How would you feel about this bumper sticker? "Allahu Akbar"

[thecrow]

Yesterday I actually saw one on a car wiating to be inspected.
Now I am generally a live and let live kinda person, but seeing that
made me feel weird inside.

[MindPilot]

1. No different than "Jesus is Lord"

[JuniperLea]

2. Why? Allah is good makes you feel weird?

What if it said "God is Good," would that make you feel weird too?

[thecrow]

19. No, I know that

I think it was quite a brave thing to do. I live near DC and there are a lot
of Jesus Freak RWingers as well as a Muslim population, and a large Hispanic sector as well.
It's the first one I ever saw, and it felt like it was kinda striking out.... maybe
against all the Jesus stuff (people are all about Jesus and flags here).
Maybe the car belonged to a middle aged couple? Maybe a teenager? Maybe the next airline sensation?

I have nothing against people exposing their religious beliefs as long as they
don't shove it down my throat or legislate from their holy books.
But around here if another driver doesn't like you, you get shot at.
So I am kinda worried that this sticker could raise violence.

Like I said, it was weird seeing it (in the sense that I'd never seen one before)
and I had a lot of emotions about it.

[LostInAnomie]

3. I'd continue to think that the idea of God is stupid.

[GoneOffShore]

33. And you're right.

God isn't a being, it's a job description.

[Warpy]

4. It means god is great in Farsi

and protestors in Iran have been shouting it from rooftops after dark every night since that election to let the authorities know they're out there and they're not going to give up. It's also a way to show support for each other.

The guy might be an expat who is showing support for the folks back home.

It's a bumper sticker I'd respect.

[Goldstein1984]

5. I feel the same way about the little plastic

Jesus fishes.

And that guy nailed to the cross thing...creepy.

[dkf]

11. Lol. That is creepy isn't it?

[emilyg]

24. I have those little

fishes on my bumper. Each to his own.

[Goldstein1984]

37. Yes, I was only making a joke

I grew up in the Catholic Church, but now consider myself an "agnostic Buddhist" (The philosophy minus the mysticism).

I actually have fond memories and no animosity towards the church.

Religion is like handguns and pitbulls--it's the owner, not the religion/gun/dog that is usually the problem.

Our little plastic fish has a scuba tank and little fins on the tail.

Peace

[emilyg]

44. "Religion is like handguns and........." -

May I steal that? I like it.

[Goldstein1984]

51. It's yours to use as you please.

[LeftyMom]

6. Why would that bother me? I see a skillion Christian stickers and a few Sikh ones on any given day

Plus some neo-pagan ones, more often than not. Why would a Muslim sticker be any different?

[dkf]

7. I think that is pretty brave.

I don't get the super religious anyway so it's all the same to me.

[malaise]

15. +1 n/t

[panader0]

8. "God is Great"?

I thought it was Allah Akbar. But the words God is Great don't offend me, even as an atheist.

[Mojambo]

9. Honestly? A little uncomfortable.

But no more uncomfortable than any number of bible thumping bumper stickers.

[MineralMan]

10. A bumper sticker that says, God is Great?

Hell, I see lots of bumper stickers expressing similar things. "Jebus Saves," " God is Watching You,"
"God Hates Fags." All sorts of idiocy on bumper stickers, isn't there.

[HarveyDarkey]

12. How about this for an official state license plate?

pissed me off when I lived there:

[EndersDame]

13. I like your BBQ for peace logo better

:)

[JI7]

14. same as all those other jesus, god etc bumper stickers

[StarfarerBill]

16. Why? A person can show all the religious zeal they want, as long as they don't try to force it...

...on me or anyone else. And believe me, here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, I've seen lots more zeal than that. ;)

[proteus_lives]

17. My says "Chewbacca is my co-pilot."

How does that one grab ya?

[donheld]

64. Dog is my co-pilot

ok so I stole the picture but he's soooooo cute

[bemildred]

18. I would feel indifferent. nt

[PassingFair]

20. Nuke it.

Ain't we at WAR with muslins and Islam?

:sarcasm:

[LooseWilly]

21. It would make me want a drink.

Because my uncle, who lives in Tehran, says that is what we Muslims do...

If I didn't employ mindgames thusly, it would be almost as offensive as the "You'll die if you don't like Jesus..." crap I have to see everywhere.

[Bluebear]

30. No worse than "stem cell research stops a beating heart' with a bunch of crosses around it.

Yeah, I saw that one a few years ago!

[jgraz]

32. We need one that says "Religion stops a thinking brain"

[LooseWilly]

35. Or one that says: My thinking brain stops religion... I drink so Jeebus makes sense...

Ok... I'm sort of Religion Riffing... but you get the idea... :+

[peacebird]

22. as one who has the sticker with the symbols of most religions spelling "coexist"

can't say it would bother me at all....

