In Memory of My Father

My father died 2 years ago, 3 days after his 90th birthday.
So he did get to live a long, fairly positive life.

And during the last year--despite many dangerous and damaging illnesses--
my normally serious dad suddenly gained a funny sense of the absurd,
even throwing out a few puns like his son.

In memory of him, I am posting this true story he and my mother experienced.
I wrote down their narrative of an unusual experience
in 3 million-plus Orange County, California.

It's like nature brought back to my aged father his early experiences
on the edge of Orland in northern California
and then

growing up on a small farm in southeastern Nebraska
at the start of the Great Depression.

From my Father's point of view:


The Possibility of the Suburbs

Clearing out our rags and boxes
In the cluttered corner of our
Potted-plant patio on Edinger,
I jumped; something moved.

Eyeballing a dark, pudgy furness,
I exclamation-pointed
To my ‘utterly’ surprised mate.
Oh the possibilities...

A large possum mothering
Her 4 little infants scrunched
Under our old Persian rug
By the many green succulents.

My laughing wife handed me
Our long-poled ‘litter’ picker.
I snatched each scrawny brown tot
Up by the neck and delivered it

Into the aluminum trash dumpster
And then up-zooed their mother
By grabbing her long ratty tail.
Oh the possibilities...

We pulled a large board on the bin
And later drove our wild ones
Over to a drainage ditch where
Those runts climbed on their mother’s back

And disappeared into dense brush
In the crowded midst of 3 million
Humans twilight-zoned with another
Odd question for their creator:

How was it possible for us
Oldsters to hike countless wild trails
In wild Yellowstone Park last year
Oh the possibilities...

Through forests and rushing rivers
Yet never see one such critter?
This sidekick of them all,
With wily fellow travelers--

Oh the ‘possumbility’ of nature!


-Daniel Wilcox
First pub. in Abandoned Towers
in different form


In the Light-hearted memory of my father,

Daniel Wilcox

Part #3: Dragging the Whale Behind Us

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all still carry the results of our human past with us.

Consider this bizarre image:
All humans are each pulling a huge rotting carcass of an historic whale up the sand dunes.

But, we do in our consciousness, creativity, ethical sense of ought, and ability to act have the choice to change from the past, even if it is only very gradual.


#7 Think clearly about the past, the present, and the future. Then choose to make changes.

Charles E. Cobb, Black civil rights leader, former field secretary of the famous SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) wrote,

“Black people are not faced with anything like the violence that confronted those seeking voting rights five decades ago. Let’s end the excuses."

"The people of Ferguson have all the power they need to simply get rid of their unrepresentative government — vote them out. This does not take any great political computation.”

“...Only 6 percent of eligible black voters participated in the last municipal elections — this in a town that is more than two-thirds black. No wonder the six-person City Council only has one black member and the 53-person police force only has three black officers."

"Just two generations ago, black Southerners endured arrests and beatings in order to vote. And yet, it seems we’ve already forgotten the immense power of the ballot.”

“Leaders in the ’50s and ’60s were inspiring for their ordinariness."

"For instance, Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper, was no celebrity in 1962 when she attempted to register to vote in Sunflower County, Miss."

"When she returned home, the plantation owner was waiting for her. He demanded that she promise to make no further attempts to register to vote."

"Her reply: 'I didn’t go down there to register for you; I went down there to register for myself.'

He kicked her off the land. She became one of Mississippi’s great black leaders.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/09/18/black-people-had-the-power-to-fix-the-problems-in-ferguson-before-the-brown-shooting-they-failed/?utm_term=.ae9c81d25ff1
--

Consider Fannie Lou Hamer's very difficult background, her hard circumstance, the racism of the plantation owner.

Yet Hammer took that old whale carcass of her tragic and unjust past, and the difficult present, and overcame it.

"Hamer was born in Montgomery County, Mississippi, the youngest of her parents', Ella and James Lee Townsend's, 20 children."

"Her family moved to Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1919 to work on the plantation of W. D. Marlow as sharecroppers.

Hamer picked cotton with her family, starting at the age of 6."

"She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse on the plantation, from 1924-1930, at which time, she had to drop out. By the age of 13, Hamer could pick 200-300 pounds of cotton daily."

"In 1944, after the plantation owner discovered that she was literate, Hamer was selected to be the plantation's time and record keeper. In 1945 she married her husband, Perry "Pap" Hamer. They worked together on the plantation for the next 18 years."

"While having surgery to remove a tumor, in 1961 Hamer was also given a hysterectomy without her consent by a white doctor as a part of the state of Mississippi's plan to reduce the number of poor blacks in the state."

"The Hamers later raised two impoverished girls, who they later decided to adopt."
from Wikipedia

Nothing stopped this Black lady from reaching for what is right.

As mentioned above, (and in the previous section of this very long article), the past does impact us. However, Black leaders need to stop blaming the past, the police, the Whites, and, instead, start making a new future.

According to the book, Lay My Burden Down by Alvin F. Pussaint, M.D. and Amy Alexander,
"The historically low rate of suicide among African American youths increased 114% between 1980 and 1995. Because “persistent racism has resulted in a ‘posttraumatic slavery syndrome.’"

That is very poor, irrational thinking. No present reason exists why Black youths can't achieve, if they will choose to do so.

Many more Blacks have succeeded in their endeavors since the dramatic changes of the Civil Rights Movment brought about more opportunities."

