In Fact....(Yasouna) and Sheree might also consider this point......

(Perhaps Sheree is either Orthodox, Maronite, Armenian or even Jewish ?)

In any case, coming from the non Muslim traditions of Lebanon, you may or may not (depending on what your parents have disclosed to you) be aware of the problems the Maronites had with the Druze and Turks and Sunni+Shia in 1840-1860. It was a genocide of extreme brutality which saw many thousands of Maronites hacked to death by the Druze while the Turks looked on.

Walid Jumblatts Grand Aunty was among those who supervised the grizzly task.

The forces at work in those days, were:

British (backing the Druze)
French (backing the Maronites)
Turks (backing whoever they saw as helping them keep empire)

and so on.

Hence, it would be a very big achievement for the current combatants to simply sit down by themselves and work it all out because there are outside interests pushing/or supporting them according to their own perceived interests.

... and thus the World works.

If we're not squabbling with our neighbours about the blackberries from 'THEIR' side growing onto 'our' place (my own current problem) its Abraham and Lots herdsmen squabbling over grazing land...

Does it end ? yes, I believe it does. But only within communities which share common values, not between those with competing or clashing values. Even 'giving your hungry enemy bread' did not save the Israelites from the Arameans as the memory of the kindness faded.

Please Read this link (all)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=12&chapter=6&version=31

Ben Hadad King of Aram said to the Israelites:

"Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine."

Today, the Merkeva's rumble to the Litani and F-16's roar overhead...
in the villages of Lebanon a donkey's head sells for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels, -such was the famine.

Hey Sheree,

Great article, I really enjoyed reading it.

Terry

OK people I need to expand a little on my previous statements in 350 words or less

First “Allah-is-not-God”.

Although the word Allah means God in the Arabic language, it is not representative or descriptive of the same deity.

God (Yahweh) of the Jewish and Christian revealed himself through the prophets, to His people the Israelites.

Jesus is the promised Messiah that God has promised throughout the Old Testament scripture.

Islam is claiming Allah to be the only god worthy-of-worship-replacing-all-other-gods-and-idols. However-they-do-not-understand-or-know-the-true-person-and-character-of-the-true-God (love revealed in Jesus for example) Allah-is-a-far-cry-from-the-true-God-of-the-bible.

So the word Allah although synonymous to God but does not speak of the same diety.

Second:“Religion is the source of all evil.”

All religions are man-made earthly systems of ritualistic laws and customs that help adherence to a belief in a higher being. They-all-fulfil-the-spiritual-gap-that-exist-in-all-humans-giving-them-a-sense-of-belonging-but-keeps-them-away-from-the-true-Grace.

Christianity is a belief in the person of Jesus the Christ; who He is (the son of God) and especially what He HAS DONE for humanity: die on the cross as it was prophesised centuries before he became man and was born of Mary…

A study of Jesus’ life, death, and RESURECTION, his teachings as recorded by his followers and critics alike, will show that he did not come to start a new religion (we call Christianity) but to fulfil the religious beliefs that preceded Him (law and the prophets) and proclaim the Kingdom of God His Father. He is the lamb of God depicted when Abraham almost sacrificed his son Jacob (and not Ishmael as the Moslems claim).

Islam’s feud with the other two religions, Judaism and Christianity, goes back to the time their prophet Mohammad an Arab (born-hundreds-of-miles-away-in-Mecca-"Arabia\") decided to make an impression on the Jews in Madinah with by proclaming his Abrahamic prophethood. Of course they laughed at him, and the slaughter began, the rest is history …

Since-then-all-non-Muslems-are-fair-game-to-Islam’s-might-of-the-sword. Convert-or-die. Unfortunately the religious Christians and Jews reciprocated that hatred in self-defense.

Today-is-the-continuation-of-that-ancestral-criminal-intent-that-aims-at-world-domination. Since-in-Islam-there-is-no-separation-of-state-and-church, they-cannot-co-exis- and-practice-their-religion-unde- any-other-regime. True democracy and Islam cannot mix, never has, never will.

Islam can only thrive under a Muslem dictator and the rule of Allah. Theocracy not democracy.

I am with Leigh. But with certain qualifications and explanations.

Let's all try an experiment with our neighbours in our neighbourhoods. I know mine are Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Iranian, Afghan, Iraqi, Aborigine, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish and dozens of others I don't know.

I know that some are shi'ite muslim, some are sunni muslim (although I don't know the difference), some are Jesuit (which I know because they tell me), some are Anglican, some are Buddhist, some are Hindu and so on.

I am not sure what all of that means but how about we all just look at the man or woman or child next door and see a human being that eats, sleeps, breathes and bleeds just like us.

If we did that instead of demonising each other as so many of our so-called leaders do how many of us could drop the first bomb?

Mr Coach

Like I said before Muslims believe in the same God as both Christians and Jews, “Allah” in Arabic a word which I use day to day(just a reminder I'm a Lebanese Maronite Catholic), Just because they have a different view of him doesn't mean that He is a different Deity think of it this way the Jews don’t believe in the Holy Trinity does that mean that they are believing in a different God, No, also you really have to patch up on your study if your referring to God as '”Yahweh” in Hebrew the word for God is 'Eli' much like the Arabic word 'Allah' and Yahweh simply meaning 'I am what I am'

You said "A study of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, his teachings as recorded by his followers and critics alike, will show that he did not come to start a new religion (we call Christianity)"
If that’s so then what does Jesus Mean when he says "you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church"(Matt 16:18) sounds like he was organizing something.

It was the community in Mecca that rejected Mohammad not the community in Medina they were the ones who believed his message.

Also you refer to "Islam’s-might-of-the-sword." you can’t blame an entire religion for the actions of some men do you as a Christian want to be under blame for the extent of the Spanish Inquisition even the Catholic Church had no control of such events pleading with them to stop what they were doing? (But that’s not the story that People want to hear is it.

and also you say "Christians and Jews reciprocated that hatred in self-defense." What about the Palestinian children who get killed by Israeli soldiers

Finally you said "True democracy and Islam cannot mix"would you rather them be like the Zionists who exist in Democracy so long as they can manipulate things to their will.

God Bless you all
Yasouna

"In this land, right now, some are insane and they're in charge".

To hell with Hezbollah, we'll get drunk on cheap wine. Ah, to hell with Hezbollah!!