Why Is Racism Against Muslims OK?
Terrorists? No. Photo by Markus Spring
In the US it’s basically cool to be racist against Muslims. People on national TV can say stuff like ‘all terrorists are Muslim’ and Senators can call for them to testify to their loyalty without repercussions. Imagine saying the same things about blacks or Jews? You can’t. People would lose their jobs. This racism (religism if you will) is really bad now but it will look even worse historically. I live in a country that started modern terrorism and Muslims have nothing to do with it. They’re really great people with a cool culture and it’s a real shame seeing them smeared in America.
The most obvious smear is calling Barack Obama a Muslim as if that’s an insult. That’s like calling me Cambodian. I wouldn’t be offended to be Cambodian, it would just be wrong. Yet, there are people going around America saying stuff like
“In the Muslim world, extreme is mainstream,” she wrote. She said that there is a “cancer” infecting the world, and said: “The cancer is called Islamofacism. This ideology is coming out of one source: The Koran.” (Brigitte Gabriel
Well, not really. That’s both ignorant and offensive. What does she mean by Muslim world? The two biggest Muslim countries are Indonesia and India, both fairly mainstream democracies. The most mainstream Muslim I know is Shah Rukh Khan. As for the Koran, has she read the Koran? It’s beautiful and a bit scary in parts… like the Bible.
Most people I know who are Hafiz or live by the Koran are actually quite chill. It’s also curious that a 20th century European style of government would come out of a much older Arabic document to create Islamofacism. I think that this just shows that the word and the idea are oriental in nature, a product of ignorant minds rather than a useful description of reality.
What Ms. Gabriel is saying is actually ignorant at best and hate speech at worst. It’s tarring over a billion people as criminals and murderous, which is both unlikely and unkind. This type of behavior should be treated with as much opprobrium as anti-Semitism. Actually, Arabic is technically a Semitic language and Muslims, Christians and Jews are from the same mythical family tree, but whatever.
Instead, Senator Peter King is holding a hearing on radicalization of American Muslims. His basic thesis is that American Muslims might turn to terrorism, even though most American terrorism has actually been from white fundamentalists (Terry McVeigh, the Unabomber, etc). Oh, and King is also an unashamed IRA supporter, saying “If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the I.R.A. for it.” He justifies himself saying that the IRA never attacked America, which is not in anyway a moral defense, merely a political one.
Based on the guest list some people will actually tell the truth and some people like Akbar Ahmed are saying that this will give Muslims a chance to air their normality publicly.
Still, the basic premise of King’s investigation is that Muslims are terrorists and different and somehow less than other Americans or other human beings. That and a lot of the discourse going around America today is actually just ignorant and racist and deeply uncool. Racism wasn’t cool against African-Americans, it wasn’t cool against Irish or Italians or Japanese and it isn’t cool now. Muslims are equal to anybody. They should be given a chance to be judged on their merits as human beings.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
While I don’t agree with labeling all Muslims as terrorists, or double standards applied towards Muslims vs Jews/Blacks, there is a real problem here.
Muslims are aggressively increasing their population in an organized manner. Not because Muslim parents think its nice to have many kids, but simply because they want to see more Muslims in future. In democratic countries, each vote counts equally.
Does the world need an answer and is this a real problem? I guess so.
The answer? I dunno, and I don’t think there is an easy answer either.
Just like for Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka who don’t follow Buddhism at all, “Muslim” is just a label for an extremist to feel belonging to a group. It’s just a large club whose aim is world domination. Not only that there is an aim, but they are aggressively working towards it, whose main method is to exploit democracy: increase vote count.
The other problem is that it is easy for the minority of extremists to enforce their ways on the majority of moderate Muslims. For example, if a Muslim sells land to a non-Muslim in Sri Lanka, that person is likely to be expelled from the mosque and will loose all the benefits by belonging to the community.
I don’t think ordinary Muslims want world domination, on the contrary, most of them are good hearted people. But they do need the benefits they get, mostly economics, by being Muslims. And to save those benefits, they should give into the rules of the mosque, rules made by extremists. Therein lies the problem.
have you read the quran. especially the parts about killing non believers & apostates.
I don’t think the quran, Jirad or the religion is the main issue here.
I see “Muslim” as a huge club. A club whose goal is to make the world advantageous to itself and members, and world domination in the long run. Islam happens be merely a common denominator. Those who make the rules of the club have interpreted the quran to their advantage many times.
There are other organizations like Freemasons who are said to seek world domination (rumors). But their means (again based on rumors) are mainly illegal, creating wars and stuff. Muslims are using democracy; increase your population (vote base), and the world is yours to rule!
The main tool of running the club is fear. In currently non-Muslim countries like Sri Lanka, it is the fear of loosing economic benefits coming through the mosque (e.g.: business contacts to get electronic goods smuggled from the port). In Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, the fear comes in the form of cruel punishments.
This is very similar to how the they keep ragging in the universities. You accept it, and you get to take part in the “kuppis”, allowed to stay in the hostels, and is accepted as a fellow student (people talk to you). You reject it, not only the benefits are gone, but people will stop talking to you. Even if they want to, because they don’t want to loose the benefits either.
I hope Indi will write an article about the Muslim ecosystem in Sri Lanka.
The following from Anonymous in the first comment is by far the dumbest thing I have heard this decade:
“Muslims are aggressively increasing their population in an organized manner. Not because Muslim parents think its nice to have many kids, but simply because they want to see more Muslims in future. ”
What a douche!! Ha ha! I know five, not one or two, but five Muslim couples who do not have more than one child by choice. I guess that racist in the first comment can’t include them in his/her equation.
@Abraham: So you are saying five Muslim couples you know is a good sample? Please see this for a bigger picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_population_growth
@ Anonymous:
Wikipedia? Come on? Can you not do better?
My five examples prove that not all, or not even some, practise what you are claiming. It is the Christians in the US that have families of more than 10 kids, and they believe the bible ask them to multiply.
@Abraham Wikipedia is not totally chaos, and citations are sort of mandatory nowadays. See the citations (links) at the bottom of the article.
Quote from the above Wikipedia link:
QUOTE
Conversion rates had a significant increase in the North America after the 9/11 attacks, which most likely caused more Americans to study Islam in depth. [17] According to the New York Times, 25% of American Muslims are converts to Islam.[18] In Britain, around 10,000 – 20,000 people convert to Islam per year
UNQUOTE
Despite all these lies and hatred spreading about Islam and Muslims it seems the fastest growing religion is Islam. Ha, I think we need to spread more lies and out of context quotes to stop this trend. Remember, a lie travels round the world while Truth is putting on her boots.
I think it’s healthy for people to have their own opinions but I have to say that the following is factually incorrect:
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For example, if a Muslim sells land to a non-Muslim in Sri Lanka, that person is likely to be expelled from the mosque and will loose all the benefits by belonging to the community.
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I’m a practicing muslim who has read the Quran over many times and I’m involved with mosques in Sri Lanka and I can say that this is not true, at least not from the many muslims I interact with. Perhaps you’re drawing your conclusion from a few muslims that you know?
Forgive me but if I am to judge you by your comments alone, you just sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist. However, I’m sure you must be quite pleasant in real life :)
To everyone who has to suffer through fearful, ignorant, racist, sexist, fascist, religiously intolerant, homophobic, or otherwise hateful rantings by family this holiday season: I empathize and want to offer a glimmer of hope that together we each can pass on better informed, united, peaceful, tolerant, open minded, unbiased, brave, loving, and compassionate messages to those around us ?
