As the Sunnis & Shi'ites continue their thousand yr. old wars, whose side are YOU on?

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10132092.html


- The Golden Mosque is one of the four major Shi'ite shrines in Iraq. Samarra, north of Baghdad, is a predominantly
Sunni city. Other major sites are in the holy Shi'ite cities of Najaf and Kerbala. The fourth is in the Baghdad district of
Kadhimiya, also mainly home to Shi'ites.

- Two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams are buried in the Samarra shrine - Imam Ali Al Hadi, who died in 868 and his son, the 11th imam, Hasan Al Askari, who died in 874.

- Shi'ites believe the 12th imam, Imam Mehdi, known as the hidden imam, went into hiding from a cellar in the complex in
878. Shi'ites say he will return before the Day of Judgment to return justice to a world full of oppression.

- Iraqi commandos retook the Golden Mosque from insurgents during a US-led offensive in Samarra in October 2004.

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

Me? I just can't decide, I've always liked Imam Ali Al Hadi, but I'd really like to see Imam Mehdi return from the dead before the Day of Judgement to return justice to our oppressed world, I'm so confused.

Can anyone help me out here? I'm so indecisive sometimes.

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

In a related story: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21286456.shtml

Jun 14, 2007

Six Sunni mosques were reported damaged Thursday despite pleas from Iraqi Shiite and Sunni politicians and clerics a day after a Shiite shrine was bombed.

The attacks involved bombings and fires in Baghdad and southern Iraq after a Shiite shrine in Samara, 75 miles north of Baghdad was all but leveled by two explosions.

[wildhorses]

1. personally --

i got NO dog in this fight:shrug:

[kenny blankenship]

2. I like to play one side against the other, thus weakening & depopulating the country

and so I'll be able to keep all the oil. (Smirk, smirk).

[BOSSHOG]

They aren't at war

the brilliant fox scholar and military strategist and all about wonderful culture wiz bill krystol says that the thought of sunni and shia not getting along is pure fiction, pop psychology if you will. We will find WMD any day now and we will be greeted as liberators and Iraq will pay us back with interest.

[MistressOverdone]

3. In my ignorance

I never heard of either subculture until 9/11 and its aftermath. I don't know any of these folks and have never visited their homeland.

So I have no opinion, really.

[EnviroBat]

4. Oh yeah, but no one seems to give any credit to the 9th imam..

Ali Ali Hullabaloo. Scored a lifetime 378 ERA or shot a 9 under at the Sands of Paradise, something like that.
Oh, I have offended...

[damntexdem]

5. The secularists.

The third S group. ;-)

[treestar]

6. Basically, I think that if I were a Muslim, it would be more logical to

be a Sunni, based on what little I know. The Shiite's reasons for breaking away I didn't find convincing, if I recall.

But I too like Imam Mehdi's plan.

:silly:

[napi21]

7. NEITHER! IMO they're both behaving very dumb.

They both have their reasons for believing as they do, and that's fine, but to continue trying to kill each other for all these years is flat out nuts! Ignore each other, isolate yourselves into your own little groups and keep the other guys out, but physically attacking and killing each other is just a carryover from the gladiator days, and it was stupid then too!

[Mandate My Ass]

8. Cui bono?

So what were two undercover British soldiers up to in Basra?
The dramatic rescue of two special forces men from an Iraqi police station has exposed hidden tensions and highlighted increasing dangers for British troops.

Raymond Whitaker in London and Sarah Tejal Dave in Basra report

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article314977.ece

Two Brits dressed in Arab clothing carrying explosives and surveillance equipment and firing on Iraqi police. Arrested and later freed in a dramatic tank attack on the prison. No official explanation has ever been given. Things that make you go "hhmmmmmmmm..."

[Philosoraptor]

9. Cowboys dress up like Indians & slaughter some settlers...

Indians are blamed....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. I'm on the side of the 4.2 million refugees fleeing the fruits of "democracy" we brought them.

And, the millions who haven't the wherewithal to flee the madness.

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Gandhi

[CJCRANE]

11. It's a political power struggle

with various states and entities pumping in money to back their side (or support the enemy of their enemy).

They're not fighting over the minutiae of religious history or dogma.

On edit: plus as someone else pointed out in another thread some of these mosques are over a thousand years old, so it does'nt seem like this kind of thing has been going on throughout history.

[Dhalgren]

12. At this point I am for the Iraqis. I truly hope they win back their country.

I hope that the Occupier gets ousted, hopefully by regaining its own humanity and withdrawing of its own accord, but I don't hold out much hope of that...

[CJCRANE]

13. Shia Islam

seems a bit like Catholicism, with its saints and shrines and hierarchy of imams and ayatollahs. It also seems to have pictures of the saints (the ones I've seen look similar to Jesus) which goes against the public presumption that there are no images in Islam. Plus there seems to be similar themes of blood and sacrifice, and the extreme versions seem to have self-flagellation rituals.

Sunni Islam seems to be the more plain vanilla variety without the extra trappings, not exactly a fit for Protestantism though, because there wasn't exactly a Reformation in Islam (although the version that took hold in Spain in the Middle Ages might come close. Also note that the Koran has always been in the same language so never needed to be re-translated).

So take your pick.

(It has always seemed to me that religion is more about community and/or lifestyle, people choose the one that suits their personality or family tradition rather than a rational choice).

[Az]

14. Sides? I don't see sides. I see conflict and it troubles me

Ideally I would love to see everyone involved lose their faith and embrace doubt. Barring that I would rather see both groups find some way to end their conflict.