:-)

Muslims are not the enemy, neither are true Christians - it's the nutjob zealots on both sides that are a problem.

[left coaster]

28. as one who has the sticker with the symbols of most religions spelling "coexist"

That's not the same thing at all.. you aren't promoting one particular religion, but, rather, you are advocating TOLERANCE of all religions through peaceful co-existence, which I totally respect.

[name not needed]

23. I'd be amazed by the fact that the driver hasn't been shot by some dumb redneck yet

[left coaster]

25. ALL religious bumper stickers creep me out..

Especially the Christian ones.

[alarimer]

26. No different than the Jesus fish decals

or any number of right-wing Christian slogans.

In other words, they all piss me off.

And, of course, a sign to stay away from the idiot who owns the car.

[kestrel91316]

27. Why on earth would that make anyone with a lick of sense feel weird???

I suppose you consider it perfectly normal and ordinary for a bumpersticker to say "Jesus Saves!!!!!" or "Jesus is LORD" or whatever other fundie Xtian dreck is in vogue.........because Amurka is a Christian Nation (TM), right??? And Islam is just some devil-worshipping cult.....

Oy.

[Canuckistanian]

29. The translation, "God is Great" is not, by itself, conroversial

It's merely the source language that's the problem, since it's in Arabic, the language of the radical AND sensible Islam religion.

It's unbelievable that this phrase has come to represent radical Islam only.

[GoneOffShore]

34. Except to those of us to whom the whole "God" thing is offensive.

[Flaneur]

47. It must be tough for you on this planet.

[GoneOffShore]

62. Mostly I ignore the godbots - So it's not too tough

Though I think that there are too many godbots and not enough lions or gladiators.

'I respect all the differences but if you believe any of it you're a moron. To me, its just people talking about their imaginary friend at length'
Dylan Moran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_htqDCP-s

[quinnox]

31. Not much, except to immediately report the driver to homeland security

and get all the details, make , model and the suspect!

Just kidding, I really wouldn't give it a second thought except to think they are brave to use that bumper sticker in this climate of muslim paranoia going on here in the country.

[TexasObserver]

36. I don't care for people who feel a need to announce their religion on their cars.

Because that tells me they're probably full of crap.

The religion doesn't matter, either.

[bridgit]

38. A perfect circular hypocrisy - they get all murderous about Danish cartoons but slap...

His Unspeakable Holy Name on a bumper-sticker

[uppityperson]

48. "His Unspeakable Holy Name"? Allah is "unspeakable"? wtf?

[bridgit]

55. Do you miss every single point

:wtf: Indeed! This is picayune in the extreme. But if you wanna make excuses for the deadlier aspects of Islam then I do I think you've found your niche, hey! How bout His Un-Cartoon-able Name, is that better for you & you alone
:spray:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/08/world/main6070880.shtml

[bridgit]

56. dupe

[VOX]

60. You might want to study up on the source and history of those Danish cartoons...

It might change your hard-line viewpoint on the issue:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kamran-pasha/yale-and-the-danish-carto_b_279463.html
<snip>
Now, with all that said, let us take an honest look at what the Danish cartoons are really about in the West. The truth is that the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons, Jyllands-Posten, holds a right-wing agenda that is fundamentally inimical to Islam and Europe's Muslim immigrants - and to the very values held by many who embraced the paper's publication of the cartoons.

Let's take a closer look at the newspaper that is being heralded as the champion of Western values. Jyllands-Posten endorsed Mussolini as 'exactly what the misruled Italian people need." It was sympathetic to Hitler's suspension of democracy in Germany, saying in an editorial in 1933 that "...democratic rule by the people, as we know it, is a luxury which can be afforded in good times when the economy is favorable. But restoring the economy after many years of lavish spending requires a firm hand."

And on the Nazi anti-Semitic pogrom known as Kristallnacht, this is what the newspaper had to say:

When one has studied the Jewish question in Europe for decades, the animosity towards the Jews is to a certain extent understandable, even if we look past the racial theories, that mean so much in the national socialist world view <...> We know, that tens of thousands of Jews condemn the Jewish business sharks, the Jewish pornography speculators and the Jewish terrorists. But still, it cannot be denied, that the experiences which the Germans - as many other continental peoples - have had with regards to the Jews, form a certain basis for their persecution. One must give Germany, that they have a right to dispose of their Jews.

Is this newspaper really the voice of Western values that people want to endorse?
<snip>

[bridgit]

61. 1933? Very well: '10,000 Indonesian Bibles Seized in Malaysia for Using the Word ‘Allah’

10,000 Indonesian Bibles Seized in Malaysia for Using the Word ‘Allah’

Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian government has refused to release 10,000 Bibles confiscated for using the word “Allah” to refer to God, a banned translation in Christian texts in the Muslim-majority country, an official said on Wednesday.

