Remember The Reason For The Season

Tao Te Ching - Religion and Philosophy

FOREWORD

It is sad that there is a book collection published by Britannica called The Great Books of Western Civilization that begins with Homer, considered the earliest written text that has survived the destruction of the Library of Alexandria to modern scholars, historians and philosophers; and yet there isn't any such collection that has the books of the Western world that includes ancient texts to the modern age covering Arabian and Oriental civilization and culture. The Story of Civilization, written by Will & Ariel Durant that contains eleven volumes provides the Western world an insight upon the history and culture of the Eastern world – but a collection of works should be put together for a better understanding by a larger audience and to enlighten readers of the Western world. 

Islam: Religion of Peace?

There have been those who object using the phrase of two words to describe the terrorists – Islamic fascists. Whether this is a PC [i] thing or whatever, there is good reason to use those two words to describe the fundamentalists whose interpretation of the Qur'an, their celebration of Shari’a law, and their revelation of Hitler because of his hatred of the Jewish people and it is correctly descriptive. The big book seller in Palestine is Mein Kampf, (Qur'an being #1 bestseller) was the favorite reading of the deceased Yasser Arafat. A terrorist organizer turned head-of-state and who was given a Nobel Peace Prize!
During World War II, the Grand Mufti, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini recruited Muslims from all over the world to fight with the Nazis. However, there are those who deny this, despite surmountable evidence. If association is indicative of just what type of person Arafat was, look at the photo above.

Science and Creationism: A Never-Ending Discussion

In the world of science – Jim Dent:  Science, Evolution, and Creationism …

Today, the National Academy of Science released a book called Science, evolution, and Creationism. The book argues that creationism has no room in the scientific classroom. From the book:
“The arguments of creationists reverse the scientific process. They begin with an explanation that they are unwilling to alter – that supernatural forces have shaped biological or Earth systems – rejecting the basic requirements of science that hypotheses must be restricted to testable natural explanations. Their beliefs cannot be tested, modified, or rejected by scientific means and thus cannot be a part of the process of science.

Bibliotheca: Lost Forbidden Texts Found After Scholar's Death

I am a book collector, however my library isn’t what it used to be because of a series of events and circumstances – but I love books, especially old books, texts, et cetera. Thus, my interest was sparked when I ran across the excellent article by Andrew Higgins in the Wall Street Journal entitled The Lost Archive. A section of my library contains books on theology – world religions and scholarly works on ancient and contemporary religious texts. One of the books in this category is one of my treasured volumes: A 1936 rare copy of the Qu’ran written in Arabic and English complete with footnotes in English. While stationed in Turkey I befriended the local bookstore proprietor and became a regular there, while also making regular stops at the Stars and Stripes bookstore in the American PX building in Izmir, Turkey where I obtained (through special order) a book containing Burl and Ives famous lithograph collection complete with its history from the time they opened their doors to the sad day they closed them. There, the proprietor, of whom I forgot his name (no, it wasn’t Mustafa, that was another Turkish friend), informed me one day that he had the rare 1936 bilingual Qu’ran. After examination, I was hesitant as to what it may cost. After a cup or two of Chi, Turkish tea, we discussed price. I ended up purchasing it for the equivalent US dollars in Turkish lira of $20.00. Actually, I should be ashamed – it was a steal. But I digress ...

Sharia Law by Tom Carew

Tom Carew, guest writer from Dublin, Ireland writes about the concerns of Sharia Law being introduced through subversive actions upon a nation. Our traditional ally, the United Kingdom is facing crucial internal problems while keeping the basics of democracy and still retaining liberal ideologies. In this, America and our European counterpart are facing a conundrum. Mr. Carew writes via email [edited]:

Myth Blaster: The Shroud of Turin

Myth Blaster Verdict: Overall, undetermined, but so far indisputably authentic as the following will explain. Personal research shows that there is more accurate information that proves the Shroud’s authenticity than those who have been trying to disapprove it; and because of this, I believe it is up to the skeptics to disapprove the authenticity because those who have investigated the Shroud through the scientific process should not have to prove anything further. The fact that the Shroud is an natural image of a crucifixion victim is without question – the only question that may remain by skeptics is if it is truly the Jesus of Nazareth that changed the western world, inspired a new religion that developed into the most powerful Church organization in world history. Personally, I believe it is the real thing.

There is more evidence to its authenticity than not.