Americans Have No One to Blame but Themselves

          For the first time in decades, Americans had a candidate that was running in one of the two main political parties that would’ve actually gotten rid of many of the numerous wrong and horrible things that is plaguing this country. He wasn’t some random third party candidate that hardly anyone knew about. He was running as a Republican. It couldn’t have been any easier for Americans to vote for Ron Paul for president 2012.

          But they didn’t want to.

          Ron Paul, in his bid to save America from itself, was too “extreme” for most Americans. The similitude that comes to mind is this: picture America as a plane, and the passengers, its citizens. The plane is steadily going down, eventually to crash into the ground. It’s been going steadily down for a while now, so it’s pretty close to hitting the ground. Ron Paul offers to go up to the cockpit, and wrest control of the plane to get it back into the air. But all the passengers stop him, and say “Don’t! You’ll shake and rattle everyone in the plane! You agitator! You heartless extremist!”

          So the plane keeps going towards the ground.
          Instead, Americans choose to support:

1. Out of control spending

         

          Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of getting rid of our massive and ridiculous amount of debt. They will both continue to spend billions of dollars on unnecessary and wasteful “defense spending,” (which is money to run our global empire, spy on Americans, oh, and kill a bunch of unarmed women and children. Americans apparently love doing that, since they do it all the god-damn time.) They will spend billions of dollars in military vehicles, weapons, and “security” training to give to dictators, corrupt and apartheid governments, so they can stay in power by violently suppressing their people. They will spend dozens of billions of dollars in handouts to Americans, dozens of billions of dollars that they don’t even have!

2. Revolving door of politicians and businessmen

          The politicians and businessmen, (and businesswomen for that matter too,) are in bed with each other all the fucking time, (no pun intended). Each helps the other maintain their stranglehold on wealth and power. Politicians give companies complete power over their workers, their work sites, the native people they exploit in other countries, etc. In turn, companies give them hordes of money. Many politicians started off as selfish businessmen, and financed their campaign for office using their corporate money.

3. Defenseless border

          While both Republicans and Democrats make up foreign boogeymen overseas for us to be scared of, the real threat is coming from this very continent. Both parties refuse to deploy troops along our southern border with Mexico to protect the U.S. from illegal immigrants invading this country by the millions. Democrats won’t do it because they want to have the Hispanic vote. It’s really sad that the Hispanic vote is directly tied to illegal immigrants, but that’s their problem. Republicans won’t do it because that would mean taking troops away from their maniacal overseas empire. So what do we, the American citizens, get from this? A surging population of people who legally AREN’T EVEN ALLOWED TO BE HERE. Some of them work, but do they pay income taxes on their income? Nope, but you have to. But they still get access to tons of free government services, welfare, disability checks, food stamps, education, etc. But they don’t pay a dime. You foot the bill for yourself and them.

          To top it all off, instead of labeling these illegal immigrants as criminals, (they broke a law,) thieves, (they’re stealing money from you and the government,) and trespassers, (did I mention they’re not supposed to be here?) the government is passing laws allowing them to receive financial aid for college. California has done and Maryland is in the process of. They’re rewarding the illegals for breaking the law, and guess who’s paying for that financial aid? Not them, they don’t pay income taxes. That’s right, you are. You’re going to pay for your own children’s’ college plus theirs as well. All while the government and authorities know that they are breaking the law and you aren’t.

4. Endless wars

          Most Americans are too ignorant to even know how many wars they’re in. When you ask, they’ll say 1: Afghanistan. But if they actually got off their fat asses and did a simple Google search they would see that they are in at least 12 wars! That’s right, America is at war with:

          Afghanistan

          Mexico

          Honduras

          Morocco

          Algeria

          Somalia

          Uganda

          Yemen

          Syria

          Bahrain

          Iran

          Pakistan

          And there's even more, but these are the ones I found just during some quick research. Both political parties are obsessed with constant, multiple wars to devour as much power and resources throughout the world as they can. They don’t care how many people they kill, or torture, or kidnap, or rape, or assassinate, no, their avarice completely overwhelms them. We’re already at war with Iran, through spying and convert sabotage and assassination operations, but the U.S. Congress is constantly beating the war drums to formally invade the country. Nothing is enough for them. These wars are not formally declared, objectives are never announced, and timetables are never seen. They create a living hell for the citizens of those countries, for years and years.  

