain all offered to grant her and her family asylum
in the event of her release.

( goodreads )

Selv om det går til helvete, og alt er mørkt, så fortsetter livet. Livet er alltid grådig på mer liv. Hvis ikke menneskene hadde vært overmodige optimister, så hadde det gått under for lenge siden.

Nå vet han hva religion er.
Religion er en dans.
Hvis man først faller ut av rytmen, ser det hele latterlig ut. En dans hvor kun den som danser, hører musikken.

Det er dette landet, tenker han. Dette varme landet inntullet i det tørre mørket som trekker vannet opp fra de mørke kildene.
Det landet som har vært skjult av det klamme, fuktige, tette, mørke teppet som heter islam. Et årtusen langt mørke.

Some things we prefer not to know.

Among these .. is an accurate account of the origins, extent,
and the means of expansion of Islam over its now 1200 year history.

During this time period, the armies of Islam managed to conquer a good fifth
of the world’s geography and population.
This growth and expansion show few signs of abating, in spite of Islam’s
expulsion from Spain in the fifteenth century and from the Balkans
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The main reason that Islam is not larger is because — and only because —
it was defeated in some major historic battles.
In recent years, with its high birth-rate and its immigration, Islam has a new lease
on life in the West, particularly in Europe,
from which it had been turned back in the eighth century at the battle of Tours
and in the fifteenth at Vienna.

Both Europe and America are now dotted with mosques in hundreds of places,
the construction of which is usually financed by Saudi Arabia.

In this riveting account of the history of Islam’s military accomplishments,
Raymond Ibrahim shows that Islam has followed a consistent policy
that has combined politics, war, terror, and religion.
Its purpose was, and remains, essentially religious,
however unwilling we might be, because of our own presuppositions,
to grant that fact.

/

The second striking thing is the extent and prevalence of slavery,
of slave markets, of the need of slaves to make possible the kind of life
that Muslim leaders carved out for themselves.
Most Americans are aware that slavery existed in their own country.
What is not so widely known is the place of Arab middle men who were the
slave brokers for both black and white slaves.
Though slavery is found in many cultures throughout history, it was a
constant element in Muslim life.
And the slaves were not mostly black, but white;
the choice slaves were acquired by raids along the European coasts
or as the booty of conquest.

Near the end of the book, Ibrahim recounts the experience of the early American
founders with Islam.
The first American war, some might be surprised to learn, was with the
Barbary Pirates in North Africa.
The United States paid regular and enormous ransom fees to recover Americans
held as hostages.
Ibrahim cites the letter that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson wrote to Congress
on March 28, 1786:

"We took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the grounds of their (Muslim)
pretentions to make war against nations who had done them no injury,
and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong,
nor had given us any provocation.
The (Muslim) ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet,
that was written in their Koran,
that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners,
that it was their right and duty to make war on them wherever they could be found
and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners,
and that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise .."

..several questions. Can one really be a faithful Muslim and not accept
this history and its rationale?
Can non-Muslims rest content that this religious warfare in various forms will not
be unleashed on them whenever the opportunity arises?

As Ibrahim points out, a Muslim is free to say in public that he will not practice
violence, provided that he secretly agrees in his heart
that he will follow, when he can, the Koran and what it says about such violence.

..Efforts to democratize Islam have taught many Muslims how to use democratic
processes for their long term goals.
While Islam approves of conquest by arms, it does not disdain any other way to power
if it can finally impose its law (Sharia).
..the use of terrorist tactics can, if unchecked, still effectively disrupt
and even weaken any modern society.
..The recent defeat of ISIS on the ground made clear that its expansion might
now use other means.

Historically, Christians and non-Christians falling under the control of Muslim
majorities have been required to pay a fine and accept second class citizenship,
convert, or die.
Peace for Islam means the condition brought about when everyone is Muslim.
Until then, a state of war with non-Muslims de facto exists.
Again, the purpose of Islam is the subjection of all men and nations to Allah.
Without this ultimate goal, Islam is not Islam.

( fra bokmelding her > )

13 land har dødsstraff for ulydighet mot islam:
"Apostasi är belagd med dödsstraff i 13 länder.
Som utav ett sammanträffande är samtliga dessa länder islamska. "

En viktig yrkestenker het Chamberlain,
etter en kort konferanse med Adolf Hitler kom han hjem
med kofferten full av varig fred (1938).

"Historien gjentar seg.
er nødt -- ingen hører etter"

sånn er det, vi har nok valgt å bo på en klode der
de forstandige regjeringsmenn har . . . visse problemer
med å leve opp til all tilliten de forskuddsvis tok ut ?
.. med å skjønne hvorfor det ikke spontant blir idyll
og varig fred -
for all den selvros og godtro vi har investert.