Quiz On Tolerance

[Annie]

Don't want to have to stay after school? Find what is wrong with the following:

http://www.freep.com/news/religion/koran11e_20050611.htm

Faiths join in objecting to abuse of the Koran

Rally encourages religious tolerance

June 11, 2005

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

For many Michigan Muslims, the abuse of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay isn't just an affront to Islam: It's also an insult to America's tradition of tolerance.

So on Friday, they rallied alongside Christians and Jews, whites and blacks, on the steps of the newly opened Islamic Center of America mosque in Dearborn.

Under the glaring sun, they preached a message of respect, civility and love for American values. What made the rally different from other Koran-related demonstrations held around the world over the past month was its diverse makeup and repeated declarations of patriotism.

"This is not about bashing America, this is not about bashing the U.S. military," declared Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center. "Those who desecrated the Koran desecrated America itself. They desecrated all our great and noble values. ... We're all Americans and we all love this country."

Other speakers agreed.

"This is not a gathering of Muslims," said David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit. "It's a gathering of Muslims and Jews and Christians and others who all believe that it's against the highest American values to desecrate any religious text."

The two leaders, who sometimes have differing political views on the Middle East, stood together at the event.

The rally was the second major demonstration in Michigan over the desecration of the Koran by U.S. military officials at the detention center in Cuba where the United States maintains a prison for people suspected of terrorism. Human rights groups have said the facility has mistreated prisoners.

"Shut it down!" chanted protesters June 3 outside the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor, referring to the prison.

Later that day, the U.S. Southern Command confirmed there were five cases of Koran abuse; in one case, a guard's urine splashed onto a Koran inside a detainee's cell.

The military's "policy of Koran-handling is obviously serious, respectful and appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said in a statement released June 3. The internal military investigation "confirms that," he said.

After Newsweek reported last month that the military was investigating a charge that someone had flushed a Koran in a toilet at Guantanamo, protests flared in several countries, resulting in more than a dozen deaths.

The report was retracted, but on May 26, the military said there had been several cases of Koran abuse.

People in Dearborn and Ann Arbor are now calling on the Pentagon to apologize to Muslims around the world.

Friday's rally took place after afternoon prayers, often the most-attended services for Muslims. Hundreds gathered, some holding up placards reading, "End the Hate," "What would Jesus do?" and "Desecrating the Quran is desecrating JESUS."

Muslim leaders at the rally and others, like Imam Mohammad Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, point out that someone who insults the Koran is also insulting Christian and Jewish figures, given that the Koran contains more mentions of leaders such as Moses and Jesus than of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam.

"It's not right," said Maya Mortada, 18, of Dearborn, holding a placard Friday that read, "Where is the justice?"

"We need to respect all religions," she said.

 

[colehart]

I tolerate reasonable common sense. Outside of that, I tolerate nothing!

 

[Annie]

I tolerate reasonable common sense. Outside of that, I tolerate nothing!

Wrong answer, hints are included in original post.

 

[Johnney]

im not a tolerate person much. my short temper makes it alot worse for me too

 

[Merlin]

Call me whatever you want to, but I believe we should collect all the Korans and each time we see a Muslim, stuff a Koran down his/her throat until he/she suffocates.

 

[William Joyce]

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, really believes in "tolerance" any more than "toleration" either benefits them or doesn't hurt them.

Period.

These Koran-thumpers don't really give a crap if you don't tolerate Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism --- they care about you "tolerating" Islam, which basically means Islamics doing as they please. Of course, the biggest offenders in this hypocrisy game are Jews, who preach "tolerance" when it's time for us to tolerate them, but it quickly becomes a one-way street when Jews have to tolerate anyone else. Propose a Christian group at school, and Jewish a lawyer is the first one to step up with his "civil rights" lawsuit. To the Jews, a menorah on public property is "cultural diversity," but a crucifix on public property is "hatred and intolerance."

Go figure.

