Muslims say that beauty pageants offend God.  What about these senseless killings? Do these scenes please God? “Allah’u’Akbar, Allah’u’Akbar”, they shouted while they burned innocent passersbys, stabbing them to death. Is this the way to celebrate the greatness of God? Does God really want us to kill people, burn their homes and their houses of worship? What kind of God is Allah that a parade of a bunch of girls in swimming suit offends him and the murder of hundreds of innocent people pleases him? 

Whether organizing beauty pageants are wrong or right is entirely a personal issue. I am not in favor of such contests for several reasons.  Nevertheless, I do not think the display of such natural beauty offends God, nor do I think these contests necessarily degrade women.  However, I believe that society must emphasize and focus upon greater values.  One better idea would be to reward those girls who do something for the cause of world peace, for human rights, for the environment or for humanitarian causes? These are, in my opinion, the values that the society must exalt, not just the curves of the female body. But the question remains, who am I to impose my values on others. I have the right to write about my values and what I think is the right thing to do, but do I also have the right to impose my values on others, and even further, to murder innocent people if they do not share my values? 

The problem that the Islamic world faces is far greater and far more embedded than any problem the rest of humanity shares.  Muslims are simply unable to accept the right of others to think differently.  They do not hesitate to commit murder in order to impose their values on others.  There are over six billion people on this planet. Each one of us has different beliefs, different values. That is not the problem and is as it should be. The problem is that one billion people want to force their beliefs and values on the rest without their consent, and without consideration to even basic human rights.  Since fighting someone who does not adhere to their values is considered an act of piety, 9:29 they are determined to achieve their objectives by any means, including murder. 

Blowing up into pieces the Jews in Israel has become an almost daily occurrence. Some say that this is simply an issue over land. That is not true. The truth is that land is just an excuse for a greater goal.  What about the massacre in Bali, was that over land too? What about the burning of a train in Gujarat India packed with Hindu passengers? Was that over land dispute? What about the killing of the Christian health workers and the Christian school kids in Pakistan? Yesterday, on Nov. 21st, an American evangelist, Bonnie Penner Witherall, a 31 year-old Christian nurse, was shot dead in Sidon, Libanon. Her crime was “proselytizing Christianity to young Muslims”.  None of these senseless murders were over land, nor the massacre in Nigeria and the tragedy of 9/11 had anything to do with land.  No, this is about values and the imposition of values and the will to impose those Islamic values on non-Muslims everywhere. In other words, a war against Humanity. 

Everything you do is offensive to Muslim’s “sensibilities”. The beauty pageant is offensive to Muslim's sensibilities because, according to them, it “denigrates women”. It does not matter to Muslims that even if that is true it is none of their business. Those women have made their choice to participate in that contest. If it denigrates them, it is their business and not the Muslims’. The frescoes and the sculptures of European masters such as Da Vinci,  and Rafael depicting human figures, especially those done as nudes, are offensive to Muslim's sensibilities. The Michaelangelo's statute of La Pieta showing Jesus after crucifixion, who according to Muslims was a "Muslim" prophet and who was not crucified is offensive to Muslim's sensibilities.  Music, including those composed by Beethoven and Mozart, are offensive to Muslim's sensibilities. Women wearing swimming suits or even walking in casual clothing without Islamic covering are offensive to Muslim's sensibilities. Quoting the verses of the Quran, verbatim, that call for waging war on unbelievers, rape of the women captured in war, beating women and killing the pagans, Jews and Christians are offensive to Muslim’s sensibilities. Reading from the Hadith, the very books written by Muslims and followed meticulously for over a millennium that describe Muhammad as a womanizer, a pedophile, a rapist, a looter and an assassin, is offensive to Muslim’s sensibilities. 

Muslims are offended when you say that Islam is a violent religion and they threaten you with violence until you apologize and withdraw your statement. When Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson said Islam is not a religion of peace, Muslims around the world went into violent frenzy to protest. Muslims in Bombay, India rioted and an Iranian cleric threatened Falwell with death. Things went so out of hand that the National Council of Churches fearing for the lives of the Christians in Islamic countries had to issue a statement, condemning Falwell and distancing themselves from him. But that did not prevent the death of the health worker Bonnie Penner.      

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