Blacks have succeeded in business, in the media, in medicine, and so forth. A few have even made it to the Olympics and earned medals, set records!
There are Black entrepreneurs and business owners.

Then there is also Barack and Michelle Obama which set a new precedent:-)

What is keeping other Blacks from achieving isn't racism, but dysfunctional social behaviors with in the Black communities.

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton:

“The reality of the Black Lives Matter movement is it is significantly focused, primarily focused on police and their efforts to portray police and the police profession in a very negative way..."

“There are no denying within the police profession, 800,000 of us, that we have racists. We have brutal people. We have criminals, cops who shouldn’t be here. But they do not represent the vast majority of American police.”

President Obama said, “First of all, any violence directed at police officers is a reprehensible crime and needs to be prosecuted. But even rhetorically, if we paint police in broad brush without recognizing that the vast majority of police officers are doing a really good job and are trying to protect people and do so fairly … then we’re going to lose allies in the reform cause.”
--

Simone Manuel wins gold in the women's 100m freestyle final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Adam Pretty/Getty Images

No matter what race you are, what past you have come from, how difficult your circumstances, realize that today, you can choose to reach up.

Nobel Prize Speech of MLK:
"I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him."

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."

"...what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up."
Martin Luther King Jr.





Go for the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Part #2: Finding Answers and Solutions to BLM

#1: Latent racism still exists and needs to be strongly opposed. And we need to remember that many of the problems in Black communities can be blamed on us as a nation, on our White ancestors in the past. President George Washington owned 317 slaves before, during, and after being president.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Philosopher George Santayana

However, the past is a double-edged sword.

Enslavement wasn't only done by Whites. Incredibly, fairly rich Blacks also owned slaves in the United States including Ana Kingsley in Florida.

In Charleston, South Carolina, 125 free Black men owned their own slaves!

The Black planter John Carruthers Stanly of North Carolina had 3 plantations and enslaved 163 Blacks.

Nicolas Augustin Metoyer a Louisiana Black owned 13 slaves in 1830. He and his 12 family members collectively owned 215 slaves.

Even worse, Blacks in Africa sold millions of Blacks captives to Whites, millions of men and women treated as things by their own race over several centuries.

Furthermore, Muslim slavery also accounts for a huge number of Blacks enslaved for centuries.

But that gigantic holocaust of suffering, abuse, enslavement, and killing was an important factor in the start,
twisting, and continuing misdirection of Black cultural dysfunctions which still cause injustice and suffering today in the United States.

So why hasn't more progress been attained by Blacks since the Civil Rights movement
led by Rustin, King and others over 50 years ago!?

In fact, in some areas, Black behavior and actions have worsened!


#2: Thinkers and activists need to figure out why severe dysfunctional patterns of Blacks are worsening.

For instance, why are so many Black children growing up without a father?

Born to young unwed mothers.

Currently it is more than 72%!

But back in 1965, Black illegitimacy was 24%.

Why has this severely dysfunctional way of living jumped to 72%?

"Children of unmarried mothers of any race are more likely to perform poorly in school, go to prison, use drugs, be poor as adults, and have their own children out of wedlock."

Rates are lower for other groups:
Asians: 17%,
Whites: 29%
Hispanics: 53%
Native Americans: 66%

The historically low rate of suicide among Black youth increased 114% in the 1980's and 90's.

WHY?!

Black young men account for most of the slaughter, so many murders, occurring in Black neighborhoods.

WHY?!

In one week, 99 people were shot in Chicago, 24 of them died. It was the worst day in 13 years.
"Among the wounded that day was a 10-year-old boy shot in the back as he played on his front porch in Lawndale."
Chicago Tribune

Last year at this time, 1, 725 people had been shot, none of them by police.
This year it's 2,514.

Why do so many Black young men choose a life of crime and gun-violence?

WHY?

#3 The Black Lives Matter Movement need to stop the propaganda.

They need to strongly condemn and prohibit violence, and commit to reconciliation.

Lastly, they need to stop blaming all of their problems on police and Whites, and others.

Look, again, at some of the delusionary claims made:
“#BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise

No one, certainly not law enforcement officers, are "systematically and intentionally" targeting Blacks for demise.

According to MBL, Black youths are "often pushed off of an academic track onto a track to prison."

This is simply not true.

In the various school districts I taught in for many years, often with at-risk students, this didn't happen.
On the contrary, we teachers worked extra diligently to help students who were disadvantaged.

We offered lunch-time and after-school-tutoring, sought to make our lessons user-friendly, even for the weakest students.

According to Georgia Sand, police regularly shoot, "unarmed people in the back, tasering children in the head, killing children, or beating pregnant women, among others."

This is also plainly propaganda, not factual information.
That doesn't mean that an unarmed person was never shot, or that a pregnant woman was never mistreated by a police officer.

But police in general do seek to serve and protect. They don't kill kids or abuse pregnant women.


#4: Police officers ought to reconsider the increased tendency to take out their guns in crime scenes, even though over 50 police officers have been gunned down recently.

In some other countries, police seldom use guns.

What can be done to stop violent criminals, without police immediately resorting to gun use?
(My best friend was a police officer for years in a dangerous city, yet he only had to pull his gun out of the holster several times in 20 years!
He and his fellow officers used alternative methods.)

#5 Blacks ought to quit making heroes of Black criminals.

Contrary to their claims, Federal investigators and Grand Jury conclusions are that the police officer who shot Michael Brown didn’t do so with racist intent.

