Korean Job Discussion Forums

[flakfizer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23757212
From the AP

Here's a portion of the article:

[Ya-ta Boy]

There is an excellent book out there (I found mine at Jamshil Kyobo) called 'Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerance' by Ian Buruma. He's half-Dutch, half-British.

'Murder in Amsterdam' is indispensable. Buruma delivers the most fruitful insights on the 'clash' between the East and West today. Why? Because he finds connections and complexity where most observers only see irreconcilable conflict." San Francisco Chronicle

"Ian Buruma addresses questions of political philosophy, moral accountability and mass psychology in the most rigorous possible way: journalistically...He has deftly combined interviewing and reflection. This proves a fruitful way to approach the murder, in 2004, of the film-maker Theo van Gogh." The New York Times Book Review

"Buruma is one of the planet's wisest heads and best writers about the politics of national identity, civilization, and culture. With the eye of a novelist and the erudition of a scholar, he finds in the frenzy of soccer fans no less than the history of the last several centuries an explanation for the violence that has erupted in the land of Rembrandt and tulips. This is a book about much more than a single crime in a single city. It is a brilliant insight into what ails Europe and, more broadly, our globalized world." Strobe Talbot, president, Brookings Institution

[Leslie Cheswyck]

[igotthisguitar]

[flakfizer]

[Ya-ta Boy]

I've been living in Seongnam since Jan '07. When I venture out, I go to Ya-tap or maybe Jamshil. Rarely bother with north of the river. Why?

[flakfizer]

[igotthisguitar]

Muslim Baptized By Pope Says Life In Danger
By Philip Pullella
Sun Mar 23, 2:35 PM ET

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Muslim author and critic of Islamic fundamentalism who was baptized a Catholic by Pope Benedict said on Sunday Islam is "physiologically violent" and he is now in great danger because of his conversion.

"I realize what I am going up against but I will confront my fate with my head high, with my back straight and the interior strength of one who is certain about his faith," said Magdi Allam.

In a surprise move on Saturday night, the pope baptized the 55-year-old, Egyptian-born Allam at an Easter eve service in St Peter's Basilica that was broadcast around the world.



The conversion of Allam to Christianity -- he took the name "Christian" for his baptism -- was kept secret until the Vatican disclosed it in a statement less than an hour before it began.

Writing in Sunday's edition of the leading Corriere della Sera, the newspaper of which he is a deputy director, Allam said: "... the root of evil is innate in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictual."

Allam, who is a strong supporter of Israel and who an Israeli newspaper once called a "Muslim Zionist," has lived under police protection following threats against him, particularly after he criticized Iran's position on Israel.

He said before converting he had continually asked himself why someone who had struggled for what he called "moderate Islam" was then "condemned to death in the name of Islam and on the basis of a Koranic legitimization."

His conversion, which he called "the happiest day of my life," came just two days after *cough* al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused the pope of being part of a "new crusade" against Islam.

The Vatican appeared to be at pains to head off criticism from the Islamic world about the conversion.

"Conversion is a private matter, a personal thing and we hope that the baptism will not be interpreted negatively by Islam," Cardinal Giovanni Re told an Italian newspaper.

Still, Allam's highly public baptism by the pope shocked Italy's Muslim community, with some leaders openly questioning why the Vatican chose to shine such a big spotlight it.

"What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion," Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, told Reuters. "Why could he have not done this in his local parish?"

ANOTHER DEATH SENTENCE

Allam, the author of numerous books, said he realized that his conversion would likely procure him "another death sentence for apostasy," or the abandoning of one's faith.

But he said he was willing to risk it because he had "finally seen the light, thanks to divine grace."

Allam defended the pope in 2006 when the pontiff made a speech in Regensburg, Germany, that many Muslims perceived as depicting Islam as a violent faith.

He said he made his decision to convert after years of deep soul searching and asserted that the Catholic Church has been "too prudent about conversions of Muslims."

At a Sunday morning Easter mass hours after he baptized Allam, the pope, without mentioning him, spoke in a prayer of the continuing "miracle" of conversion to Christianity some 2,000 years after Christ's resurrection.

The Vatican statement announcing Allam's conversion said: "For the Catholic Church, each person who asks to receive Baptism after a deep personal search, a fully free choice and adequate preparation, has a right to receive it."

It said all newcomers to the faith were "equally important before God's love and welcome in the community of the Church."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080323/wl_nm/pope_muslim_dc
;_ylt=AufhGQ_y9vVXaN4WLi37oqADW7oF

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Here's the latest on the film (due out next Monday):

Internet Service Provider Shuts Down Website for Posting Anti-Islamic Dutch Film

A U.S.-based Internet service provider has closed down a Web site that a Dutch lawmaker had reserved to post a controversial film that is triggering an uproar in much of the Islamic world.
Network Solutions says it invoked the suspension after receiving complaints related to the film. A statement posted on the Internet says those complaints are under investigation

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200803/200803240025.html

No doubt the anti-Moslem element among us will be yelling censorship. I don't see it that way. Any 'publisher' has a right to accept and reject a work and this is no different.

[TexasPete]

I HATE the argument that somehow religion is off limits in regards to freedom of speech. If you can't defend your religion in the face of criticism, what's that say about the strength of your faith?

[igotthisguitar]

[TexasPete]

[igotthisguitar]

Y'know, while i may be way off base here, the concept of "debating" Islam is likely quite foreign to most radical Muslims