Mid Eastern Muslim Brotherhood

 by: Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys

It is claimed that the Arab Muslim Brotherhood is deliberately holding back on its religious message for the moment, in the middle of a people-driven revolt that is purportedly not being determined by either Islam or politics.

The organization proclaimed its support for opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei, a secularist with Western democratic principles, as a transitional president, if the Mubarak government was put out of office.

Esam Shosha, a movement member said "The revolution does not belong to any one group. We are one country. It's not just about the Brotherhood, at least not now; it's about all Egyptians."

"They don't want to appear as if they're using this revolt to seize power. What they want is free and fair elections to allow them to take power transparently," an analyst at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, Wahid Abdul Magid, said.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the world's most influential Islamist movement and the oldest and largest Islamic political group. Their goal however, is to also penetrate and take over other Muslim organizations in order to unite all Muslims to the general aims of the brotherhood.

The organization's beliefs are moderate when compared with many of the world's more militant Muslim organizations. However, it rejects the idea that a woman, or a Christian could be president of a Muslim country and would lean the nation's laws toward more rigorous Islamic codes. It would certainly ban alcohol and topless beaches at the resort of Sharm el Sheik. The organization also prohibits dancing and other such pastimes.

Hassan al-Banna, Islamic scholar and Sufi schoolteacher, who believed in reclaiming Islam's manifest destiny, an empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia, founded the organization in 1928.

The organization's goal is to instill the Sunnah and Quarn as the 'sole reference point for ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual and community and state'. It generally opposes violence to achieve its aims, though division has been created within the group, through its stance on no violence.

The Egyptian government accused the group of a campaign of killings in Egypt after World War II, as the organization strongly opposed Western colonialism. The Muslim Brotherhood was banned in Egypt, with members being arrested, in spite of the membership being kept a secret. The brotherhood was involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and assisted in the overthrow of secular Ba'athist dictators in Syria.

Al Qaeda has censored the brotherhood and charged them with 'betraying the cause of Islam and abandoning the 'jihad' in preference to forming political parties and supporting modern state institutions'. While studying at university, Osama bin Laden claimed he was influenced by the religious and political beliefs of many professors, who had strong connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.


About The Author

Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are CEO's and founders of YouMe Support Foundation, providing high school education grants for children who are without hope. You can help in this really great project by taking a few minutes to check out the Sponsor a Student program at (http://youmesupport.org). It will change the life of some really needy kids in the South Pacific.

Sharia Law: Already In The United States?

by: Rob Stanley

Remember this little nugget of genius from Hollywood scholar Cameron Diaz during the 2004 election cycle? : "We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies…if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote."

This was part of a rambling and obviously inane monologue Diaz gave on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004 as she plugged both Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and John Kerry for POTUS. Pundits tried to defend her diatribe by saying she was expressing her support for Kerry's pro-abortion views. How that translates into "legal rape," I do not know. She should probably just stick to film scripts.

Well, Bush won after all that and rape still isn't legal. In truth, it's closer to being legal under Hollywood's darling Obama six years later than it ever was under W.

In New Jersey last year, family court judge Joseph Charles ruled against a woman's request for a restraining order against her ex-husband who she claimed sexually abused her. Judge Charles said he believed the man was behaving according to his Muslim beliefs, and that he didn't have "the criminal desire to or intent to sexually assault" her.

The woman testified that her husband repeatedly forced her to have sex with him, telling her he could do anything he wanted to her because she was his wife and, as such, forced to submit. Judge Charles ruled that the husband's behavior "was something that was consistent with his practices and…not prohibited."

Here, Judge Charles indirectly referred to Sharia law, the sacred law of Islam and, Muslims believe, the direct will of Allah. According to Sharia, women are considered inferior to men, and as such have fewer rights. In fact, a woman counts as half a man in giving evidence in a court of law. A husband has the right and the duty, both morally and religiously, to beat his wives (yes, they practice polygamy) for disobedience or misbehavior, however weak the evidence may be. A woman does not have the right to choose her husband, where she will live, or the clothes she will wear. She also cannot travel freely unless accompanied by a male relative.

Under this law, women are never independent from the fathers, brothers, husbands, and other men in their families. One of the most common punishments for women for adultery or other misconduct is the horrific and primitive practice of public stoning, sometimes at the hands of family members. In short, Sharia maintains the extreme patriarchy of the Islamic world.

However, the feminist voices have been practically silent on this issue. It seems "legal rape" disappears as soon as a Democrat is in office. But as Judge Charles has demonstrated, this is not so.

