Commentary Battles

Comments

nice to see that v r finally getting into some constructive debate here. although i must admit the limelight does baffle me a bit.
but lets get to the arguing:
nice to see the catholic concept of just war. although, how they reconcile "en eye for an eye" with "turn the other cheek", i fail to understand. but no matter, lets analyze the just war concept; here r the stipulations for just war.

the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; wat lasting, grave and certain damage did iraq inflict on america?


all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;the UN was not exhausted in the iraq war.


there must be serious prospects of success; and my personal favorite: serious prospects of success. who in the world goes to war if there r no "serious" prospects of winning? so r all wars allowed?
btw, the very "serious" prospects of success in iraq, seem to have been substituted by the very "distant" prospects of success. is the war a non-Just war now that there r no longer serious prospects of war?
(funnily enough, when u read the fine print from ur source, this whole concept is discarded altogether with the very clearcut and eloquent directive "all that is required is a substantial possibility of success")


the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.hmm... another good one. was the iraqi economy in such shambles before america took over. was there ever rampant looting in the streets of baghdad before the US invasion, or terrorist bombings, or political instability?

general snaps from the page:
1. "Unlike many countries, America has a strong commitment to this principle. The U.S. is famous for its humane treatment of non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners of war. Indeed, America is renowned for turning former wartime enemies -- such as Germany, Japan, and Italy -- into friends."
Wonderful! now lets look at the naked, sexually harrassed POWs from Abu Gharaib, the water-boarded POWs from Gitmo and the countless others who r in captivity without trial in admitted CIA "black cells" around the globe.
( " US President George W Bush did acknowledge the existence of black sites in 2006." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7292974.stm)
( "ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou...acknowledged that water-boarding, used in that case, does amount to torture."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7138144.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6093298.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7144075.stm)

2. "Governments are privy to information gathered by intelligence services and other means that the general public does not possess. Because the public is not in possession of this information, the public is not in as advantaged a position to determine whether the conditions are met. As a result, the public must in significant measure be prepared to trust its leaders to make the right decision."
so much for democracy. lets just trust the govt to do the "right thing" whether it be leading us into war or hell.

3. "...the law of double-effect. According to this law it is permissible to undertake an action which has two effects, one good and one evil, provided that certain conditions are met."
so, if v percieve good to come out of public beheading of warmongerers, it is ok? hey, i am not for the violence, apparently the Catholic church is.

4. "...the cases of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. In these situations though the act (dropping bombs) was not intrinsically evil"
WOW! the act of dropping bombs is not evil. wow!


funny, also, how the death penalty (which equals the death of one human) is an issue for christians, even when it comes to convicted criminals; but the act of war (which equals the death of hundreds) is not an issue and might actually be just.


i said: rape is not allowed in Islamic scripture.
u reply: but it is happening in scandinavia

check out rape statistics in america:
" Rape is a serious problem in the United States today. The United States has the highest rape rate among countries which report such statistics. It is 4 times higher than that of Germany, 13 times higher than that of England and 20 times higher than that of Japan."
(http://sa.rochester.edu/masa/stats.php)
(http://www.paralumun.com/issuesrapestats.htm)
(http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/frequency-of-sexual-assault)
(http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims)

All women: 17.6%White women: 17.7%Black women: 18.8%Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1% <----
Mixed race women: 24.4% <----
Notice the high rate for ppl of color
(http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims)


i say: if its abt mudslinging regarding wat happens in real life, then both of us have enough evil in our communities to fill blogs with. here's a taster:
"Why are the 'Bible Belt' regions of the US so much higher in murder, poverty, unmarried mothers and welfare?"http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061024203457AAz4pxe
http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/adaptation/222/4.html


as for the sex with the slaves, u should notice that no where is it permitted to rape or have forced sex with one's slave girl. slavery was very common in arabia in the 600s (in fact, it was common in the US in the 1800s.) so, this ruling of allowing a person to have sex with a slave is basically allowing one to have sexual relations with a slave, with the basic principle of rape not coming into play at all. in those times, if one had a slave girl willing to engage in physical intimacy with her master, they were allowed to do so. however, before u start quoting me, understand the concept of a slave in those times:
a highly regarded act of piety amongst muslims was to free slaves. so, islam in spirit, is for the emancipation of slaves.
one was supposed to cloth ones slave, as one clothed one's self. feed her/him as she/he fed himself, provide her/him with living quarters similar to one's own. so basically a slave was like hired help, but with equal rights and complete support from u. if there is such a woman living with one's self that she is clothed, fed, housed, and completely taken care by u, is this not similar to the position of a wife? also, u cannot demean a slave, or berate her/him. so much so that the slave should be substituted with "hired help" at a much more inclusive level. thereby, in my view, sexual relations r allowed with a helper.
also see that slavery was an institution in arabia on the wane since the advent of islam. muslims emanciated a lot of slaves and gave the slaves so many rights that it became a much more demanding task to ensure a slave all of his/her rights and priviledges. so, islam changed the nature of slavedom.

however, u have brought forth an important question, and one that requires further elucidation. i will search more into the issue and add further details to the issue.

the same goes for the banu quariza incident. i have links that provide justifications on the issue and links that crtiticize it. however, their authencity, as it pertains to historical veracity, is doubtful. once again, after consulting more recognized sources (which i will ofcourse share with u), i'll answer the issue in more detail.

meanwhile, kudos from my side on initiating a constructive debate based on issues and not mere hearsay. good job. u'll hear from me soon.

salam and peace

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