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."
A Muslim photographer is working on an ambitious project
that he hopes will tackle stereotypes about American Muslims and
showcase the community’s rich diversity.
Since the fall of 2015, Carlos Khalil Guzman has been using his free
time and his own funds to travel across the country to interview an
array of Muslims. In the series, titled “Muslims of America,” Guzman is
attempting to capture portraits of Muslims from all 50 states in the
country. The series includes people of different sects of Islam,
ethnicities and backgrounds ― from Native American Muslims to Syrian
refugees to queer Muslims.”
Frustrated by a lack of diversity and representation of Muslims in
the mainstream media, Guzman said he decided to create a project that
would help people learn about the many ways American Muslims practice
their faith.
“I wanted to be proactive about it,” Guzman told HuffPost. “We need to find our own ways to educate people.”
Guzman, a 28-year-old photographer of mixed ancestry from Brooklyn,
New York, is an activist and a revert to Islam. He started exploring the
religion in college, after getting to know Muslim activists through
different networks on his campus. He found in Prophet Muhammad an
example of what it means to be tolerant, charitable and compassionate ―
and realized that Islam reinforced his own beliefs about social justice.