5. Destroying the Middle Class, making more and more people into the Lower Class, while all that wealth goes to the greedy 1% Upper Class.

          http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/22/news/economy/middle-class-pew/index.html

          The Middle Class is dwindling every day in this country. More and more people cannot afford to live a Middle Class lifestyle, so they fall down a notch, into the Lower Class, which is swelling to a ridiculous amount of the population. And where is all that wealth going to? All the wealth that the government is sucking out of the Middle Class? That’s right, the Upper Class gobbles it up. The wealth disparity between the 1% and the rest of the population is at its biggest ever in the history of this country. The Upper Class spends it all on vacations, yachts, ridiculous expensive summer camps for their spoiled rotten children, and so forth. The government does this on purpose, so the Upper Class will reward politicians with ludicrous campaign contributions. And all the while, millions of Americans are struggling to get by paying rent and grocery bills.

6. Supporting dictators, authoritarian regimes and racist apartheid occupying regimes.   

          I already mentioned this partially in the first point, but this deserves a whole point to itself, because it’s probably the #1 thing that the U.S. does that I hate the most. If there’s anything that gets me fired up, it’s this. (And the fact that I’m listening to Metallica while writing this probably isn’t helping). Look at some of the countries that made the top 10 recipients of U.S. foreign aid in 2009 and 2010:          

         

          Most of those countries are horrible, corrupt, and brutal to their own people or the people they are illegally occupying, (in Israel’s case). Is that the type of countries you want your tax money to go to? Do you want your tax money to go to financing the torture of teenage boy in Jordan for simply asking for the right to vote? Do you want your tax money to finance Israeli tanks that kill unarmed Palestinian men, women and children? Do you want your tax money to pay the paycheck of a corrupt Afghan policeman who arrests a woman for being raped? WAKE UP! Why aren’t you all fucking furious at this?! What does your inaction say about yourself, your character, your values?! It’s sickening!!! Do you see why people hate America?! We finance so much oppression, so much killing, so much torture, so much repression. We’re the biggest terrorists on this planet!!!

          I for one, do not just sit there and let our government do this. I attend every protest that is related to this issue that happens in D.C. I constantly write/call my congressmen and representatives, and let them know how sorely disappointed I am in their voting record, and what I expect of them. I share websites and articles through social media to help educate people. I donate money to NGO’s that work to stop the U.S.’s support for such regimes. I sign petitions. I write letters to the editors to newspapers. I gave a presentation about an issue related to this at a high school. Bottom line is: I stir shit up! If only a quarter of the population agitated as much as this, think of the change we could bring. Ah, but I digress.

7. Global Military Empire.

          America has troops in 130 countries and 900 overseas bases!!!

          http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/sep/14/ron-paul/ron-paul-says-us-has-military-personnel-130-nation/

          This isn’t making us any safer! In fact, it’s making us less safe! How would you like it if Chinese troops patrolled your neighborhood? Or if Russian troops harassed your wife or girlfriend when you two were out? That’s right, you’d be fucking pissed off! Here’s a grand revelation here people: People don’t like foreign troops on their land! Who’d thought?! 

          Ron Paul would’ve fixed every single one of these problems, but the American people, like blind cows going to slaughter, have chosen to continue having these problems instead of the solutions. Paul would’ve done this to each one:

         

1. Only spend what money we actually have.

          Ron Paul is the only candidate that would actually, truly balance our budget, by doing the spending cuts that nobody likes but that are necessary. And not balancing the budget in a 3 or 4 decades, or…never, in some politicians’ cases, but balancing the budget immediately.  That’s what fiscally responsible people do, and our nation should be modeled on that. If your monthly expenses is higher than your monthly income because you’re buying a ton of fucking luxuries, what do you do? That’s right, you reduce your expenses while trying to increase your income, until you are breaking even or making a profit. A 4 year old knows that. But like many Americans, who blindly charge as much as they can on their credit card each month, and only pay the minimum to keep going, American politicians keep going deeper into debt, raising the “limit” on how much we can borrow all the fucking god-damn time!!

 2. Get politicians and businessmen out of bed.

          Ron Paul’s libertarian economics holds a strict principle of keeping politics out of the markets, and markets out of politics. No more secret “campaign contributions” from billion dollar corporations funneled into secret offshore accounts of corrupt politicians, in return for the politician to vote a certain way to help the corporation. No more treating a corporation “as a person,” allowing them complete control over their helpless workers. This is how capitalism is supposed to work; what we have is not true capitalism, its crony capitalism. The markets and government work best when they are as far away from each other as possible.

