Indicated by the title of William Schulz’s article “Is the ‘Ticking Bomb’ Case Plausible?” the author is presenting a compelling counter-thesis to the hypothetical “ticking bomb” scenario, so often posited by proponents of “necessary” instances of torture. Specifically, Schulz is arguing against Alan Dershowitz’s thesis, …
There once was a King. The King had a beautiful daughter whose beauty filled the entirety of the Kingdom. It came to pass that a pauper desired to marry the daughter because – being a young woman wishing to go about through the Kingdom – …
There once were colonialists who travelled to a far away land. When they arrived they asked, in their own language, to be taken to the king of the land where they had arrived. They spoke a strange language and the people did not understand so they took them to the shaman…
The shaman was a magical person, and he could learn the languages of birds, beasts or any tribe of man. He quickly deduced the language of these colonists and told them he would take them to his king…
But he did not go to a palace, mansion or castle as the invaders expected. He took them instead to the forest where they saw a man sitting almost as if in a trance, looking straight through them. Curiously, he was not the same color as the invaders, nor the natives. They had never seen skin like he had. It was almost as if this king was green from sitting in the forest so long! The shaman, however, told them that it was the reverse; that the forest was green from the man!
The invaders interrogated him, first directly and with cordiality but the king did not reply. He just stared right through them! They grew frustrated – their cordial introductions turned to rage and demanding – and they threatened to decapitate him if he did not respond.
But this king of the shaman’s people did not reply to their demands. As they erupted in anger, and lashed out at him with their swords, it happened that he was no longer in the space which they had lunged towards. The king tapped them on the back of their shoulders. As they turned around he gave them a huge smile. With each subsequent attempt to attack him, it seemed that the king would either move so quickly that it looked as though he had dematerialized, or he actually had dematerialized. This is what the colonists asserted…
“Which is it!?!” They demanded of the shaman. “Is he some sort of magician like you, able to manipulate things, or does he just possess uncanny speed!?! Is this why you regard him as your king?”
“It is neither,” the shaman replied. “He is actually in both places. He cannot be cut with any objects, nor killed. He simply stopped allowing you to see him in the place where you attacked him, and now he is showing you that he was also behind you all along.”
There once was a King. In his kingdom there were many villages, many people, many animals, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes and streams… Within this kingdom the King built an enormous house for his servants to live in. The house was beautiful and abundant, so far …
There once was a carpenter who wanted to build a great house… This house, however, was not like any other house. This house existed in a land where there were a myriad of apartments; high-priced, high-rise apartments that packed people in where they barely had …
There was once a great Kung Fu fighter… as years went by he learned much not only about his own system but about the systems of other fights.
He realized that many techniques, qi kung, ideas about fighting, energy and the like were held in common, but there was not a single form that was the same from one style to the next.
One day the fighter had an epiphany; that forms were nonsense, styles were nonsense, and even adherence to techniques were nonsense. So many different styles had developed so many different types of techniques – after the method of any animal or anything to be mimicked – that any part of the body could be used as a striking surface. This reality was in fact a great secret that the most advanced masters guarded from their disciples; believing that knowledge of this would cause them much trouble before they attained the highest levels of understanding with wisdom.
The fighter began to teach this way and though he had been heir to a great system of Kung Fu, he taught his own son this method of formlessness.
…but this reality, while true, was unattainable to the son who did not have the years of form that his father had as foundation. He believed his father, that all of this was unnecessary, until he found himself in need of martial skill. Yet the teachings of his father failed him because he did not have form as a foundation.
…the father too, over many years, came to see all of his top students – those who originally learned form, styles, techniques, and so on – diminish in skill. In the past he had scoffed at the old fools who gathered together in the parks and ran the same form over and over, every morning; who did the same qi kung exercise over and over in ma bu, for one hour every day.
But as the man got older he learned much about the nature of fighting itself, but never developed the high level of skill that those repetitive old men developed. He came to learn too late, after squandering many years without form and system, that had he fused his understanding of formlessness with the framework of form then he would have attained completion. This is because formlessness without form is useless and form without formlessness is a prisoner. Yet merely understanding this was not enough to produce any accomplishment. He then, at the end, imparted this to his son, but he son would no longer listen to him or trust in his advice; seeing as how it had failed him in the past.