Brigitte Gabriel should be congratulated for what she says as it is exactly the truth. There is no doubt about it.
Yeah, at least she’s being honest.
I have read most of the Koran. I was stuck in Dubai for a few days. It has dark parts and Allah is pretty clear that he’s a jealous god and that other people are getting smote. However, this is really the Judeo-Christian God talking, the God of Abraham. If you want to lay the charge of anger against non-believers on Islam, it applies equally to Judaism or Christianity, all of which are pretty clear that the unrighteous are getting smote. If you read the Koran and the Bible and Old Testament (Jewish part) it’s pretty clear that this is the SAME GOD. Together these religions account for the majority of the world and attributing these dark intentions to them is statistically pointless.
As for Islam being a club, OK, so is Rotary. So is Facebook. As long as a country isn’t under Muslim law then people can join whatever club they want. And yes, they can recruit if they want to. I know people who have found Islam and it’s changed their life for the better. I also know people who’ve found Buddhism, or Christ. Whatever works for you.
We give Christians, Jews and Rotarians the benefit of the doubt. Why not Muslims?
The issue is that Muslims in general have not moved on from a medieval mentality. Basically for most of them what’s in the Quran is the truth and nothing else and it is the literal word of God with no equal. Christians were largely like Muslims once but have since moved on (except for the fundos). The Bible is filled with evil and violence just like the Quran is, but Christians tend to ignore the blatantly obvious hate/genocide/murder contained within and concentrate on the good parts like the new testament.
IMO the Indic traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) are superior to the Middle Eastern Monotheism encompassed by Christianity, Islam and Judaisim. But that’s my personal opinion.
Coming back to the topic it’s pretty damn obvious that there is a serious problem within the worldwide Muslim community and I think it has to do a lot with extremist Islam itself despite the fact that it is portrayed as “a religion of peace”
@Indi:
Benefiting by joining a club that works for you is not against the law, and I am not against that either.
Now tell me this. If the present rate of population growth imbalance continues, most non-Muslim countries will end up being Muslim majorities. No laws has been broken, only it’s an organized effort to increase Muslim population.
Regarding my distinction between Christians/Rotarians vs Muslims (left out Jews as we don’t have many of them here) is because the former group doesn’t practice (or practice less) the discriminatory practices like the Muslims, at least in Sri Lanka. Are you saying they are very picky about selling lands to one of their own kind? Or making many children to increase the population of the club? Or about keeping the certain businesses to their own kind? Will someone be expelled from a Temple or Church or Rotary for selling a land to someone from a different club? I don’t think so.
Like I have said so many times, no laws are broken, individuals have exercised their freedoms. But I still see something very wrong going on.
Well many Catholics in Sri lanka are threatened by the Church with excommunication/denial of Christian service for their dead family members if they convert out of Christianity/Catholicism or don’t get their spouse to convert to Christianity.
From the Horse’s mouth:
“Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith suggested that the church should insist that if the Catholic faithful attend Sunday services or other such functions of these fundamentalist Churches, they should return their family books and face other consequences such as the refusal of a burial in a Catholic cemetery. ”
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/news/25509.html
Now if this is how the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka behaves towards Catholics who are interested in another sect of Christianity, you can imagine the level of hostility they have towards Catholics who evince any interest in non-Christian faiths.
This is from the same Sri Lankan Catholic Church that was screaming like a stuck pig about “religious freedom” when the conversion controversy was happening. Funny.
@Bonchi Baba
I have my share of disagreements about the Catholic Church. And no, I am not a Christian. I am trying to follow Buddhism, not just because my parents were.
I have noticed that Catholics are way less tolerant than other Christians. Out of the couples I know with spouses of different faiths, Catholics are very particular that their houses are decorated with crosses and other symbols, do not allow the spouse to have any of his/her religious symbols around, force spouses to go to Church with them, children are named and raised around the Church and many more.
However, there are two things that make the Muslim extremism a lot more dangerous. Unlike Catholics whose main benefit from the Church is for special occasions (marriage,death etc), most rural Muslims have developed an ecosystems strongly revolve around the Mosque. It’s their life. They can’t exist without the mosque. They just can’t leave. Is it illegal to benefit from the Mosque this way? I don’t think so. Except for mass scale tax avoidance by Muslim traders by using their networks that is. My problem is that this dependence on the Mosque gives the extremists full control of these victims.
Secondly, domination by population is not the catholic strategy. While Vatican is not the friendliest towards all forms of birth control, there is definitely no clear “multiply to spread faith” strategy. Out of all invasive methods, this one is the most dangerous to the mankind, because it is not illegal. Given the present democratic framework, the only way to counter (just so that we have enough non-extremists to balance the extremists) is to make many children, which is something I don’t want to do.
That has to be the lamest excuse ever indi. The fact that fucked up shit exist in the bible doesn’t make it ok for that nonsense to exist in the Kuran. But honestly the kuran is much worse than the old testament. in the old testament all the killing of non believers seems to be limited to specific incidents by gawd’s commandment. Quran is a free for all…
BTW check this out:
“Sri Lankan Muslims celebrate the victory of Pakistan Cricket team who defeat Sri Lanka”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLFXg14Zy2A
This is the dumbest thing ever…… When Sri Lanka plays we should all back Sri Lanka, When other teams play against one another we can all feel free to choose who we back. But for those ignorant and stupid people who back another country against their own land where they were born and continue to live….. get on a boat and bugger off to somewhere else. Shame on you!!!!!
What about Expatriate “PatRiots” domiciled in England, Australia, New Zealand who carry the Sinhala flag and support the Sri Lanka team even though they are now citizens of those countries enjoying all the perks and privileges they could have never got from this country? Anybody has the right to support any team he/she wants. I personally have always supported the Australian, South African and Pakistan teams. The only Sri Lankan player I ever liked was Marvan. How the hell can someone support a team that has idiots like Dilshan and Politicians like Sanath in it???
Anybody has the right to support any country, but they can also bugger off away from here without stinking up the place. That’s an opinion that should apply equally to expatriates and internet troll.
And it’s laughable how you can support pakistan given your reasons for hating sri lankan cricket. What a joke dude.
Most Christians are good at cherry picking. They ignore parts of the Bible that are just fucked up and believe the rest. Besides, most of them haven’t even read the Bible.
Even though that’s the case, most Christians, unlike most Muslims, can read. So the Pope has to concede that the earth goes around the sun and that evolution is a fact. Muslims, since most of them just can’t read, and because of many other reasons, don’t have to do that and can believe that Neil Armstrong didn’t pee on the moon. Also they can kill their daughters just call it honour killing. He’s just practising his fucking religion and who are you to stop him from doing it, punish him for doing it? His God is true and God will fuck him upside down if he doesn’t kill his daughter. We’re talking about religious freedom here.
It’s just fucked up.
Killing daughters was a part of tradition and certainly not a part of the religion :) Killing your daughter would be considered a crime in the religion.
The problem is, a lot of people mix the religion with tradition and that’s a very bad and messy mix which causes a lot of misunderstanding so I can understand why you’d think the way you do but rest assured, killing daughters (or any other human being for any reason except self defense) is equivalent to killing all of humanity according to the religion.
ABC news did special which showed how brutal verses in the bible are. Does that make Christianity a barbaric religion?
