President George Bush speech "Islam is Love," September 17, 2001

“Thank you all very much for your hospitality. We’ve just had a ― wide-ranging discussions on the matter at hand. Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday’s attacks. And so were Muslims all across the world. Both Americans and Muslim friends and citizens, tax-paying citizens, and Muslims in nations were just appalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens.

These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that.

The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself: In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule.

The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.

When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race ― out of every race.

America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.

Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That’s not the America I know. That’s not the America I value.

I’ve been told that some fear to leave; some don’t want to go shopping for their families; some don’t want to go about their ordinary daily routines because, by wearing cover, they’re afraid they’ll be intimidated. That should not and that will not stand in America.

Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.

This is a great country. It’s a great country because we share the same values of respect and dignity and human worth. And it is my honor to be meeting with leaders who feel just the same way I do. They’re outraged, they’re sad. They love America just as much as I do.

I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by. And may God bless us all.”

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A proportionate response to the bad news we are inundated with every single day?

By Jack Brummet, Old Media Ed,

I am reading a post apocalypse novel before starting book two of Proust (not cleansing the palate, just taking a breather).  This passage from TW Brown is one of several reasons I can no longer watch broadcast news, or, often, read the local newspaper.

Thinking of the recent spate of beheadings, offshore, and now onshore, it feels like we no longer have a proportionate response to the outrages.  The two hundred still kidnapped girls, the thousands of civilians who have died as "collateral damage" on our missions mostly in the Middle East, and Ebola running virtually unchecked seem like far better targets for our compassion and outrage than three people decapitated by extremists.

I get it; beheading is dramatic, it's really f'ing sad, and generates a visceral response and far more airtime, web hits, and ink.  I've veered wildly from my intention to post a quote from TW Brown.  I have to use a bitmap....Kindle doesn't support text clips, or at least by any method I can figure out.

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Alien Lore - The Nation of Islam, UFOs, and The Greys

By Jack Brummet, Paranormal Editor, and
Mona Goldwater, Society Editor

A few weeks ago,  the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivered his annual Saviours' Day speech in Rosemont, Illinois.  In the speech, Farrakhan vowed that he would force the U.S. government to open all UFO files (ed's note: not unlike the governments of France and Russia have recently done). 

As it turns out, UFOs are a central tenet in the teachings of the Nation of Islam.  The NOI is a 50,000 person church based in America (as opposed to the Islam Religion, with almost two billion members).

An early NOI leader--Elijah Muhammad--told The Nation of a gigantic Earth-orbiting "Mother Plane" equipped with many weapons.  According to an article on AOL News, "seeking the divine in the skies is one of the core beliefs of NOI leaders and followers, which explains why so much of their literature tells of UFOs, or what they prefer to call airborne 'wheels.'"

The bummer for me, and the readers of our Alien Lore series is that it is not Greys, or aliens flying these saucers around.  The Nation of Islam teachings say the circular spacecraft were built by humans on Earth, many centuries ago, under the guidance of God. 

NOI teachings claim that the original "wheel" was built by scientists on the islands of what is now Japan, "at a cost of $15 billion in gold."  The story also says that "these original UFOs were used to create mountains on Earth."

Naturally, this is tied into Ezekiel's Wheel (ed's note: remember the song..."Ezekiel saw a wheel/Way up/In The middle of the air?").  The encounter in The Bible of the prophet Ezekiel with a wheel-like UFO, is central to the Nation of Islam religion.

Farrakhan told the group in Chicago that "Many have died or have been killed to keep from sharing what they have seen."  Does this sound familiar to any Alien Lore fans?  If you dig into nearly any Alien Lore story, eventually it comes down to conspiracy and cover-ups.

In his Saviour's Day speech the year before, Farrakhan said that in 1985 he himself had been taken aboard the craft.  And, when he was on the flaying saucer, he heard Elijah Muhammad speak to him.

The gathering in Illinois included a group of international UFOligists.  "They have in us allies. They have in us their protectors. They have in us those that will help them to gain the finance to keep up their research."

"Since the founding of the Nation of Islam, these wheel-like objects have been taught to us of their existence and their function," said Ishmael Muhammad, one of Elijah Muhammad's sons.

"The founder of the Nation of Islam, Fard Muhammad, taught us about these objects that the world calls UFOs, and he gave us great details as to the materials that they were constructed of and that most of these objects come from this planet Earth," Ishmael Muhammad told AOL News.