3. Deploy American troops to our southern borders.

          This point is related to point #7, because Ron Paul would take all of our troops from overseas, and send the majority of them back to their families, but station enough that is necessary to finally protect our southern border with Mexico. That’s the purpose of the military: to defend our borders and citizens. Not invade countries that never attacked us, plunder their wealth, kill their civilians, etc, etc. That’s what barbarians do. 

              

4. Only declare war on a country that has attacked us.

          First of all, Ron Paul would’ve actually gone through the trouble of formally declaring war on a country. The U.S. has not done this since WW2. That is absolutely revolting. Secondly, a Paul administration would only attack a country in self-defense. I know, such a radical principle, right? No more making up excuses and false information to attack a country, such as Bush did with Iraq. No more attacking a whole country for the actions of one terrorist group, such Bush did with Afghanistan. No more attacking a country for…having a few people that don’t like us, such as Pakistan, Somalia, okay, you get the point, right?

5. Give the Lower and Middle Class more opportunities to move up.

          Romney’s plans for the economy would strangle this country even more than it already is. He would tax the Lower and Middle Classes even MORE than they already are, while lowering taxes for the Upper Class. He is simply an Upper Class lapdog, eager to serve his financial masters, as well as get a few tax breaks himself. And we’ve already had 3 years of Obamanomics, and look where that’s gotten us. Complete shit.

6. NO FOREIGN AID.

          This is what I like about the Paul the most, is because he has a strict, unbreakable principle of not giving even a single penny to any other country in foreign aid. No more paychecks to corrupt Nigerian soldiers who torture teenagers, exhort businesses, and rape women. No more Israeli APCs that help Israeli soldiers to steal water, land, and resources from Palestinians in the West Bank. No more funding for Pakistani policemen who arrest little girls who are mentally handicapped for…insulting Islam? Give me a break! I don’t want any of that shit on my conscience!

7. No more Global Military Empire.

          No more U.S. “advisers” helping Honduran police kill civilians for being LGBT. No more “contractors” helping billion dollar corporations steal resources from rural third world communities. Nope, a Paul administration would’ve stopped all of these horrible crimes. He would have all of our soldiers within our own borders, respecting other countries and not bearing down on their communities.

          In conclusion, Americans didn’t want to stop any of that. Their pride, arrogance, racism, and bigotry blinded them from acting on true American values: respect, justice, independence, freedom, liberty, and selflessness. When the next recession hits us, or the next foreign insurgent or rebel attacks us, or when we invade Iran, I’m going to be shaking my head and saying “I told you so.” We have no one to blame but ourselves. We had a clear choice to pick solutions based on American values, but instead, we narrowed our choices down to two men, (Romney and Obama) who both display avarice, arrogance and cold-hardheartedness.

          To my international readers, I’m sorry for what America has done, is doing, or will be doing to your countries. My heart aches for your pain and sorrow caused by my countrymen. My blood boils at the injustices, horrors, and oppression you have had to deal with because of my countrymen.

          My hands are clean of all this. My conscience is clear that I did all I could to oppose all this. I voted for Ron Paul in my state’s primary election. I didn’t want part in any of this shit.  

          (Photos are properties of zimbio.com, creditwritedowns.com, and visualeconomics.com, respectively).

Obsession with Non-Violence: Detrimental to Oppressed People

          I recently watched a video on Al Jazeera English, titled “The US and Honduras.”

          http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2012/08/201281381310569607.html

          Its 24 minutes long, so I don’t expect you to watch the entire thing. The summary of it is that the U.S. gives political, economic, and military support to the Honduran government, which is ridiculously corrupt, and its military and police forces engage in routine kidnappings, torturing, executions, and assassinations of numerous Honduran civilians, including human rights activists and members of the LGBT community. Not only does the U.S. government know that the Honduran government regularly does all of these things, but it directly “supervises” and “advises” in these activities.

          Now, before we go any further, imagine how you would feel if a powerful foreign country was doing the same thing to the United States, in your state, or in your county? I ask this because many people cannot look at an international issue, and understand why people feel a certain way in it, because they themselves have not been in that certain specific situation. I have no problem doing this, but not all my readers might. In order to understand why a people feel a certain way, often they must envision how they would feel if the exact same problem was occurring to them.         

