The Bible

[SLIGONIAN]

Sure they are all the same

What is it about them all that grates you so much

99% is a fair percentage of guttersnipes. No exaragtion, living here you see it everyday. If you wanted to hate the world this is a good place to come.

Where are you Sligonian ?

Currently in Qatar. I'll reply in more detail outside of work.

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

Why does the bible need to be interpreted? Oh yeah cos if it was taken at face value you'd laugh your arse off. For interpretation see trying to find some way of making you swallow it. Well that's why my leader says anyway.

[man in black]

I assume you have no, and would refuse to have, muslim friends then.

Muslims who I know are certainly not the stereotype you portray.

I wouldnt refuse to have Muslim friends. Just any ive ever met have been cretins of the highest order, you can only take folk as you find them.

[nifan]

can only take folk as you find them.

Odd, you called them all guttersnipes on the pervious page. Hardly taking them as you find them.

[man in black]

can only take folk as you find them.

Odd, you called them all guttersnipes on the pervious page. Hardly taking them as you find them.

take them as i have found them then.

[SLIGONIAN]

I'll give a few examples of how I found them,

There whole way fo life is built around the Quran, which has been interpreted to suit the men as I said earlier. Women wear black and are covered up. Most of the women get out of the country as much as they because they cant express themselves here at all. Some are forced into marriage at the age of 10 by there families, marrying a 20 yrs old + man, some die early because of getting pregnant to early. The families are the main problem The quran was interpretating that men can marry outside of religion but women cant. Men can have a few wives aswell to go along with it. Women walk behind the man etc...

One of my friends friend is babysitterfor the royal family, they get out of this country as much as possible and dont wear the same clothes, another thing a friend sister works on a luxury cruiser in carribean, the sheik of saudi came along for a 3 month cruise and had load of whores for himself aswell. In dubai whores are lining the streets and cops ignore it. One of my mates fell asleep in a taxi and woke up in a cell. Yes if you fall asleep in taxi you get arrested. Its illegal to drink but all westerners do obviously.

In Qatar the ignornce of the place comes out in the driving, they dont use indicators, drive on wrong side and generally drive as they please, no rules for locals, one of my friends got crashed into by a local, he had to go court where no english was spoken, an interpertator was there but just translated my friends not guilty. His laywer was corrupt and he got huge fine,
and was told he cant leave the country till its paid, they all take a cut.

In work the companies, you cant leave the country unless you get exit visa from them which messed me up for sligo this summer, also if I wanted to leave company I just cant leave as they can have me banned from Qatar for 2 yrs but it doesnt matter if i get job outside thank feck.

The main labour force are indians, there treated like slaves, the middle east countries are just modern dictatorships with slavery, you wont see this in to many papers as your not allowed to highlight this inside.  Thousands of indians die at work and there families arent notified... in there is a great arrticle in the indo the darkside of dubai from a few month ago.
Lastly if you go out with your girlfriend expect her to be pestered by locals who shouldnt be drinking anyway and they dont care about you standing beside her. Constant harrasment. During ramadan youcant drink or eat in public, try driving at 50 degrees in middle of day not drinking water. They report you if they catch you, also goes for women wearing t shirt and shorts.

This place has tested my belief in Bible and God aswell, I see how blinded these people are and lot of it just makes no sense and you think I am that blind to the Bible. Why doesnt God appear now, the world is more fecked than ever, why 2000 yrs ago? In my whole life ive experienced no evidence of God. Who created the creator? Does the Bible answer these questions . The Bible creates such power for the Church its scary, peope are more open minded now and can see past that. Im just unsure of alot of things and my faith is currently been tested. No disrespect to Aerlik or anyone who believe wholeheartdly.

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

I assume you have no, and would refuse to have, muslim friends then.

Muslims who I know are certainly not the stereotype you portray.

I wouldnt refuse to have Muslim friends. Just any ive ever met have been cretins of the highest order, you can only take folk as you find them.

Apart from those damn gays, eh big boy?

