Obama Ordered to Convert to Islam

Who is "they?"
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By that I mean Islamic religious leaders, though really it will likely happen from the bottom up, assuming it happens at all...

Thanks. In the case of this thread we are looking at terrorist extremists in Somalia. Most of the time in recent months we have been looking at threats from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before that it was Iraq versus the US. I have been alive long enough to remember that this conversation is of much greater duration in the modern world. In fact I remember the overthrow of regimes and Iran and Indonesia, Egypt (the secular pan-Arabism of Nasser), and the crafting of a very provisional truce between establishment in Jordan and the Palestinians who live there. Or the continual political haggling in Saudi Arabia between the Saud family that rules, and the imams who keep them in power. Include in the mix other developments in Yemen, Angola, Somalia, Nigeria. This is an old story, but the names and places have changed once gain.

I found this article and have uploaded it. It is from a very reputable journal, American Anthropologist, not an arch right-wing news venue. Here are some provocative things to consider in excerpted version.

... the clash is inside—and not between—civilizations,
... This is how it goes: Islam and Christianity have in common a
deeply messianic orientation, a sense of mission to civilize
the world, Each is convinced that it possesses the sole
truth, that the world beyond is a sea of ignorance that
needs to be redeemed.

In the modern age, this kind of
conviction goes beyond the religious to the secular, beyond
the domain of doctrine to that of politics, Yet even
seemingly secular colonial notions such as that of a civilizing
mission"—or its more racialized version, "the white
man's burden"—or the 19th-century U,S, conviction of a
"manifest destiny" have deep religious roots. ..

Like any living tradition, neither Islam nor Christianity
is monolithic. Both harbor and indeed are propelled by
diverse and contradictory tendencies, In both, righteous
notions have been the focus of prolonged debates, Even if
you should claim to know what is good for humanity,
how do you proceed? By persuasion or force? Do you convince
others of the validity of your truth or do you proceed
by imposing it on them? Is religion a matter of conviction
or legislation? The first alternative gives you reason
and evangelism; the second gives you the Crusades and
jihad. Take the example of Islam, and the notion of jihad,
which roughly translated means "struggle.' Scholars distinguish
between two broad traditions of jihad: jihad Akbar
(the greater jihad) and jihad Asgar (the lesser jihad),
The greater jihad, it is said, is a struggle against weaknesses
of self; it is about how to live and attain piety in a contaminated
world, The lesser jihad, in contrast, is about
self-preservation and self-defense; more externally directed,
it is the source of Islamic notions of what Christians
call "just war" (Noor 2001).

Scholars of Islam have been at pains since September
11 to explain to a non-Muslim reading public that Islam
has rules even for the conduct of war: for example, Talal
Asad (n.d.) points out that the Hanbali School of law practiced
by followers of Wahhabi Islam in Saudi Arabia outlaws
the killing of innocents in war, Historians of Islam
have warned against a simple reading of Islamic practice
from Islamic doctrine; After all, coexistence and toleration
have been the norm, rather than the exception, in the political
history of Islam, More to the point, not only religious
creeds like Islam and Christianity, but also secular
doctrines like liberalism and Marxism have had to face an
ongoing contradiction between the impulse to universalism
and respective traditions of tolerance and peaceful coexistence,
The universalizing impulse gives the United
States a fundamentalist orientation in doctrine, just as the
tradition of tolerance makes for pluralism in practice and
in doctrine.

Doctrinal tendencies aside, I remain deeply skeptical
of the claim that we can read people's political behavior
from their religion, or from their culture, Could it be true
that an orthodox Muslim is a potential terrorist? Or, the
same thing, that an Orthodox Jew or Christian is a potential
terrorist and only a Reform Jew or a Christian convert
to Darwinian evolutionary theory is capable of being tolerant
of those who do not share his or her convictions?
I am aware that this does not exhaust the question of
culture and politics, How do you make sense of a politics
that consciously wears the mantle of religion? Take, for
example the politics of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda;
both claim to be waging a jihad, a just war against the enemies
of Islam, To try to understand this uneasy relationship
between politics and religion, 1 find it necessary not
only to shift focus from doctrinal to historical Islam, from
doctrine and culture to history and politics, but also to
broaden the focus beyond Islam to include larger historical
encounters, of which bin Laden and al-Qaeda have
been one outcome...

The problem that leads to Al Shabab's message is not easy to describe, understand or solve. The author, Mandani, is stating that we are looking at something that is greater than nation, politics or religion. Perhaps something that engulfs more than Islam, more than Christianity, more than both combined. Absolutist rhetoric coming from atheism and secularism has not managed to rescue the world either, but may have made a solution that much farther off. This is not an easy problem to decipher. As long as our understanding is local or national, the big picture and all the contradictory realities that go with that, are not going to be obvious to any one of us alone. When we hold a mirror to our own brand of redemption, what do we see? Our brother or our enemy? Ourselves? Or do we see one and the same?

So now Somalians are the fear of the month, for all subscribers to the "Fear of the Month" Club. Am I the only one who feels manipulated by all these fears?

We are told who or what to be afraid of and most of us dutifully follow. It has been like this all my life. It used to be the Russians, then the Chinese. Not all prescribed fears are related to countries. Some are related to health. There was swine flu - twice that I remember - bird flu, hypoglycemia, and, of course, all varieties of cancer. Breathing air, drinking water. Eating meat. Not eating meat. I have even been told repeatedly that I must quickly convert to Christianity because Jesus is coming back, and, boy is he pis sed! It never ends!
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/united-states/33750-obama-ordered-to-convert-to-islam.html

It has escalated since 911. Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-Il. The Muslims. And now the Somalians. It is ridiculous!

I do not deny that some - or maybe all - these dangers are real. I am saying two things:

1. Fear is unnecessary
2. We are being manipulated by fear.

Dangerous situations can and should be handled rationally, with attention paid to facts. Fear clouds the thinking and distorts reasoning. Fearful people are sheep, easily controlled. It is better to put aside the fear and proceed in a logical manner - especially if the object of the fear is itself irrational, as are some of these Muslim clerics.

Point two raises the question, "Who is manipulating us?" Some suggestions I have heard: the Freemasons, the Council of Foreign Affairs, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Trilateral Commission, the Illuminati, the Devil. Honestly, I do not think it matters. What matters is that we quit reacting emotionally. out of fear, that we quit allowing ourselves to be manipulated.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33750

Most people reading this, I assume will be Sikhs. Singhs and Kaurs, did our Gurus teach us to be sheep bleating piteously on our way to slaughter or did they teach us to be lions and lionesses taking control of the situation and doing the necessary.? Can we reasonably discuss what is going on and possibly come to some agreement of action to be taken. Calmly. Rationally. Without fear.

Yes

Siri kamala ji

I wish what You are saying could have been true,but actually it is the other way round
The religions Like sikhism are at much more threat to extinction than islam.Many Sikh women marry non sikh men and turn their back on sikhism and convert to their husband's religion On the other hand
Islam Growing quite fast because of their Birth rate.Truck load of Non muslim women marry and convert to islam .If you have knowledge of Indian Film industry then you could have known that How so many muslims their marry non muslim Girls and convert them to islam.So many of Khans of Bollywood have Hindu Mothers.

The following one is interesting topic to read for you

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/genera...sh-career.html