Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00543)

Friends, 


Israeli writer Amos Oz has been writing for a number of years that the real Middle East conflict is not between Arabs/Muslim and Jews/Israel.  The real conflict   it is between the intolerant radicals (Arabs and Jews united in that quest for bloodshed), and open-minded, peace-loving people (Arabs and Jews also united in the quest for peace). 

Theosophy can only agree with that.


Carlos.



De:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com

Para:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com

Cópia:

Data:Thu, 09 Nov 2006 06:06:02 -0000

Assunto:Theos-World No Clash of Civilizations

> Dear Friends,
> 
> Maybe this interview will be interesting for some:
> 
> Memri TV
> Clip No. 1050
> 
> Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan: There is No Clash of 
> Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages 
> and That of the 21st Century.
> 
> Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American 
> psychiatrist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on 
> February 21, 2006.
> 
> Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a 
> clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash 
> between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a 
> mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that 
> belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and 
> backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between 
> barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and 
> oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between 
> human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on 
> other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, 
> and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not 
> a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.
> [...]
> Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a 
> clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and 
> ignorance of the Muslims?
> Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.
> [...]
> Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was 
> it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to 
> discuss this issue, if you don't mind...
> Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this 
> expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of 
> civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the 
> people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the 
> Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called 
> to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves 
> believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to 
> stop this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, 
> which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.
> My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. 
> What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other 
> people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he 
> calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of 
> the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or 
> he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you 
> that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the 
> Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books 
> that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative 
> thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur 
> Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here 
> and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the 
> beliefs of others?
> I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. 
> I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to 
> believe in it.
> Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?
> Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human 
> being who does not believe in the supernatural...
> Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in 
> rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, 
> and the Koran...
> Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.
> [...]
> Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't 
> throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other 
> people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the 
> Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let 
> people have their beliefs.
> [...]
> Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), 
> and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with 
> their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity 
> owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th 
> centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered 
> throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and 
> knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German 
> restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have 
> not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have 
> turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single 
> Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. 
> Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, 
> killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield 
> any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for 
> humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
> 
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