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DUBAI, Sept. 2 (Reuters) Al Qaeda, in a video
\n posted Saturday on the Internet, called for President Bush and non-Muslims,
\n especially those in the United States, to convert to Islam and abandon
\n their "misguided" ways, or else suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n
from the New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n Our first reaction, on reading the above story, was As to converting, well, how hard could it be? A little Translated into English, this means There is no God But could we, with clear conscience, recite words Furthermore, over our long and illustrious career And we believed with all our heart in all of these Of course, not everyone feel that way. Take IF YOU WERE one of the journalists kidnapped in Whether their acquiescence was an act of cowardice or of prudence, Whoa! Easy for HIM to say. Put us firmly in the Centanni-Wiig For words can tell a twisted tale in many ways, and As to our possible conversion to Islam, it is currently <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DUBAI, Sept. 2 (Reuters) Al Qaeda, in a video posted Saturday on the Internet, called for President Bush and non-Muslims, especially those in the United States, to convert to Islam and abandon their "misguided" ways, or else suffer the consequences. … Continue reading
\n "Where do we sign up!" After all, the benefits of the offer are immediately
\n obvious. In addition to avoiding annihilation by the Righteous Sword
\n of Islam, one could partake in the admittedly limited earthly ecstasies
\n allowed by the One True Religion while experiencing a lifetime of discrimination
\n and oppression or a quick and spectacular death leading to the frankly
\n exhausting servicing of some Wiltonian number of virgins in the afterlife
\n (the exact number of virgins, we understand, is currently the subject
\n of an ongoing polemic among the various sects, strains and branches
\n of the One True Religion).<\/p>\n
\n internet research on converting to Islam led us to ConvertingtoIslam
\n dot com<\/a>, where we discovered the phrase "La ilaha il-Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasulullah".<\/p>\n
\n except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. According to Converting
\n to Islam, recitation of this phrase is all that is required for converting
\n to Islam! We were saved!<\/p>\n
\n which seemed to negate and deny our racial heritage, religious upbringing
\n and personal beliefs? Why, sure. As a worker with words, we realize
\n both their power and their limitations. As a psycho-linguist we accept
\n words as relative, not absolute, and their meaning dependent on myriad
\n cultural, psychological and situational factors.<\/p>\n
\n as an amateur and professional Anthropologist, we have at various times
\n sworn, sung, chanted, recited or intoned oaths of allegiance to the
\n Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the Cali Cartel, the International Brotherhood
\n of Workers Revolution, the National
\n Rifle
\n Association,
\n the
\n International
\n Society of Hare Krishna, Tyxcotrapti, the purple mushroom god of
\n the Onawama Indians of southern Colombia, B’nai Brith, the White
\n Aryan
\n Nation, the Movimento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru, the Disciples of Doom and the Magicians of the Golden Dawn.<\/p>\n
\n world views at one time or another, at least for a few minutes. If
\n genius is truly the ability to simultaneously hold irrevocably contradictory
\n points of view, then the Dowbrigade is an Einstein of Ecumenicalism.<\/p>\n
\n Jeff Jacoby, in an
\n OP-ED column<\/a> in today’s Boston Globe.<\/p>\n\n
\n Gaza last month and ordered at gunpoint to become a Muslim, what
\n would you have done?
\n Fox News reporter Steve Centanni and photographer Olaf Wiig announced
\n their
\n acceptance of Islam on a videotape released by their kidnappers
\n — “because they had the guns," Centanni later said, “and
\n we didn’t know what the hell was going on."<\/p>\n
\n reasonable people can debate. Clearly it wasn’t their only choice.
\n If I were ever told,
\n with a gun to my head, to recite the Shahada or die, I hope I would have the
\n courage to take the bullet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n camp. Following in the long tradition of Jews who wore crosses to escape
\n the Inquisition, or celebrated secret seders in occupied Europe to
\n avoid the Nazis, or closeted gays in the army or professional sports,
\n or terrified teens asked if they’ve ever smoked pot during a
\n routine traffic stop, we would recite the words and hope to live to tell
\n the tale <\/p>\n
\n their meaning is a constant negotiation between talker and listener,
\n while
\n only
\n God can hear a human heart, in a language where no parsing is possible.<\/p>\n
\n on hold. Perhaps our position is best summed up by the message
\n we found on the web site The True Religion<\/a>. The message read, "thetruereligion.org<\/a>
\n is presently closed." <\/p>\n