Michael Brown wasn’t an innocent victim of prejudice and police brutality.

On the contrary, Brown was a criminal who attacked the officer, shortly after robbing a store!

The political chant "Hands up, don't shoot" is a distortion, or outright lie.

Brown earlier was caught on security camera roughing up a clerk at a store. And he
had committed other violations of the law.

#6 Work needs to be done on how to help Black young men to reject criminal gangs, drugs, and killings. How does everyone involved in their lives help them instead find meaningful employment.

Almost 40 percent of black males in Milwaukee between ages 24 and 54 are unemployed!

How do we help them get the skills, the diligence and will power, and the job openings to change that disheartening statistic?


#6 Stop blaming the past. Start working to change the present.

Charles E. Cobb, Black civil rights leader, former field secretary of the famous SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee):

“Black people are not faced with anything like the violence that confronted those seeking voting rights five decades ago.

Let’s end the excuses."


To be continued--


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Black Riots Matter

Black Riots Matter: Milwaukee, St. Paul, Baton Rouge, Ferguson...

Milwaukee News:
“…two nights of riots sparked by the fatal shooting of a black man by a black police officer.”

“…some rioters torched businesses and police cars...pelted riot police with bottles and bricks...Eight officers were wounded, and dozens of people were arrested…”

(Photo: Calvin Mattheis / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

“Sylville Smith, 23, was killed on Saturday afternoon after he was stopped for acting suspiciously and then fled. Authorities said he was carrying an illegal handgun and refused orders to drop it when he was shot.”

"Peaceful demonstrations in the Sherman Park area where Smith died turned into violent protests on Saturday and Sunday nights."

"Shots were fired, and some rioters torched businesses and police cars. Angry crowds pelted riot police with bottles and bricks."
Brendan O'Brien, Curtis Skinner, Lisa Von Ahn

And a gas station was set on fire.

WHY?

To use the old cliché, the devil (immoral choices, criminal actions, dysfunction, distortion, disinformation, propaganda, falsehoods, lies, slander, invective, etc.) is in the details.

St. Paul:
“The police in St. Paul said at least five officers had been injured by fireworks, rocks, bricks and glass bottles that they said were thrown by protesters.”

Then there was Baton Rouge, Ferguson, etc.

But why didn't the family, friends, and other Blacks of the 9 Black church members ruthlessly slaughtered by Dylann Roof in Charleston, then take to the streets and riot, burn stores, throw bricks, etc.?

Let’s first hear from Black leaders themselves, opposites counter.


“This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee, Wis., has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country...”

“Do we continue – continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the under-education, that creates these byproducts that we see this evening?
"The black people of Milwaukee are tired. They’re tired of living under this oppression."
Khalif Rainey
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Newspaper

“#BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.

"We affirm our contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”
Black Lives Matter

“BLM banner protesters in Minnesota chant, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon.”

“An immediate end to the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth across all areas of society including, but not limited to; our nation’s justice and education systems, social service agencies, and media and pop culture. This includes an end to zero-tolerance school policies and arrests of students, the removal of police from schools, and the reallocation of funds from police and punitive school discipline practices to restorative services.
An Immediate End to the Criminalization and Dehumanization of Black Youth Across All Areas of Society Including, but Not Limited to, Our Nation’s Justice and Education Systems, Social Service Agencies, Media, and Pop Culture”

“Across the country, Black children attend under-resourced schools where they are often pushed off of an academic track onto a track to prison. Zero-tolerance policies — a combination of exclusionary disciplinary policies and school-based arrests — are often the first stop along the school-to-prison pipeline and play a key role in pushing students out of the school system and funneling them into jails and prisons.”

“Each year more than three million students are suspended from school — often for vague and subjective infractions such as “willful defiance” and “disrespect” — amounting to countless hours of lost instructional time. As a result, Black students are denied an opportunity to learn and punished for routine child and adolescent behaviors that their white peers are often not disciplined for at all.
The Movement for Black Lives
https://policy.m4bl.org/end-war-on-black-people/

"It’s A Few Bad Apples Or Police Departments Or Maybe The Entire System"
by Georgia Sand
"Examples of this would include shooting unarmed people in the back, tasering children in the head, killing children, or beating pregnant women, among others."

"In those situations, police-worshippers fall back on, “It’s just a few bad apples.” Alas, cop-lovers who lazily fall back on this term forget the full idiom: “A few bad apples spoil the whole bunch.”

"It would seem that in the face of entire departments all over the country demonstrating abject disregard for justice, Americans might become a little more open to the idea that it is less a problem of a “few bad apples” and more a problem of a rotten bunch."
Georgia Sand

VERSUS

Barbara Reynolds, Black activist and minister, author of 6 books and former editor for USA Today:
“I was a civil rights activist in the 1960s. But it’s hard for me to get behind Black Lives Matter."

I support BLM's cause, but not its approach.”

“Trained in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., we were nonviolent activists who won hearts by conveying respectability and changed laws by delivering a message of love and unity.


"BLM seems intent on rejecting our proven methods...at protests today, it is difficult to distinguish legitimate activists from the mob actors who burn and loot."

"Now, the demonstrations are peppered with hate speech, profanity…”

“The power of the spiritual approach was evident recently in the way relatives of the nine victims in the Charleston church shooting responded at the bond hearing for Dylann Roof, the young white man who reportedly confessed to killing the church members “to start a race war.”

