Why Are Christians Afraid to Read?

It seems like so many things are forbidden to read by most Christians. Or maybe they make them forbidden to themselves through fear and ignorance. Take reading the Qur'an. I am often baffled when I get into discussions on religion with Christians who feel or believe that the Bible is the word of God. After all, if they think their way is the true way and have examined all other beliefs under a microscope and found them to be flawed in some way, why don't they bring some relevant proof that the Bible is the word of God? And why run out into this spiritual battle armed with little else than faith and hope that the blood of Jesus is enough to get one into Heaven? Every time I ask them "Well, have you read the Qur'an and seen the chapters where Jesus is mentioned?" they always say no. But this doesn't stop them from wishing to engage me in debate, to see which of us really has the word of God. If only an annotated, abridged, English language, edited King James version (one of many versions) was enough to run blithely out into the world where Satan and his minions run rampant. Have mercy!

And if faith alone in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus is enough to get the faithful into heaven, why bother doing any good deeds? Isn't it enough to say, "I'm a Christian," and let the leaves fall where they may? But good deeds are essential to get into Paradise for a Muslim, even though it's by the Mercy and Forgiveness of God that anyone goes there.

Now let me, for a moment say that I know these people are basically ignorant because they are unaware of the Qur'an, so it is not right to criticize them. They are babes in the wood, not aware that faith only is not enough to protect them from the lingering dangers in the woods. Yet this "word" they claim they have cannot even swat a fly. At best, its good reading while in the bathroom.

But I know I have the Word of God contained inside the Qur'an because of the way I see it affecting other people when I read it. It has true power, not only over non-Muslims, but over Muslims. I notice that homes that have people inside reciting the Qur'an on a regular basis are full of light and have a positive aura, whereas those that have people in it whose main pastime is gossiping and watching TV or other things definitely don't have the same vibe.

All I want them to do is at least get an all English variety of Qur'an and read it from cover to cover. I hope they can at least get a good translation and actually read it without fearing that by reading it they must have converted unintentionally. Is their faith so weak that any type of serious religious reading is enough to shake their faith? This type of knowledge should not be forbidden, especially when there is so much useless and wrong information out there that people are eating up like candy.

Maybe the United States of Saudi Arabia

Remember when I wrote that other article called the United States of China, thinking apparently erroneously that China controlled the American economy because it has given out so many loans and uses the dollar as its currency by keeping the Chinese currency lower the US currency? Well, it looks like I was wrong, apparently the whole world, or better yet America's allies are holding up America. Saudi Arabia, as well as China, UK, Russia and others, could irrevocably tear apart the American economy by switching to the Euro overnight. The economy is driven by oil and if all oil producing nations were to switch to using the Euro, this poor (literally) country will be in a lot of trouble. This is what BushCo. has brought upon the nation, an inability to even provide for it citizens by making their goods more expensive because we are using currency that is basically worthless. It would be different if the average American could get his hands on some Euros are exchange their American money for Euros, then go shopping. Since the Euro is only used in Europe and on the international markets, it is not as yet not available to us. But it will be. Choice is as American as Apple Pie and by golly, I too want to shop in a currency that, pound for pound, is worth every penny.

According to this article:
"If Saudi Arabia were to call for oil to be traded in euros, "that announcement would be the end of the U.S. dollar," said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency analyst at CMC Markets. But he said that would never happen as long as the United States and Saudi Arabia are allies, and the U.S. continues to negotiate arms and other deals with the world's largest oil producer."

Really something to think about...

I'm Talking to Myself...*again*

About a year left in the dark administration.

Just think. Only a year left before the Dark Father leaves office.
Will we survive, or will there be another "war" another big mess
to clean up for the next president.

I think I'll move to Canada before things get really interesting.

Worthless American Money

How can people shop with currency that is basically worthless?
Get ready for the soup lines, guys....


The US Dollar is already more worthless than at any time in its history according to the international currency market.

The trade-weighted US Dollar closed July 2007 at its lowest monthly value ever against the world’s other major currencies. It took a 12% drop in world stock markets to force enough short-covering to cause a bounce in the greenback.

Flooding Wall Street and Main with freshly printed bills - whether through sharply lower interest rates…or through direct intervention by the “Reconstruction Mortgage Corporation” that Bill Gross is calling for - will only remind the world why it was so bearish on the Dollar before the start of this month.

At OPEC summit, Iran's leader calls U.S. dollar 'worthless piece of paper'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that OPEC's members have expressed interest in converting their cash reserves into a currency other than the depreciating U.S. dollar, which he called a "worthless piece of paper."

"They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper," Ahmadinejad told reporters after the close of the summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. He blamed U.S. President George W. Bush's policies for the decline of the dollar and its negative effect on other countries.

"The dollar is falling, all heads of state were upset today because of the dollar. The value of their (financial) reserves has dropped," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

"Some said producing countries should designate a single hard currency aside from the U.S. dollar ... to form the basis of our oil trade."

I nominate a new form of currency that you make at home, formerly known as counterfeit money, but since the dollar had dropped in its value, maybe this new form of "home made money" may actually be worth more.

Welcome to the United States of China

You think the housing market is bad in the US? Well, let me tell you, if the United States of Am-er-i-ca continues to borrow like there's no tomorrow, they won't be able to pay back millions of trillions of dollars to loanshark nations like China and Japan. Next thing you know, we are waking up in the US of China. If you don't believe it, see 'How the Bush Administration Is Turning the USA into a Subprime Borrower' by Heather Wokusch.

Here is an excerpt of her article:

Bush’s military adventurism, not to mention his administration’s exorbitant tax cuts for the wealthy, gutted the surplus of $128 billion Clinton handed him in 2001 into a deficit of well over $200 billion today. And Bush has simultaneously increased the national debt by over $3 trillion to roughly $9 trillion, effectively nailing each and every US citizen with a bill for almost $30,000.

While heavy borrowing from Asia has mopped up some stateside red ink, there’s an inherent threat: China, for example, has an estimated $900 billion in US bonds and can increasingly call the shots on the US economy and foreign policy.

Just weeks ago, Beijing warned that if the Bush administration pushed for a revaluation of the Chinese currency, then Beijing would sell dollars, thereby threatening the greenback’s reserve currency status. Washington backed down. It had little other option.

Scary, isn't it?

Musing on Mars Retrograde: November 15th

I have been reading about the so-called Mars retrograde, when the planet Mars seems to go backward in the sky, although it is an illusion--no planet actually moves backward in the sky, it just appears so to us. Anyway, its supposed to have so many meanings for each sign, especially the sign that it falls in, which in this case is Cancer and Gemini. According to http://www.astrologycom.com/:

"As a rule, retrograde planets presage a period of seemingly inevitable or fated events, which relate to their sphere of influence. The retrograde phase is when the planet concerned pushes itself into our consciousness, overshadowing the energies of the other planets and so affecting our personalities (each planet symbolizes and affects specific parts of our makeup). It presents us with a series of events over which we seem to have little or no control, relating especially to the sign in which the retrogradation occurs. For example, Mars retrograde in emotional, home-oriented Cancer presents quite different sets of circumstances from those generated when he retrogrades into gossipy, intellectual Gemini."

Again, further on, this site claims that...

"Mars retro in Cancer generates a confused emotional state, placing those most affected at the mercy of the environment. Enthusiasm and inspiration seem muted, as anxieties develop around family issues, urging you to protect all things that make for security, comfort and luxury. Because Mars in Cancer normally generates a bold, independent and fearless nature, during the retrograde phase when nature is turned upon its head we should restrain the urge to exercise undue or tyrannical authority over everything and everybody within the home. Sexual desire is activated and sexual action intensified with passion is often associated with the urge to violence and control. Political leaders should also avoid becoming unduly concerned with homeland security and avoid imposing needless restrictions. This position makes the temper rather uncertain and there is a tendency for people to get restless, being inclined to change occupations."

Although this sounds intellectual, what does it really mean? Is astrology even a real science if it depends on the movement of the stars, which by nature, are inclined to change, as any common astronomer can predict? But, more importantly, do these movements or patterns by the planets have any real relevence on the decisions of people, especially those that think this is fascinating? Perhaps, if we just leave our lives to fate, we won't have to think planets have any effect on our lives?

Power of Prayer to Change for the Better

There seem to be a lot of prayer sites on the web of late, particularly sites in which people request others to pray for them, regardless of religious beliefs or convictions. I am guilty of posting my prayers on some of these sites, for various personal reasons. But I was thinking that a lot of the discontent is financially based because of the poor economy, and the way the current administration (I will name no names) is handling the current man made mess on all levels of government.

Why can't people do a group prayer around the world during an agreed upon time that coincided with each time zone and pray for ease and for God to take away all these difficulties that people on all levels are experiencing? If group prayer really has a kind of powerful effect, we should really tap into it. I mean, the power is with the people, isn't it?

Here is an interesting story that I found somewhere in my vast files and pulled for you now.

A business trip was once travelling through the desert. During this journey, one of the travelers had an accident and the animal he was using as transport, got injured and broke its leg. The person was left behind alone in the lonely desert from the rest of the group. During this hardship, he remembered the benefits of Durood Shareef and started to read Durood Shareef aloud. After a short while, he suddenly saw that sand was being lifted up from the ground at a distance. When the clouds of sand moved away, he saw three beautiful people coming towards him. One of them asked the traveler, Why are you sitting here all on your own? He started to cry and told him what had happened. One of the beautiful people came off his horse and went towards the injured animal. He read Durood Shareef and blew on the broken leg. Suddenly, the broken leg was joined together and the animal was perfect like before. The traveller became happy and asked the most beautiful looking person Who is this person who has healed my injured animal? That beautiful persons beautiful lips started to move, flowers started to scatter, the words came out to be something like this, "These two are my grandchildren, Hassan and Hussain (radi Allahu anhumma) and I am their grandfather (sallallahu ta`ala alaihi wa aalihi wa`sallam). You read Durood Shareef and asked for help. We saw your hardship and came to help you."