155 Spreading hatred the old fashioned way - one lie at a time

One of my Muslim brothers has asked for my comments on this vitriolic collection of lies preached in a Christmas sermon at a Catholic worship service on Christmas Eve. The amount of genuine ignorance and the level of unmitigated hypocrisy is so high that it is tempting to let it stand (fall) and crumble under the weight of its own obtuseness. Sigh. So, dissect it, I shall.

Let me first make this point: the Roman Catholic Church has a history of extraordinary scholarship, compassion, and leadership.  It also has a history of mysogyny, perversion, murder, torture, blackmail and pedophilia that make it quite difficult to stand in a glass house throwing molotov cocktails. 

As to it's scholarship, one need only consider the extraordinary books published by the former nun, Barbara Armstrong, the most empathetic of all Western writers to both the Prophet (PBUH) and to Islam (the two being, of course, inseperable).

As to leadership and compassion, one need point no further than Chicago's own Father Pflager, radical dissident, whose stinging rebukes and criticisms of the United states Empire project, its support of ruthless, murderous right-wing demagogues, and it's torture, murder, and rape of 100's of thousands of innocent Muslims goes rather unremarked in the Nations News Media, including Publicly Funded Media.  To say nothing whatsoever of the U.S. acting as suzerain to Israel, in supplying the apartheid ehtnographic state of Israel with arms, munitions, advanced killing technology, and financial support goes beyond the pall.

All that said, we must still be willing to discuss the errors of the priests thoughts, attitudes, and opinions in the spirit of love, fellowship, and the universal (catholic) family of humankind.

The text of the homily follows.  My own comments are in italicized. 

My dear brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Walking through the Vatican Museum on the way up to the Sistine

Chapel, one passes through a room with a huge mural of the nineteenth century painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko depicting the Polish King John Sobieski III leading the troops to victory over the Turks, who had invaded Vienna in 1683 with hopes of capturing Austria and conquering all of Europe. The battle marked the turning point in the 300-year struggle between the Christian forces of the Central European kingdoms and the Muslim armies of the Ottoman Empire. (in actuality, the enmity between the Roman Catholic Church and the Muslim armies arose because the RCC was horrified at the power and wealth being accumulated by the Muslim armies at such minimal expense.  The Muslim armies would conquer cities merely by arriving at the front gate and proclaiming a truce.  Then to those cities were offered these conditions:  You pay unto us 2% of your wealth in tribute in return for which we will provide you safe military protection.  you will be allowed to worship as you see fit; you will be allowed to enact and enforce whatever laws you choose; and you shall be free to elect your own governmental officials.  OR - you can fight us unto the death. Thus in 22 short years did the Prophet (PBUH) and his armies conquer much of the known Oriental worlds, including the establishment of thriving communities of learning and culture as far West and North as Spain, and into Egypt and Morocco. After the battle, Sobieski paraphrased Julius Caesar's famous quote by saying, “Veni, vidi, Deus vicit” – “I came, I saw, God conquered.”

Following his victories over the Ottoman Empire, King Sobieski was hailed by the Pope as the savior of European Christendom. The commander of the defeated Ottoman army, Kara Mustafa Pasha, was executed in Belgrade on December 25, 1683.

Merry Christmas!

I’m talking about the Battle of Vienna tonight because we are sadly

mistaken or at least naïve if we think that this centuries-long onslaught of Muslims against Christians ended on that battlefield three hundred and twenty-seven years ago. From its beginnings in the seventh century, the Muslim community spread through the Middle East through conquest, and the resulting growth of the Muslim state provided the ground in which Islam could take root and flourish.

But this alleged battle that has been "raging" has been so one-sided that to be called a "battle"does a gross injustice to the American English Language.  What HAS been raging are the invasions and occupations of Arabic and Persian Countries by technologically better equipped, financially far better funded, mililtarily far greater numbers, with the finest of professional military training.  This has been the most one-sided onslaught imaginable.  BUT it is always the case that the abuser blames the victim for his own continued and continuing abuse (rape, torture, murder, genocide).

In their book published in 2003, Islam at War: A History, George F.

Nafziger and Mark W. Walton wrote that the “real victor in the conquests was not the Arab warlords, but Islam itself... Simply put, Islam may have sped the conquests, but it also showed much greater staying power. It is useful to realize that the power of Islam was separate from much and more permanent than that of the armies with which it rode.”1

This is most insightful. The Arab LEADERS (military leaders, spiritual leaders) would never for one moment have taken any credit for their triumph but that which was rendered unto them by the Grace of Allah, the most magnificent, the most benificent, Creator of All the Worlds, and by his most Beautiful Holy Words, as spoken by the Prophet (PBUH) and recorded from memory by the faithful.  THE Power of Islam resides in this simple fact: Islam is the Holy Word of Allah, THE One God, Creator of all humankind (and everything else that dwells on earth, under the oceans, or in the heavens).

