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El Gringo Viejo has corrected a couple of misspellings and the unintentionally allow the word-processor conversions of El Zorro's writings into Britannic English whether he wishes or not. The OROGs note that El Zorro's writing is much more of that style of an historian or a true comentarista and less of that of a blowhard and bar-room brawler such as your humble servant.
We quiver a bit we receive that note thrown through the window on a windy night, when lightening can be seen on the very summits of the closest of the lower mountains. El Zorro is content, during those moments to chase back with a steed that all in sixty counties know cannot be caught. He and the mount blend into the darkness and become what can only be called, obfuscate.
The message he delivers cannot be denied, however. The warnings and advisories are always accurate. He gains nothing and loses nothing if they are wrong or right. He sends his reconnaissance in good faith...it is something he not only believes, but also knows.
As ancient Anglicans, we thought of the sect as "our philosophy" as much as it was our linkage to Catholic Religion and tradition that displaced the Druids. It was a kind of a bedrock Religion for the Ages like Buddhism and Baseball. We learned that Saint Francis of Assisi studied the manifestations of Islam, both the good and bad of it, arriving at the conclusion that Islam was the fulfilment of the promise of the Angel of Yahweh to Hagar, that the babe of her loins, though rejected by Sarah and, in passive mode, Abraham, he truly would found a great, but subservient, darker race and that they would have a great figure to guide them in the future. He thought of Islam as a kind of sect of an Abrahamic master philosopho-religious cosmic conjunction.
We learned to, at the very least, respect Islam in spite of its peculiar differences to the expected, if un-achieved, norms of Christianity and Judaism. What I am saying here, is that during our Catechism, our times and wondrous encounters with Sherry Thomas, Jane Martin, Betty Brooks, etc. at the Sunday evening Episcopal Young Churchmen sessions, and serving during those last days in the corps of all-male acolytes at services high and low, late and early, of feast and fast, we did not hate or even dislike Islam, Moslems, or any such thing. Heck...we even had exchanges with the youth groups of the Romans, the Baptists, the Jews, and all kinds of weird people....even Presbyterians and Methodists.
So when El Zorro or El Gringo Viejo laments or points out this or that about Islam, it is not in joy or with pleasure. We lament, vigorously, the fact that few among the Moslems have striven to condemn the idea that beheading a person because of his faith should be tolerated. The other excesses of ISIS are too numerous to detail.
Many words are spent here to underscore that the reading list below-posted is highly recommended. A majority of the tomes have been read and re-read by your humble commentator, and now I see another that must be sought out. Some of this is basic, but definitely necessary. Other recommendations are almost prophetic.
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RE: “Sharia Law for Non-Muslims” by Bill Warner
I do not ordinarily request that anyone read (I only recommend) a specific book or document but this one is a must-read. How low information people can be made to understand Shar’ia is a real problem. This book is only 48 pages long and can be digested in only a couple of hours. I bought mine on Amazon so it is widely available. It is very easy to read, even for disinterested individuals.
This book cuts through the fat and documents the truth about Muslim law. I cannot stress enough how important it is that those who do not know or care about Islam be educated. Islam does not have a moderate aspect. It is the proverbial irresistable force. If you are not interested in this subject or think it is wrong there is nothing I or anyone can do for you. But I can offer this perspective. It does not hurt to read anything… a God given right we have that Muslims do not have.
I think this is mostly preaching to the choir; however, you may be able to use this book where you might learn things you do not know about Islam or offer to your acquaintances for their edification.
We are Kafirs and we are in trouble.
It is not my intention to irritate or insult anyone to whom I am sending this message. It is just that this is a very serious subject that affects all of us no matter what we may already know about it.
PS – Two detailed books I have read with dissimilar, if not opposite, views I would recommend are “The Sword of the Prophet” by Serge Trifkovic and “Islam A Short History” by Karen Armstrong. A third one specific to the Qur’an is “The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran” by Robert Spenser (New York Times best selling author).
I return to my place over the mountain, but I shall return soon!
El Zorro
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