Islamic State

Islamic State Destroys Embarrassing Pagan Roots of Muhammad

Published by Papa Giorgio

A quick history of the Satanic Verses:

Dr. Thies has a great short article on the Islamic State destroying historical evidences of the Pagan roots of Muhammad’s faith:

…Sura 53:19-20 According to Islam, the Koran contains a revelation from Satan. An entreaty concerning three lesser deities, al-Lat, al-‘Uzza and Manat, worshipped by the people of Mecca. As a result of Muhammed invoking these gods, the people of Mecca no longer opposed him. Then, in a later revelation, Muhammed revoked this revelation, and recommenced prosecution of the people of Mecca.

The entire incident has been one of great controversy in Islam, although the logical implications of Satanic Verses being admitted to being included in the Koran has become taboo. Well, one of the remaining physical evidences of the gods of Mecca has been destroyed by ISIS: the statute of al-Lat, in the form of a lion, in the Syrian city of Palmyra, and dating back to the 1st Century AD. But, not to worry. ISIS isn’t destroying all the archeological treasures of this ancient city. Instead of destroying the 2,000 year old Roman theater, they are using it for public executions…

Jihad Watch notes that this incident led to the Islamic tradition of later verses in the Qur’an abrogating earlier ones, and why Islam practices “religious” violence.

…Incidentally, that passage in the Qur’an’s 53rd sura is the only trace left of the celebrated “Satanic Verses.” Long before the novel of the same name by Salman Rushdie, this term referred to an incident recorded in Islamic tradition, in which Muhammad tried to achieve reconciliation with the Quraysh by a “revelation” in which he declared, “So have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza? And Manat, the third, the other one? They are the exalted cranes (gharaniq), worthy of veneration.” The Quraysh, hearing this, prostrated to Allah with the Muslims, who accepted the three goddesses as Allah’s daughters. But Muhammad soon realized that he had thus compromised the absolute monotheism that he had preached up to that point, and so he reneged, and claimed that Satan, not Allah, had inspired those verses, which were then duly replaced by the “revelation” recorded in Qur’an 53:19-22. The concept of abrogation, which ultimately led to the idea that the Qur’an’s violent passages take precedence over its peaceful ones, justified this change in still another “revelation”: “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth  better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?” (Qur’an 2:106)…

To Be Clear, The WH Doesn’t Think the Taliban are Terrorists

Published by Papa Giorgio

These guys are in charge of our safety remember. Feel safe yet?

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck… you get the point, via the Diplomat:

Pakistan Taliban Pledges Support to the Islamic State

The Pakistani Taliban were said to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) on Saturday though it was later revealed that this was merely an offer of support. The move was not considered a complete surprise when the news broke on Saturday because the Islamic State has been recruiting and advertising in the Pashtun-dominated areas of Pakistan, many of which are sympathetic towards the Islamic State. However, the move would not have been anticipated either, with many believing instead that the less influential jihadi groups would align with IS in order to take advantage of their infamy.

A Taliban offer of aid to IS, which came during the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Adha, was accompanied by astatement from the Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahid Shahidullah in Urdu, Pashto, and Arabic. “Oh our brothers, we are proud of you in your victories. We are with you in your happiness and your sorrow. In these troubled days, we call for your patience and stability, especially now that all your enemies are united against you. Please put all your rivalries behind you. All Muslims in the world have great expectations of you. We are with you, we will provide you with mujahedeen and with every possible support,” Shahidullah said.

Reports initially suggested that this statement represented the Pakistani Taliban’s growing estrangement from Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, rivals of the Islamic State. In the eyes of many Pakistani Taliban, jihadists in Pakistan have been much less effective than those fighting for the Islamic State. This coupled with rivalrieswithin the Pakistani Taliban, were said to have influenced its alleged decision.