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Kill People Who Don’t Listen to Priests
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
Kill Witches
You should not let a sorceress live. (Exodus 22:17 NAB)
Kill Homosexuals
“If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.” (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)
Kill Fortunetellers
A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Leviticus 20:27 NAB)
Death for Hitting Dad
Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:15 NAB)
Death for Cursing Parents
1) If one curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out at the coming of darkness. (Proverbs 20:20 NAB)
2) All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:9 NLT)
Death for Adultery
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)
Death for Fornication
A priest’s daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)
Death to Followers of Other Religions
Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exodus 22:19 NAB)
Kill Nonbelievers
They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)
Kill False Prophets
If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord.” When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through. (Zechariah 13:3 NAB)
Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God
Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. “The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night
But if this charge is true (that she wasn’t a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father’s house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)
Kill Followers of Other Religions.
1) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)
2) Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT)
Death for Blasphemy
One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD’s name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother’s name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD’s will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD’s name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD’s name will surely die. (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)
Kill False Prophets
1) Suppose there are prophets among you, or those who have dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles take place. If the prophets then say, ‘Come, let us worship the gods of foreign nations,’ do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or dreamers who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. Since they try to keep you from following the LORD your God, you must execute them to remove the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT)
2) But any prophet who claims to give a message from another god or who falsely claims to speak for me must die.’ You may wonder, ‘How will we know whether the prophecy is from the LORD or not?’ If the prophet predicts something in the LORD’s name and it does not happen, the LORD did not give the message. That prophet has spoken on his own and need not be feared. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NLT)
Infidels and Gays Should Die
So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved. When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:24-32 NLT)
Kill Anyone who Approaches the Tabernacle
For the LORD had said to Moses, ‘Exempt the tribe of Levi from the census; do not include them when you count the rest of the Israelites. You must put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and its equipment as you travel, and they must care for it and camp around it. Whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites will take it down and set it up again. Anyone else who goes too near the Tabernacle will be executed.’ (Numbers 1:48-51 NLT)
Kill People for Working on the Sabbath
The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: ‘Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.’ (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
SSSH!! Don’t let the cat out of the bag….
This is why I laugh when Christians claim that the god they worship is loving and merciful…
Thought I should put in a word here, though I’m no longer a practising catholic, and even when I was supposed to be one, never paid much attention to the service, but mostly spent my time looking around at what other people were doing. I still attend the occasional mass and just visit churches whenever I come across them, because I find the atmosphere soothing and the rituals familiar and comforting, and because I love hymns and carols. But then, I get the same feeling in buddhist temples too.
What Lefroy said is true, that most catholics haven’t even read the bible. I think it used to be discouraged by the church, on the grounds that there was danger of it being taken out of context (Even the priests must have been ashamed). Selected passages are read out and explained by a priest during mass. I’ve tried to read the old testament many times and came across many stupid and disgusting passages but most of what Abraham has posted here has escaped my attention, though I cant say I’m really surprised to know that the old testament contains such . I’m sure it’s the same with most other Catholics.
But the spirit of the New Testament is quite different, and the teachings of Christ are quite inspirational, in a good way.
In Sri Lanka the Catholic church is quite mercenary in it’s dealings, and utterly paranoid about other fundamental Christian groups. I think the main fear is the potential reduction in the collection. They do not fear Buddhists or Muslims at all, and have cordial relations with their clergy. I think the Catholic church is corrupt to the core, especially at the core. There is some humongous scam regarding Vatican funds that doesn’t get any publicity.
However Catholics on the whole are a harmless bunch. They will be quite shocked if the church asked them to follow to the letter any of those bible passages in Abraham’s comment above. The only dangerous things I see about the Catholic church is it’s stubbornness regarding homosexuality and contraception (which many Catholics choose to ignore anyway), and the blind eye it turns towards child molesting priests, and to a lesser extent the huge guilt complex it encourages. I’m sure reforms will have to come soon, or the Pope will stand to see a large scale turning away of his flock.
I grew up in a strict catholic environment, but never aquired any ill feeling towards other religions (though I remember we were discouraged from learning about them), so it can’t be all bad.
@Shammi:
“I still attend the occasional mass and just visit churches whenever I come across them, because I find the atmosphere soothing and the rituals familiar and comforting, and because I love hymns and carols. But then, I get the same feeling in buddhist temples too.”
Ditto. Being officially a Buddhist, I occasionally attend services in Catholic/Christian churches, and also other religious places, just for the same reasons. I think there is a thing in most human beings that attract them towards rituals.
Anonymous, you’re right about people needing rituals. Burial rites for instance, have become part of our coping mechanism, haven’t they? If we didn’t have religious rites we’d still need some kind of ritual to help us cope with the passing away of a loved one, and being social animals, we find so much comfort in the participation of the pack at these events. Some people would be lost without the whole support system that revolves around the church.
There is also a lot of service and charitable work conducted by religious institutions. And their efficiency must be better or at least on par with that of an NGO, or government institution. Like I said, not all bad.
Indi said, “The most obvious smear is calling Barack Obama a Muslim as if that’s an insult. That’s like calling me Cambodian.”
I’m confused. Is your father (or mother) Cambodian? This analogy makes no sense. Obama is not a Muslim because he was brought up by his Christian single-mother. However he was born to a Muslim Kenyan father which is where he gets his first name Barrack and straight-out-of-the-Quran middle name Hussain from. He also has Muslim half-siblings on his father’s side. While I don’t agree at all with the people who call Obama a Muslim, this is where they get their smoke. I doubt you have a Cambodian father (or mother), a Cambodian name, or Cambodian half-siblings. Obama has also, to my knowledge never claimed that his father ever became a U.S. citizen. I agree that Obama is not a Muslim, if he was, he would never have been elected President of the U.S., not even by the majority of the Black population, who are as conservatively and blind-to-a-fault Christian as the White Bible-belt population.
The number of non-Christian Senators or Congressmen in the U.S. are probably a fraction of a percentage point, and they would mostly comprise of Jews. Religious tolerance and equality in the U.S. does not extend to Governance and elected office. When a Mormon or Catholic is elected to office, most people consider that out of the ordinary, even though they are very much Christian branches. The only non-Christian most Americans would tolerate for high public office is someone who is Jewish. For now, Catholics and Mormons are considered the “minority religions” occasionally allowed to hold a prominent elected office.
Actually Indi, what exactly are you? Are you a Cambodian…a Canadian or a Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lankan who only sees the faults of the outside world but never utters a word about the Sinhala Buddhist racism perpetrated on all the minorities living in Sri Lanka? Read the columns of Tisaranee Gunasekara, Fredrica Janz, Kusal, Vander Poorten etc in the Sunday Leader, if you don’t have a clue about what I’m saying!
Its fear psychosis that drives some people to make ignorant comments, and ignorance which drives people uneducated about a subject to make rash and injurious comments, and rash people that make rash judgements about others…… truly the ability to have insult-less discourse seems to allude so many people…. get real!!
BTW religion like race is an accident of birth. Most religions doctrine is to do right by others. If some choose to read negativity into the religions, and others to practice their religions as it was practiced in the ancient times, then those people need to get acquainted with the real world they live in.
The problem lies not in various religions, but the way SOME people practice it. Fundamentalism in any religion is not good because it leads to intolerance. And for those who believe practicing their religion means going back to living a restricted and veiled life or subjugating women, or damning those who dont agree, it is a sad and meaningless way of life. We all believe that what we do to others will be done to us either in this life or the next.
The Quaran does command Muslims to tear the heads off the necks of all non-Mulims and crush them on sight calling all non-Muslims infidels. Beautiful? Peaceful?