These onslaughts continue today into the twenty-first century. The

State Journal-Register reported two days ago that Christian churches in Iraq had cancelled their Christmas celebrations. There would be no Christmas Christmas Midnight Mass, December 25, 2010 decorations, no Midnight Mass.  (Of course, such a situation would NEVER have arisen had Saddam Hussein been in power.  Under Saddam, Iraq was a secular socialist state that permitted the expression of all religious convictions - there was once even a thriving Jewish community in Iraq.  The very few remaining Christians are rightfully terrified ... the radicalized Arabs who rightfully blame the U.S. for their unfathomable misery most assuredly recognize that driving the invasion and occupation of Iraqi lands by the U.S. military is the underlying assumption that there IS in fact a war between these two great faith traditions, when, in no such event is that the case. (It is easier to "sell" a war when somebody is picking on your God; picking on your religion; and even easier still if in fact that are NOT picking on your God, and have no earthly reason to do so.  This is known as "the straw man." It is helpful for the exploiting classes to create straw man at whom the anger of the masses of the people can be directed to the extent that they do not even see how their support of the continuing murder, rape, pillaging of national resources demeans their own selves, and places their own pitiful collection of fleeting possessions in ever greater jeapordy. “Even an appearance by Santa Claus has been nixed after Iraq’s Christian leaders called off Christmas celebrations amid new al-Quaida threats on their tiny community still terrified from a bloody siege on a Baghdad church” this past October 31st.

“Christians across Iraq have been living in fear since the assault on

Our Lady of Salvation Church as its Catholic congregation was celebrating Sunday Mass. Sixty-eight people were killed [including two priests, one of whom was shot while presiding at the Mass and the other priest was killed while he was hearing confessions].

The people of Iraq have been living in abject fear, anxiety and misery since the George W. Bush gave the order to begin bombing Baghdad.  What emerged from that horrifically misguided decision was the release of centuries of hatreds, of class warfare being stoked by the colonial rulers who supported the minority with positions of power and wealth over the majority who might very well have had the wherewithal to take their country back.

Days later Islamic insurgents bombed Christian homes and neighborhoods across the capital. . . .“Since the church attack, some 1,000 families have fled to Iraq’s safer Kurdish-ruled north, according to the United Nations, which recently warned of a steady exodus of Iraqi Christians.”2

Of course, the exodus of Christian families and the dwindling of Christian communities in the middle east is most prominently displayed in Gaza, where the Israeli wall policy makes it impossible for families to live together, or to even attend church.  A unique thing about Western "Victors" - we always blame the victim (except of course, in the case of the War Waged Upon the Innocent Peoples of the lands formerly known as French Indo-China) for the misery, the torture, the rape, the mutilation, and the murder we commit upon them.  

In the case of the Vietnam War (as Americans are so wont to call it), "we" in fact managed to glamorize and glorify the victim - the American Prisoners of War in Vietnam (John McCain).

Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako in Kirkuk said, “Nobody can

ignore the threats of al-Quaida against Iraq Christians. We cannot find a single source of joy that makes us celebrate. The situation of the Christians is bleak.”3

Amazing. The birth of the Saviour of the World alone should have been enough to find a single source of joy making for cause to celebrate!  Oh he of so little faith!

Christmas Midnight Mass, December 25, 2010 – Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona, who leads the Chaldean Diocese of Mosul, said in a recent interview, “These are the worst and most perilous times” for Christians.

Even worser, MUCH worser for Muslims throughout the Middle East.

As we gather for this Midnight Mass at the Cathedral of the

Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois, we should count our blessings that we enjoy the freedom to do this in relative safety. But we should not forget our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world that are not so fortunate and for whom Christmas is not so joyful.

Nor should we be so complacent or naïve as to think that only people in the Middle East or other parts of the world need to be concerned about attacks by Islamist extremists against Christians. We need only recall the terrorist attacks of 9-11-2001 right here on American soil. Next September will mark the tenth anniversary of those attacks, but the passage of ten years should not lull us into thinking that the threat has passed.

The Arabs and Persians (mostly Muslim, but some Christian too - bombs and bullets do not distinguish the religion of the child / woman / man who gets into their way) need to be extremely concerned about attacks by U.S. army, marine, air force, and drone attacks - with which they live each and every day.  The Gazans and West Bank Arabs (again, Muslim mostly, but with a not insignificant proportion of Christians) live in terror every day of bombs that might be dropped upon the homes of innocent Palestinians ... WE (here in the U.S.) know very well what it feels like to be the bomber - it is almost exhilirating, so far is the fly boy removed from the actual physics, biology, and chemistry of modern war-fare; further more, from five miles up, the explosions have a certain fascinating beauty, symmetry even ... but when the planes and bombs are turned upon us?  What then is our reaction?  Is turnabout NOT fair play?

So what should we do? For one, I believe that we need to live our

Catholic faith and practice our Christian beliefs much more fervently.

