Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Muslim atheists? O ye, of little faith - By Commander (Rtd) S THAYAPARAN Royal Malaysian Navy
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
Malaysiakini : “We will see that the greatest problem confronting civilisation
is not merely religious extremism: rather, it is the larger set of
cultural and intellectual accommodations we have made to faith itself.” - Sam Harris
COMMENT | So Mahadi Awang, a representative from the Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim), claimedthat
“Muslims who turn atheists only do so because they wish to break away
from the chains of the Islamic way of life in order to experience
pleasure”, which seems a rather dubious assertion.
If anything, what the official narratives of Islam in this country
have demonstrated are that Muslims have to be prevented from seeking
“illicit” sex, alcohol, smoking, music videos, movies, books,
pornography, the company of the opposite sex and of course, excessive
laughter. Now the reality is that many Muslims have sex, drink alcohol,
smoke, watch music videos, movies and pornography (online), mingle with
the opposite sex, and laugh a lot. Hence as Muslims, they already
experience pleasure but what prevents them from openly experiencing
pleasure are the religious police who are paid to ensure that they stop
having pleasure.
Of course, if you are a rich Muslim, then you are exempt from the
overt policing that your average Muslim is subjected to. Hence the more
logical explanation as to why some Muslims become atheist – let’s
dispense with the deeper intellectual motives for a moment – is not
because they want to experience pleasure – they do that already – but
because they do not want their pleasure policed by the state. Of course,
in Malaysia they have to be quiet about it but sometimes affirming your
non-belief with simpatico people provides clarity that all the
religious indoctrination that they have received since birth has not.
I really do not blame the Umno state for coming down hard on Muslim
atheists. Since the constitution defines who a “Malay” is and Islam is
the most important part of that definition, what happens when a Malay
chooses to shed his or her faith? Does he or she cease being “Malay”? If
someone is not a “Malay” anymore, what happens to the special
privileges?