"One by one, the relatives stood in the courtroom, forgave the accused racist killer and prayed for mercy on his soul. As a result, in the wake of that horrific tragedy, not a single building was burned down. There was no riot or looting.”

“...we should remember the words of King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

"The civil rights movement was not exclusively a black movement for black people. It valued all human lives, even those of people who worked against us."

"I can’t believe that the life of a murdered white police officer, or an Asian child sold into sex slavery, or a hungry family in Appalachia are lives that don’t matter."

"...the movement overlooks black-on-black homicides, the leading cause of death for black males between the ages of 15 and 34."

"That horrific fact remains off the movement’s radar, for fear that it puts black men in a negative light. So which black lives really matter?”

When told by a Black activist that she ought to listen to new racial equality movement’s lead song, “Alright” by rapper Kendrik Lamar,
Reynolds wrote,
“I listened to the song, expecting it would be as uplifting as “We Shall Overcome.”
I was terribly disappointed.
The beat was too harsh; the lyrics were nasty and misogynistic."

Alright: “Let me tell you about my life / Painkillers only put me in the twilight / Where pretty pussy and Benjamin is the highlight.”
--

Johnathan Gentry, minister at West Angeles Church of God in Christ, said the BLM movement is “superficial, shallow."

The movement ought to be challenged: “Why are you not cleaning up your own community if black lives matter?”

"Where was Black Lives Matter in Chicago, in Baltimore and in Ferguson when 9-year-old Jamyla Bolden was shot to death in her own home?"

BLM wants to “protest for thugs,” but the organization is “nowhere to be found in their own communities.”

“Stop blaming slavery and segregation for what is happening now."

“It is you. It’s not them. It’s not this person. It is you standing in need of prayer.”

He pointed out that while BLM leaders are holding protest signs against police officers, Blacks have been “killing each other all year.”

“Either put the sign down, or reflect it towards your own community. You understand? Because that’s where we’re dying — in our own community.”


Black leader David A. Clarke, Sheriff of Milwaukee County
said on his twitter account:
“Four murdered, 9 shot in Milwaukee Fri night/Sat morning. Silence. 1 cop kills an ARMED black guy & riots break out?”

"And there is no racism in the hearts of police officers."

Another Black leader stated, "But the notion that America's cops simply are gunning down innocent black people is one of today's biggest and deadliest lies."

Even a pro-BLM leader, John McWhorter, associate professor at Columbia University,
self-described as “liberal Democrat” wrote that BLM ought to also seek to stop how the vast majority of Blacks killings happen, Blacks killing Blacks.

To be continued--



In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Be a Rainbow

Rainbow in the storms.

"A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection,
refraction and dispersion of light
in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light
appearing in the sky."
Wikipedia

They always show up in the sky opposite from the sun, appearing as multi-colored arcs.

rainbow: "a curved line of different colors...in the sky when the sun shines through rain"
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Be a rainbow today to others drowning in tragic circumstances.

Let the Light shine through you to them.

Reflect truth, goodness, hope, and light.


"I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."
Martin Luther King Jr.


"But I am here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It's wrong to hate, Its always been wrong and it always will be wrong."
Martin Luther King Jr.
from speech, "Rediscovering Lost Values," February, 1954

from current bumper sticker:
"God bless the whole world, no exceptions."

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

The Day of Doom and the Holy Quran

Another chapter from the suspense novel, An Eye for the Beheading:


Chapter 4: Day of Doom and the Holy Quran

Preface Quotations:

Bangladesh Hindu priest beheaded by Islamic State
BBC News

The Itamar massacre which included the beheading of a baby...[in Israel/Palestine]
Calgary Herald

Israeli News: “a little child’s head [3-month-old Haddas Fogel] was decapitated” by Muslims Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad...
proudly admit they knifed to death five members of the Jewish Fogel family in the West Bank Settler village of Itamar on Shabbat."

Later, Palestinian TV aired an interview in which the mother of Hakim and his aunt said
they were proud of him for the attack which included the beheading.

His aunt described him as a “hero and a legend.”
The Jerusalem Post, Israel

Quran 5:33: The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution (by beheading), or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

Palestinian school textbook:
--Muslims Martyrs who kill Jews: "God will not send away their works...and (will) admit them into paradise.”

Martyrs “will be given the highest place in paradise with the prophets and messengers.”

News: Palestinian militants...began gathering up the Israeli body parts, and at one point were seen playing soccer with the severed head of one Israeli soldier.

"People were running after me and we were kicking the head," he said. "We were spitting on it."

When we heard a helicopter we started running. I carried the head of the Jew and ran away from the area and I took it to the people in the resistance."
Telegraph Report, United Kingdom

Hours earlier, an Israeli shell aimed at a group of Gaza militants slammed into a nearby house and decapitated a 6-year-old Palestinian girl.
Associated Press

UN staff were beheaded as Afghans rage against pastor who burnt Quran
The Independent News

Photo: Gazan Muslim Leader Calling for the Killing of Jews

Quran 8:12: I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off.

Quran 47:4: Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), strike off their heads; at length; then when you have made wide Slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives

Quran 9:123: Oh ye who believe! Murder those of the disbelievers and let them find harshness in you.

Quran 2:191: Kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from wherever they drove you out.

Quran 8:17: It is not ye who Slew them; it is God; when thou threwest a handful of dust, it was not Thy act, but God’s...

“When Banu Qurayza Jewish tribe was surrendered (627 A.D.) unconditionally, the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches tying theirs both hands with their necks.

