I'm not one of those Catholics who demonizes Islam. I have MANY Muslim friends, and through them, I have learned a great deal about the faith. Their positive example is awesome. And then I've encountered "not so good" Muslims, who believe the way to get me to "see the light" is to demonize MY faith. Uh-uh, not gonna work. It'll have the opposite effect; turn me off of learning about Islam, and seeing you as a zealot that's too pushy and obnoxious in following your deen.
If you're looking to send an e-card to a Muslim friend or family member, please utilize these websites.
The first is http://ecards.challengeyoursoul.com/ -- it has a host of Islamically themed e-cards, from Eid to birthdays and pretty much everything in between. It also has links to Islamic resources, including gifts and books and that sort of thing. Definitely appreciated for its ease of use and referrals to other sites.
The second is: http://www.eidmubarak.com/ -- Predominantly for Eid cards. Some links to other sites.
The third is: http://www.islamicgreetingcards.net/ -- like the name says, there's an e-card for pretty much every occasion. Also links to other Islamic sites, which is always nice. The less web browsing you have to do, the better!
So please, to my Muslim brothers and sisters, for since we all worship the one merciful, all powerful, benevolent God (though some of us call Him God, and others call him Allah), we are all connected. We are brothers and sisters in faith. And we need to stop this BS policy of division; we need to work together, respecting differences, allowing for them, and opening our minds to learning about the other faith. I do know a considerable amount about Islam (and most other world religions); I think it's necessary for me to know why I practice my own faith. I have nothing but respect for Muslims around the world-- including ones that are, by their actions, apostates. I don't understand them all the time; I don't get ideologs and theocrats and fundamentalists of ANY stripe-- yes, my own faith, Christianity, has its share of goofballs. Like the fundamentalist Christians that think the best way to stop abortion is to murder abortion doctors... WTF? What part of "thou shalt not kill" do you not understand? Or Fred Phelps, who pickets U.S. military funerals, blaming American viewpoints on homosexuality for their deaths. I do believe in free speech, but there are some times that things are truly dangerous for everyone. Any time anyone uses their right of free speech to attack, denigrate, or malign another faith or group, that's when it goes wayyyyyyyyyy too far.
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, etc., needs to have its limitations. This could be a posting in and of itself, but I applaud Dr. Saif al Islam Gaddafi for suing the Daily Telegraph of London after they posted the libelous story on him and, to a lesser extent, his family. The right outcome happened there-- they were found at fault, forced to print a retraction, and fined. And yet they continue to publish tripe about the Gaddafi clan. I'm sure in some of it, especially about Hannibal Gaddafi and Aline Skaf-Gaddafi, there is some ring of truth, but far too much of it is borderline libel. Following the New Year's party in which Dr. Mo and his brother Al Saadi were GUESTS at, they tried to say he was the HOST of the party, and had paid American pop star Beyonce $1 million to perform for them. That lie was later corrected, thankfully. For a newspaper or any journalism outlet (of which, bloggers are a part of) to print crap about GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS (this was after Dr. Mo was named NSA for Libya) is wrong, no matter the reason. The public has a right to know, but the public has the right to know the truth. Unfortunately before the retraction/correction was issued, Western media outlets picked up and perked up upon hearing that lie, and did run with it. It's a pervasive one to this day. It makes news more than Dr. Mo's meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, because sensationalism in journalism is also a big deal. Other things that DIDN'T make the news here in the U.S.-- Saif Gaddafi and the GIDCF donating to crises around the world, including their sizable donation post-9/11, the negotiations that Dr. Saif Gaddafi was involved in that were instrumental in getting U.S. hostage Jeffrey Skilling released from Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, humanitarian aid to Gaza, Pakistan, and other areas following natural disasters or "man made disasters" such as what exists EVERYDAY in Palestine...
Put it this way: if it's negative about the Gaddafi family, it'll hit the airwaves. If it's positive or beneficial to society and the world, then you literally have to "dig" to find it. The GIDCF was, to my knowledge, the ONLY NGO based in an Arab or Islamic nation to donate to the post-9/11 relief efforts administered by the Red Cross. And how many are out there? Dozens, if not hundreds. And The Brother Leader was also the FIRST and one of the FEW Arab or Islamic heads of state/heads of government to CONDEMN the 9/11 attacks. Quite frankly, this action did more to "thaw" ice cold relations between our two countries than ANYTHING else did. I'm 99.99% sure that Dr. Saif Gaddafi was instrumental in this and other positive steps.
Pax vobiscum... later today, from 12:30 pm until 6:00 pm my time (anywhere from 10 hours to 15 hours earlier than your TZ!), I'll be at the National Guard Armory, helping/volunteering with a Red Cross blood drive. Like about two months ago, I'll be pulling "double duty", in both registration and the canteen. While I KNOW I should donate blood-- I'm young, healthy, and have a near universal donor type-- O+-- I'm too chicken shit to do so at this time. So I serve my community in another way... by helping those who do give of themselves, literally. Besides, I like to read the National Guard and Army magazines, and flirt with the men in uniform (sorry, Alex...). I'm baking sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins, plan to ice them with the vanilla buttercream frosting I've already made (and tinted a nice pumpkin shade of orange, with Wilton icing dye, in the copper shade), and decorate them with green gumdrops and licorice dots, for both the vampires and the guardsmen.
And due to the copious amounts of Cheese-Its and Oreos and water I'll be consuming tomorrow, I'll be running back and forth to the "head" more times than I can count! Whoo-hoo, no need for my daily 3+ kilometer run! Not that I need to; I'm 5'6" (170 cm) tall and 130 lbs (59 kg), with a slim & petite, but athletic build, which is an extremely healthy BMI. I take good care of myself, because considering the amount of attraction between Alex and myself, a baby is always a possibility. More so since I'm off of any artificial birth control.
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