My response to the TIME magazine article "Missionaries Under Cover" JUNE 30, 2003 - pg 36-44

I was really really upset to read the article because of how condescending, and quite frankly rude and insensitive the Evangelicals are. How dare they think they know best for us muslims what's right for us? Who appointed them the all knowing? What makes them think they know what's right for me as a person? As a human being? Better than I myself do?

Its almost a colonizing mentality, the Brits, or French, Portugese etc come in to a new world and decide hey guess what the way you live your lives is wrong, even if you have an ancient civilization that pre-dates ours, even if you're well educated, and have been masters of the written word before us, we are just infinitely better than you in everyway and therefore for your own good we must change you to become more like us!!

What infuriates me the most is perhaps when "Barbara" (38) claims that "Islam is the terrorist" and "Muslims are the victims". First of All, What led her to that assumption? When Timothy McVeigh Bombed the building in Oklahoma, I don't remember hearing anybody from any religion standing up and saying you know what Christianity is the terrorist and Tim is a victim of his religion. So what gives her the right to label my religion a terrorist? And to add insult to injury call me a Victim?!

And offcourse what drives me nuts is how these people go "undercover" and pretend to be neutral and then when people let their guard down they hand out religious paraphernalia to their children or themselves. Even in America it is illegal to try and convert other peoples children to your religion yet since when did it become okay to go elsewhere and teach religion to children and youth outside of class? Especially under the guise of friendship?

Islam aside for a moment - Luis Bush explains that the the majority of the unavengalized are "enslaved" by Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and ultimately by Satan. So basically it shows to me a total disrespect for all other religions. What I would like to know is what makes them right and everyone else wrong?

Muslims don't preach, and don't do any type of missionary work. We are even taught specifically not to so why don't they just leave us alone? Stick to their religion and let us stick to ours?:

"...And I shall not worship that which ye worship.
Nor will ye worship that which I worship
To you be your Way, and to me mine"
The Holy Quran - Verse 109.004-109.006 sura Al Kafiroon

I have friends from all kinds of religion and my religion encourages learning about other types of religions to be well informed and well educated, but nowhere does it say to take it upon yourself to change other people's belief! Sure there has been a lot of bad press for Islam lately, but that's because its so easy to listen to bad things about anything - if you're really interested in learning you'll find out that Islam is a religion about peace, about humanity. Islam itself means "Peace and Submission to the will of God" so anyone who is calling it "the terrorist" is ignorant and should try and be more educated and informed before they earn the right to label it one way or another.

I reserve the right to not want to be "SAVED" So please respect that, and respect my religion as I do yours!

--------
I would like to offer my thanks to David Van Biema and all the TIME staff who worked on the article, its time someone shed light on this issue

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:1KeFtvIdm5kJ:www.cbi.cgey.com/events/pubconf/1999-07-28/pdf/2-Junior.pdf+tsipora+mankovsky&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

http://www.estado.estadao.com.br/jornal/suplem/zap/98/11/27/zap003.html

Has anyone seen the Bridge To Baghdad program on World Link TV? It brought Iraqi kids and American kids to talk about the war in Iraq before the war and now - it was really interesting to see their interactions - for more info go to www.worldlink.tv or chat the planet.

What still infuriates me is how the media managed to brainwash people into thinking Al Qaida = Saddam Hussein, I feel that the war was fought for all the wrong reasons! And that's why civilians are again suffering needlessly! When will humanity become a civilization of peace? Or is that merely a fantasy??

I live in a house with 15 cats and one dog, so everyday is cat day! each day with a camera is a sheer delight, pretty soon I'll have enough pics to create a photo book for cat lovers.

This cutie pie is my cat, her name is "titi" short for Nefertiti. Ain't she a beaut?

does anyone know how to create scene pre_loaders in Flash MX? I've found info on how to create them in Flash 5, but so far none of them have worked in flash MX - which I can't seem to find info on - so if anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be thrilled!

I got a package from my mom recently from Argentina, and everything was there except the reason my mom sent me the package in the first place. there was supposed to be a purse that my kid sisters had picked out for me, and they'd written something on it for me, that was the one thing the customs officers had to pick out! I was dying to see it! They'd told me so much about it over the phone although they wouldn't tell me what they had written that being the surprise.

Offcourse there's really nothing I can do - there's no way to id the customs officer who opened the box, and even if he/she could be id'd they'd probably swear left and right that they didn't take anything.

Has anyone suffered the same fate as moi?! Please share!