This beheading went on until the apostle made an end of them. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. Apparently Muhammad himself worked on the digging of the trench into which the massacred Jews were to be thrown. But he (Muhammad) did not only take part in those preparations, the formulation of the text states but also participated himself in beading of at least two of the leading Jews.

Sahi Buchari Hadiths #143, page-700 : Sulaiman Ibne Harb…Aannas Ibne Malek (ra) narrated, “in the war of Khaiber after the inhabitants of Banu Qurayza was surrendered, Allah’s apostle killed all the able/adult men, and he (prophet) took all women and children as captives (Ghani mateer maal).. Among the captives Rayhana a beautiful young Jewish girl was taken by Allah’s Apostle as booty whom He married after freeing her and her freedom was her Mohr.”

According to the biography of Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, Prophet Muhammad himself sanctioned the massacre of the Qurayza, a vanquished Jewish tribe mercilessly. Thus some 600 to 900 men from the Qurayza were lead on Muhammad’s order to the Market of Medina. Trenches were dug and the men were beheaded, and their decapitated corpses buried in the trenches while Muhammad watched in attendance."

--

Chapter 4

Two weeks later, Afifah walked hesitantly toward her biology class on the lower campus. The stitched wound in her side still pained her, but other than that, and a constant glancing around where ever she walked, she felt almost back to normal, if Allah wills.

A guy student standing by an oasis of palms in the middle of the concrete, glanced at her. Afifah pulled her scarf lower on her forehead and looked away.

Her best friend Dalia paced beside her, a ready-helper if she needed anything. Dalia, was a political science major, an Egyptian from Cairo, who had come to take courses at Orange Coast and then transfer to UCI, the science and humanities ‘mecca.’

Well, neither of them used that term; it sounded blasphemous, but they heard the word so often from other students in Orange County, that it stuck.

“Have you heard anything from the police yet?” asked Dalia as she silenced her cell phone which was buzzing. “Probably my political theory study group asking, ‘Dalia! where are you?’”

Afifah glanced at her friend, and shook her head, her insides tumbling back into that horror—their chanting “Down with Israel!” then that sudden savage pain in her side and reverberating gun noise, and her collapsing into blackness.

She paused and then said, “I can’t understand why anyone would shoot at us, though it was Allah’s will, of course. It must have been.”

“Of course, Allah’s will, but, oh come on, these Americans are so two-faced; they talk big and give out scholarships—we got ones didn’t we? But they’re so pro-Zionist, they’d shoot their own mother if that protected Jews.”

“Dalia, I think that’s a bit harsh. Don’t believe all our own talk.” Afifah looked over at her friend again, and then around them, instinctively, as they approached the biological sciences building.

Her friend glared at her, but then broke into a smile and laughed and gave her a hug. “Yeah, maybe I am sounding too political for my own good. I’ve gotta run to study group, but remember just take it slow, since this is your first day back.”

“And phone me if you need help. Now I need to get movin’ if I ever plan to switch to UCI. Catch you later.” Dalia smiled and hurried away as she punched her cell, her robe swishing around her hurrying feet.
___________________________

Afifah rubbed her moist eyes and stared at the wall frustrated and sad. Why’d she have to read this old depressing text—The Day of Doom about babies being cast into hell by the Christian god! How is this old poem possibly going to help me become a doctor?!

Infants damned because of Original Sin, according to their professor. Because all infants were born sinners, born evil!

More depressing than last week’s study of Jonathan Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” where God denies humans any free will and then tortures them forever for doing what he has already decreed!

Christianity's very weird. How depressing. It was sick, this American literature. And not even like most Americans she knew. Why do we have to study this depressing stuff?

How’s this preparing me for medical school? I’d rather study for our cell biology test. Or read my Holy Quran.

She looked over at her precious Quran placed carefully and reverently on top of her other texts and warmly touched its lucidly clean cover.

Insha’Allah, how she would like to read Muhammed’s encouraging verses instead of these gross Puritan ones. Of course, the Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke of the fires of hell, too, but only for unbelievers, heretics like the Shia; and infidels were sent there, but not precious infants!

What sense did Wigglesworth mean in this horrible verse?

“Reprobate Infants plead for themselves.”

Oh, she understood the English text fine, but what rubbish!

Original Sin. Such Christian doctrines were so weird. She reached for her cell phone, pushed back her blue hijab, and thumbed Dalia’s number. No answer. Great. Afifah frowned and picked at her lip.

Dalia was probably arguing some point of Palestinian history with contrary members in her class. What a chatterbowl! But if she would only pick up, she’d help me get through this trash.

Okay, who else could she call for moral support and encouragement?
She looked down at the damning verses again, about how supposedly God had predestined babies to Hell…
CLXVI.
1321: Then to the Bar all they drew near Reprobate Infants plead for themselves. Rev. 20:12,15, compared with Rom. 5:12,14 and 9:11,13. Ezek. 18:2.
1322: Who died in infancy,
1323: And never had or good or bad
1324: effected pers'nally;
1325: But from the womb unto the tomb
1326: were straightway carriéd,
1327: (Or at the least ere they transgress'd)
1328: who thus began to plead
Because they were to be cast into Hell…God petulantly responded back to the babies’ pleading..
1429: Will you demand Grace at my hand,
1430: and challenge what is mine?
1431: Will you teach me whom to set free,
1432: and thus my Grace confine?
CLXXX.
1433: "You sinners are, and such a share Psal. 58:8. Rom. 6:23. Gal. 3:10. Rom. 8:29,30 and 11:7. Rev. 21:27. Luke 12:14,8. Mat. 11:22.
1434: as sinners may expect,
1435: Such you shall have, for I do save
1436: none but mine own Elect.
1437: Yet to compare your sin with their
1438: who liv'd a longer time,
1439: I do confess yours is much less,
1440: though every sin's a crime.
CLXXXI.
1441: "A crime it is, therefore in bliss The wicked all convinced and put to silence. Rom. 3:19. Mat. 22:12.
1442: you may not hope to dwell;
1443: But unto you I shall allow
1444: the easiest room in Hell."

Afifah grimaced and shoved back the text.

Predestined to eternal torment, but they get the easiest room! Sick. Twisted!

Instead she thought of her youngest brother, only an infant when she had left Nablus, Palestine for the United States last year.

She grabbed her cell phone and fingered up one of her pictures of him. Only a few weeks old. What a cutie! And she got to hold him—before she left on the plane--sitting by her father while her mother washed dishes and cleaned.

That perfect nose! Those eyes moving about in the dusky room, her following his gaze trying to figure out what he was looking at. Was he thinking at all or only in-taking images like a scanner?

And those little hands waving around like a band leader--

But then that perfect moment had been shattered.

Her father had suddenly hit the palm of his hand dramatically on his leg—her nephew had startled and cried.

And Walidy had cursed at the TV. And she prayed forgiveness for her father, and sat silently, while mother walked the crying infant back and forth.

In Arabic, the TV's words were being shouted out by a angry commentator: “Israeli planes have bombed Gaza City! Again! The Zionists have murdered a 12-year-old girl and her little brother. And three martyrs were killed!” Angrily, the rose-colored, but modestly covered commentator on Al Jazeera shook her fist.

Their father stood up and slammed his fist into the wall, cursing again.

I don’t want to think on that. Afifah closed the vivid memory of last year and looked at the screen of her phone. How she wished she could be in Nablus right now!

But she knew why not. I’ll call Hatim. He loves to hear himself talk about all things religious. She hid a smile from herself and punched in his number.

Fifteen minutes later she met him along with his older sister, Naheeda, also chubby like Hatim, a sweet but dingy girl. A little flighty. They sat in the college café and sipped expresso--well she did and his sister, but Hatim was too busy ranting about America’s current sins and its despicable pride.

“That Jew-lover Obama should stop funding Israel’s new tank!”

All political stuff Afifah and everyone knew by rote. But her friend always had to give this opening political statement to everyone before he warmed up and got intellectual about college studies.

She knew several of his professors had called Hatim aside and told him he could no longer participate in discussions if he didn’t shutter this opening political rants.

His sister, Naheeda, partially hid her gawky grin to Afifah.

More rushed words. Then finally, Hamid slowed down and started explaining on what she needed help with. "So you see Wigglesworth is partially correct."

She choked on a sip of coffee and brought her hands to her face in shock. "What?!"

Naheeda looked somber and confused too, no grin now, but handed Afifah an napkin to wipe off the coffee dripping on her chin.

“What!" she said again, agigtated, her side hurting where she had been shot by the unknown sniper days earlier.

"What do mean, Hatim?” She put her coffee cup down. “You know the Quran emphasizes Allah is all merciful and compassionate, not vindictive and cruel! ‘In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.’”

“Yes, yes, Afifah, chapter one, verse one. But,” Hatim pushed the American lit text into the center of their table, avoiding the girls’ two espressos and reached for his Quran, carefully placing the sacred text on a spread napkin.

“you must remember Puritan Christianity and Islam are actually very similar in their philosophical view—

Afifah butted in, “What?! No way!”

She who normally hardly spoke in class, and only got vocal when in demonstrations, apologized. “Sorry, for sounding so angry, but Hamid, we don’t’ believe in Original Sin like these Christians--that babies go to Hell because of Adam’s sin! That’s infidel talk, horrible lies.”

“True, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Look at chapter verse in the Quran. ‘Those whom Allah wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islam; Those whom He wills to leave straying, - he makes their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies…’
S. 6:125”

“And ‘Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever He causes to err, these are the losers. Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell.’
S. 7:178-179 That sounds like Wigglesworth doesn't it?"


Afifah sat confused and very angry. Her side ached.

“And Afifah, look here.” Hatim tried not to look too triumph in his presenting of hard evidence for this ignorant Muslim, friend of his sister.

"He whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no protecting friend after Him. And thou (Muhammad) wilt see the evil-doers when they see the doom, (how) they say: Is there any way of return?”
“ … And they will have no protecting friends to help them instead of Allah. He whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no road.’
S. 42:44, 46”

“Clearly, Muhammed (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), clearly, emphasizes our fate in is Allah’s hand, whether to Heaven or Hell. And that includes all infants.”

Afifah sat quiet, utterly bereft.

She started to cry despite herself. No doubt I’ve read those verses many times, but--

But she had never thought about the verses alone, and certainly not in regard to infants like her baby brother.

Hatim noticed the tears, but continued, “To finish, I studied this in depth when I had the same course last spring. Christians turned against free will under the powerful guidance of the theologian Augustine--who was influenced by Eastern thinkers--and, again, in the European Reformation.”

She listened but refused to accept it. Why couldn’t Hatim understand her point?!