Let us learn the lessons upon hearing the story of this man, so that we do not walk in his footsteps.
In a recent response to an article i posted on a prominent Buffalo Muslim da`i beheading his wife, i was directed to a website with an “Ask the Alim” section, http://www.islamonline.net was told that i would there find many fataawat denouncing violence against women and …
Since my early teenage years, I have been involved in various activist and social justice movements, from Food Not Bombs, to the Occupy Movement, and various anti-fascist organizations and action committees. In what follows, I will explain how my path in activist circles, and self-described …
The following article appears in the Nation of Islam paper The Final Call. You will find it quoted and linked below, followed by a brief fact-checking by your’s truly, only on the scientifically quantifiable claims which the author claims “Master Fard” – Wali Fard Muhammad – to have made. Believe it or not, but i actually mean NO disrespect to Nation of Islam or Master Fard for that matter. i admire both for a number of reasons, even while recognizing flaws with both.
i do, however, question – and completely doubt – that Wali Fard Muhammad’s statements about what was probably the notion of Wahdat al-Wujud were in fact the same as the anthropomorphism and theology of Divine incarnation as later expressed by the Nation of Islam that grew from his Allah Temple of Islam.
i do laud the man’s promotion of the very quest for knowledge amongst a community that had been ruthlessly subjugated. Flawed as his knowledge was, his heart was clearly in the right place with regards to this.
This fact-checking, however, is presented as empirical verification that whatever theological views you lean towards, there can be no doubt that this man was learning from science books of his day which, while a noble pursuit of knowledge, were wrong in a number of clear ways (as we would later discover), and that his knowledge did not come from godhood, as evidenced by the fact that he was wrong in almost all cases on scientific matters.
Those of you who do not know Master Fard Muhammad may think that we are in error for believing in Him as Mahdi. What I want you to do is to give Him a chance to tell you, through the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, what He revealed; then, you go and study it. If He (Fard Muhammad) lied, then, we can cast Him aside. But, if He told the truth, then you are going to have to reason with this man.
Master Fard Muhammad came among us and He taught us “Actual Facts.” That which is actual means it exists; it’s fact or real.
A fact is that which actually exists; it is reality; it is truth. Why did Master Fard Muhammad give us Actual Facts? It is because you cannot build anything until you know the actual facts. The problem with us is that we have believed what others have told us, but, the actual facts we may not be acquainted with. How could the enemy rule us if we had the same knowledge that he has? Regardless to your degrees, the enemy has never shared with you what he has of knowledge. That is why when you come out of college, you go to him and look for a job. It is because you are not prepared to make a job for yourself.
Master Fard Muhammad was only among us three years, and four or five months. He said He came to us from the Holy City of Mecca, in Arabia. Master Fard Muhammad came to Detroit to a place called “Black Bottom,” where the people lived in the deep ghetto. He started teaching there, going door-to-door like an ordinary salesman. This is what is meant in the scripture where it says, “He made himself of no reputation,” and, “became obedient even unto death.”
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
The Bible teaches, “He stood and He measured the Earth.” In 1930, when Master Fard Muhammad came, He told us that, “The total area of the land and water of the planet Earth is 196,940,000 square miles.” He said, “The circumference of the planet Earth is 24,896 miles,” and, all of us had to memorize this. “The diameter of the earth is 7,926 miles; the area of land is 57,255,000 square miles; the area of water is 139,685,000 square miles.” He said “The Pacific Ocean covers 68,634,000 square miles and the Atlantic Ocean covers 41,321,000 square miles.”
“The Indian Ocean,” He said, “covers 29,430,000 square miles, and the lakes and rivers cover 1,000,000 square miles. The hills and the mountains cover 14,000,000 square miles; the islands are 1,910,000 square miles; and the deserts are 4,861,000 square miles. Mount Everest is 29,141 feet high, and the producing land is 29,000,000 square miles. The earth weighs 6 sextillion tons—a ‘6′ followed by 21 zeros—and is 93,000,000 miles from the sun, traveling at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour. Light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, and sound travels at the rate of 1,120 feet per second. The diameter of the sun is 853,000 miles.”