 

[Annie]

I believe my title was misleading, but anyhow seems one of the members of Congress stumbled onto the right answer:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050614/ap_on_go_co/congress_guantanamo

GOP Backing Bush on Guantanamo Bay Prison

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press WriterTue Jun 14, 3:06 AM ET

A few Republicans want the Bush administration to close the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison, but the loudest GOP voices are lining up to defend a facility that one human-rights group has called a "gulag."

Lawmakers from both parties are seeking inquiries into allegations that U.S. troops mistreated foreign terrorism suspects held at the prison in Cuba. Others are calling for reforms.

Answering the critics, Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday said war-on-terror detainees would continue to be held at Guantanamo, even as the White House said all options for prison's future were on the table.

On Capitol Hill, several prominent Republicans followed the administration's lead.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) of Texas, the No. 4 Republican in the Senate, said the prison was "housing terrorists bent on killing Americans and destroying freedom" and "it should remain in place until it is no longer needed to help win the war on terror."

Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, displayed for reporters Guantanamo-like prison entrees of lemon-baked fish and oven-fried chicken with rice, fruit and vegetables — "purchased for them by American taxpayers" — to illustrate conditions at the prison and to counter claims of mistreatment.

"They've never eaten better. They've never been treated better," Hunter said. "We don't beat them. We don't touch them. We've been treating people well."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to turn the Guantanamo debate into a broader indictment of how the administration handles war-on-terror detainees. He said administration policies have "caused tremendous damage to American credibility around the world and placed our troops at greater risk."

Human-rights activists and some lawmakers — mostly Democrats — want the administration to close the prison because of the allegations of torture and abuse of detainees. The prison holds about 540 terrorism suspects, including some who have not faced charges in three years.

Amnesty International has called the prison "the gulag of our time," and former President Carter also has said it should be closed.

Over the weekend, two Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — Sens. Mel Martinez of Florida and Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska — advocated closure. Martinez said the prison was "an icon for bad stories." Hagel cited it as one reason the U.S. is "losing the image war around the world."

Other Republicans were reluctant to join them Monday, although some did say changes were needed.

"Reform it, don't close it," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, a GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said the prison is dysfunctional. "It's hurting the war effort. The image of it is as a place where there's a lack of rule and lack of procedures," he added.

GOP Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania planned a hearing Wednesday in the Judiciary Committee on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo. Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said Monday he also would push for hearings in the House to sort through "innuendo and rumor."

"We need to look and see whether any of the allegations being levied are real," said Weldon, the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

The panel has held only one public hearing on the treatment of prisoners in the war on terror, and Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri, the top Democrat on that committee, said he wants one to focus on Guantanamo.

In the Senate, Democrats renewed their call for an objective, outside panel to review the abuse claims.

Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the lead Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said "the cloud will remain whether or not Guantanamo Bay is closed" without an independent investigation.

The No. 2 Democrat on the committee, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts, said the alleged abuse has undermined the war effort and the prison's "continued existence makes it more likely that Americans will be attacked by terrorists at home or in other nations throughout the world."

However, Kennedy said, it was crucial that Congress determines what occurred at Guantanamo before deciding to close it.

Republicans on the committee dismissed the complaints.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (news, bio, voting record) of Alabama called them greatly exaggerated. "We are adhering to high standards of freedom and justice," he said. "If we've got a problem let's fix it. But I can't for the life of me think that we will gain respect around the world by closing this."

Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, said closing the prison would be a substantial victory for the global terrorism movement. Plus, he said, detainees there now would have to be relocated. "I don't know who is suggesting we move it to their state," he said.

 

[KarlMarx]

Backyard BBQ --- my place

Bring a dish to pass and a Koran for the fire.....

Tell you what, each time those noodle heads burn a flag or George W. Bush in effigy during one of their "rallies" or generally lose control by rioting and murdering people.... we get to burn a Koran

If my calculations are correct, within a week, the increase in greenhouse gasses from burning all those Korans will have raised the average temperature of the Earth by 50 degrees and Mecca and Medina will have been both submerged by the ocean.

 

[Annie]

Backyard BBQ --- my place

Bring a dish to pass and a Koran for the fire.....