He kept talking, “Scholars Martin Luther and John Calvin attacked the views of moderate Catholics such as Erasmus who believed humans have choice.”

Now Hatim talked more softly, “Calvin and most after him emphasized Allah’s total sovereignty. Wigglesworth is just following the Calvinist way of thinking. Calvin spoke of reprobate infants, too.”

“And surely you remember Erasmus’s name, even if you are studying only biological sciences.” He grinned, chuckled in a friendly way, as he saw from her expression that his powerful point was having its effect.

“Yes,” Afifah wiped her face and agreed. She tried to smile, and appear thankful, but she wasn’t. I need to take a pain pill soon.

He failed to notice and added, "So you see, in a strange sort of way, Wigglesworth is very Quranic. Of course, he lacks the understanding that Muhammad, (peace be upon him) could give him if he turned to the true religion.”

Afifah listened. At least, bless his heart, Hatim had taken her questions seriously, and he had gently laughed, which eased her tension and frustration.

Then she spoke, “But, Hatim, we don’t believe Allah condemns babies do we? I don’t remember any verse that says that in the Quran.”
She wiped her face again with her napkin. Her side burnt. She needed to those pain killers in a few moments. “I need some water, Hatim.”

He took her empty coffee cup and walked over to the water cooler.

His sister Naheeda still had not said a single word, but her gawky grin was missing, and she stared toward her brother and then back at Afifah uncertainly. Finally, she took a sip of her coffee and looked around to see if she saw any of her infidel friends.

Hatim came back and handed the water to Afifah. But he wasn’t done and considered how to deliver his final proof with a little tenderness toward his sister’s friend. She was learning. Thank you, Allah!

“Well, listen," he stood and leaned forward, "some Muslim thinkers did believe in free will like Erasmus but al-Ash’ari in the the 10th century and al-Ghazali in the 12th century defeated them!”

“And ever since, we Sunnis have been predestinarians like the Reformed writers such as Wigglesworth and Edwards, though we don’t phrase it like such infidel Christians. Didn’t you study the central Islamic doctrine of qadar in your Nablus school?!”

“And, remember, Afifah, ‘insha Allah’ literally means ‘if Allah wills’ in English, so when people go to hell it is Allah’s will as much as when they go to Heaven.”

He sat down again. “Study what the Asharites said; they claim even in their teaching of “kasab” that all comes from Allah by decree including evil and Hell.”

Afifah hiccupped, then coughed, and couldn’t drink the water. She didn’t look at Hatim or his sister, but stared down at the swirled carpet below their table, stricken with inner agony, and physical pain.

But Hatim didn;t even notice. “Here’s the creed of al-Ash’ari: ‘We hold that there is no creator except Allah, and that the acts of human beings are created and decreed by Allah, as He said, 'Allah has created you and what you do' 37.96”

“And al-Ghazali: ‘…everything is due to the creation of Allah, for the choice itself is also due to the creation of Allah and man is forced into the choice which he makes.’”

Hatim caught a breath and changed direction.
“As for infants, there is a divided opinion as to whether they go to hell or not. Consider this hadith:
‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Four (kinds of people) will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection: the infant, the insane, the one who died during the Fatrah (the period between two prophets) and the very old man.”

“All of them will speak in their own defense, then the Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, will say to a neck of Hell, ‘Come forth!’ and He will say to them, ‘I used to send Messengers to My slaves from amongst themselves. Now I am the Messenger of Myself to you. Enter this (i.e., the Fire).’”

“Those who are decreed to be among the doomed will say, ‘O Lord, how could we enter it when we are trying to escape it?’ And those who are decreed to be among the blessed will rush to enter it. And Allah will say: ‘You would have been more disobedient towards My Messengers.’ So those will enter Paradise and those will enter Hell.’ Abu Ya’laa.”

He sat back in his chair, satisfied with his proofs. And for his conclusive clincher, he said, “Notice, how similar the hadith is to Wigglesworth’s poem stanza, how the hadith speaks of decrees like the Reformed doctrine of damnation does.”

Finally, he looked at Afifah, triumph, waiting for her to show appreciation for his scholarship, and admit defeat.

He reminded himself that Allah had given him his scholarship and excellent mental recall; he would be gentle with this dear Muslim sister.

But Afifah didn't respond or act like he expected.

She avoided his gaze and didn’t speak, but picked at a worn spot on her chair’s fabric. Why did Hatim have to have so many hadiths memorized! Why did my Walidly make me come to America? Why have my last two years been so bad? Why Allah? But she knew.

Silent moments passed in the noisy cafe around them. Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Hatim regretted his triumphal win this time. Usually in class when he had trumped someone’s skepticism or disbelief or contrary position, the budding scholar couldn’t help gloating and immersing himself in the win for hours.

But now sensing how deeply Afifah was devastated, he said, “Of course, there are, also, contrary opinions, Afifah.” He paused.
“The Quran doesn’t speak to this condition, and remember, unlike false Christianity, our faith is the absolute truth, and thus we know infants are born pure, not with Original Sin.”

Leaning forward now emphasizing each word, “And we know the Quran is perfect and eternal come down from Heaven. So even hadith must bow and worship it. So please don’t take my every comment to heart.”

He felt the urge to touch her arm, to console her, but, of course, refrained.

“Okay, thank you Hatim.” Afifah didn’t look his way, but stood, and walked off in search of her friend Dhalia, not even remembering to say goodbye to Naheeda.

