Being a brat....

With extreme care and affection, I burnt my hand today. Extremely warm oil spilled over at the back of my hand leaving a mysterious scar. I am pretty sure that the mark resembles with the map of some tiny country in Africa. I am still trying to find it out. But today, I missed my mom a lot. I miss everyone terribly. If this would have happened at my home, my whole family would gather around giving me different household tootkas. My mom would first bring toothpaste. Granny would suggest icing. Papa would remain insisting on using Bernol. And after good 15 minutes, my brother would appear out of his room with a pride in his eyes like he is having Aab-e-Hayat and would hand over me a chori mori old herbal ointment explaining the benefits of it. But there was nothing today. I could not do anything for it. I didn’t have any ointment at home. I even couldn’t find the pack of my bandages. I even forgot to apply toothpaste on it. I just left it in cold water and kept remembering the comfort of my home. I am literally a spoiled, rude, irresponsible and careless child of my parents. 

I am used to my mother's voice "Eat something! you did not eat much today". And my father's loving scolds "You actually enjoy teasing us by having low BP". I literally used to enjoy it. But there is no fun here. No drama at all. There is no one to pamper you here. I do not eat until my intestines beg me to put something in them. My stomach makes the loudest noises in the class out of everyone. 

My kitchen is just three steps away. But they are three miles for me. Oh God!! to go there and make something has become the world's hardest thing, harder than running regressions, finding variances and reading stupid recommended articles. 

P.S. I found a 20` bigger tv in a running condition (not walking) in trash. Wadday log tey wadiyan wadiyan galaan :D 

Strange life is!

Sometimes you just regret meeting few people in your life. And other times you think what your life would have been if you have not met them....strange!

Eid :)

A Christian's response to the "Ten Reasons to Burn Quran" (Nauzibillah)

I came across this article of Zach and I appreciate how he has addressed each point in detail. Let's have a look:

For those of us who aren’t familiar with what has been going on in the conservative extremist arena of the bustling metropolis of Gainesville, Florida, let’s have a quick fact check. Just when you thought that Westboro Baptist Church’s “God Hates Fags” signs were the only outlet of Christianity gone amok (and they don’t count because they’re way out… there, in that part of the country, right?), the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville decides that it’s going to make September 11, 2010 its first annual Burn-A-Koran-athon. That’s right. This coming September 11th, the church will gather on its property and hold a Qur’an burning.

Either in the usual conservative evangelical nature, or in a bout of guilt-filled justification, the church recently published on its blog a list of the top ten resons you should burn a Qur’an (Could you make my blogging life any easier?). Let’s examine this list for a moment.

1. The Koran teaches that Jesus Christ, the Crucified, Risen Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords was NOT the Son of God, nor was he crucified (a well documented historical fact that ONLY Islam denies). This teaching removes the possibility of salvation and eternal life in heaven for all Islam’s believers. They face eternal damnation in hell if they do not repent.

This is, of course, based on the fact that you believe that Jesus was the son of God. So I guess that Jews, Buddhists, Pagans, Agnostics, and Christians that might not live up to your standards probably fit into this category as well. Nothing new. Fair enough.

2. The Koran does not have an eternal origin. It is not recorded in heaven. The Almighty God, Creator of the World, is NOT it’s source. It is not holy. It’s writings are human in origin, a concoction of old and new teachings. This has been stated and restated for centuries by scholars since Islam’s beginnings, both Moslem and non-Moslem.

I can only laugh at this one. Anyone who has done any kind of research in to the origins of the Bible knows that it was written by humans, for humans, and is the epitome of ‘old and new teachings.’ I mean really, the Bible’s two testaments were written in two different languages! If that alone doesn’t clearly say “humans wrote this, at different times, for different reasons, over many years,” I don’t know what does. I have nothing against the fact that the Bible was written at the hand of man, but it sure makes it hard to call the Qur’an un-holy because of the same fact. I see a bunch of steamed-up extremist kettles calling the pot black.

3. The Koran’s teaching includes Arabian idolatry, paganism, rites and rituals. These are demonic, an ongoing satanic stronghold under which Moslems and the world suffer.

That’s right. I’d forgotten. Islam’s rituals are satanic, but yours are squeaky clean. So drinking wine and eating bread in remembrance of your Lord and dunking your worshipers in water so they may be born again in Christ are perfectly fine and acceptable, but practices like praying seven times daily to God and fasting in order to learn about patience, humility, and spirituality are satanic. Thanks for clarifying that yours is the only way, I was sorely confused.

4. The earliest writings that are known to exist about the Prophet Mohammad were recorded 120 years after his death. All of the Islamic writings (the Koran and the Hadith, the biographies, the traditions and histories) are confused, contradictory and inconsistent. Maybe Mohammad never existed. We have no conclusive account about what he said or did. Yet Moslems follow the destructive teachings of Islam without question.

The earliest of the gospels describing the life of Jesus were written in 78 C.E. (or A.D. if you’re into that kind of thing), which was 55 years after Jesus died. This means that even a witness who was ten years younger than Jesus would have been nearly seventy by the time he began writing the gospel. And because the gospels were written in Greek and not Hebrew or Aramaic, it seems unlikely that the author of the earliest gospel was an eyewitness of the happenings during even the death of Jesus. And do we really want to get into contradictions in the Bible? Let’s try a few. Don’t kill, but stoning gay people is fair game. The Lord of peace be with you, but our God is one of war. The gospel of Mark says Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, while the gospel of John says he was not, among many other contradiction in the gospels. In fact, the only gospel that mentions the divine birth by God of Jesus is Luke. Are we done talking about inconsistent, contradictory writings about our prophets, now?

5. Mohammad’s life and message cannot be respected. The first Meccan period of his leadership seems to have been religiously motivated and a search for the truth. But in the second Medina period he was “corrupted by power and worldly ambitions.” (Ibn Warraq) These are characteristics that God hates. They also led to political assassinations and massacres which continue to be carried out on a regular basis by his followers today.

The Christian church has a long-standing history of corruption. It was the primary source of power in Europe for about a millennium, and folks, it didn’t get that way by playing nice with the nobles and serfs. Televangelists today rob people blind under the guise that money can be exchanged for salvation. I know of a pastor of a modern conservative evangelical superchurch who, despite his growing congregation’s need for a new space, built himself a new multi-million-dollar home instead using funds of his church. That’s not being corrupted by the power of worldly ambitions, is it? And who are you to tell me what can and cannot be respected? That’s right, you’re divine and I’m not.

6. Islamic Law is totalitarian in nature. There is no separation of church and state. It is irrational. It is supposedly immutable and cannot be changed. It must be accepted without criticism.

It seems ironic that a pastor of a conservative evangelical church would say this when historically, conservative Christians in America seem to want the wall between church and state as thin or non-existent as possible. I love it when people call upon something only when it’s convenient for the views they’re spinning.

7. Islam is not compatible with democracy and human rights. The notion of a moral individual capable of making decisions and taking responsibility for them does not exist in Islam. The attitude towards women in Islam as inferior possessions of men has led to countless cases of mistreatment and abuse for which Moslem men receive little or no punishment, and in many cases are encouraged to commit such acts, and are even praised for them. This is a direct fruit of the teachings of the Koran.

This depends wholly on the interpretation of the text in the Qur’an, in the same way that some Christians think that women are inferior to men because of Biblical scripture. In the case of countries where laws reflect the conservative interpretations of the Qur’an and women are indeed inferior by law, the Qur’an is used as justification, but in most parts of the world such rigid interpretations are not commonplace. True, the notion of a moral individual capable of making decisions and taking responsibility for them is inconceivable in such countries, but this is not per se Islam’s fault. Look at China.

8. A Muslim does not have the right to change his religion. Apostasy is punishable by death.

A Muslim living in certain countries does not have the right to denounce his religion. A Muslim living in the United States of America does. This is not an issue inherent of Islam, but of differing political systems.

9. Deep in the Islamic teaching and culture is the irrational fear and loathing of the West.

Deep in the conservative Christian teaching and culture is the irrational fear and loathing of the East (Let’s go burn us some Korans, eh?).

10. Islam is a weapon of Arab imperialism and Islamic colonialism. Wherever Islam has or gains political power, Christians, Jews and all non-Moslems receive persecution, discrimination, are forced to convert. There are massacres and churches, synagogues, temples and other places of worship are destroyed.

Any religion can be a weapon of any government or group of people who adhere to it. Historically, wherever Christianity has gained power, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Pagans, and followers of other native religions have been persecuted, discriminated against, and forced to convert or face expulsion from their homelands and/or death. Again, the sooty, tarnished kettles need to turn off the burner and stop whistling at the pot.

A drop in the Ocean

The biggest humanitarian disaster has broken the backbone of Pakistan which was not in a good shape before. Despaired eyes, torn clothes, bared footed, empty stomachs and dry mouths of flood affected people of Pakistan are waiting for some miracle to come over and correct everything. Who will help them actually? You? Or I?

We remain confused or want to be confused when we think of helping them. We see towards other people and call them to help out OUR people. But what are WE doing actually? I am among WE and I confess it shamefully that I am not doing what I am supposed to do.

We always think that helping these people means to donate thousands of money or to arrange a big truck of their food and clothes. Some of the people are doing so and I truly appreciate it. But if we cannot do this, it does not mean we can't do anything and can just sit and see the relief activities. A little drop in the ocean is as important as a whole ocean. Do little things! I swear they mean alot.

My friend in Multan was telling me that thousands of people are placed in different schools near by her area. They have made a small group of friends who have adopted few schools in their localities. They visit these schools regularly, ask what they need, bring them food, clothes, medicines, utensils, toys and books for kids, Quran and prayer mats, etc. Affectees are many and helpers are few. They don't have much resources but they are becoming few drops in the ocean.

My friend's cousin is just 19. He decided to do something and started gathering few things at his house. Other of his friends, their families and his neighbors joined him. He and his friends literally gathered huge amount of goods. They didn't advertise or go to people's doors and ask them for donation. They started collecting stuff and when their peers got to know about this, they came in and gave their share. Later, they arranged a big container and brought these goods to one of the affected areas and distributed the stuff by themselves. There are many but they could only touch one of the affected the areas. Their drop in the ocean can never be undermined. It's as precious as the billions of dollars of aid from the world.

Although the world is now the global village but people still do not know what has happened in Pakistan. The world is still unaware that 20 millions people are displaced and 6 millions among them are children. They do not know that millions of people are sleeping under sky and there is still raining. They do not know that the epidemics are slow-poisoning the poor people. We can aware the people around us as Natasha Jahangir did. Her tweets created awareness in Hollywood stars regarding floods devastations in Pakistan. Tom Cruise, Angelina Joli, Ryan Seacrest, Maroon 5's Adam Lavine, Queen Noor, Michelle Branch and Marie Digby all came in.

It's time to play our roles and think the way of helping them. Let's start from our own home. Let's see what are the things which we do not need and lying idle at our homes. Some of them can be useful for others. I swear we will not die without half of our clothes and shoes. Let's spend some of our pocket money on buying food, water bottles, medicines and other stuff. Believe me, the pleasure of spending money on this stuff will be much more higher than we spend on our hoteling which always ends up on higher calories. It's not difficult to get to these people. They are near you. Go to them, console them, tell them you are with them in this time of misery. Help them! Can't you become a single drop in the ocean?