          So, I ask you, what if a powerful foreign country, such as Russia or China, was propping up an even more corrupt government here in the U.S., funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to the American military and police forces, which were in turn, kidnapping unarmed American civilians, torturing them, locking them in jail without access to a lawyer, medical care, executing them and assassinating them? Wouldn’t you feel just a tad pissed off at Russia or China? Since they are the one reason why this particular U.S. government is able to stay in power. Would you call the Russian government or Chinese government terrorist supporters? They are supporting people who are killing unarmed civilians, by the way.

          Now that we are in the right frame of mind, let’s move onto my main point. My problem with this video is that the Hondurans were not saying “You know, this whole liberal non-violent thing protest against the government just ain’t working. No matter what I say, all they’re gonna do is shoot me in the head. They couldn’t give a flying fuck about human rights. Hmmmm, maybe I should take up arms to defend my rights, as many ideologies, political philosophies, and religions support!” Only a few Hondurans were brave enough to take up arms to defend themselves, such as this older campesino (peasant):

          I am fed up with this liberal non-violent trend that has swept most of the world, the idea that there is no such thing as legitimate violence, even in cases of self-defense. These Hondurans are so brainwashed by this trend, that they think it is unacceptable to get guns and ammo to protect themselves, their families, their community, etc. They cry and cry about their situation, yet won’t try something that has a good chance of improving their situation.

          Take Libya for example. At first, in the beginning of 2011, the Libyan people tried peaceful protests against the Gaddafi dictatorship, as well as they should, because at first, the very first, they were not under attack. But as soon as the dictator’s thugs came out and starting shooting them by the dozens, in the hundreds, then the Libyans said “Now we have the right to defend ourselves.” Peaceful protests would’ve done nothing against Gaddafi. Look where armed resistance got them. They over threw Gaddafi, and now have voted in a legitimate, representative government that was chosen BY THE PEOPLE.

          The Honduran government has no legitimacy; it is corrupt beyond hope or reform. It is deliberately killing its own civilians for profit. They get weapons, ammo, training, i.e. a stranglehold on power, from the U.S., and in turn, they have to kill a few civilians to look like they’re fighting a legitimate “war on drugs.” Therefore, the Honduran people have every right to fight to defend themselves. But they refuse to.

          This state of mind is very detrimental to peoples who are under an oppressive regime or foreign occupation. The people are suffering more because they are not exploring all of their options to free themselves. Take Palestine for example. They have not fought a sustained campaign against the Israelis since the 2^nd Intifada. Sure, some groups launch a few missiles every once in a while, which hardly do any damage at all. And every once in a while they do a small border attack that maybe kills like 1 Israeli soldier. But by and large, the Palestinian people have given up on armed resistance. Now, they do peaceful protests, boycotts, petitions, etc.

          And what do they have to show for it? Israel is still stealing land, water, and resources from them in the West Bank, they’re still setting up illegal settlements, checkpoints, roadblocks, settlers are attacking unarmed men, women and children, etc, etc. In Gaza, Israel is still bombing civilians with jet fighters and helicopters, shooting at children with machine guns and tanks, drone striking women in marketplaces, etc, etc. Something tells me that this whole non-violent thing isn’t working!

          We have to reverse this trend, it is only benefiting corrupt governments, terrorists, and foreign occupations. We have to let people know that yes, you have the right to life, you have the right to defend yourself from injury and death. This right is backed by, like I said before, major ideologies, political philosophies, and major religions. It is not a radical belief. It is not an extremist belief. It has been with man since the dawn of civilization. Even cavemen knew that if someone was attacking you with a club, that you didn’t have to just sit there and get whacked to death. You can defend yourself!

          This belief is not saying that violence just for the sake of violence is okay. Violence should be an absolute last resort. Violence should never be used except to defend yourself, help others who are defending themselves, or defending others that cannot defend themselves. In case you haven’t noticed, the main word here is defend. Violence is legitimate in these cases.

          At the 20 minute mark, Aldolfo Facusse, a Honduran businessman, says “What do you do if someone breaks into your house? What do you do? Do you let them do whatever they want to do to you? Or will you defend your home and your person?” I agree 100%.  

          Towards the end of the video, a Honduran man said “We don’t need guns. We don’t need bullets. We need other things that are going to improve our living conditions.” I would reply with “The fuck you do! Do you know how you can improve your living conditions? Get guns, get ammo, set up sentries in your villages to protect civilians from the police and the army, engage in the police in light, fast, guerrilla attacks, using the jungle and villages to hide and blend it. Coordinate with other villages, set up brigades, routes of smuggling and communication. Steal military vehicles, guns from the police and the army, buy weapons from smugglers in the black market, get political, monetary, and military help from other countries and foreign groups. Guess what you’re going to have after you throw off the yoke of oppression? That’s right, among other things, such as freedom, dignity, respect, opportunities to improve business, commerce, etc, you’re going to have improved living conditions.”

          In conclusion, this obsession with non-violent is not cute, it’s not sophisticated, and it is certainly not more noble or greater than legitimate violence. Non-violence has its rightful place: against governments that would be willingly to change due to political pressure, realization of a bad policy, good people in the government working to change it, etc, etc. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this; this is why he remained steadfast in non-violence in his campaign for equality and dignity. The American government was willing to listen to him; President Johnson finally passed legislation that gave African Americans rights and freedoms. This is an example of where non-violence was better to used than armed struggle. It is also important to remember that legitimate armed struggle also has in its place: in situations like in Honduras, Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Burma, and other countries whose governments or foreign occupation is keeping people down in the dust by depriving them of numerous basic human rights.    

(Picture is from Al Jazeera)     

Israel's Repulsive Charade of Justice and Accountability

         Today I came across a sentencing in Israel. An IDF, (Israeli Defense Forces, even though their actions constitute nothing about “defense” at all), soldier was sentenced to 45 days in prison for the killing of two unarmed Palestinian women in 2009, during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead.” 

          http://www.rt.com/news/israel-soldier-45-days-525/

 

          This is a sickening mockery of justice, and only shows that the Israelis view Palestinians as sub-human; that their deaths aren’t really that tragic at all, and that their deaths aren't really human deaths. He got 45 days in prison for deliberately killing two unarmed civilians!!! Imagine if it was the other way around. Imagine if a Palestinian resistance fighter killed two unarmed Israeli women. The whole world would be in an uproar about the “poor little Israelis, always being bullied by their hateful and terrorist neighbors!” The Israelis would undoubtedly try and kill that resistance fighter. But in this case, since the perpetrator was Israeli, and the victims were Palestinian, he gets a measly 45 days in prison.

          Imagine if this happened to our nation. Imagine if some Taliban terrorist made it to the U.S., and killed two unarmed American women. The whole nation would be in an uproar about how “all Muslims are terrorists, Islam supports this kind of heinous act,” or my personal favorite that I've read many times from extremist web posters: "WE SHOULD JUST NUKE AFGHANISTAN!!!!" etc etc, the usual xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted BS.

          This sentencing is against all religious decrees, and against the majority of the Western countries’ laws. Even in places like Great Britain and France, who do not have the death penalty, they would still sentence this man to decades in prison, perhaps even life.

          You all already know my opinion on what his sentence should be. He is a terrorist; he killed unarmed civilians on purpose. Therefore, in accordance to U.S. and Islamic law, he should be put to death.

         

          The article furthers explains how disgusting the actual trial went. He was originally charged with manslaughter, and then got downgraded to illegal use of weapon. Then, the Israeli military tried to cover up the murders, saying that they shot at one man, not two women. But the evidence collected from Palestinian human rights groups and other eyewitnesses overwhelmingly rejected that pathetic lie. The soldier said that he shot at the women because he “felt threatened.” What a load of bullshit. An IDF soldier, with an automatic rifle, and backed by tanks and helicopters, is “threatened” by two women waving a white flag as they flee for their lives? Give me a fucking break.  

          On top of all this, this Israeli soldier is the only Israeli soldier to face “prosecution” for their terrorist acts during Operation Cast Lead. There are still hundreds, perhaps thousands of Israeli soldiers, commanders, and politicians that have gotten away with terrorist acts and murder. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Operation Cast Lead killed:

          1417 Palestinians total, of which:

          926 civilians, which includes 429 women and children,

          255 police officers,

          236 fighters.

          http://web.archive.org/web/20090612193512/http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/36-2009.html

          Meanwhile, during the same time frame, the Israelis suffered 13 causalities, of which 3 were civilians and 10 were soldiers. 

          Just from the numbers you can tell that Israel completely disregarded the safety of civilians. Their radical, racist views that the Palestinians are sub-human convinced them that they don’t deserve to enjoy the same basic human rights that Israelis have. The article goes on to explain “Anonymous Israeli Accounts of Deliberate Civilian Murder”, admitting that they carried out terrorist attacks against civilians. Sometimes the soldiers just felt like doing it, other times their commanders and superior officers ordered that they do it.

          On the other hand, the majority of the Israelis killed by Palestinian resistance fighters were soldiers. The numbers show that even though the Palestinians had less sophisticated weaponry, they still primarily aimed at Israeli soldiers. This completely refutes the standard narrative of the U.S. mainstream media that the Israelis are the “good guys” and that the Palestinians are “terrorists.”     

         

          In conclusion, this only further adds to the extremely long list of reasons of why Israel is an illegitimate state, and that the Palestinians have every right, under international, philosophical, and religious law, to engage in armed resistance to protect themselves and liberate their land from foreign occupation. They have every right to defend themselves from terrorist attacks. All people, regardless of religion or race, have the right to defend themselves from terrorist attacks. This perversion of justice also adds to the extremely long list of reasons why the U.S. should immediately drop all foreign aid to Israel, as well as cut off all economic ties with the illegal, racist, apartheid state. As principled Americans we should not stand for our tax dollars being funneled to support terrorist attacks on unarmed civilians. That is against our American values, and we should condemn it, no matter who is the perpetrator and no matter who the victim is.

          Furthermore, the U.N. should arrest all Israeli commanders and politicians whose actions caused Palestinian civilian deaths, and put them on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. I know they will never do that, because the Zionists are too powerful, but in an ideal world, where people acted on principle, and did not make exceptions to those principles based on religion or race, that’s what the U.N. would do.

          Lastly, I’ve noticed that NONE of the big American news outlets have reported on this sentencing. I’m sure they’ve received orders straight from their Zionist masters and financiers not to publish anything that would make Israel look bad. I checked MSN, CNN, FOX, CBS, and ABC, and none of them had any articles about this story at all.

          Useful links:

         

          Washington D.C. based NGO that works to end the Israeli occupation: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/  and their other site: http://endaidtoisrael.org/section.php?id=379

          International Solidarity movement, (ISM): http://palsolidarity.org/

         

          If Americans Knew:  http://ifamericansknew.org/

          Donate to help Palestinians in need:  http://www.irusa.org/countries/palestine/ and http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=86

Correctly Assigning Blame in a Tragic Story

          On Friday, August 3^rd, British courts convicted Farzana and Iftikhar Ahmed to life in prison for the 2003 murder of their 17 year old daughter, Shafilea. 

         

          The parents had problems with Shafilea’s “Western lifestyle” and for also not marrying the man they tried to arrange her with. There were several incidents of abuse before the murder. Several times the parents punched, kicked, and strangled her, leaving her with bruises. On the night they murdered her, they stuffed a plastic bag into her mouth, and kept their hands over her nose and mouth, suffocating the struggling girl to death.

          This is a tragic story on so many levels. I would like nothing better than to beat the living shit out of those parents, to make them feel how they made their daughter feel for so many years. However, since they live in a “civilized” society, the parents get free room and board, food, water, electricity, and air conditioning for the rest of their pathetic little lives. There are several points I would like to make about this story.

          1. Since the Ahmed family is Muslim, many people around the world are blaming this “honor killing” on Islam. These people are part of a worldwide bigoted group that have the logical fallacy of thinking that if a Muslim does something, then that something is, automatically and without question, approved by Islam. If a Muslim kills an innocent civilian, then they say Islam approves of killing innocent civilians. If a Muslim man beats his wife, then they come to the conclusion that Islam approves of wife beating.

          To see the logical fallacy in this ignorant way of looking at the world, let’s switch Islam with Christianity.
          All over America, every single day, Christians murder Christians. In a bank, in their homes, in the streets, wherever, the fact is, Christians kill Christians by the dozens every day in this country, and in other countries as well for that matter. Does that mean that Christianity approves of murder?

          All over America, every day, Christian men rape Christian women. Does that mean that Christianity approves of rape?

          All over America, every day, Christians steal from banks, homes, cars, etc. Does that mean that Christianity approves of theft?

         

          OF COURSE NOT YOU FUCKING MORONS!!

          Now you see how stupid this opinion is. Islam is not what all Muslims do. Islam is what the Quran and Hadiths, (sayings of the Prophet pbuh) says, and that’s it. That’s it. That’s it. If it is not in the Quran or a Hadith, then it is not Islamic. Read the Quran, and tell me the verse where it says that parents can murder their daughters if they perceive that their daughters caused them “dishonor.” I’ve asked this of bigots many times, and I’m still waiting for an answer. They can’t answer me.

          Not only is “honor killing” not approved of in the Quran, but the Quran specifically forbids people from killing their children for perceived dishonor. That’s right, you read that right.

          The Quran specifically forbids people from killing their children in the name of honor.

          قل تعالوااتل ما حرم ربكم عليكم الا تشركوا به شياوبالوالدين احساناولاتقتلوااولادكم من   ا ملاق نحن نرزقكم و اياهم و لا تقربو اا لفواحش ما ظهرمنها و ما بطن و لا تقتلو اا لنفس    التى حرم الله ا لا با حق ذلكم و صكم به لعلكم تعقلون, (صورة الانعام, آية 151).

        Say: Come, I will rehearse what Allah has really prohibited you from: join not anything with him, be good to your parents, kill not your children on a plea of want, We have provided sustenance for you and for them, come not to indecent deeds, whether open or secret, take not life except by way of justice and law, this does He command you, that you may learn wisdom. (Surah The Cattle, verse 151).

و لا تقتلو ااولادكم خشية املاق نحن نرزقهم و ايا كم ان قتلهم كان خطا كبيرا, (صورة الاسراء, آية 31).

        Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily in killing them is a great sin. (Surah Israa, verse 31).

          I am so sick of such horrible things, (terrorism, pedophiles, wife beating, honor killings, etc) being blamed on Islam, when Islam clearly says that these things are great and horrible sins. I can’t get any clearer than this. People who claim they are Muslims, (even though they act nothing how Muslims are commanded to act), use Islam as a cover for their terrible and heinous acts. So instead of attacking them, or the specific practice, other people attack Islam instead. The bigots are playing right into their hands! The bigots are doing exactly what these “Muslims” want them to do!

          2. While we’re on the topic on how Islam views this type of crime, I’m furious that the parents got life in prison instead of the death penalty. This is not justice to Shafilea. She died in very painful and agonizing way, and what do her parents get in return for killing her? Like I said above: free room and board, food, water, electricity, and air conditioning for the rest of their pathetic little lives. 

          Islam allows authority to prescribe the death penalty, as shown in the verse from The Cattle. It also commands the death penalty for murder:

          يايهاالدين امنواكتب عليكم القصاص في القتلى, (صورة البقرة, آية 178 ).

O ye who believe, the law of equality is prescribed to you in the cases of murder, (Surah The Cow, verse 178).

          I’ve read too many stories of people who have murdered their wives, their husbands, their children, or just some random person on the street who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Obviously, the deterrence for murder is not doing its job. What I suggest we do is take Farzana and Iftikhar, put them in a public arena or stadium, so that the whole world can see with cameras and cellphones, and chop them up with a battle-axe or beat the living shit out of them with a spiked bludgeon.

          That way, we can say to the world “This is what happens when you murder an innocent. This is what happens when you take a life away for selfish or arrogant reasons. This is what will happen to you if you dare do such a heinous crime as murder.

          I guarantee you, murder rates will drop. And for people who say that this would be “barbaric,” I’d reply with: No, what is barbaric is letting two psychotic, demented murderers live out the rest of their lives in comfort and ease. And for people who say “Oh, if you do that, you’re just as bad as the killers themselves,” I’d reply with: No, the killers killed an innocent who wasn’t doing anything and wasn’t hurting them at all. I am killing a murderer. Big fucking difference.

          3. Some people will argue that even though Farzana and Iftikhar were very strict parents, Shafilea still had to obey them, because Islam orders children to obey their parents in every single situation. However, there is one exception to this rule. If a parent orders their child to do something that is against Islam, then the child has the right to disobey their parents.   

          Farzana and Iftikhar were trying to force Shafilea to marry. Forced marriages are against Islam. That’s right. Despite the lies and propaganda gushed by anti-Islam bigots, Islam specifically gives a person the right to choose his/her own wife/husband.

          Ibn Muflih al-Ḥanbali (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: The parents have no right to force their son to marry someone he does not want.

