You lied, they died

Mr. Suarez, from Escondido, California, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq, speaking at a press conference to publicise tomorrow's anti-war demonstrations in eight US cities, said that about 1,300 parents of troops stationed in Iraq were involved in a movement against the occupation. "It is time for these troops to come home," said Mr. Suarez. "Neither my wife nor my family want more children to die in this illegal war. We are no less patriotic for wanting peace. Bush wants $87bn for this war, but what does he give us for our schools?" Read more
(posted by Iman)
Posted:Saturday, September 27, 2003 | 

Your Cancer Risk

Your Cancer Risk estimates your risk of cancer and provides personalized tips for prevention. I am sure you will find it interesting

(posted by Iman)

Posted:Friday, September 26, 2003 | 

Pluralism(26)

A:Thanks for more clarification
There are two side issues that have an effect on the central issue ,but if I want to deal with those and the main issue, it will be a very big email. so I break it to several emails, which I can write in my breaks.
First issue is infallibility of prophets.
Second is if this hypothetical situation is a rare case or on the contrary what is happening all the time.
I start with the first one in this email.

I differentiate between infallibility of a prophet and his invincibility.
By invincibility I mean that the prophet delivers his message to us in a way acceptable to God. Like you I don’t believe that prophets are infallible, but in fact seems obvious to me that they are not. They are troubled by all the limitations of this material world the way we are. As you put it very good, they are not robots, or computers that we can get another copy of their message each time we want by pressing a button or treat it the way we please, nor can they deliver that message like a speaker constantly and tirelessly, and they cannot deliver that message to all the people on the whole wide world too . They get tired and sick. They may also do mistakes in their everyday life decisions. None of these in my view affect their invincibility.
I always use an example for myself so I can understand it better: if a wise man, say a philosopher or scientist wants to deliver his theory or a message to us and help us understand it, he will choose a person that would understand that message and has the necessary means to deliver it to us. Now that messenger is errorless for us as his message in concerned. He doesn’t have to be a scientist or philosopher in order for us to accept what he says. Or in fact we may see that in his own everyday life, he makes wrong scientific decisions. What we accept from him, as far as we know him the messenger of that message, is only the message. This the meaning of invincibility.
In a divine scale, it’s not hard for me to believe that God chooses someone who can deliver his message in an acceptable manner in His eyes to us. I even can agree that a particular prophet may not deliver this message in its absolute correct way. But as in calculus, to me the limit is close enough for our goal.
Usually mistakes occur in complicated matters, like sophisticated language, advanced sciences, abstract philosophies, complicated machineries and …, prophets’ messages on the other hand are at the same time the simplest and the most important. For a mistake to happen in such a message is not very likely in my view. Prophets are not chosen from scientists or linguists to be able to deliver their message correctly, since they don’t have to have those tools to do that. Their message is much simpler. Everybody can understand it, but not everybody has the talent to understand hard literature jargon or scientific theories.
Prophets don’t bring too many difficult-to-memorize rules. So they repeat those laws over and over. If they have been troubled by a worldly difficulty or limitation to make a mistake in the first place, they can express it better or make up for that mistake later.
But even if I assume that they may do mistake(s) in delivering one or more of the laws they are chosen by God to deliver , I think since the God’s purpose hasn’t been fulfilled, and He is not satisfied, and this wrong message can cause problems for humans, God is able to send another prophet. We cannot say that God’s hands are tied since two prophets cannot come at one time, or very close to each other, God can do what he wants. So even if I agree with that, I again conclude that we have to be on the watch for the next prophet.
But if that particular mistake doesn’t effect the God’s purpose, the there is no need for correction, so we haven’t been wronged in following the prophet again.

I will write about the second issue soon.

(posted by Farid)



Posted:Monday, September 22, 2003 | 

The Evil Problem

"Any God who could permit the Holocaust, who could remain silent during it, who could "hide his face", while it dragged on, was not worth believing in."
(Eugene Borowitz)

I am interested to know how everybody deals with this problem in his head.

(posted by Farid)
Posted:Friday, September 19, 2003 | 

English Accent

I don’t believe English men really have accents, they just all got together and agreed to talk that way to make the rest of us feel bad.
Carl Riener (not exact words)

I had learned English with British accent when I came to America, but knowing that it would change sooner or later, I didn’t try to keep it, instead I helped to do the change quicker, so its interesting to me that after about four years I am still more inclined and comfortable with my British accent. When I was in Iran, I was fascinated with British accent and couldn’t even be forced to change it to American. It looked to me like a very sophisticated way of talking, very artistic, delicate and refined.
More than anything else, it’s the difference in pronouncing the sound “r” that matters to me, since I don’t have any problem with American intonation. It seemed ironic to me that we have this sound in Farsi, but I am easier not to pronounce it. The reason of course is that Americans pronounce it quite differently which I have trouble doing it when I am speaking fast. I have to put extra effort to do it, so when I speak fast, I automatically turn back to not saying r’s at all, while when speaking slowly, I can do it with some effort.
Listening to English accent always gives me the feeling that they are putting lots of effort and energy to say the words the way they do, but again its ironic that I feel more comfortable to do it this way. Still another thing I don’t quite understand is that why many British singers who have 100% British accent when they talk, try to change lots of words to American accent when they sing.(as jus one case, Phil Collins , pronounces “ask” with American accent in “in too deep”).As the quote by Carl Riener conveys, British accent sounds as a very unusual way of pronouncing to Americans, but now the question is that do English people also feel that at least for songs, many sounds are nicer to be pronounced in American? If not, why they change their accent in songs? And I also like to know if American accent seems as an unusual or strong accent to English people. I think I have to ask Jazz .By the way, if this change has been done deliberately , it’s been Americans who have done it, not English men