[ardmhachaabu]

Good post Sligonian.  I know some Muslim countries are having the debate about the role of women in society and the mosque.  Granted there is a lot of thinking which rightfully belongs in the Middle Ages but equally so there is very progressive thinking out there and it is not exclusively female either.  Yes, in cases this thinking is stifled by some governments but it is there and it is becoming more and more prevalent

Places like Iran have always had that tendency, it's just the message doesn't get out because it may elicit a military response from the government so we in the west think the mad funtamentalism is all that is going on out there

Your point about the Bible is an honest one and I can appreciate it as just that, a heartfelt response.  For me, the Bible is a part of my religion, a very important part but not the only thing that's important about it

[SLIGONIAN]

Good post Sligonian.  I know some Muslim countries are having the debate about the role of women in society and the mosque.  Granted there is a lot of thinking which rightfully belongs in the Middle Ages but equally so there is very progressive thinking out there and it is not exclusively female either.  Yes, in cases this thinking is stifled by some governments but it is there and it is becoming more and more prevalent

Places like Iran have always had that tendency, it's just the message doesn't get out because it may elicit a military response from the government so we in the west think the mad funtamentalism is all that is going on out there

Your point about the Bible is an honest one and I can appreciate it as just that, a heartfelt response.  For me, the Bible is a part of my religion, a very important part but not the only thing that's important about it

I wish i seen it, during my yr out here the laws have changed to getting more strict to not so strict to getting more strict in terms of the Quran. The only reason theres a debate is because the middle east has a huge amount of divorces because there forced marriages and WOMEN are way more educated than the men who dont even work. Alot of women are afraid of there families and runaway to break free but its a huge price to pay to abandon your family and takes serious strength.

If any of yee come out here just go to cinema, see the way they parent there kids is shocking, there is no discipline for male kids, I was sitting in front of the parents and across the aisle 5 kids were sitting kicking the chairs in frontof them where a few asian nationalities were sitting, they had keep looking over there shoulders, and then staff had to come in a sit on the aisle and then the kids only stopped temporarily, the parents behind me never said one thing to there kids. It irked me alot that. They also dont know the meaning of queues. Just not right. I havent met a ex pat out here who doesnt hate them the whole 99% of them. You see plenty of situations everyday that show there arrogance and ignorance.

Ya the Bible is part of my religion aswell, and I was deeply religious in my teenage yrs, being a alterboy for 4 yrs fueled that.  But Ive kinda went on spiritual quest in my 20s wondering and questioning.  My main difference with catholicism is one life, you see all my life I couldnt understand why people are born poor/rich, or into a nightmare family or nice family, kids with learning disability (mentally handicapped) what chance do those innocent kids get... from those questions I started to believe in reincarnation which goes against the Bible and more into Buddhasim. So thats pretty much what going on a deep level with me. I just cant believe everything im told or meant to believe. None of us cant prove we are right at the end of day either so each to there own. Id be interested to get Aerliks take after the course. I do believe parts of the Bible aswell i should add, i did wum on another thread.

[Tony Baloney]

I'll give a few examples of how I found them,

There whole way fo life is built around the Quran, which has been interpreted to suit the men as I said earlier. Women wear black and are covered up. Most of the women get out of the country as much as they because they cant express themselves here at all. Some are forced into marriage at the age of 10 by there families, marrying a 20 yrs old + man, some die early because of getting pregnant to early. The families are the main problem The quran was interpretating that men can marry outside of religion but women cant. Men can have a few wives aswell to go along with it. Women walk behind the man etc...

One of my friends friend is babysitterfor the royal family, they get out of this country as much as possible and dont wear the same clothes, another thing a friend sister works on a luxury cruiser in carribean, the sheik of saudi came along for a 3 month cruise and had load of whores for himself aswell. In dubai whores are lining the streets and cops ignore it. One of my mates fell asleep in a taxi and woke up in a cell. Yes if you fall asleep in taxi you get arrested. Its illegal to drink but all westerners do obviously.