          Shaykh Ibn Tayymiyyah said: Neither of the parents has the right to force their son to marry someone whom he does not want, and if he refuses, he is not sinning by disobeying them, because no one has the right to force him to eat food he finds off-putting when there is food that he wants to eat, and marriage is like that and more so. Food that one is forced to eat is unpleasant for a short while, but a forced marriage lasts for a long time, and it harms a person and he cannot leave it.  Al-Adāb al-Shar'iyyah (1/447)

          Khansa' bint Khizam al-Ansāriyyah said “My father married me to his nephew, and I did not like this match, so I complained to the Messenger of Allāh. He said to me “accept what your father has arranged.” I said “I do not wish to accept what my father has arranged.” He said “then this marriage is invalid, go and marry whomever you wish.” (Fathul Bāri, Sharah Al Bukhāri 9/194, Ibn Mājah Kitabun Nikah 1/602). In another version, she went to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and he annulled the marriage. Narrated by al-Bukhāri, 4845.

          And it was narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allāh be pleased with him) that a virgin came to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and told him that her father had married her off against her objections. The Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) gave her the choice. Narrated by Abu Dāwūd, 2096.

          Therefore, Shafilea had the religious and moral right to disobey her parents when it came to them trying to force her to marry someone that she did not want to marry.

          4. I am sick and tired of reading story after story, of a child or wife who was brutally murdered by their parents, husband, etc, whatever the case may be. The child or wife repeatedly tells their friends and family “So-and-so hit me, threatened me, did this, did that.” They repeatedly tell police “So-and-so strangled me, kicked me out of the house, etc etc.”

          And no one does anything. They just ignore it, for fear of “getting into other people’s business.” And then a few months later, that child or wife is brutally killed, and the police, community say “Oh how sad, we saw this coming, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” etc etc, the usual BS. You guys know what I’m talking about. And then they go on their merry little lives. 

          This shows how decadent our society, our world has become. I know this particular case that I’m talking about happened in Britain, but the same can be said for America. We are so deathly afraid of confrontation, that we don’t defend our friends and family from harm that they repeatedly warn us about, repeatedly beg for help. The police are so afraid of lawsuits, claims of police brutality, etc etc, that they do nothing to protect a child or wife. 

          As responsible and principled people, we have to step up to the plate to protect our fellow human beings. We have to get over our fear of confrontation and fighting. These things are sometimes necessary to save an innocent life.

·         If a child comes to you, with claims or signs of physical or psychological abuse, don’t ignore him/her from fear of annoying the parents. Call police, keep pressure on them until they send an officer over, document the abuses if they won’t, help the child have an escape plan in the case of a very nasty incident, let them know of their rights, tell them that they can run away to your house if they feel that they are in physical danger, etc etc, those sorts of things.

·         If a woman comes to you, with claims or signs of physical abuse, sexual abuse, battering, don’t ignore her from fear of annoying the husband. Call police, keep pressure on them until they send an officer over, help the woman document the abuses, help her come up with a plan of defense if her husband attacks her again, i.e. help her buy a knife, a taser, a gun, whatever she feels is necessary to defend herself or her kids, help explain to her legal rights when it comes to self-defense, etc etc.

          I have a friend whose husband repeatedly beat her for many months. She lived abroad and I had no idea about her situation. But one day, she decided that she was done being a victim, she was done being defenseless. One night, when her husband attacked her, she got a kitchen knife to defend herself, and sent him to the hospital! The police did an investigation, found that she used legitimate, lawful self-defense, and now the husband is in jail. 

          This is the sort of behavior we need to encourage women to exhibit, so that they can stand up for their rights and refuse to be kept down anymore. We shouldn’t force them to do anything, only simply tell them their options and support whatever decision they make.

         

          5. (Last point) Shafilea’s parents killed her also, in part, for her “Western habits and lifestyle.” If they were so vehemently opposed to Western ways, why the fuck did they move from Pakistan to Britain?! Idiots! Complete ignorant idiots! What the hell did they expect their child to do, since she was born in Britain????

          In conclusion, I hope my readers do not see this as a rambling rant, but as legitimate anger directed at the multiples failures of the people around Shafilea to protect her. Let this tragedy help us learn, so that we may one day help avoid one in the future. Also, it is legitimate anger towards the fact that this heinous crime will be blamed on a religion that specifically considers this crime a major sin. May Allah, (swt) bless Shafilea Ahmed and grant her Jannah, (heaven), where she will be loved and feel no more pain.

          (Picture is from CNN)

          (My Arabic is far from perfect. If any of my readers who know Arabic see that I made a mistake on the Quran translations, please let me know via a comment on this post so that I may correct it. I do not want incorrect Quran translations on my pages).