And in so doing, do good works - feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the widows and orphans, visit the prisoner - this do for the hungry of Iraq, of Afghanistan, of Pakistan, of South Yemen, of Gaza; this do for the homeless of Iraq, of Afghanistan, of Pakistan, of South Yemen, of Gaza;this do for the orphans of Afghanistan, of Pakistan, of South Yemen, of Gaza; this do for the prisoners of Afghanistan, of Pakistan, of South Yemen, of Gaza; 

Observe too the commandments - thou shalt not lie; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not covet - these commandments apply in our daily living and have been broken with impunity, with equanimity.

Reject the notion of war - and do not become involved in the non-issue of whether or not "preventative warfare" can ever be really implemented. 

Radical Islamist extremists take their faith very seriously, even though they are mistaken in thinking that those beliefs call for them to kill non- Muslims. If we are lukewarm about our Christianity, the Islamists won’t need to invade with armies like they marched into Vienna in 1683, but they could simply continue to move in peacefully and legally as they are already doing in Western Europe and even here in the United States until they reach a majority and impose Islamist values and sharia law with little or no resistance.

UNTIL THEY REACH A MAJORITY?  Oh, that ain't gonna happen any time soon. FIRST, we have to get our European-centric brothers and sisters the opportunity to become minorities to (1) Black Americans (2) Hispanic-born Americans.  This is the kind of thinking that is bread by fear, fear of the unknown.  It cannot withstand analysis, reason, by the light of day.

It doesn’t help when our country plays politically correct games such as the security operations at our nation’s airports. You can’t fight a war if you can’t identify the enemy, and if 83-year old great-grandmothers have to be treated the same way as Muslim Arabs from the Middle East with body scans and “enhanced pat-downs,” then we’re wasting a lot of time and money for nothing. True, not every Muslim is a terrorist, but most terrorists these days are Muslims, and we ignore that fact at our peril.

NO, it does not help when our country plays the aggressor nation, bombing with impunity and suffering no consequences.  "You can't fight a war if you can't identify the enemy."  Truer words were n'ere spoke.  We have NOT been fighting a war. We HAVE invaded and occupied now, three Muslim countries.  And they will resist us to their last breath.

"True, not every Muslim is a terrorist." If it were true, the U.S. would have to quit and leave the countries it is now occupying. There would be too many Muslims 1.7 billion as oppossed to a U.S. armed forces contingent of about 1.7 million.

"But most terrorists these days are Muslims."  This is the lie that gets repeated so often that it becomes part of our mythology - the things we KNOW ... in our guts.  HARDLY - most terrorists today are CIA and other black ops "specialists", or mercenaries being VERY well paid by the U.S. government which subcontracts out almost all military support functions in order that it gets the most "bang for its buck" from it's armed forces.  By any rational standard, most of the high-level elected U.S. government officials ARE indeed terrorists, but this overlooks entirely such DOMESTIC TERRORISTS as -- the Arryan Brotherhood, the abortion clinic bombers, the abortion doctor killers, etc, etc, etc.  This lie should DIE.

Perhaps this was not the warm and fuzzy message that you were

hoping for at Midnight Mass. But I have a hard time feeling content while our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are suffering this Christmas night. Moreover, we should not leave here feeling satisfied that we have experienced the joy of another Christmas and that should be sufficient for another year or at least until Easter.

I converted to Islam after reading about its origins and history, its Prophet (PBUH) specifically BECAUSE I was so appalled, so horrified at the crimes against humanity that were being committed in my name by the government and military of the U.S.A.  The true Christiasn response ought surely be to protest, and loudly.  There is no joy in Christmas when my own nation slaughters innocents by the 10's of 1,000's.

Christmas light comes in the darkness of the night to set our hearts on fire with Christ’s love. That should enflame us to greater depths of prayer and devotion, and energize us to greater heights of putting Christian charity into action. Our Christmas liturgies are not nostalgic recollections of the past or mere memorials of historical events, but the birth of the Christ-child and the incarnation of God-made-man marks the dawn of the future for all humanity. That is the true Christmas gift. It is up to us whether we will open that gift and use it, or put it on a shelf never to be touched again.

This is quite touching; quite moving. And the irony is SO great - that I will leave it unremarked, except to note, that this looks like plagiarized text, with the rest of the sermon patched on, and rather hastily and most ill-considered. 

That is the message delivered by the great Saint Augustine centuries ago as a bishop in northern Africa, when he called mankind to awake to the reality that God became man for our sake. He also told them in no uncertain terms what it would have meant if Christ had not been born:

“You would have suffered eternal death, had He not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, if He had not shared your death. You would have been lost, if He had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had He not come.

For the crimes against humanity that the U.S. has committed upon our Arabic brothers and sisters, we SHOULD suffer everlasting unhappiness, we are lost, we have perished.

“Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and

redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which He who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our short day of time. . . .

“Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves, but in the Lord.”5

Let us thank God for this grace. Amen.

Do let us hope and pray that the minister who delivered this misguided message can be brought to have a road to Damascus moment, wherein he sees the errors of his stated words and repents and asks forgiveness, which, as children of the one true God, Allah, we will most assuredly grant.