@Commentator:
That garbage will fly in the US where most US citizens are unable to name the states of their own country, but not here.
I wonder why, then, the prophet lived with non-believers as well. Even after he had control of the region. Either history is wrong or you are taking things out of context. Not on purpose, I’m sure. It’s just generally portrayed that way.
Mormonism must be the most ridiculous religion in the world. The followers of it shouldn’t be called Mormons, but simply morons. I mean there’s this 19th century guy writing in 17th century English. I mean really, wtf?
Scientology is the other such religion. The guy who made it has himself said that the best way to get rich is finding your own religion.
Of course this doesn’t mean other religions such as Christianity, Islam and Buddhism are any less ridiculous. Seriously, why do people think those men who lived 2000 years ago knew more about life, universe, and everything than we know?
@ Abraham,
You are probably right about most if not the entire list of archaic practices you list from the Bible. The Bible and the Quaran, after all, share many similarities. In the present day context the difference is that there is no one who practices those things from the Bible, but many Islamic countries practice those things by Sharia Law, and then some. That’s not to say all Muslims do, one can never generalize like that, but we can’t also ignore that most Islamic States in the Middle East practice stoning to death, cutting off arms, extreme inequality of the treatment of women etc.
Because Islam is indeed a real threat to the world peace. Many parts of the world is awakened by the intentional population explosion orchestrated by the Muslims. It’s going to be a major threat to the demographic balance in the world. This is very much felt by the West. Sri Lanka will obviously be a victim of this in the next couple of decades as the population growth of the Muslims is five times bigger than other communities. There should be a consorted effort to arrest this trend by the countries that will face adverse consequences of this.
@kandula:
I don’t understand why so called “educated” people turn a blind eye to this.
We are used to mind our own affairs and we think it is rude to poke into other people’s lives. We feel guilty to be judgmental about how many kids our neighbors has. After all, if they like to have many kids, and if they can afford to bring them up, it’s none of my business, and they haven’t broke any law. So we keep mum, because we like to be nice to people, that’s how we are brought up.
Looks like a clear case of exercising their freedom, and it doesn’t even get to where my nose begins. Or does it? What happens if the neighbors permanently brainwash their kids early on? These kids will grow up to be citizens and probably extremists. Since everyone is equal in terms of voting, these multitude of citizens are likely to vote to elect extremists, who will make laws that effect me. So in the end, their exercising of freedom has effects way beyond where my nose begins.
By the way, the anonymous comment at “2011-03-11 07:49:27″ is not me.
How about writing about, “Why Is Racism Against Tamils in Sri Lanka OK?
There are good and bad and nasty and racist people all over the world. True, in Sri Lanka the issue about a multi racial country is not addressed and solved by those in governance, as it should. However to say that there is racism against Tamils in Sri Lanka is such a blatant statement of mis-truth its a shame. Stop perpetuating such ignorant statements. We the people dont quite agree with those in governance. Government needs to address the needs of not only Tamil Sri Lankans, but all of us who are the minority whether by race or religion. THere was a time we all respected each others beginnings. Sigh!
@PresiDunce Bean
Sunday Leader is an Assembly Of God (AOG) backed publication. It’s sole existence and intention is to spread AOG in Sri Lanka by converting as many as possible by all means possible. Everything about that so called “newspaper” is done with an ulterior motive. Since Buddhists are the majority in Sri Lanka, they direct their resources and attention to Buddhism. It’s a case of simple math. They will get more bang for their buck by attacking Buddhism than any other religion. If they directed their resources at Hinduism, Catholicism or Islam, they can’t get the same return in numbers as with Buddhism. However, when in another country, they use the same tactics to attack other religions like Hinduism. It’s all fair game. Religion is a business, and a very profitable one at that, specially in the U.S. The head honcho of AOG is likely sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars of “personal” tax free “income.” The revenues of AOG are likely in the billions.
Have you wondered why all of the columns you quoted are in the same newspaper? Have you wondered why The Sunday Leader relentlessly attacks Otara Gunewardene? They resent that she is the most prominent, most successful businesswoman in SL with unprecedented and unparalleled popularity and stature, and that she is a Buddhist. This despite the fact that she’s stated in interviews that she’s not a very religious person, maybe she recently “discovered” Buddhism and has been openly singing its praises, and that started their attacks. Maybe they approached her to become an AOG member and she refused. Whatever it is, she is being attacked so viciously and relentlessly because she’s a Buddhist. AOG really does not care about race, they are only concerned with religions, but as most Buddhists in SL are Sinhalese, it’s a way to get at Buddhism. Otara married a Tamil, changed her last name to a Tamil name during the marriage, had two children who are half Tamil (the kids are technically and officially “fully” Tamil following SL laws,) you really don’t think she’s racist, do you?
Then why does Sunday Leader come across like a “normal” newspaper, you wonder? That’s how sophisticated these religious operations are. It is so, so the paper has credibility unless one digs deep. They are billion dollar businesses run with the same sophistication and planning as Microsoft. AOG and all other similar “religions” have “universities” where they train thousands of priests/preachers whatever they are called to be dispatched around the world. One AOG head in Sri Lanka that I knew in the mid nineties was one of the riches guys in Sri Lanka at the time. He was “trained” in the U.S. His kids went to the best international schools, drove expensive foreign cars, took part in expensive extra-curricular activities those days usually only affordable to the expatriates, all paid for by their father’s “profession.”
AOG and similar “religions” have a haven in the U.S. to operate from, however they have no respect or standing in the U.S. as a religion. They are literally laughed at. For their part, they don’t make any attempts to spread it in the U.S., their business formula targets third world countries.
Make no mistake, they get trained on everything. They probably have a manifesto dedicated to how to run a newspaper. Just as Microsoft will train their employees on every tiny aspect, so does AOG. It’s all by design.
So whatever you read in the Sunday Leader is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Sri Lanka should institute laws to rid the country of these businesses masquerading as religions being spit out of the American Constitution/economy/industry.
I live in the U.S. I know what racism is like. I see it practiced here everyday. I grew up in SL. I never saw anyone in my immediate or distant family, friends or associates or their families, teachers, monks, etc practice racism, religionism, even utter one word to that end. I never got the impression that anyone in my very large Sinhala Buddhist circle thought that we were superior, or that we need to curtail or hinder any other religion or race in any way. Not once. We never used derogatory words for other races, in fact there were no such words in the vocabulary. I grew up with such pure view of religions and races. We just belonged to different ones. Like wearing different colored clothing. Just as I wouldn’t think twice about the color of clothing someone else was wearing and if it differenciated them from me because of it, I never thought about others’ religion or race compared to mine.
Dear Anonymous,
Why don’t you leave that racist country America and come live in the “DemoCrazy TheoCrazy International ConsPirazy of Sri Rajapakistan??”
If America is such a racist country, HOW COME the American people (of which a majority are white) elected a ‘Half Black, Half White’ PresiDunce? Do you think the people who live in this “Utopian Paradise” would ever elect a Hindu, Christian or Muslim PresiDunce???