As she hurried down the corridor, the stress and despair of her last two years came back and drowned her. She hurried into the restroom and swallowed a double doze of her pain medication.
__________________________

Later, bleary eyed and sniffling, Afifah leaned in against her study desk, her stomach cramping.

Dalia surrounded her with her arms and consoled her. “Look, Hatim, is such a braggart. Don’t listen to a thing he says. Remember, I’ve studied hadith, too”—she paused—“at Cairo University last year before coming to America.”

“My prof was a renowned Islamic scholar. He showed us how many hadiths aren’t even necessarily true.”

Afifah blew her nose and listened.

“Lots of stories, including false ones were told in the years after the Prophet’s death. Don’t let these quotes of Hatim bother you.” Dhalia observed her friend, trying to see if anything she was saying was helping.

“Trust the holy Quran. It alone is perfect. Remember, I’m studying this Christian trash like you. NO babies are condemned to Hell! Allah is most merciful, most just.”

Still, Afifah said nothing, but started crying again.

Dalia, suddenly leaned back, took her arms and pulled Afifah around to face her. “Why this huge over-reaction? You haven’t sinned…my sister, have you?!”

Her roommate jumped up and shook her head. “No, I am pure. No boy has touched me! Thanks for such trust!” Afifah gathered up her things.

“Sorry, dear one; I shouldn’t have said that. But you seem so upset over a long infidel poem, a weird Christian one... But why are you letting your studies get to you?”

“Everything is wrong in my life!”

“But, it’s Allah’s will, you know that.”

“Yes,” said Afifah, bowed and mumbled, “I know.”

“Think, Afifah, Allah has blessed you. You are studying to become a doctor. You have the second highest grade point average at Orange Coast College; you probably won’t even need to go to UCI after all, though it’s a fine school for pre-med.”

“I think you’ll get a full scholarship to UCLA! And you live here in rich Orange County. From what you’ve said, you lived in considerable poverty in Nablus, right?”

Afifah didn’t answer.

“And think, you don’t have to go through all those Zionist checkpoints just to get to your relatives in Bethlehem…What is really bothering you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Okay, dear friend.” Dalia hugged her and went back to studying.
--

To be continued--

--Daniel Wilcox

Discern True Ethics

Follow the true precepts that many humans have discovered in history and the recent past.

These are the ethical “oughts” that millions of us give lip service to, but often ignore or, even worse, intentionally violate.

There are, also, now many naysayers and ethical skeptics who claim that ethics are only subjective “likes” and “dislikes,” not actually true.

Some even claim, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do.' So they say that while you might not like the female mutilation of little girls, it is none of your business whether or not 80% of Egyptian parents do choose this as a good action. According to relativists, moral rules are only a matter of private or cultural opinion.

However, this doesn't appear to be true.

We humans wouldn't even be able to have functioning criminal justice systems if humans functioned by their subjective likes and dislikes in court. In fact, it is exactly when humans act subjectively that societies and the nations of the world aren't just!

On many moral issues, we don't need to reinvent the moral wheel, but live up to what we already understand.

Think how far more messed up the world would be if the following lists of “oughts” were regularly broken and violated.

And consider how wonderful the country of Palestine/Israel would be if Israelis and Palestinians committed to doing even a few of these basic ethical actions toward each other.

Or the Russians and Ukrainians worked together instead of killing and stealing. And if Sunnis Muslims and Shia Muslims forgave each other and sought to help each other instead of blowing up mosques, hospitals, schools, and markets!

First, the most basic moral truth, probably early discovered and discerned very early in human evolution:

#1 --Act fairly toward others.

Think how different the current presidential campaign would be if only this rule was followed!

#2 --Be courteous and sensitive to others.

#3 --Treat each person you encounter as an 'end,' not a 'means.'

#4 --Live honesty. Tell the truth. Be a person of your word.

#5 --Seek to understand; learn to listen to other people’s views, trying to see life from their perspective.

#6 --Avoid ad hominem, personal attacks, obscene slurs, put-downs, etc.

#7 --Give generously to others in need. Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you.

#8 --Support equality, human rights; oppose slavery, human trafficking, torture, and all forms of abuse.

#9 --Choose another human to be committed to in intimacy and fidelity. Don’t be promiscuous, or live in polygamy.

#10--If both of you desire to have children, (further the human species), create to bless and guide and free.

#11--Care for the elderly and the young. Oppose killing those who are disabled and unborn infants.

#12--Care for yourself.

#13--Work hard and diligently. Recreate. Exercise.

#14--Oppose self-destruction, whether by suicide or living dysfunctionally in eating and drinking to excess.

#15--Be compassionate, empathetic, understanding, patient, and persevere.

#16--Seek peace. Refuse to engage in violence or support violence.

#17--Never attack, only defend and protect.
Vote against first-strike wars, the intentional bombing of civilians, conquests, and holy crusades/jihads.

#18--Treat life and others as of great value and worth.
Oppose revenge, pornography, prostitution, obscenity, manipulation, subjugation, racism, sexism, and any other form of harm.

#19--Work to end poverty; help others to become all they can be.

#20--Support the improvement of all lives on earth.

#21--Protect the environment. Show concern for animal life. Don't litter or waste.

#22--Seek earnestly for new ethical truths not yet discovered.

Do this by considering the ethical method of the Categorical Imperative.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary--
Categorical Imperative: “a moral obligation or command that is unconditionally and universally binding”

“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.”
Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals














In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox