Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
Note: Wait till you see what gets printed in the mainstream media during the Pope's visit. The blasphemy will know no bounds. And yet, saying anything negative about Islam, like the fact that it has an inherently violent element that even Muslims are afraid to denounce, will never be said there. Look at the photo. Seem like a fine group of young chaps out for a stroll?
Over 25,000 Pakistanis Rally Against Anti-Koran Film, Prophet Cartoons Sunday , April 06, 2008 KARACHI, Pakistan - More than 25,000 people rallied Sunday in the largest protest in Pakistan so far against an anti-Koran film made by a Dutch lawmaker, urging their government to expel the Netherlands ambassador.
"They call this freedom of expression, but it's freedom of aggression," keynote speaker Munawwar Hasan, a leader of the main Islamic party Jamat-e-Islami, told the crowd as it chanted "God is great."
The 15-minute film by Geert Wilders, which sets verses from the Muslim holy book against a background of violent images from terror attacks, was released in March. It has sparked weekly protests in Pakistan, usually drawing hundreds of people after prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day.
But police officer Syed Suleman estimated Sunday's crowd at 25,000, while organizers claimed more than 100,000 people turned out.
Wearing head bands inscribed "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of the prophet," they marched for two kilometers (more than a mile), then gathered on Karachi's main street to listen to speeches.
They also burned an effigy of Wilders as speakers said their government should sever diplomatic ties with Western countries supporting the publishers of cartoons defaming the Prophet Muhammad.
"The Muslim world is on one side, but Muslim rulers like (President Pervez) Musharraf are toeing the Western agenda under the garb of secularism," Hasan said, referring to Musharraf's role in Washington's war on terrorism.
Hasan said this rally, named "The glory of the prophet march," was not against the West in general, but was aimed at creating awareness among Muslims that they need to unite against a war against Islam.
Note: The Bible refers to a "Burning Mountain" and only one current movement fits the description...
Muslims protest Danish Muhammad cartoons Demonstrations against publication held in Pakistan, Gaza, Denmark
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Muslims protested Friday in the Gaza Strip, Pakistan and Denmark against the reprinting of a Danish newspaper cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Thousands of residents in the conservative Gaza Strip ruled by the militant Islamic Hamas movement marched in the Jebaliya refugee camp chanting: "What Denmark said is heresy." "It is shameful that Denmark should renew its offense against the prophet," Hamas official Mushir al-Masri told reporters at the protest.
Question: Can you commit heresy against a religion you are not a part of?
In Pakistan, hundreds of people rallied in various parts of the country, setting fire to Danish flags and demanding the Danish ambassador's expulsion. And in Denmark, a prominent Danish imam urged rioting youth to stop setting fires and hurling rocks at police.
The protests came after Denmark's leading newspapers reproduced one of 12 cartoons of Islam's prophet Wednesday in a gesture of solidarity after police said they uncovered a plot to kill the cartoon's artist. The drawings had sparked deadly riots across the Muslim world in 2006.
About 200 students from the International Islamic University in Islamabad vowed to organize a street march next Friday if the government did not accept their demand.
"We are even ready to sacrifice our life for our beloved Prophet," said Mahmood Sadiqui, a student leader.
Note: I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Maniacal suicide seems pleasing to the prophet.
About 200 people held a similar rally in Multan, a main city in the eastern Punjab province, burning Danish flags and chanting "Death to the Cartoonist!" and "Boycott, boycott of European products!"
Note: There goes the trade balance for the EU. What will the Danes do now?
At two rallies in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi, about 150 supporters from radical Islamic parties torched effigies of the Danish prime minister amid calls to boycott Danish products. Mohammad Imran, a student leader from Islami Jamiat Talba, a student organization linked with Pakistan's largest Islamic political group, Jamaat-e-Islami, called the cartoon "blasphemous."
"We demand the rulers to sever diplomatic ties" with Denmark and Sweden for publishing the cartoons. "The cartoonist and publisher must be hanged."
Note: Ooh, that'll hurt. Where will they get carpets from?
It was the second protest in Karachi in as many days. Dozens of Islamic students set fire to a Danish flag on Thursday. In Pakistan, blasphemy of Muhammad is considered a serious crime that carries the death sentence.
Appeal for calm in DenmarkIn Copenhagen, about 800 people protested peacefully in a march organized by the radical Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Meanwhile, a prominent Danish imam urged rioting youth to stop setting fires and hurling rocks at police after a fifth consecutive night of vandalism there and in other Danish cities.
"Please stop what you're doing," Imam Mostafa Chendid, the leader of the Islamic Faith Community, said in an address to young people during Friday's prayer. "The prophet has not taught you to burn down schools, or burn cars or infrastructure."
Note: Someone did. If not the Prophet, who?
Nine youths were arrested overnight Friday in Copenhagen, six of whom faced preliminary charges for throwing rocks at police officers, police said Friday. There were no reports of injuries.