Tell you what, each time those noodle heads burn a flag or George W. Bush in effigy during one of their "rallies" or generally lose control by rioting and murdering people.... we get to burn a Koran

If my calculations are correct, within a week, the increase in greenhouse gasses from burning all those Korans will have raised the average temperature of the Earth by 50 degrees and Mecca and Medina will have been both submerged by the ocean.

Well I've never been one for any book burnings, however I do think the DOD should come right out and say, "While we've done our best to accomodate for religious practices here; from handing out new Korans to erecting signs that indicate the correct direction towards Mecca, and sounding calls for prayers 5 times a day; we have determined the accomodations have proved distracting towards our primary goal. We are collecting the Korans and ending the other practices immediately. BTW we DO NOT FIND MRE's TO BE TORTURE either! The practice of hannding them out though will continue, unless it too proves too distracting."

 

[KarlMarx]

Well I've never been one for any book burnings, however I do think the DOD should come right out and say, "While we've done our best to accomodate for religious practices here; from handing out new Korans to erecting signs that indicate the correct direction towards Mecca, and sounding calls for prayers 5 times a day; we have determined the accomodations have proved distracting towards our primary goal. We are collecting the Korans and ending the other practices immediately. BTW we DO NOT FIND MRE's TO BE TORTURE either! The practice of hannding them out though will continue, unless it too proves too distracting."

Frankly, I'm just fed up.... we have bent over backwards for a group of people that attack us as the Great Satan and the nicer we are to them, the nastier they are to us. Furthermore, they now expect us to bend over backwards and/or contort ourselves into a pretzel to accomodate them. Furthermore, the rules they expect us to follow don't apply to them, they can act like pigs and we're supposed to accomodate them as a result. In short we have been casting pearls before swine.

Having said that, I've determined that this group of people have no place in civilized society and that the only message that gets through to them is force, excessive force, blistering hate and fire and brimstone retribution.

If it were up to me, I'd nuke the Kaaba during the Hajj, bulldoze Medina and in both places, erect pork processing factories. I'd also take the heads of the Gitmo prisoners and try to flush them down the toilet and serve them nothing but ham. And for those suicide bombers.... I'd like to take them out to a mosque during services, put a few sticks up their a$$, light them and permanently cure any case of hemohorroids that they may have.

And that would be for starters.

When the Moslem world decides to act like human beings, then I'd relent.

If this offends anyone, sorry. But enough is enough.

 

[Bullypulpit]

The Bush Administration has already stated that the detainees at GITMO are not subject to the Geneva Conventions. So we can pretty much do what we want with them.

The facilities at GITMO were established to place these detainees outside the scrutiny and protections of US and international law. But the SCOTUS has already invaildated that position. So, there is no longer any reason to keep the facility open. Especially when the Administration makes such extensive use of the policy of extreme redition where detainees can disappear into foreign prison systems and not surface for years. And lets not forget the fact that prisoners are being kept "off the books" in places like Bagram Air Base, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, these also in clear violation of US and international law.

America and the Bush Administration <b><i>MUST</i></b> hold to the highest standard of conduct in these matters, else we become the monsters we seek to defeat.

 

[GotZoom]

-------
"For many Michigan Muslims, the abuse of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay isn't just an affront to Islam: It's also an insult to America's tradition of tolerance.

So on Friday, they rallied alongside Christians and Jews, whites and blacks, on the steps of the newly opened Islamic Center of America mosque in Dearborn.

Under the glaring sun, they preached a message of respect, civility and love for American values. What made the rally different from other Koran-related demonstrations held around the world over the past month was its diverse makeup and repeated declarations of patriotism.

"This is not about bashing America, this is not about bashing the U.S. military," declared Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center. "Those who desecrated the Koran desecrated America itself. They desecrated all our great and noble values. ... We're all Americans and we all love this country."

Other speakers agreed.

"This is not a gathering of Muslims," said David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit. "It's a gathering of Muslims and Jews and Christians and others who all believe that it's against the highest American values to desecrate any religious text."