Has electing Benazir Butto cured Pakistan of its ill treatment of women? Have the burnings, mutilations, stonings, acid throwings stopped? Do they allow women to compete in sports or lead mass protests if the country comes up with a women’s sports team? Has the election of Begum Khaleda Zia stopped violence against women, disparity, acid throwings, killings, burnings of women in Bangladesh? Electing ONE Black president in a country whose democracy spans several centuries does not mean it’s suddenly cured all of it’s racist ills against Blacks. Even as Tamils in Sri Lanka was screaming racism and demanding segregation barely a decade after the establishment of the Sri Lankan Government, the 300+ year old American government was still practicing forced segregation, forced fighting in the military without rights, conducting medical laboratory experiments on them using them as lab animals, preventing them of buying real estate and a multitude of other practices on Blacks. There are no Black people who believe everything is solved because Obama became president. There is also the case of the Native Americans who are the most marginalized and mistreated, and forgotten group of the American society. They live in dire poverty and squalor in a developed country, in conditions that make some third world countries look like paradise.
So no, no one is naive enough to believe that just the election of a Black president has wiped the racism out of the U.S. The U.S. just has the power, stature, and control organizations like the U.N., Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, so they can ignore the mountain of dirt and debris in their house and take a magnifying glass to pin point specks of dust in other countries, specially developing countries like Sri Lanka.
Let’s not compare apples and oranges. With Obama, you are talking the difference of RACE. When you say, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, you are referring to RELIGION. It’s the nature of the world, people are more willing, a lot more willing to accept someone of a different race, but of the same religion. Obama is a Christian, same as the majority of the White, Black and Hispanic population. It is the major religion of the U.S. and he belongs to it. If he wasn’t a Christian, say he was a Muslim or a Hindu, he would never, ever have been elected.
Has any Muslim country elected a non-Muslim as their president or prime minister? Most Middle Eastern countries don’t even permit an image of the Buddha to be brought into the country. The names of pretty much every majority muslim country is, “The Islamic Republic of …..” What is we changed Sri Lanka’s name to Buddhist Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka? I’m sure suddenly you would find this extremely unfair, as if it’s the first time it’s happened in the world. Most Western countries have Christianity as their official religion. Most have no minority religious holidays, while Sri Lanka has equal holidays. In most Western countries it is very difficult to get permission to build a mosque, temple or khovil. In Sri Lanka there are no restrictions. I can go on an on. Sri Lanka has been very fair to other religions. Perhaps the best in the world.
Also, Obama represented the youth, and the Democrats, not Blacks. He is very main stream. Staying away from things that identify his as “Black” rather than American. All minority politicians in Sri Lanka represent their own race or religion. Sri Lanka would have to abolish all politcal parties and factions of political parties representing/based on race or religion before we can even think about electing a minority president.
And if the Presidency of Sri Lanka was restricted to Buddhists, that is fair. It is a Buddhist country. Where else in the world are minority religion persons are elected as the President? Nowhere. At least in Sri Lanka there is equla government representation and true freedom of religion, even a Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Is there a Ministry of Buddhist Affairs in Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country, or are they using their “brotherhood” culture to discriminate against Buddhists so much that they have no choice but to all convert to Islam, which is how these once Buddhist countries/regions have all but eliminated Buddhism.
Finally, the President of the U.S. does not have power on his own. The power structure is very much in the House and the Congress. So with very few Black or minorities in the House and the Congress, the minorities in the U.S. really do not have that much say in public policy.
Let’s not compare apples and oranges. With Obama, you are talking the difference of RACE. When you say, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, you are referring to RELIGION. It’s the nature of the world, people are more willing, a lot more willing to accept someone of a different race, but of the same religion. Obama is a Christian, same as the majority of the White, Black and Hispanic population. It is the major religion of the U.S. and he belongs to it. If he wasn’t a Christian, say he was a Muslim or a Hindu, he would never, ever have been elected.
Has any Muslim country elected a non-Muslim as their president or prime minister? Most Middle Eastern countries don’t even permit an image of the Buddha to be brought into the country. The names of pretty much every majority muslim country is, “The Islamic Republic of …..” What is we changed Sri Lanka’s name to Buddhist Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka? I’m sure suddenly you would find this extremely unfair, as if it’s the first time it’s happened in the world. Most Western countries have Christianity as their official religion. Most have no minority religious holidays, while Sri Lanka has equal holidays. In most Western countries it is very difficult to get permission to build a mosque, temple or khovil. In Sri Lanka there are no restrictions. I can go on an on. Sri Lanka has been very fair to other religions. Perhaps the best in the world.
Your analogy is flawed.
Obama has a white mother and a black father.
Whites are the majority, followed by Hispanics and then blacks.
Obama also speaks the language of the majority English and follows christianity.
The Sri Lankan equivalent would be a Sinhala-speaking, Buddhist who has a Moor Father and a Sinhala mother.
Dear Bonchi baba,
The Hispanics will outnumber whites by around 2040.
Cast is not a problem in America. In Silly Lunket it is a big factor.
http://groundviews.org/2011/03/23/small-country-diplomacy/ go to this link and read the comments by Kusal Perera about cast. Cast is something you cant wish away… Silly Lunket is not going to have a non Sinhala Buddhist PresiDunce in our life time. It might change in a couple of hundred years when almost everybody speaks English and being Sinhala Buddhist no longer seems like such a big deal…but then thats a very long time…
Well it took a a couple of hundred years for the US to vote in a half-white President…So if you want to compare with the US, lets wait a couple of hundred years. The US still hasn’t voted in a non-Christian president.
And caste among the Tamils is a hundred times worse than caste among the Sinhalese.
Here is a link about cast in Sri Lanka and India. http://groundviews.org/2011/03/18/caste-in-sri-lanka-and-india-2/
…also read the comments by Kusal Perera. And as for America voting in a non christian PresiDunce? I’m sure it will happen much sooner than Sri Lanka getting a non Sinhala Buddhist PresiDunce.
That’s right, you’re gonna die and be rotting in the ground before you see a non Sinhala Buddhist president in Sri Lanka. Boo fucking hoo :) Watcha gonna do?
Dear Bonchi Baba…you are prime example of a Sinhala Buddhist racist!
Would you like some Whine and Cheese with that?
Dear Bonchi baba,
It’s you who said that there is not going to be a non Sinhala Buddhist PresiDunce anytime soon. If this does not smack of racism what does? It’s quite funny because else ware you say that you would have voted for Lakshman Kadiragama.
This reminds me of the ‘Bradley Effect.’
For those of you who may not know what the Bradley effect is:
(The Bradley effect, less commonly called the Wilder effect, is a theory proposed to explain observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in some US government elections where a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other. Instead of ascribing the results to flawed methodology on the part of the pollster, the theory proposes that some voters tend to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his white opponent. It was named after Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor’s race despite being ahead in voter polls going into the elections.)
ps: I would prefer some kiribath…kola kenda and kurakang bread rather than Whine and cheese.
That’s right; no non-Sinhala Buddhist president for a long, long, long time. Did I mention long?
You will be an old man shitting your pants because you can’t get to the toilet on time and it will still be a Sinhala Buddhist president running Sri Lanka.
The question is: what are you going to do? Bite a cyanide capsule or strap some dynamite to your body and blow yourself up into a million pieces? Have fun!
The Idiot Island Children’s Book Of Parleymutting
Lesson 1
See the funny man.
His job is ‘Parleymutting.’
He is called a ‘Parleymutt.’
See the funny white outfit he is wearing.
It is called the ‘Fool the Idiots Outfit.’
See his funny moustache and the funny purple towel around his neck.
Hear his funny stomach churn.
Churn, churn, churn.
The funny Parleymutt has a funny ulcer.
Most funny Parleymutts have funny ulcers.
But some funny Parleymutts are lucky.
They do not have funny ulcers.
