I have noticed in my readings that many of the American and British blogs are, for good reason, recounting and commenting upon the horrors perpetrated by men on their women by the foreign followers of Islam. And I noticed that the word Muslim appears frequently. Throughout most of my life I, and everyone with whom I associated, used the word Moslem. Because that was how we were taught in school back then in the 1940s and 1950s. I wondered whether there is actually a difference between Muslim and Moslem so I conducted a brief Google search.
The consensus seems to be that there is no real difference but that Moslems believe that there is.
According to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies,"Moslem and Muslim are basically two different spellings for the same word." But the seemingly arbitrary choice of spellings is a sensitive subject for many followers of Islam. Whereas for most English speakers, the two words are synonymous in meaning, the Arabic roots of the two words are very different. A Muslim in Arabic means "one who gives himself to God," and is by definition, someone who adheres to Islam. By contrast, a Moslem in Arabic means "one who is evil and unjust" when the word is pronounced, as it is in English, Mozlem with a z.
Ah-hah!
Here is a personal observation; even when I write it down as Muslim, my mind speaks it back to me as Moslem.
But, that's probably just me being me.
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"One day Americans will regret our Militant Atheism"
source . . .
Now that is an interesting observation.
I sure am glad I'm not an Atheist, and especially not a militant Atheist.
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WORD FOR TODAY
engage
verb
- consume all of one's attention or time
- carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
- get caught
- give to in marriage
Engage means to bind, catch, or involve. If your sink is stopped up, engage, or hire, a plumber to fix it. Otherwise the smell of rotten food in the garbage disposal will engage your attention (in a bad way).
Engage comes from a French word for pledge. If you agree to marry your sweetheart, you are engaged to marry. If you engage the kid next door to water your plants, she will expect to be paid for it. Engagement is also used to talk about war or conflict. An army engages its enemy in battle, just as you might engage in debate with a traffic cop over whether the light was yellow or red.
source . . .
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Born Sept 13, 1903
Died July 30, 1996
Died July 30, 1996
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American actress of stage and film. She established a successful film career with Paramount Pictures, and is recognized as one of the leading female exponents of screwball comedy. Colbert was the highest paid actress in American cinema during late 1930s, and later became a freelance performer. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her comedic performance in It Happened One Night (1934), and she also received Academy Award nominations for her dramatic roles in Private Worlds (1935) and Since You Went Away (1944).
Born Sep 13, 1925
Died June 5, 1999
Died June 5, 1999
Melvin Howard Tormé, nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books. He composed the music for the classic holiday song "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells.
Born Sep 13, 1916
Died Nov 23, 1990
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter. Dahl rose to prominence in the 1940s, with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humor.
Some of his notable works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, George's Marvellous Medicine and The BFG.
Born Sep 13, 1860
Died July 15, 1948
Died July 15, 1948
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army--General of the Armies (a retroactive Congressional edict passed in 1976 promoted George Washington to the same rank but with higher seniority). Pershing holds the first United States officer service number (O-1). He was regarded as a mentor by the generation of American generals who led the United States Army in Europe during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley, and George S. Patton.
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I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.
--Barack Obama
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