"He also taught us of the existence of life on other planets, as well as a highly advanced civilization on the planet Mars. He taught us about the Mother Plane (UFO) and gave us the dimensions that it was a half mile by a half mile, human-made planet, one mile in height, and that this Mother Plane carried 1,500 smaller planes."

He went on to claim that the FBI and other feds have, in their various raids, confiscated much of the evidence the NOI had collected over the years.   One of the UFOlogists at the conference said "The entire discussion [with Farrakhan] was about UFOs, and it didn't deviate. He [Farrakhan] kept talking about how heroic and brave we were in the face of worldwide skepticism and the media so often treating this at such a high level of ridicule. I was pleasantly surprised when he offered both emotional and financial support for our work, and he came across as very humble in our presence."

Ishmael Muhammad, Nation of Islam's national assistant minister, spoke to AOL News about NOI's fascination with UFOs and their fervent hope that they will somehow unite all the religions of Earth."

"I believe that the recent release of UFO documents by the British government is very significant, along with other countries that have released their own," Ishmael Muhammad added.  "I think it says that they know that contact is imminent."

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The bookburner "Reverend" Terry Jones' war on Islam

By Dr. Jack Brummet (PhD, Theology, Universal Life Church)
Ethics and Social Mores Editor

Research and fact checking by Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

Until last week, really, Pastor Terry Jones ministered in much-deserved obscurity. A week later, he is talked about by General Petraeus and President Obama, and implored to abandon this senseless act.  Dove World Outreach Center, and the dingbat behind Burn A Quran Day have become front page in the old media, and fodder for thousands of blogs and websites.  Jones'  Dove World church numbers about 50 people.   If you want to read about the "reasoning" behind all of this, read the Doctor's own diatribe, Ten Reasons To Burn a Koran."

Jones calls himself "Doctor," which may or may not be true.  Jones says in a deposition that he received an honorary doctorate of theology degree from the California Graduate School of Theology  in 1983 (not unlike the degree I received in the mid 90's). The school is not unaccredited, and, so far, no one has confirmed whether or not Jones was actually awarded an honorary degree.

CBS News procured a transcript from a recent court case that shows Jones actually knows close to nothing about his incendiary cause. In a deposition, Jones described how he and his wife learned what they know about Sharia Law (the sacred laws of the Muslim religion)  by--get this!--watching YouTube videos.

Jones was asked "Do you know where Sharia law came from?"

"Not really, no," he said, "I think there's experts that say it came from the old Mosaic law. But no."


The lawyers asked Jones how many Muslims he knows. 


"I don't think I know any personally," he said, "I haven't interviewed any." 

Jones also said that he has not attended any interfaith discussions.  In fact, he said that he believes that such discussions are part of "our problem."

When asked why his church has shrunk dramatically in size, Dr. Jones hit it right on the head:

"I think mainly just because the things we're involved in are just really way too hot for your normal Christian and your normal person."

A normal person would steer clear of the Quran burnings.  We agree on that.

In a statement last week, General David Petraeus--US commander of the Afghan war--expressed concern that the planned burning of the Koran would be a propaganda coup for Islamic extremists and would ineluctably lead to further violence against Americans overseas.

Dr. Jones said he had given "serious" consideration to the concerns expressed by US commander General Petraeus over his plans to burn the Koran, but he remained adamant the event would proceed anyway. 

I've always been proud of being a Jones (I'm 50%).  And now this ass-clown has besmirched that great name.  Can he really believe his own drivel?  Is he trying to pump up his church's membership. . .or is he, perhaps, angling for a shot at Dancing With The Stars?

Burning books?  Burning Bibles and sacred scriptures?  Terry Jones seems more bent on emulating Adolph Hitler than on sending a message to the Muslim world.  It's popular among evangelicals to ask "What Would Jesus Do?"  One thing I think we all know is-- Jesus. Would. Not. Do. This.

Pablo Fanque, our national affairs editor has another take on this, which I believe he will be posting shortly...
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Happy 1,437th Birthday to the Prophet Muhammad!

Abu l-Qasim Muhammad, Mohammed, Muhammed, Mahomet, whatever you want to call Him, celebrates his 1,437th birthday today.

He is considered by Muslims to be the final messenger and prophet of God a/k/a الله‎ Allāh. Muslims consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted faith ( a/k/a islām) of Adam, Abraham and others. He is the last (and they say greatest) in a line of prophets of Islam. Most of what we know about him comes straight from the Qur'an (a/k/a Koran),

He seems to be a pretty cool guy like Jesus, or Buddha, and like Jesus and Buddha, he took the heat for a lot of zealous followers who went overboard and took it to the extreme.
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