They have funny high blood pressure.
Lesson 2
See the funny Parleymutt with the purple towel around his neck talk.
Blah! Blah! Blah!
The funny Parleymutt is lying to the funny tax paying idiots.
All funny Parleymutts lie to the funny tax paying idiots.
He is telling them to tighten their belts.
Tighten. Tighten. Tighten.
After his speech, the funny Parleymutt will give the funny tax paying idiots breakfast.
‘Koorakong Bread’ and ‘Colour Canda.’
Yum! Yum! Yum!
Lesson 3
See the pretty lake.
It is called the ‘Doyouwanna Lake.’
See the funny Parleymutts building in the middle of the pretty lake.
All the funny Parleymutts work there.
They say “Long Live The Gang Of Four!”
Blah! Blah! Blah!
They say, “We will safeguard Democrazy!”
The bald Parleymutts with orange bed sheets wrapped around them say,
“We want a Dharmacrazy!”
Blah! Blah! Blah!
Don’t you wish YOU could speak like these funny Parleymutts?
You can.
You are almost seven now!
Lesson 4
See the funny Parleymutts building.
225 funny Parleymutts work there.
Let us count the 225 funny Parleymutts.
Count! Count! Count!
Hmmm! 200 funny Parleymutts are missing.
Naughty! Naughty! Naughty!
Where are the 200 funny Parleymutts now?
Holidaying in LunDumb, Parish and Nooyuk.
Isn’t Parleymutting fun!
Fun! Fun! Fun!
The funny tax paying idiots must have lost another billion or two of their tax money.
Lesson 5
See the funny man in glasses with the silly grin on his face.
He is the brother of the funny Parleymutt with,
the purple towel around his neck.
He has made 132 people vanish today, by courtesy of WUFOs.
And it isn’t even lunchtime yet!
Vanish! Vanish! Vanish!
See the other two funny men standing next to him.
They will not be made to vanish today.
They are funny Parleymutts too.
They are the funny Parleymutt brothers of the funny Parleymutt with,
the purple towel around his neck.
How lucky the funny tax paying people are.
Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!
Vote for one, and get ‘4 for the price of 1.’
Lesson 6
See the funny Parleymutt with the hair gel, beard and 2 mobile phones.
The funny Parleymutt with the purple towel around his neck loves and trusts him.
Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!
Trust! Trust! Trust!
This funny Parleymutt does the marketing and he also washes the clothes of
the funny Parleymutt with the purple towel around his neck.
Marketing! Marketing! Marketing!
Wash! Wash! Wash!
Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!
Parleymutting is hard work.
The funny tax paying people should be grateful for funny hard working Parleymutts like him.
Lesson 7
See the funny ‘Cupboard Meeting.’
Funny Parleymutts have 1 or 2 funny ‘Cupboard Meetings’ a month.
But none on full moon days.
(Full moon days are reserved for catching ‘Permanent Rehabilitators of Cattle’
and ‘Liquor Salesman’).
They discuss everything at ‘Cupboard Meetings.’
At this ‘Cupboard Meeting’ they are discussing the drop in oil prices.
The funny tax paying idiots are still paying the old price for a litre of petrol.
Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
Soon the funny Parleymutts will make a BIG decision.
But not at this ‘Cupboard Meeting.’
Maybe at the next ‘Cupboard Meeting’ that will be held in one month’s time.
Lesson 8
See the funny short Parleymutt Docter with the dark glasses.
He likes to re-arrange up T.V. Stations and steal cameras.
He studied only up to the 8th grade.
He can barely write his name.
But this is enough qualifications to become a funny Parleymutt on Idiot Island.
“Funny Parleymutt, why do you steal cameras and temporarily rehabilitate
jolly cameramen from private T.V. Stations?”
“Because they do not give happy endings to stories about me!”
“I like happy endings!”
Someday a jolly cameraman will hit him with a jolly camera, right on his jolly nut!
What a happy ending THAT will be!
Happy! Happy! Happy!
Lesson 9
Listen to the funny Peacekeeping Comedian talk.
Blah! Blah! Blah!
Lie! Lie! Lie!
See his funny nose grow, just like Peenorkeeyo
“Is it true that 25,000 tourists were permanently rehabilitated and not a single
humanitarian peacekeeper was either permanently or partly rehabilitated?”
Of course! Of course! Of course!
See his funny nose grow, just like Peenorkeeyo
Grow! Grow! Grow!
“Funny Peacekeeping Comedian, when will the war end?”
There is no war, only a ‘Humanitarian Crusade!’
Blah! Blah! Blah!
Grow! Grow! Grow!
How nice it would be if the funny Peacekeeping Comedian’s
BRAIN would grow instead of his nose!
Lesson 10
See the funny tax-paying idiot.
He is the 8th wonder of the world.
He has a 40-year-old body and a 10-year-old mind.
He believes everything the funny Parleymutts tell him.
The funny Parleymutts T.V. channels and newspapers tell him what he likes to hear.
He believes he lives in the greatest country on Planet Mirth.
He believes he has the greatest culture and the best economy on Planet Mirth.
He believes that women from LunDumb, Parish and Nooyuk,
will one-day work as housemaids in his country.
He also believes that pigs can fly and hell will one-day freeze over.
If this continues, the funny tax-paying idiot will become even more amazing.
He will no longer have a 40-year-old body and a 10-year-old mind.
He will have a 40-year-old body and a FIVE-year-old mind.
…this is the country you live in Bonchi Baba…so don’t delude yourself.
*yawn*… what’s sad is that you spent all that time typing that up in front of your computer.
Bonchi Baba…how do you know I don’t have a secretary?
You actually pay people to write crap? Even sadder.
Tisaranee Gunasekara, Fredrica Janz, Kusal
the holy trinity of sri lankan journalism
I thought the “Holy Trinty” was ‘The Daily NOISE,’ ‘The Sunday Ab Saver,’ and the ‘Nay Shun?’ All 3 either owned or controlled by PresDunce Jilmart and his family of 300 plus???
Holy Trinity = Prabhakaran, Thamilchelvam and Pottu Amman — all of them dead as fuck :)
Well the south has the Unholy Quadrumvirate of Mahinda ,Goat, Basil and Chamal. Like Prabhakaran, Thamilchelvam and Pottu Amman…they too are the other side of the same coin. At the moment Praba and co. are rotting in hell…someday in the future Mahinda and co. will also rot in hell! They too are responsible for the deaths of thousand of innocents…Anica wata sankara…nothing is permanent…
Difference is the Rajapakses are alive and well while Prabhakaran, Pottu Amman and Thamilchelvam are dead as dodos. That must burn you up real bad :)
Bonchi Baba…Rajapakses are alive and kicking for the time being…Don’t ever forget…Anica wata sankara…nothing is permanent…Gadaffi is getting his just returns after 40 years of despotic rule…looking forward to see when the Rajapaksas’ get theirs!
Rajapaksa ain’t going anywhere for a long time. Deal with it.
Dear Bonchi Baba,
I you a latter day Nostradamus to predict that Rajapaksa isn’t going anywhere for a long time? Despots in the Muddled East are toppling like nine pins…even if Rajapaksa escapes been kicked out by the people…he can never
escape the Grim Reaper…Death comes to every mothers son and daughter when they least expect it!
Thanks for that epiphany, Oprah.
@dodo
holy trinity with four saggy breasts to be precise.
It appears that the “muslims” many of the comments are referring to are just people who have an Arabic name and follow a mix of religion and culture. Half the “muslim” practices in Sri Lanka aren’t even a part of the religion, it’s mostly a mix of culture from the region.
Also, in regards to killing non-believers, I believe that may have been taken out of context :) If there was such a thing as a soldiers manual, you’d expect to see the word “kill” in it. Islam is not just a religion, it’s a way of life. War is a part of life as the past decade has shown us. The verse you are referring to (correct me if I’m wrong) probably refers to a war and talks about self defence.
It’s very easy to look at the bad and ignore the good. For example, the absolute requirement to give a certain portion of your money in charity every and the necessity to aid the poor and downtrodden. But of course, we have to ignore that and instead keep poking at verses taken out of context and feed hate to a generation of discrimination with careless words.
Lovely article. There’s also a lot of discrimination towards muslims at embassies when you apply for a visa. I have personally experienced this over and over again and it’s very very tiring. And I see a lot of generalizations in the comments here and I do think it’s unfair. It’s probably this sort of ignorant thinking and stereotyping that causes so much hate to be directed at myself and other muslims even though I wouldn’t hurt a fly.
The “Islam” the comments refer to is what you see others practicing. The thing is, most people (even myself) don’t properly practice the religion. So unless you’ve read AND studied the Quran, you’re just making ignorant (for lack of a better word :) ) comments on your observation of someones individual (mis)interpretation of a religion he/she may not even completely understand.
A fantastic resource for the Bible and Koran can be found at:
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com
Most Muslims and Christians I know follow much of the good, and little of the bad, in either of the texts. However, the fact that there is a huge plethora of bad is quite enough for me to detest both religions in their entirety. Back in Europe, ‘Moderate’ Muslims or Christians seem to be defined by their adherence to the good, which is really ducking the issue IMHO.
However, the tarring of entire grops of people by the actual or supposed beliefs of some of their members is lazy in the extreme. Many (most) people from religious communities don’t seem to be able to choose their religion, it was there from birth, and they have a very hard time to abstract themselves from such ideologies in public, making religion a pseudo immutable characteristic. This makes the noble intellectual pursuit of criticising the ideology somewhat dangerous as it becomes difficult to separate from the individual.
@Housni I’m afraid that the argument ‘verses taken out of context’ is rather disingenuous. The war you speak of is a constant war until everyone is either a believer, or dead. Allah will leave me alone for a while, then compel me to the doom of fire (2:126, 2:257, 3:4, 3:10, 3:12, 3:19, 3:21, 3:86 …. a never-ending tirade of punishment for my non-belief). Never mind that slavery is acceptable in the Koran. If a believer kills a believer’s slave, then the wronged party may kill the non-believers slave in retaliation (2:178) and men can have sex with slave women obtained in warfare (4:24).
For all you ladies out there, go to the Koran, search out surah 4:34 and digest it in its entirety. Perhaps get a man to read it for you, as apparently he is your better. Await your beating, sanctioned by Allah, for your indiscretions. The Koran may have been quite an immense improvement for the lot of women 1400 years ago, giving them rights they had never before enjoyed (e.g. 1/2 the inheritance of a male heir), but it’s a damning indictment of how little humanity has come that it’s still regard in any way as being relevant or sufficient today.
Explain me then how non believers lived peacefully under Islamic rule which spread over 1000 years?
Why don’t you ask the ladies and gentlemen out there to read the following verse
“O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness….” (Al Quran, An Nisa 4:19)
It is because not understand the Islam fully and out of context explanation of verses..
Lol. it’s ok to beat your wife with a tooth brush.
@ PresiDunce Bean
—If America is such a racist country, HOW COME the American people (of which a majority are white) elected a ‘Half Black, Half White’ PresiDunce? —
Electing ONE Black president 300+ years does not make all racism in the U.S. go away. Any Black person will laugh if you suggested to them that having Obama as president means there is no racism. Many Whites would also agree.
—Do you think the people who live in this “Utopian Paradise” would ever elect a Hindu, Christian or Muslim PresiDunce???—
Black and White are races. Obama is a Christian just like the majority of the U.S. He doe NOT belong to a minority religion. If he did, he would NEVER EVER have been elected. Not even by the Blacks who take Christianity very, very seriously. In contrast, Hindu, Christian, Muslim are religions. So let’s not mix up the the divisions of race and religion. They are two very different things. People are a lot more accepting of minority races (of the same religion) than minority religions to head their country. This is due to the track record of most religions and their not so hidden agenda of stamping out other religions making theirs the major religion. Most countries in the world would not elect a minority religion person to presidency. Is there any Muslim country in the world that would ever vote in a non-Muslim president? Not only that, most Muslim countries have “Islamic Republic of…..” as the official country name, even though they have minority religions in the country. Most Western countries, who preach equality to us, have an official religion: Christianity. Even to build a mosque, temple or khovil in these countries you have to get special permission and jump through all kinds of hoops. Most Islamic countries do not even allow an image of the Buddha to be brought into the country. No one seems to mind about these things. No one is calling these countries racist. But if Sri Lanka changed its name to “Buddhist Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka” or made Buddhism the official religion, we would be called racist. Double standards? You bet. Sri Lanka does allow minority religions to practice, build places of worship freely, even has equal amount of religious holidays. Name a single country in the world that has this kind of concessions and freedoms for minority religions. Sri Lanka stands miles ahead in religious freedom.
It is an indisputable fact that the Government representation in Sri Lanka is very well distributed among minority religions and races. No Western country comes even close.
Finally the beginnings and makings of the U.S. and Sri Lanka are poles apart.
Sinhala is a race of evolving people who are natives of the land. It is a race of the Naga and the Yakka and other tribes who lived in ancient Sri Lanka, who are the oldest known people to have lived here, evolving with the ancient Aryans migrants from North India, evolving with the ancient Tamil and other Southern Indian migrants of ancient times, etc. Anyone who came to Sri Lanka joined together and made a unique race. Everyone contributed to the unique culture and identity of Sinhala. Since the original tribes merged with the ancient migrants and made one race, there were no problems of division. Every one was equal. Isn’t that wonderful? Only the recent migrants want to consider themselves different and want to stay separate and different starting around the time of European invasions.
The U.S. on the other hand is ruled by Whites, (yes it is very much ruled by Whites in every aspect even if a Black president is heading the country, one, due to the U.S. Constitution, and two, due to the chasm of inequality in the U.S. government in minority representation,) who are recent invaders of the country. The natives of the U.S. are the most marginalized, mistreated group of people in the whole country, they are so marginalized, no one even talks about them as a minority, or even see them around. They live in squalor and poverty in Reservations some of which make third world countries look like paradise in contrast.
U.S. therefore is a country of immigrants, and they identify themselves as such. Sri Lanka is not.
—Why don’t you leave that racist country America and come live in the “DemoCrazy TheoCrazy International ConsPirazy of Sri Rajapakistan??”—-
I would love to. As soon as certain sexist laws in Sri Lanka change that pertain to citizenship rights passing through men and but not women, which makes it an Olympian task to pass down citizenship to husbands and children of female Sri Lankans, we will. In contrast, the task of a man passing down his citizenship to his wife or child in Sri Lanka is easier than blinking your eye.
I don’t think this makes the everything about Sri Lanka Sexist. Sexism and related issues the world around are juxtaposed with contradicting and opposing conditions. Sri Lanka is incredibly progressive in some ways, thanks to Buddhism in no small measure, like electing the first female to head the country, similarly a country like Turkey is also incredibly progressive on women’s rights in some ways, even being a Muslim country, but is juxtaposed with some very unequal conditions and practices.