An official from the Home Ministry’s publications unit said the government rejected pleas by church officials to allow the Bibles, imported from Indonesia, into the country. Christians say the Muslim Malay-dominated government is violating their right to practice their religion freely.

Such disputes are undermining Malaysia’s reputation as a harmonious multiethnic, moderate Muslim nation. About 30 percent of the country’s 28 million people practice Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or other faiths.

A Home Ministry official said the government told the importer last month to return the Indonesian-language Bibles, which are currently being held by customs.

“Actually the publications, the Bibles, are already banned,” said the official, refusing to elaborate. He declined to be named because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The Bibles contain the word “Allah,” which is banned by the government for use by non-Muslims in an apparent bid not to offend the country’s majority Muslim population.

http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/10000-indonesian-bibles-seized-in-malaysia-for-using-the-word-allah/340002

"A perfect circular hypocrisy" when you can deny others the ability to speak - or read - The Name of Allah, but *you can* slap it on a bumper-sticker paste it to a car and drive it through dusty markets with a murderous bomb in the trunk

You should not be left with the impression that bumper-stickers about Allah are the only form of religious hypocrisy


I realize it will likely never happen in my lifetime, but: Separate Church & State Now! - that's what I say

[Kurska]

39. Just as stupid as the jesus fish, infact bumper stickers in general are stupid.

Do we really need to distract the people driving a vechicle at upwards of 80 miles per hour behind us with our political, religious, sports team or whatever affiliations?

[shadowknows69]

40. Less annoying than most of the Christian ones I've seen.

"My boss is a carpneter""Jesus is my co-pilot"? Who writes that shit?

[nemo137]

41. There's a taxi here that says "We'll make it to the airport on time, inshallah."

I think they might have an Allahu Ackbar one on there, too.

[cherokeeprogressive]

42. Live and Let Live. That's how it makes me feel. n/t

[ContraBass Black]

43. The only way it would bother me

Is if someone put it (or anything else) on my car.

[redwitch]

45. Lots better than "If you don't like my driving dial

1-800-EAT-SHIT.

Or "Can't find your cat? Try looking under my wheels".

Two of my personal nominations for worst bumper sticker.

[Nye Bevan]

46. I agree with you, unlike most on this thread

The bumper sticker is tasteless and inappropriate because that is a phrase commonly yelled by Islamic suicide bombers immediately prior to committing acts of mass murder. The Christian phrases mentioned by some in this thread do not have the same connotations.

Claiming that the sticker is innocuous is like arguing that a "SIEG HEIL" bumper sticker is fine because "Sieg Heil" simply means "Hail Victory".

[Starbucks Anarchist]

49. Complete fail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takbir

Takbir is only the name of the expression; the phrase itself is "Allahu Akbar".

This phrase is recited by Muslims in many different situations. For example, when they are happy, to express approval, to praise a speaker, during battles, and during times of extreme stress or euphoria. In the Islamic world, instead of applause, often someone will shout "takbir" and the crowd will respond "Allahu Akbar" in chorus.
In prayer

The phrase is said during each stage of both obligatory prayers (which are to be performed five times a day), and supererogatory prayers (performed at will). The Muslim call to prayer (adhan) and to commence prayer (iqama) also contains the phrase.

[cali]

50. It's creepy

just like all the jesus ones.

[DavidDvorkin]

52. I'd find it as annoying as any other religious bumper sticker

But people have a right to have annoying bumper stickers.

[Cali_Democrat]

53. There is nothing wrong with it

It just means "god is great." If people want to proclaim their love for jesus, I have no problem with that either.

Perhaps the arab sounding ring to it scares some 'murkans.

Whatever.

[Shell Beau]

54. Well, this thread certainly goes to show how tolerant DUers can

be when it comes to religion, or really Christianity.

Always something ugly to say. Oh well.

And by the way, that bumper sticker doesn't bother me in the least.

[Thothmes]

57. No big deal.

[spanone]

58. doesn't creep me out any more than the 'fish' is see on the back of cars

[VOX]

59. Don't care for any public "I belong to such-and-such religion" statements...

I think this kind of expression should be a private thing. Otherwise, it strikes me as unnecessarily prideful and exclusionary -- and thus sets up artificial dividing lines.

Just my devalued nickel's worth.

[Forkboy]

63. Considering who it pisses off, where can I get one?

[donheld]

65. +1

[Desertrose]

66. No problem.

A nice break from the Christian fish battling the Darwin fish.
:evilgrin: