From: faris@sarcasm.trl.OZ.AU (Aziz Faris)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Apoligy and Clarification
Date: 19 Aug 92 22:31:28 GMT
Reply-To: a.Faris@trl.oz.au
Organization: Telecom Research Labs, Melbourne,Australia

The last few days I posted an article and lowered my self to level of M.G who ever he
might be. In that article I blasted his view of christianity and the christians people
in general. Let me begin by apoligising and that my intention was primarily to put some
issues that are borne out of the way all arab speaking people are toyed around with. I
would also like to discuss these issues hoping that intelligent discussions can be
started without any bigotry and hatred and pointing that my religion is better than
yours. My greatest shame is when I hear the Isreals' and western media point out the
lack of democracy among arabic speaking nations, only to find out that these nations   
are ruled by the Islamic majority, and christians have no input to the system. Yet,
these people have demostrated the capacity to be intelligent and have erected powerful
civilisations that part of it is used to this day by the west who put the people down.

RELIGION:

I will go on record saying that all religions are created by Men not Gods. There is no
evidence that any founder of any religion had any communications with a god whether he
exists or not. If Muslims can claim that the prophet Muhammed was given the teaching of
Islam from god, then some one should answer the following questions:

1. Is this god the same god that promised the middle east to the sons of Isreal. The
same god that the Isreals' killed so many people in his name according to the Tora, and
promised them the whole middle east. If this is the case why are we fighting, we should
drop all arms and let them take over. I suppose the Palestinians have no right to a
homeland.

2. Is this the same god that Jesus Christ tells us that a new world willl come about
and will have a fresh start with no pains, and the good life. The same god that
millions of people have died in his name and in world wars. The same gods that
different sects are killing each other for in the UK.

3. Is this god is the same god that created Islam and in his name over a million
Iraqis' and Iranians' died in the 80s'. The same god that the money that was spent on
arms in that war would have hired half of china to fight Isreal. The same god that that
Muslim Sunnis and Sh'its are currently fighting over.

CHRISTIANITY AND WESTERN POWERS

I grew up in Syria, I lived in an area that was predominately christians and Alawites.
My knowledge of the mistreatment of Muslims toward christians and alawites is primarily
from people like my father and his generation. According to them there was a time when
and Afandy would come and take your goat and sleep with your wife and you couldn't do any
thing. Yes the Afandys' were Muslims, and the treatment was harsher towards the
Alawites. Arabic speaking christians are not aligned with the west, in fact if it
wasn't for the Lebanese christians the arabic language would have been extincted by the
Turks. They discovered the plot and aroused people against that. The Lebanese
Christians and in particular Antone S'aadi founded the Syrian National Movement to
unify the greater syria and he died for it by the French. This unification would take
place under a democratic system where all religions are respected.

The western powers are not meddling in the area's affairs because of the few million
christians that are living in the middle east. Infact, when Lebanon was created and
given statehood status, they forced the constitution to have a christian president,
Muslim prime minister etc., not because they loved the christians, rather to create an
environment of struggle and chaos. The western powers are there because of the
following reasons:

1. OIL, OIL, and more OIL.
2. Geographic location.
3. Isreal.

UNIFICATION

We can talk about unification under Islam or any religion until the 25th century and
nothing will happen. Islam tried to unify the area and faild. I have stated earlier
that any unification should not take place under any religious principles. In my
opinion Islam failed to unify the people because of its rigidity, Islam unlike other
religions which are only teachings as codes of ethics, Islam contains sets of laws that
are very difficult to have every one subscribe to. Indeed I find Islam and Christianity
like two trains moving in opposite directions. Unification must be built on a
democratic system, and I think democracy CANNOT exist under Islamic religion because it
does not give the freedom to worship as one pleases, live as one pleases, do what ever
a person pleases. I could be wrong, but please prove me so, however, do it using good
old human commonsense and logic not what is written here and there. Lastly, unification
CANNOT exit under Islamic religion as long that the leadership must be Muslims. This
will always alienate the other minorities as we presently have in the middle east.

The middle east was unified under Muaweya I, What I read about him he was not a
religious leader, but an astute politician that relied on all people. Islam was in it's
glory under him ALONE. Afterward, it fell apart because of religious pull and ferver. I
beleive this is were christianity can do better, Lebanon was the Jewel of the middle
east because the christians had a huge influence on the political system. Now it's
gone. and may never be the same.

If any one wants to discuss these issues, please do it on a human level and do no
prohetise, I treat religions as teachings, not laws of god.

A.Faris
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon