Can Islam Prove Itself a Friend?

As an American who is not Muslim, I have a question. Can Islam prove itself a friend to America and the fight against terrorism?

I may be wrong and don't read or see enough of the news to be aware, but I have not seen one Muslim Cleric, follower of Islam or the Muslim community rise up and condemn the atrocious acts of terrorists that we have been seeing. Why is this? Is Islam the root of terrorism or can Muslims prove that evil men who happen to be Muslim are the root of terrorism? Which is it?

If Muslims as a whole don't rise up and help America and the world fight terrorism then what have they said to us? In the end they would be saying they defend this wickedness because it is inherently part of how Muslims conquer and convert.

I am having my doubts about whether Islam can be a good ally to America and Freedom, but I challenge the Muslim community to prove differently. Where are you? Prove yourself a friend.

Two Alligators and My Son

This past Saturday I took my son, Lucas (2.5yrs. old), for a walk down by a very large canal by our house. It is almost like a small river. Luke was wearing his Spiderman sunglasses my mom gave him. We walked all the way to Papa and Nana's house (my wife's parents). It is about a 15-20 minute walk. The sky was large and blue with random clouds floating by. I could see a passenger plane thousands of feet above the earth. It seemed to move very slowly across the sky. It was a shiny speck. I thought about the passengers looking down at the planet and how they are going somewhere interesting. I became aware that the wind was blowing, bringing me back to the solid earth beneath my feet. It was a bit windy but pleasant.

We had been walking for about ten minutes. Suddenly my heart jolted and my body froze. My peripheral vision discerned a familiar shape that initially will always overload your mind with fear. Barely floating on the surface of the water to our left was an 8-10 foot alligator. As if that wasn't enough I realized that another one was sunning itself on the bank that we were standing in front of. We had walked right up on these water dinosaurs. I quickly took in the rest of my surroundings without taking my eyes off of these two beasts. I wanted to make sure there were no more of them lounging around in the weeds, where we wouldn't see them easily.

I immediately picked up Luke. I took a further evaluation of the area and after a minute of admiring these creatures we moved on. Luke found a stick, as all boys do, that he held in his hand as we walked. I also showed him one of my boyhood experiences. In Florida there is a common grass that shoots up a long thin stalk that at the end forks into three-inch long seed pods. As a child I would always pick these and put the broken off end in my mouth, like Tom Sawyer did, as I would meandered around looking at insects or playing in the dirt (in Florida 'sand').

We finally arrived at Papa and Nana's house. We climbed up the steep embankment that leads down to the canal and walked up to the porch. Of course they saw us and Luke was happy to see them. It was such a nice time with my son.

Picking Up the Feathers

In the media's zeal, in this case The Boston Globe, to find anything they can to bash Bush and our American troops, they reported about photos of some American troops raping Iraqi women. They forgot to confirm their findings, which is easy to do when you are stumbling over yourselves to be as anti-American as possible. Well, The Boston Globe was wrong (they were not the only ones who reported erroneously about these fake photos). Here is a quote from an email my father sent me:

Amazing how erroneous information can so quickly be disseminated, and yet how difficult it is to pull it back once it has been exposed to the minds of men. Like taking a feather pillow to the top of a windy hill and releasing the feathers and later hoping to be able to gather them all ... impossible.
-Gary

There is something to be learned here...

Beatrix Kiddo aka Mommy

Beatrix Kiddo


The Kill Bill volumes were very interesting. Revenge seems to be the obvious drive of the movies, especially when you watch volume one without the benefit of the whole story, which is unmasked in volume two. But a more paramount theme ends the blood soaked series and that is "motherhood".

Uma Therman played Beatrix Kiddo, aka Black Mamba, member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She was devoted to Bill, her mentor and leader of the DiVAS. Beatrix finds out that she is pregnant with Bill's child. Suddenly she is interrupted by something she did not ever consider, being a mom. She responds with the natural instincts of a woman who now is with child. Immediately she realizes that she can't continue with her lifestyle as an assassin. She now must consider someone else other than herself. She runs away from the DiVAS, but Bill is not amused. Beatrix falls in love with a simple record store owner. She is going to marry him. Start a new life and a family. But Bill shows up with his assassins and proceeds to massacre the entire wedding party including Beatrix, so he assumes.

Beatrix survives and so does the child she is carrying. She goes into a coma for four years. She wakes from it with the resolve of revenge (not my recommended approach). In the process of her fury she comes to know that her child has survived and that Bill has her. Beatrix ran from Bill originally so that her child would not grow up learning Bill's evil ways.

When Beatrix finally has killed all of the orginal assassins that murdered her future husband and in-laws, she now faces her greatest enemy, Bill. She is not without feelings for him and him for her, but he is evil and he has no other nature. He is almost like Satan himself. He tries to persuade Beatrix in a very convincing way that she was born to be a killer and that she can't change that. His manipulation and deceptions are almost convincing enough for God to believe, but she stays the course and refuses to give in. The only freedom for her is to see Bill dead. Bill being like Satan is unchangeably wicked. He seems like he might just run over and give you a big bear hug and offer you a martini, but in an instant he could kill you and anyone with swift brutality.

She resists his persuasion and they fight and she kills. With great relief, all of her enemies are dead. She walks away from the only life she has ever known and starts new with her daughter in her arms. This is best represented at the end when Beatrix and her daughter are laying on a bed, in a hotel room, watching cartoons together, laughing. Beatrix Kiddo is no longer the Black Mambo, she is Mommy.

My Stomach

Well, yesterday I was sick! I went home from work half way through the day. I feel better today but still don't feel just right yet. My stomach was in revolution to my body.