While judges try to respect various belief systems, as Judge Charles did here, they risk condoning Sharia law in the United States. In fact, a law proposed in Oklahoma, which will be on the November ballot there, would ban judges from considering international or Sharia law in their rulings. The fact that the issue is even being considered should scare everyone. We can only hope that Oklahomans have the good sense to uphold this ban, because without it, Sharia law would be allowed in America's courts.

Our autonomous justice system should not be considering international and Sharia law. That's a sure first step to losing our sovereignty and becoming part of a global community with amorphous boundaries, which the left and Obama would enjoy more than we proud Americans can imagine or believe. If immigrants want to take advantage of all the God-given rights and freedoms we Americans enjoy, defended through the decades by brave men and women, they must accept that they are under the jurisdiction of our justice system based on equal rights. In fact, the primary catalyst of the liberation of Muslim women as well as the safeguarding of American sovereignty will be the obliteration of Sharia wherever it is practiced.

About The Author

Rob Stanley is a guitarist, recording artist and creator of http://www.rockanomics.com, a leading online community for conservative news, new music, political opinion, pop culture interests, and career building resources. For a free membership, to get the newsletter with several bonus downloads, or to get more detail on this article visit: http://www.rockanomics.com/public/382.cfm

Are We Up for the Challenges Ahead?

 by: Scott F Paradis

Stagnant economy, burgeoning debt, environmental catastrophe, stretched military, declining resources, aging population, threatening foreign powers, vested internal political interests competing for self-serving ends - the challenges we face are daunting. We stand on the edge of a precipice. We can stare down into the great abyss - the graveyard of empires, the necropolis of dreams, or we can fix our gaze to the heavens, shoulder the load and launch the adventure of a generation. The time of indecision is past, the time to chart a new course is now. Are we up for the challenges ahead?

What do we know about human nature? A person's fundamental purpose is to relate and create. Now the energy employed to this purpose can easily be turned to destruction. A clash of intentions is but an exploitation of humanity's fundamental weakness - ego.

Ego is the yearning to be separate, secure and exalted - the need to control - the desire for ultimate power. On a grand scale - ego is the most destructive force on earth. As we close in on a population of seven billion souls stripping the planet of every easily accessible resource we must evaluate our status as a species and inquire at the most profound level - Can we, are we to survive? And if we are to survive, how can we flourish?

Human beings as individuals or a society are misguided by ego believing we are above nature. We are fundamentally attached to, dependent upon, one with - nature; the environment; the world around us. Every resource we exploit, every enemy we vanquish is in fact another aspect of ourselves, albeit one we do not recognize or appreciate. In the final analysis, we pay a price for our brashness, our insolence, our avarice. By way of excess and selfishness we hurt the planet, others and ultimately ourselves.

Now at a cross-roads, our species can die a slow and painful death disintegrating into competing elements fighting over every last scrap on a human time horizon of centuries, while the planet seeks to rid itself of this cancer and refashion itself on a time horizon of eons, or we can refocus on our fundamental purpose - relate and create.

We can begin anew. We can be in harmony with our world. We can begin to relate to one another, to nature, to the world and universe around us and create a new reality - a reality of high adventure. We can realize a unifying purpose. We can each create a world richer when we leave it - better off for having had us here.

The choices before us individually, as a nation, as a world community are: Will we consume or contribute? Will we compete or cooperate?

The answers to these questions do not lie with political bodies - they are not the stuff of presidents, or legislatures, or corporate bodies of any sort. They are answered by ordinary people, in everyday circumstances - in families, in communities. These are questions for you and me. We succeed and achieve together or we fail and fall apart.

The wealthy, the powerful, the privileged elite can lead. But, as has been since the beginning, their aim is to feed ego. Seeking their own aggrandizement, their motives have been an accelerator on the road to disaster. Don't look for leadership to them.

Until it dawns on us, the great unwashed masses, that the precipice is near - we will not act. The choice for the salvation of this world is an individual one.

Enough with the petty games. Enough feeding the egos of the advantaged elite. Enough manipulating the masses to benefit a few at the expense of the many. We must see with new vision, hear with new discernment, and act with new determination to remake ourselves and our world.

The answer to the question, "Are we up to the challenges ahead?" can only be determined by you and the choices you make.

Choose to contribute not to consume. Choose to cooperate, not to compete. Choose on behalf of unity, of harmony, of peace. Choose wisely. For your choices affect us all. Are you up to the challenges ahead?

Copyright (c) 2010 Scott F Paradis

About The Author
Scott F. Paradis, author of "Promise and Potential: A Life of Wisdom, Courage, Strength and Will" http://www.promiseandpotential.com publishes "Insights" and a free weekly ezine, "Money, Power and the True Path to Prosperity".

