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Kythas wrote:

snatchel wrote:I loved being called an infidel. I believe "infidel" roughly translates to "smart, charismatic, handsome, christian man." I could be mistaken though .

The word Infidel is actually an ancient Catholic word which means "one who does not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ" or "one who is not Christian and opposes Christianity". Note the stated goals for the Crusades were to remove the Infidels from the Holy Lands. Its meaning has been corrupted over the past thousand years, and most people now believe it means a disbeliever of Islam. This is likely due to Muslims hearing Christians calling them Infidel, and mistaking the meaning of the word. Over the years, the word fell out of use by Christians but remained in use for Muslims, by which they began referring to all disbelievers of Islam.

The actual Arabic word for a non-believer of Islam is kafir, which simply means "unbeliever" or "disbeliever" (and is also a pejorative). The word islam itself is Arabic for "truth", being that Islam is the one and only true religion.

Thanks for the heads up.... I was being sarcasti though. LoL. But interesting explanation--I didn't know that Catholics were the first to use the word "infidel" in that manner.

Oldgringo wrote:We infidels are the sworn enemies of Islam. Let's pack our gear, get out of that God forsaken place and urge them to continue to kill each other as they've been doing since the dawn of time.

The current POTUS can then bow and apologize for overstaying our welcome, promise it won't happen again and wish them well as we di di mau out of there.

I loved being called an infidel. I believe "infidel" roughly translates to "smart, charismatic, handsome, christian man." I could be mistaken though

If you want an interesting read on ... let's call it "modernt, democratic Islam" .. (and I'm using the word democratic very, very loosely here) I can PM you an article written by an American Muslim theologian. While it doesn't entirely explain most things.. he definately made some valid points in the differences between modern Muslims and coservative/extremist types.

Not saying I believe everything I read, I was just stating that if was done as a means to "get back at 'em," or whatever... It's wrong.

I don't know the whole story. I'll wait and see...

Agreed--it would be outrageous to allow the soldiers to be tried under Sharia.

However, I think that the soldiers responsible should be held accountable for their actions, under UCMJ law. Do I care that a Koran was burned? Nope. It isn't the act that angers me, it's the principle. American soldiers are representatives of our wonderful country, and should know better than to act in a way that brings a bad name to her. Burning the Korans didn't do any good except to stir up trouble and possibly make the situation more dangerous that it was.

When I was in Iraq the 2nd time, one of the Army soldiers that was on my base got into trouble for kicking a Koran through the dirt. It was intentional and mean spirited, and I didn't feel the least bit sorry for him when he was tried under UCMJ for his irresponsible behavior. Fact is that most Americans don't care for Islam, the Koran, or anything related... but as Americans we need to provide the example of religious tolerance (to the extent that it's safe to do so, IE., zero tolerance for Islamic Fundamentalists, etc).