In Qatar the ignornce of the place comes out in the driving, they dont use indicators, drive on wrong side and generally drive as they please, no rules for locals, one of my friends got crashed into by a local, he had to go court where no english was spoken, an interpertator was there but just translated my friends not guilty. His laywer was corrupt and he got huge fine,
and was told he cant leave the country till its paid, they all take a cut.

In work the companies, you cant leave the country unless you get exit visa from them which messed me up for sligo this summer, also if I wanted to leave company I just cant leave as they can have me banned from Qatar for 2 yrs but it doesnt matter if i get job outside thank feck.

The main labour force are indians, there treated like slaves, the middle east countries are just modern dictatorships with slavery, you wont see this in to many papers as your not allowed to highlight this inside.  Thousands of indians die at work and there families arent notified... in there is a great arrticle in the indo the darkside of dubai from a few month ago.
Lastly if you go out with your girlfriend expect her to be pestered by locals who shouldnt be drinking anyway and they dont care about you standing beside her. Constant harrasment. During ramadan youcant drink or eat in public, try driving at 50 degrees in middle of day not drinking water. They report you if they catch you, also goes for women wearing t shirt and shorts.

This place has tested my belief in Bible and God aswell, I see how blinded these people are and lot of it just makes no sense and you think I am that blind to the Bible. Why doesnt God appear now, the world is more fecked than ever, why 2000 yrs ago? In my whole life ive experienced no evidence of God. Who created the creator? Does the Bible answer these questions . The Bible creates such power for the Church its scary, peope are more open minded now and can see past that. Im just unsure of alot of things and my faith is currently been tested. No disrespect to Aerlik or anyone who believe wholeheartdly.

[SLIGONIAN]

I'll give a few examples of how I found them,

There whole way fo life is built around the Quran, which has been interpreted to suit the men as I said earlier. Women wear black and are covered up. Most of the women get out of the country as much as they because they cant express themselves here at all. Some are forced into marriage at the age of 10 by there families, marrying a 20 yrs old + man, some die early because of getting pregnant to early. The families are the main problem The quran was interpretating that men can marry outside of religion but women cant. Men can have a few wives aswell to go along with it. Women walk behind the man etc...

One of my friends friend is babysitterfor the royal family, they get out of this country as much as possible and dont wear the same clothes, another thing a friend sister works on a luxury cruiser in carribean, the sheik of saudi came along for a 3 month cruise and had load of whores for himself aswell. In dubai whores are lining the streets and cops ignore it. One of my mates fell asleep in a taxi and woke up in a cell. Yes if you fall asleep in taxi you get arrested. Its illegal to drink but all westerners do obviously.

In Qatar the ignornce of the place comes out in the driving, they dont use indicators, drive on wrong side and generally drive as they please, no rules for locals, one of my friends got crashed into by a local, he had to go court where no english was spoken, an interpertator was there but just translated my friends not guilty. His laywer was corrupt and he got huge fine,
and was told he cant leave the country till its paid, they all take a cut.

In work the companies, you cant leave the country unless you get exit visa from them which messed me up for sligo this summer, also if I wanted to leave company I just cant leave as they can have me banned from Qatar for 2 yrs but it doesnt matter if i get job outside thank feck.

The main labour force are indians, there treated like slaves, the middle east countries are just modern dictatorships with slavery, you wont see this in to many papers as your not allowed to highlight this inside.  Thousands of indians die at work and there families arent notified... in there is a great arrticle in the indo the darkside of dubai from a few month ago.
Lastly if you go out with your girlfriend expect her to be pestered by locals who shouldnt be drinking anyway and they dont care about you standing beside her. Constant harrasment. During ramadan youcant drink or eat in public, try driving at 50 degrees in middle of day not drinking water. They report you if they catch you, also goes for women wearing t shirt and shorts.

This place has tested my belief in Bible and God aswell, I see how blinded these people are and lot of it just makes no sense and you think I am that blind to the Bible. Why doesnt God appear now, the world is more fecked than ever, why 2000 yrs ago? In my whole life ive experienced no evidence of God. Who created the creator? Does the Bible answer these questions . The Bible creates such power for the Church its scary, peope are more open minded now and can see past that. Im just unsure of alot of things and my faith is currently been tested. No disrespect to Aerlik or anyone who believe wholeheartdly.