The two leaders, who sometimes have differing political views on the Middle East, stood together at the event.

The rally was the second major demonstration in Michigan over the desecration of the Koran by U.S. military officials at the detention center in Cuba where the United States maintains a prison for people suspected of terrorism. Human rights groups have said the facility has mistreated prisoners.

"Shut it down!" chanted protesters June 3 outside the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor, referring to the prison.

Later that day, the U.S. Southern Command confirmed there were five cases of Koran abuse; in one case, a guard's urine splashed onto a Koran inside a detainee's cell.

The military's "policy of Koran-handling is obviously serious, respectful and appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said in a statement released June 3. The internal military investigation "confirms that," he said.

After Newsweek reported last month that the military was investigating a charge that someone had flushed a Koran in a toilet at Guantanamo, protests flared in several countries, resulting in more than a dozen deaths.

The report was retracted, but on May 26, the military said there had been several cases of Koran abuse.

People in Dearborn and Ann Arbor are now calling on the Pentagon to apologize to Muslims around the world.

Friday's rally took place after afternoon prayers, often the most-attended services for Muslims. Hundreds gathered, some holding up placards reading, "End the Hate," "What would Jesus do?" and "Desecrating the Quran is desecrating JESUS."

Muslim leaders at the rally and others, like Imam Mohammad Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, point out that someone who insults the Koran is also insulting Christian and Jewish figures, given that the Koran contains more mentions of leaders such as Moses and Jesus than of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam.

"It's not right," said Maya Mortada, 18, of Dearborn, holding a placard Friday that read, "Where is the justice?"

"We need to respect all religions," she said."

------

Where were all of these people the days after 9/11? I didn't read about any "joint-religious task force" holding a rally to voice their displeasure with our citizens being killed.

 

[manu1959]

i belive islam should be affored the same tollerance as the christian right is afforded in mecca

 

[KarlMarx]

i belive islam should be affored the same tollerance as the christian right is afforded in mecca

or in Hollywood, or on most major American University campuses, or on television, the pages of the New York Times.......

 

[5stringJeff]

i belive islam should be affored the same tollerance as the christian right is afforded in mecca

You mean we should ban them from even setting foot in America, just as all non-Muslims are banned from setting foot in Mecca?

 

[manu1959]

You mean we should ban them from even setting foot in America, just as all non-Muslims are banned from setting foot in Mecca?

well it certainly seems intollerant and hypocitical of them to ban the non-islamic world from their land yet expect tollerance and acceptance from the world for them to do as the please though out the world .....

 

[Bonnie]

well it certainly seems intollerant and hypocitical of them to ban the non-islamic world from their land yet expect tollerance and acceptance from the world for them to do as the please though out the world .....

Yes it does and it is, though I would never want to go there personally. The new tolerance the left supports is Americans should be stepped on, we get everything we deserve form others because we are evil...............Who wants to vomit!????

That mantra is getting old and tiresome.

 

[sagegirl]

So is there anything wrong with a guard pissing in a detainee's cell. I for one have no regard for religious doctrine, but I do honor anyone's right to believe what they want to. Disrespect and intolerance is so narrow minded and plain creepy that none should be offered to those who defend it, and even less for those of you who are proud of it.

 

[Annie]

So is there anything wrong with a guard pissing in a detainee's cell. I for one have no regard for religious doctrine, but I do honor anyone's right to believe what they want to. Disrespect and intolerance is so narrow minded and plain creepy that none should be offered to those who defend it, and even less for those of you who are proud of it.

It's not what was done. I'll not go into all that again. As I've said before, the best thing to do is remove the Korans, prayers, etc. If there were 'calls for prayers' for the soldiers, the ACLU would be filing cases fast and furious. In fact, our government is contributing to establishing Islam as Guantanomo, the Christians can't escape it.

 

[colehart]

The prisoners @ Gitmo should be given the same rights as those soldiers captured in Iraq, beheaded and their bodies hung from a bridge after being burned and stomped on. But, you say that makes us no better than them. O.K.! So what's your point? :chains: :funnyface