Dear Anonymous,
You did not answer my question which I posed to you before about,
“If America is such a racist country, HOW COME the American people (of which a majority are white) elected a ‘Half Black, Half White’ PresiDunce? Do you think the people who live in this “Utopian Paradise” would ever elect a Hindu, Christian or Muslim PresiDunce???”
Its quite funny how you expatriate patriots enter those countries by hook or by crook…take advantage of all the freedoms they have on offer and then at a drop of a hat rubbish those countries that have given you all shelter and succor.
ps. the Buddhism practiced in Silly Lunket is a joke. eg. banning the sale of meat or killing of animals on poya day but letting the armed forces bomb the North and East into the stone age on this very same day. (which went on for the past 26 years). There are only a few good Buddhists who devoutly practice ONLY what the Buddha taught and not the rubbish taught by MOD Buddhist priests who travel in Benz cars and live in the lap of luxury.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Violence+still+plagues+Lankan+homeland/4255119/story.html
“Its quite funny how you expatriate patriots enter those countries by hook or by crook…”
are you suggesting Anonymous married to get foreign citizenship
We will never know until “Anonymous” lets the cat out of the bag no? And dear Anonymous…Buddhism has been given “Foremost Place” in Silly Lunket. Also even though Sinhala and Tamil are now supposed to be official languages Tamils can’t get things done unless they speak the Sinhala lingo. And yes… I say…though most others might not, that all Muslim countries are religious racist countries just like Silly Lunket has been a Buddhist Racist country since SWRD took over in 1956. Also just because a country has the word “DemoCrazy” in its name doesnt make it a democracy! Former East Germany, The Democratic Republic of Congo and I think even North Korea have the word “DemoCrazy” in their countries name and we all know what or who they are.
ps. What have you got to say about PresiDunce Jilmart Rajapaksa building temples and Buddha statues all over the north and east? Also have you heard about churches been vandalized and burnt from time to time by Buddhist extremists? Have you heard about the Sinhalese Buddhist woman who converted to Islam and wrote a book about her experience being held under the “Prevention Of Terrorism” act?
also…
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – from Hamlet, William Shakespeare; Act II, scene ii
Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, a majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that this country belongs only to them, while the Muslim, Tamils and Christian minorities should be seen and not heard!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that they are the greatest race on earth with the greatest culture and language in the world!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that this country can become the “ASSchariya Rai” of Asia, even though countries like Japan, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, China etc. are far ahead of us, and we would have to go past them to become the “ASSchariya Rai” of Asia!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that we can become the most developed country in Asia, simply by continuing to be an agricultural country!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that pigs will one day fly, hell will freeze over someday soon, and western women will one day work as ‘housemaids’ in Sri Lanka. (That is once we become the “ASSchariya Rai” of Asia).
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that ‘One Family Rule,’ is better than Democracy!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that Sri Lanka is the most Democratic country in the world, where ‘Wars’ are called ‘Humanitarian Operations,’ with ‘Zero Casualties,’ to civilians!
A majority of the majority have been brainwashed into thinking that just because they are a numerical majority, they can ride rough shod over the minorities and tell them what they should eat and drink and what is the permissible culture and language for the minorities, irrespective of the fact that minorities have their own culture and language!
Now the 64,000 dollar question is, Is there a way forward?
The answer is: Only if the majority is rehabilitated to think differently! If that can be done. There will be real peace and development; and not the ‘kind of a peace’ and a ‘kind of development’ (where most of the money goes into the pockets of the ruling family). THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY!
Quo vadis?
Whither goest thou Silly Lunket?
I have a problem. Why do Tamils who make up 12% or whatever of the population, expect the rest of the population to learn Tamil, whereas it’s not OK for this relatively small proportion of Tamils to learn Sinhala? Muslims, who now may very well make up a larger proportion than Tamils do not expect that. They are willing to get about their work in Sinhala or Tami depending on where they live or work.
What I would consider reasonable is that anyone living in an area with a majority of Tamil speaking people compulsorily learn Tamil( i.e North and East), and learning Sinhala be compulsory for those who opt to live in a Sinhala speaking area. English should be compulsory for all, as a link with each other and with the rest of the world. Freedom and facilities to learn a third language should be granted, possibly after normal school hours.
It would be desirable for all govt. officials, police and tri forces personnel to be fluent in at least two of the three languages, but fluency in the appropriate language should be made a condition for serving in the respective areas where a particular language is spoken.
And why doesn’t Dunce speak of religious racist Western Christian countries? I am not happy with building new Buddha statues and temples using public funds either, but it should be okay to refurbish old ones or renovate and preserve ruined ones, giving equal status to all religions as it’s part of our history and culture.
But show me a winner who doesn’t take it all?
Dear shammi,
I agree that religious white christian racists are just as bad as religious sinhala buddhist racists! At least in so called “Racist America” there is a minority black PresiDunce elected by even white votes…because Barrak couldn’t have won with only black and hispanic votes. On the other hand The Utopian Paradise of Silly Lunket doesn’t seem anywhere near to electing a minority PresiDunce! On the other hand they have mastered the art of “Selecting” PresiDunces” and “ParleyMutts” through computer Jilmarts…
Obama is just white on the inside. he talks like a white man, walks like a white man. He even gave up membership at a black congregation so that his campaign won’t get screwed over. He’s just a really tan white man.
Obama is half white anyway, and I think he was careful to keep away from racial issues during his campaign.
I would definitely vote for a minority candidate if he kept away from racial issues, at least initially, and concentrated on national issues. Sadly we don’t see any real issues being discussed on political platforms these days. That’s why my polling card went in to the waste paper basket this time.
I would have definitely voted for Lakshman Kadirgamar if he ran for president… but he was killed by Tamil dickheads. There are very few if any politicians in SL of his calibre.
(Most) Americans are fat and stupid. Self evident really. The rest of the world understands that this kind of rhetoric is pretty harmful. Who gives a toss about these rednecks?
If they cant even understand the difference between “Muslims” (Muslim being a race one is born into) and “Islamists” (Islam being a religion/dogma) why do we even grace them with a rebuttal? When you argue with idiots they drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience. (btw I’m not insinuating that “all Islamists are terrorists”)
meh. Muslim’s as a race don’t really exist outside of their affinity to Islam. If you take out islam they become saudi pakistani etc. So I don’t see a distinction between the term Muslim & the term islamists. they’re both the same.
I have a bunch of Muslim friends & have had more in the past. Generally they like every other group of people. Some are intense some are chill. In fact some of my drinking buddies are muslims. But the concern i have with these chaps is that it’s so easy for them go off the deep end. I remember one kid who was in grad school with me who was all chilled out we’d drink together, smoke & he even ate pork. but he went home for the summer once and came back all jihad. And he’s not the only one I know a few people who’ve changed like that, and a few hear as well. There chilled out one day and then they stop drinking for ramadan. and it goes down hill from there. And some of the prejudice these people hold against other Islamic sects are unbelievable. the thing is unlike when most Christians turn born again, Muslim born again cases are scary. For example my Pakistani friend refused to acknowledge jews after he became a proper jew. There is something very coercive about islamic culture that turns ordinary people into jihadists
True enough. What I hate are those girls who claim to be “Muslims” and wear the hijab and pray 5 times a day and all that jazz, but are really total sluts. They mainly populate the International Schools in Colombo.
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