Taking America Back - How to Fix the Economy in 365 days without destroying America

by: David M Arnold

It is becoming more obvious as time passes, that, elected officials are no longer representing the American people, but rather, special interest groups. The longer our elected officials serve the more corrupt they become. I have outlined several ways of significant importance that We can take America back and fix the major problems within the economy.


Amending the Constitution  It is time to correct the wrong that was never presented. I propose a Constitutional Amendment that makes elected politicians be on term limits. The plan is very simple.

The House of Representatives can serve up to 6 terms (12 years). They will be mandated to give up their seat for one term (2 years) and then be eligible to run for the House again. This will allow a stop-gap from allowing corruption to infiltrate our system in the House of Representative.

The Senate will be allowed to run for 3 terms (18 years). They will be mandated to give up their seat for one term (6 years) and then be eligible to run for the Senate again. This will allow a stop-gap from allowing corruption to infiltrate our system in the Senate.

Any criminal activity needs to be investigated and prosecuted and hold all elected politicians accountable. Again, this is not about politicians, it’s about protecting the American people!

House and Senate Behavior.

Read the Legislation. Pass legislation which says, bills cannot be rushed or voted on until all members of the House and Senate have read them.

Eliminate Ear Marks and Pork Barrel Spending until there is a balanced budget.

Tort Reform:  It is time to change the court systems. Elected politicians are supposed to represent ALL of us as the constituents. However, mention Tort Reform, and they protect their own. When they become elected public official; they give up their right to be a lawyer. They cannot just cover their craft. The plan is very simple:

Cap Legal Fees. Loser Pays. Having loser pays will strengthen people desire to file a lawsuit and any lawsuit should have a justifiable reason.

End Frivolous Lawsuits. In the court system, you can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court. If there are to be frivolous lawsuits, then they should be limited to 4. Again loser pays!

Healthcare: This is 1/6th of our GNP. Having a Socialist healthcare system is a failure. It will only weaken our research and development and will put our healthcare below the standards of other average nations. The plan is very simple:

Repeal the current plan if passes. Should the unthinkable happen, we need to take Healthcare back.

Tort Reform healthcare practices. This will substantially lower the costs of healthcare.

Doctors can work for the public option for two years after completion and receive a base salary and have 50% of their medical school loans paid off by the government.

Insurance plans need to be 100% portable and people can choose which Private or Public Option they prefer. If public option is preferred, there will be a choice of 3 options 80/20 plan, 70/30 plan, or the 50/50 plan. The Government will pay for 100% catastrophic which allows individuals to pay for their preferred plan. This will cut the cost of private insurance and allow competition without a government takeover.

Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid. These individuals will be able to afford any of the options and after age 65 receive a discount to offset inflation.

Social Welfare. There is so much abuse in the welfare system that it is time to evaluate current programs. The plan is real simple.

Cap Benefits. Since this is the most abused system and most failed programs in American history, it is time to wean off the dependency. Every American Citizen will be allowed a $75,000 lifetime benefit that covers any situation other than unemployment. Unemployment is not a welfare program. Private and/or public non-profit programs can help individuals gain necessary skills and become productive citizens rather than unproductive citizens.

Education. The plan is real simple.

Eliminate the Department of Education and allow the States to control their educational requirements. Allow school vouchers for people to choose which school they can attend.

Tax Reform. We need to level the playing field. The tax laws are vast, unfair, and obsolete. The plan is real simple.

Flat Tax at 17%. This will incentivize people to start their own business and provide competition. If you look around, the wealthiest individuals are business owners that took a dream and made it a job creating company.

Two Year Moratorium on Capital Gains Tax for two years and incorporate that back in at 27%. Unemployment will go down, deficits will be paid off, and prosperity will flourish.

Public Policy. There are many bad policies that take away from our prosperity. If it hurts our prosperity then its bad for America! The Plan is real simple.

Repeal the following:

Cap and Trade if passed

Exportation laws: Things need to be made in America

Ban on Drilling.  We have the resources in our own country to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. We can drill and the profits can go to help generate better technologies for green energy.

Nuclear Power Plants. We need them and this will create thousands of jobs and energy independence.

It is very obvious that the Socialist Liberal Democratic wing of the political system will not go for any of these ideas. That is why we need to elect Conservatives and take control of the House and Senate.

END

About The Author

David M Arnold is an experienced Therapist, Counselor, Mediator, and Life Coach that brings his personal experience to help you achieve success. Areas of interests include Relationship Development, Business Development, Real Estate, Financial Coaching, Internet Marketing, and Healthcare.