August 24, 2005

The Fatwa

Flag in the breeze, near Holiday Island, AR

A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى) plural fatāwa (Arabic: فتاوى), is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where ’’fiqh,’’ Islamic jurisprudence, is unclear. A scholar capable of issuing fatwas is known as a Mufti.
Contrary to what is believed by many non-Muslims, and even by the majority of Muslims, a fatwa is not binding on all persons professing the Muslim faith. The only ones who are obliged to obey any specific fatwa are the mufti who issued it and his followers.. Read more here, I found it rather interesting

A fatwa was issued from the halls of the 700 Club. Rev. Pat Robertson seemed to do what his Islamic peers do all the time....

There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.

Pat Robertson on the 700 Club

with thanks to Daily Kos

The target of the fatwah was Hugo Chavez, the dictator, I mean, the president of Venezueala. A thorn in the side of the US, a exporter of revolution, friend of Fidel Castro. He courts the favor of China and Iran, and is spending billions to prop up dictators all through Latin America. He is a nasty, ego centric, baffoonish sort, who thinks with enough money he can create a "EU" sort of united entity in Latin America. He says he emulates the revolutionary Simon Bolivar...which is a joke as "El Liberator" Bolivar was a courtly gentleman, much like George Washington and would never behaive in the boorish fashion that Chavez has. Even Fidel, the peasent, has better manners.

But I digress...

The doctrine of assassination was attempted, in the Congo, Cuba, Chile, and perhaps against Saddam. It has never been sucessful, in fact it has worked against us.

I cant support Rev Robertson in this sort of twisted view of the Monroe Doctrine and many other whacky things he and other leaders of religious organizations say off the cuff. We have see all sorts of these moments and they pass by...and they dont reflect the views of the nation.

It amuses me to see the Left get all bent out of shape over these sorts of things. Men like Pat Robertson (and James Dobson, the current whipping boy of the Left) are not elected officials and what they say surely comes under the same rights to free speech as say Michael Moore, or any of the Hollywood types that run their mouths in public.

What is sad is that there are reprocussions for these things that are said in foreign lands. People take these words too seriously and it inflames them. These hotheads take their rage out on those that have the least to do with the words an are the most vunerable. Aid Workers, translators, incountry exchange workers and teachers, and missionaries and their support systems.

Already Chavez has ended cooperataion with the DEA and more and more drugs are now flowing out of Caracas. He canceled a visit by Peace Officers for Christ, a Christian organization of police officers that go to foreign countries at the request of the leaders and law enforcement agencies. They train in country police in tactics and behavior, and identify coorrupt pratices. This was the 15th year of cooperation and it has had a huge impact in local police corruption. Too bad this good thing had to end

Another news item, a severed arm was found off the Venezuealan coast and DNA processing hasnt been done because of pressures being placed by the Holloway family. This creep has been quoted to saying some unkind things about Ms. Holloway Twitty, and the tests are back burnered. (I cannot back this intel up as the news posting has vanished off the net... but it sounds true and should I find out differently I will retact it)

Another implication is oil. We have depended on Venezuela as a "friendly source" of oil and now that the "friendlies" view us as the enemy, we could lose that source. Perhaps that is why President Bush doesnt do anything about the illegal alien problem, Mexico is one of our top oil sources....

Robertson, like Billy Graham, or Jerry Falwell, or even James Dobson, are men in their 70's and older. They are beloved by millions of Americans, their ministries have served the cause of Christ for decades. They are like our elders, our grand fathers... You know what I mean... their mouths are filled with wisdom, you love to listen to them... then comes the zinger that makes you wince and you wonder if they are loosing their minds...

Woody and I were discussing singers, athletes, and actors that hung it up before thier abilities failed them. I have to wonder if preachers should do the same. Each of the men I listed has made a gaff in the past year that while you admired them for speaking teir minds, but wish they had more tact...

For tact is what makes the world a civil place to live.