Al Qaeda and the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have been creating a South Asian zone of operations for jihadist groups aligned to them that would rival the Islamic State in the Middle East. Al Qaeda established a newfranchise in the subcontinent called Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) last month, which was designed to bring together the region’s various jihadist groups under one umbrella. Al Qaeda itself also renewed its old pledge of allegiance to the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar last month. Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri repeatedly stressed that all Al-Qaeda groups were under the authority of Mullah Omar who was the “commander of the faithful,” a title traditionally used by caliphs. It was assumed that the Pakistani Taliban shared the same position until Saturday.

…read more…

A dude sitting at a desk in his home can show that the Taliban has gone in with the Islamic State. Are they still an “insurgency”?

Foreign Policy: Even the Mainstream Media Called Obama’s Bluff

Published by Papa Giorgio

This comes from a great post over at Gateway Pundit, and has to do with a previous post regarding Canadian special forces engaging in ground battles with the Islamic State. Can you guess where? In Iraq. IN OTHER WORDS, our allies (as well as U.S. special forces) are on the ground in Iraq. so to hear this critique from the mainstream media is refreshing… but as I will note, it is indicative of the worldview of the Obama admin:

Richard Engel in the above video got it exactly right… Obama is looking at the world as how he “wishes” it could be. The Left has a view of economics, politics, and world affairs that especially since the “new Left” of the 60’s has displayed a Utopian proclivity. While the following audio is long (and you can choose to skip it), the insight into how this new Left thinks outside of the real world is required listening for the person interested in political science:

The President’s SOTU speech on foreign policy was soo bad that even “thrill up my leg” Matthews got it, Wolf Blitzer as well. But the conservative (who is typically more religious, by far) has a belief that ONLY God can bring perfection to earth. The leftist (typically more secular, by far) believes that mankind can impose perfection by edict (e.g., government legislation). This is why Democrats in a majority think man can control weather by legislation as well as calling millions of years of Nature (or God, or both) honing the male/female species into question. It is hubris that knows no bounds.

Here is some Utopian ideals defined via Conservapedia:

A utopia is a fictional society considered perfect by its proponent, but whose implementation in reality is unrealistic. The term, greek in origin, was first used by Thomas More, for its 1516 eponymous book, which describes a fictional state whose laws and organization are purportedly ideal. However, More’s intent was, at least in part, ironical, as some ambiguities in the text clearly show: the word “utopia” can mean both “good place” or “place that doesn’t exist”, and the narrator’s last name, Hythlodaeus, literally means “purveyor of nonsense”.

Utopian literature was, however, not created by More; it comes from the fusion of several archetypes, which can be found in classical literature and mythology, religion, and philosophy. The most important influences were the Greek accounts of voyages in faraway, fantastic lands (such as Hyperborea or Thule), the narration of a fall from a privileged and carefree condition in religion and mythology (such as Hesiod’s Golden Age, or the Genesis’ Fall from Eden), and philosophical inquiries about the nature of the perfect state, of which the most influential was undoubtedly Plato’s Republic. More and Plato disagree on what makes a perfect society: for example, while both societies are socialist, Plato advocates the communion of women and families, whereas More, a Christian, could not agree with that. This shows that utopias are, by their own nature, subjective and arbitrary, as different individuals will have different ideas on what constitutes a “good” society. A utopia, seen from a different point of view, can become a dystopia, that is, the description of a society which claims to be ideal but which ends up being a nightmare.

It is also interesting to note that utopias, while having some similarities with religious paradises, are incompatible with them: to be perfect, a paradise only needs an act of will by a deity; man only needs to gain access to the paradise through his actions on Earth (the exact requisites change from religion to religion: in the old Norse religion only valiant warriors fallen in battle could access the Valhalla, whereas the Christian Paradise is reserved for the righteous) and no special laws or measures are required to keep that paradise perfect. On the contrary, Utopia is a man-made paradise; it is perfect because it is carefully engineered to be so, and constant human intervention is required to prevent it from declining or falling.

This, according to professor of sociology Krishan Kumar, reflects two particular Christian views of human perfectibility: utopianists believe in the Pelagian view that man can make himself perfect through his actions, whereas the dystopian view reflects St. Augustine’s doctrine: God can be the only source of perfection, everything that man does is doomed to fail, and only faith can save man….