Did my post make you speechless.

[mylestheslasher]

It easy to say a us and them when speaking about the middle east as if the west had nothing to do with it. Its not that simple. I would agree that the status of women in these countries is a terrible reflection on them but part of the problem is that fundamentalism is flourishing mainly due to the constant interference from western superpowers. The US kept the dictatorship of the Shah in power in Iran, a guy that lived the life of the king while his people lived in the gutter. Fundamentalists overthrew him and the Iran of today was born. The yanks were so afraid of Iran that they started to cosy up to a certain psycho dictator in Iraq as he was a sworn enemy of Iran. Iraq invaded and Iran beat the hell out of them so the west gave Sadam all the money, weapons, and gas he needed to push the Iranians back. He then went and used the gas on the Kurds who had Iranian leanings with the full knowledge of the christian west. During this period the yanks even shot down a passenger plane leaving Iran. So 2 monsters were created. I have not even mentioned the creation of Israel, the christain/muslim wars in lebannon. The vile puppet western dictatorships in Saudi and Egypt. So when you look at what is going on in these countries, remember the christian wests finger prints are all over them too.

[thewobbler]

I went to an American College for a year in 1997. Didn't do my research very well and ended up in a Presbyterian part of the Bible belt, and part of the deal required me to study religion and go to Church.

We were meant to study the Old Testament in semester one, but the minister took 10 weeks to get through the first half of Genesis. One whole class was spent analysing one sentence of 8 words. So we ended up taking a final exam on chapter one. I actually came top of my class in that one, even though the other 20 people were "committed Christians".

The same Minister got his revenge on me though when he gave me 9/10 in the 10 commandments test. When I let him know that my 10 Commandments had been around a lot longer than his version, he hrew me out of class.

Another Minister actually did everyone a favour and banned me from his class for a fortnight. He opened up a class by trying to get everyone thinking outside the box. His question was "name the holiest person who ever lived?". I let them blow on for a long time, before citing Mother Teresa. Quite a few had never heard of her. But anyway, they came to an agreement that it was local evengelist Billy Graham. I couldn't let that one lie, but the Minister turned it personal and told me that he could prove that Billy Graham hadn't broken the 10 commandments. He pulled out the example that when Mr Graham was on the road, he always slept in the same room as his bodyguards, so that nobody could levy the adultery accusation at him. Well me, I remember being taught that a sin in mind is a sin in body, and that he obviously thought about to take on those precautions. That really didn't go down well.

In our business studies class, our lecturer started every lesson with a prayer that inevitably thanked the Lord for the wonderful weather we enjoyed. Until one day it rained, so instead he thanked the Lord for the much needed irrigation.

I ended up playing soccer for my school, and we would pray before, after and at half-time in matches. As you might imagine we weren't very tactically aware. The captain of the team took exception when I pointed this out before our 3rd or 4th match. Thankfully though he forgave me in post-match prayers

Anyway, what is the point in this ramble? Well, the thing I learned most from my adventure was that so convinced and converted was my average schoolmate, that a man of influence could easily mobilise them as an army. And one day someone will. In my opinion, a holy war is an unfortunate and unnecessary inevitability.

[Gnevin]

Ulysses, now there is a work of fiction worth studying

[stew]

Sure they are all the same

What is it about them all that grates you so much

Hypocrisy, tight fisted miserable hoors, cowards, women beaters - i lived in a muslim state for a couple of years and i know all about them. Plus they look down their noses at everyone that thinks allah was a ballix.

Well in fairness he was a bit of a ballix.

I know a Muslim man and he is one of the most decent human beings I have ever come across. He has never beaten his wife, is generous to a fault and is the single most humble man I have ever met.


I would have little time for the Muslim faith but to make a sweeping statement and say that all Muslims are arrogant pricks etc is way, way wide of the mark.