Sunday, October 27, 2013

A chilly night

Country music on the radio.

I love my husband so much.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

People of The Book = Jews and Christians

“Do not argue with the people of the book except with that which is better and do not argue with those who have oppressed you. Tell them, we believe in what was revealed to us as well as that which was revealed to you. Our God and your God is one in the same and we submit to Him” (Qur’an, 29:46).

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Friday...more digging

We didn't leave until 10 pm. We dug out all the pipe from the septic tank to the house and replaced it. A family member who is a plumber came to help. Then we moved into the basement. First the floor was jackhammered. Then dug. There we found the problem. Tree roots had grown into the plumbing, under the basement floor. The roots were so thick they burst the pipes (there were cracks in them). So the floor was jackhammered back to the floor drain and the pipe replaced. The hole still needs to be filled in. Maybe Sunday.
The septic tank and trench leading to the house

The trench, with the old pipe. My daughter and her guy are looking at something, probably roots

The tank was getting pumped out. It smelled better out here lol

In the basement, new pipe going in

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Digging

Today we drove out to my daughter's house to help dig out her septic system. Well, no, we weren't digging in poo. We are digging out the pipe from the tank to the house. We also removed the dirt from the top of the tank. It rained this morning, so we were digging in sticky, heavy clay. My daughter's guy came to help too. He and my hubby did most of the digging. We need to go back tomorrow to finish.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Lovin' the mild weather!

October hardly seems like October. We have had a very mild start to the month, lots of opportunities to paint and fix the outside of the house before winter. My hubby is doing an amazing job, considering the house was neglected for the past 10 years. He has filled cracks and painted windows and the eves and soffets all around the house.

On a completely unrelated subject, I watched Diane Sawyer Interviews Malala Yousafzai This Friday: ABCNEWS.COM - "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," the 16 year old said.

It was really good. What a brave young woman to stand up against the taliban and stand for the right to an education for all girls. What she stands for is what Islam is supposed to be. The world is with you Malala! May God protect you always.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Nope, I won't live under sharia law

I am learning more and more. For one thing, I thought Islam = sharia law. But no! There are many Muslim majority countries who don't use sharia law, or abolished it, and others that use some of the laws to govern personal matters. For the most part, these countries have abandoned the old barbaric ways much the same as Christians no longer practice the barbaric punishments in the Old Testament.

First of all, lets look at the Balkans, my first and only experience of visiting a Muslim majority country. Albania and Kosovo. This list also includes Bosnia, and Turkey, which abolished sharia law in 1924.

I visited Albania and lived for a short time in Kosovo. You will rarely see a headscarf in Kosovo. Women only cover when praying. Kosovo is secular, meaning, like America, there is a separation of church and state. That means the government can't tell you what religion to practice. It can't tell you not to practice, nor that you must practice, or even what to practice. Many people misunderstand that, thinking that removes God from the country. Not true. That removes the government's authority to tell you how to believe. In Albania I saw old women in villages who all looked like Mother Theresa, but the cities are modern. In Kosovo, women are free to wear what they want.

Now, look at the Legend. The countries shown in purple have full sharia law. You can read about individual countries in the list. I count 13 countries with full sharia law. I count 34 countries with sharia law for personal matters but otherwise have a secular court system. I count 27 secular countries and 3 with mixed laws depending on the area of the country.

It appears to me that sharia law is more of a cultural law held mostly by Arab countries. Islamophobes here in America rant about sharia law being a great threat to America. Well, I wouldn't want to live under sharia law either. But I think people fail to separate Islam and sharia. As I said before, I erroneously thought Islam = sharia, but I was wrong! Yes, there are sharia countries where stoning and hand cutting is still practiced. Yes, it's barbaric! And yes, they will tell you that if you are against sharia law then you are against Islam. NOT TRUE!

Tossing all Muslims into the same box as these backward extremists is the same as declaring all Christians the same as Hitler, or the same as the Crusaders, or the same as in the Dark Ages when people were tortured in dungeons (although they will point out they have a very low crime rate). What happens is an across the board fear of all Muslims, Islamophobia. It marginalizes many of America's citizens.

Muslims have been in America for a long time. Read this short article by the History Detectives.

"When Columbus made his journey to the United States, it is said he took with him a book written by Portuguese Muslims who had navigated their way to the New World in the 12th century.

What is clear is the make up of the first real wave of Muslims in the United States: African slaves of whom 10 to 15 percent were said to be Muslims." - Islam in America, The History Detectives

Learning the truth is always the right choice.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

How to spot a Muslim

By their clothes, of course! Get lots of tips here:

Muslims Wearing Things