ReligionJanuary 12, 2006 8:32 pm

hajj

Death Toll Rises to 345 in Hajj Stampede

Breitbart.com

Imagine if, every Easter Sunday, tens of thousands of Christians gathered in St. Peters Square, then crushed each other like European soccer fans by the hundreds trying to get a look at the Pope.

Well, first of all, it wouldn’t happen. The first time that rush resulted in a death, measures would be taken to assure it never happened again. The incongruity of death being associated with a religious occasion that celebrated life would be anathema to Christians everywhere.

On the other hand, witness the “Hajj”; a pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims if they are able. Once there, The faithful perform various rituals prescribed for them which include cutting your hair, running, walking around a large black monolith, praying and “stoning the Satan”.

In the course of these rituals, EVERY year, hundreds of pilgrims are crushed. Death at the Hajj is so common it is addressed as a component of the pilgrimage in most written and printed materials.

I have no gripe with the Hajj or the way Muslims care to conduct it (or not as the case appears to be), but let’s not miss the simple fact that these annual deaths are just another manifestation of a culture of death.

Whatever Islam was meant to be by it’s inventor, whatever was practiced by Muslims for hundreds of years prior, whatever the occasional pacifististic Imam may say, Islam is now consumed with death, inside and out - the death of infidels, the martyrdom of it’s faithful. There is no regard for human life in Islam.

If the NSA hears me talking to my wife, If a prisoner in Guantanamo is too cold, if a couple of enemy combatants have to endure panties on their heads to protect the U.S. from their babarous assault…there will be no gripe from me

Religion 3:15 am

Here are a few stats that are hard to ignore:

  • Online porn earned 2.5 billion dollars last year
  • All pornographic sales last year earned 76 billion dollars
  • There are 68 million search requests per day for sex related words and phrases
  • The 2 largest bandwidth buyers in the US are for pornography
  • 60% of all internet site visits are sex related
  • 20% of men admit visiting porn sites at work
  • 40 million adults admit visiting porn sites weekly
  • 10% of adults admit to online pornography addiction
and…

  • 81% believe obscenity laws should be enforced vigorously!

Obviously there is a disconnect here; some 25% of the adult population admit to going to porn sites weekly (how many do you think didn’t admit it?) and yet 80% support obscenity laws. Is this a cry for help or what?

I believe that pornography (especially online) viewing is so ubiquitous that few people want to talk about it and I don’t think we as Christians are exempt. One poll done at 3 Christian colleges found that 68% of students admitted accessing online pornography.

The average age of first exposure to pornography is 11 years old.

As Christians, we need to be able to call ourselves to account first in addressing this problem so we can speak to our society with authority. Here is a great place to start: www.xxxchurch.com . There are a lot of resources for your church or mens group here to help address this issue.

Online pornography is easily containable. Designate .xxx for any sexual content unsuitable for children under 13. This makes it easy for parents to restrict access, does not interfere with anyone’s first amendment right to free speech and makes it much easier to regulate, and prosecute violations.

As for foreign porn sites - the US regulates everything else coming into the US. It should be no problem whatsoever to divert foreign porn on .com, .net or .org to .xxx or restrict it entirely. Besides, if we opened up .xxx as the new redlight district of the web, most vendors would voluntarily move out to where the customers are going.

Why hasn’t this been done before now? I said 76 billion dollars. More than the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, ABC, CBS, NBC, Rock AND Country music combined earned last year. If this industry ever organizes to significant degree, it will be all but impossible to stop with those kinds of numbers.

Christians have been quite successful in recent years in the fight against abortion by winning the hearts and minds of individuals in addition to court fights and arguments. It will be the same with pornography, but we have to clean our own house first.

It is a radical problem and here is the start to a radical solution.