(posted by Farid)

Posted:Tuesday, September 16, 2003 | 

Pluralism(25)

A- In my hypothetical story, that person still accepts Moses and his laws divine, but just doesn't like them or he prefers the old laws more.
B-It's not a matter of liking. It's a matter of what God would have me do. Again, prophets are not infallible. There is no cloud over their heads saying that all of their pronouncements are directly from God.
A-in case you even know the second choice (not following them despite of knowing them divine) logical and acceptable , you have to help me understand it, since the meaning I get from "divine" , is "the best", "the most correct","the most advised" because of being Godsent
B-Yes, I more or less agree with you that Prophets are messengers from
God and that their words, therefore, have incredible weight. However, prophets are NOT infallible as I have argued above. And if in prayer I am guided to NOT follow the prophet, an unlikely occurrence, then that is what I think I should do. Paul was an apostle. He was a messenger of God and he made mistakes. Lets say for the sake of an analogy that prophets are 98% God inspired and 2%human motivated. So if my conscience tells me not to do something and the prophet says to do something, I need to follow my conscience. I'll end with the quote that started this particular letter. "THIS IS WHERE HE HAS TO DECIDE IF HE WILL GO ON HIS OWN INNER GUIDANCE OR HE WILL FOLLOW THE GUIDANCE OF SOMEONE EXTERNAL TO HIM." Again, it is an unlikely situation but it could happen.

(posted by Farid)
Posted:Tuesday, September 16, 2003 | 

Johnny Cash

Its so sad to lose such a big man. I wasn't a big fan of him, but there is one song that he also has done with Willie Neslon and some other guys named "Highwayman" that I like so much.


I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive.

I was a sailor. I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide.
I sailed a schooner round the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still.

I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around..I'll always be around..and around and around and
around and around

I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again..

(Posted by Farid)
Posted:Friday, September 12, 2003 | 

Pluralism(24)

A-…you said "this is where he has to decide if he will go on his own inner guidance or he will follow the guidance of someone external to him." you are saying that he must decide between two things. What is hard for me to understand is what these two things you are refering to:
1- to follow his own heart and stop considering Moses's guidances as divine.
2- to follow his own heart while he still considers Moses's laws divine,(ie despite the fact that he still knows them divine)
B-No, he is not to judge Moses. That's not his business. Who makes Moses divine? Is there a sign over his head? In the Bible, Moses' face GLOWED because he was spending time with God. But even Moses made mistakes. Soloman was said to be the wisest MAN who ever lived and who EVER will live, yet Soloman made mistakes. If God granted Soloman such wisdom,then how did he make a mistake. If Moses was so clearly the prophet of God, how did he make a mistake? Because they were HUMAN. They are not God's robots. They are God's servants but still capable of making mistakes. The prophets are NOT God. They are human being and capable of making mistakes. And do. Ultimately we have to face God alone. We have to answer to God regarding following our conscience. So if my conscience tells me that I should go left and the prophet tells me I should go right, I have a problem. After prayer and meditation for guidance, I need to do what I think is the right thing for ME to do even if the Prophet says otherwise. The chances of this happening are really remote but it could happen. Generally, Prophets are reliable sources and my conscience won't disagree with their pronouncements but you gave me this hypothetical and I am answering that question as best I can.

(posted by Farid)

Posted:Friday, September 05, 2003 | 

A Secular System

What are the most important characteristics of such a system?
How should this separation between state and religion be achieved for those who believe in it at all?
What are the rules to achieve this separation between religion and governmet?
This is the focal point of these questions: what are the areas that the state should be wary of as possible causes for infringement from secular conditons? Or in a simpler way, what are characteristics of laws passed in such a state in order for it to retain its secular goal.

(posted by Farid)
Posted:Thursday, September 04, 2003 | 

Islam vs. West !!!

You may find this as a website to learn more about what Muslim scholars and Muslims think though I think it mostly shows the Sunni kind of Islam. Indeed, I think that putting these two words together is vague. West as a culture? Islam as a religion? What about Muslim nations? What about different sects in Islam? Does it include western Muslims? …

(posted by Iman)




Posted:Thursday, September 04, 2003 | 

Necessary? Possible?

If you have listened to Mr Kadivar's talk in 30/5/82 (second from top), what is your answer to these:
Is this refinement of Islamic laws necessary as he says?
Is it possible?
what are the problems?
Are these problems removable?

( Posted by Farid)
Posted:Wednesday, September 03, 2003 | 

I am back!!

I am back. I found Toronto a huge city. I met with my friends and talked to my relatives who I have never seen them!!. Pedram’s lecture was intersting though I missed most of it. I am going to write about my observations in Toronto. Also Hooman and Farid have raised challenging questions and I have to answer them in separate posts.


(posted by Iman)

Posted:Tuesday, September 02, 2003 |