Some people like to follow the letter of the book(s), to the exclusion, even of following the spirit. Surely you cannot lay down 1001 timeless principles down. Of course some will be universally applicable, but most times, you have to be flexible.

---

The debacle of the Ms World riots in Nigeria is really ridiculous. More than 200 people dying because of mere words. And innocent words at that:

"The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring 92 women to Nigeria to ask them to revel in vanity. What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them."

I think that a pretty decent and frank statement. Please see: List of Prophet Muhammad's Wives. He had 11 wives. That's almost 3 times as many as normal Muslim men are allowed. It's no wonder that Ms Magazine is featuring Isioma Daniel, the writer in its "Women of the Year" issue in December. Maybe the rioters were too hungry. Apparently 10,000 people have died in similar riots there since 1999. Oh well. Hyper sensitivity is never good. If you're not happy about something, or feel that it is insulting or otherwise, refute it with logic instead of killing people or censorship. If you do that, you're only showing that you have something to hide - the truth, maybe?

---

Obsession with memorising and quoting the Koran, Hadith and what not is not very healthy.

"Unfortunately what Muslims follow today has nothing to do with "Submission" preached by Abraham and Muhammad. They are following a religion never authorized by God : They divided the religion of "Submission" in to so many different sects, such as, Shi'a, Sunny, Ismaili, Hanbaly, Bahaii, and .... they follow two books, made by human and satan, "Hadith" (what Muhammad said), and "Sunna" (what Muhammad did), instead of following the Quran, the true word of God. They are Idolizing prophet Muhammad against his will, and asking dead saints for health and happiness. They are following the religious leaders instead of following the teaching of God in the Quran. They are nulifying their daily prayers by adding Muhammad's name beside the name of God, nullifying their Hajj pilgrimage by inventing the second Sacred Mosque (Muhammad's tomb). The religious practices that are performed by Muslims is not keeping with teachings of the Quran, such as, paying their charity, fasting, covering the women from head to toe, cutting off the hand of a thief, stoning the one's who commit adultery, killing the none Muslim, and .... The duties of Submission provided by God in the Quran have been nullified by such Muslims that are following a religious path that has not been authorized by God. Becasue of these fanatical followers of misguided teaching, the true nations of Submitters are misrepresented in the eyes of the world. That is why Islam and Muslims around the world have labels like, Terrorist, the Violent people the skew the worlds perceptions of the true nature of Submitters. That is how so called Islamic societies brought disasters upon themselves and they are among the most unhappiest nations in the world."

Rashad Khalifa, PhD (I think)

---

The Mists of Avalon, by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, is replete with many concepts, ideas and passages which are conceivably blasphemous to the Christian faith, and bigoted, irrational and xenophobic priests are made to look stupid. Yet, she died in 1999 of a heart attack, not blown up by a suicide bomber, because people know that it's just fiction. Now if only Salman Rushdie could stick his head above ground... [Incidentally, I've tried to plough through his book. I don't know about blasphemous, but it is singularly boring. I wonder if Ayatollah Khomenei ever read it]