Dear Poirot,

Thank You.

Yes, I think you're right about Francis of Assisi
and Constance.

As for Joe?

Perhaps that's simply
his style of posting. At least Joe's not abusive.

My dear Poirot,

Never let it be said that I discriminate against anybody :)

Love,

Joe

Foxy,

"As for Joe?

Perhaps that's simply
his style of posting...."

What it is is his style of patronisation...but fair enough if you like it.

"...At least Joe's not abusive."

Well, maybe not to you...he got something deleted to me recently if I recall.

..............

Joe,

Yes, yes very clever - and by "clever" I mean boring.

Ar least there's some wit on twitter.

Dear Poirot,

I take Joe's "endearments" merely as his
style of posting and I don't actually read anything
into them. It's his views on issues that interest
me.

I am sorry to hear
that he has been abusive to you.

Salaams
I thought it useful to provide what I consider a reality check: the teachings of Islam from a shaykh who has the knowledge and credentials to speak.

The teachings (link below) are in form Q&A sessions of lessons from a Shaykh to his students. The Shaykh is based in Jordan but many of his lessons are outside of Jordan. While you'll notice from his accent he was born and raised in the U.S. he was trained by traditional Islamic scholars.

A summary of what he has to say is as follows:

Shariah states: murder is illegal, obey the laws of the land; our response is limited to pray (do'a) against these acts insulting the Prophet; noone can be a law unto themselves; no Muslim has the right to tell another person how to behave if it is not against their religion/values (eg. no right to tell a Christian not to drink when in fact it is permissible under their religion); the support for boycotting (punishing a whole nation because of one cartoonist) is very weak under the Shariah

The Shaykh's personal opinion: remember such people say far worse things against God; speak to people because most of those who hate Muslims/Islam have never met a Muslim; people who do such things are seeking publicity so creating a furor by boycotting, demonstrating outside embassies, etc just gives them what they want; "He who laughs last..." : destiny is with those with strong family values, so raise kids that aren't spoilt and respect their elders.

cont..

cont..

Following the advice of the Shaykh to spend my time on more constructive pursuits, I will not be engaging any further in this thread. I certainly expect there will be those who'll try to misrepresent what the shaykh is saying. My response to this is: just listen to what the Shaykh has to say and make up our own mind. You can't discuss "the teachings of Islam" unless you listen to what is being taught to Muslims from those who have the knowledge and credentials to do so. This Shaykh has all of the above.
all the best

link:http://untotheone.com/index/dealing-with-blasphemers-of-the-prophet/
Note: you'll find 3 talks: the relevant section of the 2nd begins just before 5 minutes