We were just students under a Master Teacher who asked us to study. Then, Master Fard Muhammad began to tell us about the distance of the planets and the life that is on the planets. He taught Elijah Muhammad, who was from the cotton fields of Georgia, and, who only went to the fourth grade of school. If you compare what Master Fard Muhammad said in 1930 (now 79 years ago), with the dimensions that the scholars have given, every year they have gotten closer and closer, until now their computations are similar with Master Fard Muhammad’s. He is the man Who taught Elijah Muhammad, and came to raise us up from a dead level and make us rulers over those who once ruled us—not by guns and sticks, but by giving us a superior knowledge.
In 1930, before you knew anything about Mars, Master Fard Muhammad called Mars an “inhabited planet.” He said, “Mars is 141,500,000 miles from the sun, and she travels at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.” He said, “Her diameter is 4,200 miles.” Master Fard Muhammad said, “Mercury is also an inhabited planet and is 36,000,000 miles from the sun. Her diameter is 3,000 miles and she travels at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.” Think about that. No matter how close they are to the sun or how far they are from the sun, all of the planets travel at the same rate of speed.
Master Fard Muhammad said, “Jupiter is 483,000,000 miles from the sun. She takes eleven years and nine months to make one complete circle around the sun; her diameter is 88,700 miles; Saturn is 886,000,000 miles from the sun; Uranus, 1,782,000,000; Neptune, 2,793,000,000 miles from the sun; and the far planet Platoon, or Pluto, 4,600,000,000 miles from the sun.”
Pluto was first discovered in the year 1930, the same year that Master Fard Muhammad found you and me. How far is Pluto from the sun? Four billion, six hundred million (4,600,000,000) miles. In this figure, you have the numerals “4” and “6.”
The Book of Malachi, meaning, “My Messenger,” which is the last book of your Bible, tells us who we should be looking for: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” I will send you who? Elijah! In what chapter does his name appear? The 4th Chapter, verses 4-6.
Now, here is the meaning: The first “4” represents 4,000 years from Moses. Why Moses? Because both Bible and Qur’an teach us that the man that Allah (God) would send in the last days would be a man like unto Moses. How could you have a man like Moses unless you have a people like the Children of Israel, and, a wicked ruler like Pharaoh and his deceitful magicians? The second “4” represents our 400 years of bondage; and, the “6” represents the end of the 6,000-year rule of Caucasian people.
The far planet Platoon, or Pluto, is 4,600,000,000 miles away from the sun; yet, the light of the sun reaches her and has her spinning at the same speed of the other planets (1,037 and 1/3 miles per hour).
What does this mean? It means that when the Light of Allah (God) touches you, you will start turning and you will be going at the same speed of all the people of wisdom on the planet, as long as you stay in the light, acknowledge the light, submit to the light, bow down to the light and the God Who raised you and brought you to the light.
Master Fard Muhammad came and the authorities arrested Him in Detroit for teaching us the knowledge of ourselves. He submitted. He didn’t have to go to jail, that is why the Book of Habakkuk teaches, “He had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.” The Book of Malachi teaches, “He became obedient even unto death.” “Death” here means the White man, because he represents death; and, we live in the very shadow of death under his rule.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that when the White man tricked our fathers out of Africa, the first slaves came to America on a ship named “Jesus.” When our fathers got here, they would wander down to the shore looking for that ship, and, they would say, “You can have all of this world, just give me Jesus, that ship that would return me to my native land and people.” That is where our spirituals were born. “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming to carry me home.” America isn’t your home. This is a strange land and we are living among a strange people whose ways are alien to Allah (God) and the Prophets of Allah (God).
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “Little did our fathers know that it would be 400 years before the real ship Jesus came to get us.” The real ship Jesus is Allah (God) in Person; The Mahdi coming to raise a Messiah. The Messiah did not live 2,000 years ago. Jesus of 2,000 years ago was a prophet. The Messiah is more than a prophet. He is a man in whom is the Indwelling Spirit, Wisdom, Knowledge and Power of Allah (God), Himself. Therefore, He opens the eyes of the blind. He makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. He cleanses the leper and He raises the dead to life, by Allah’s (God’s) permission.
When Master Fard Muhammad went to jail, He sent for Elijah Muhammad. When Elijah saw Him behind bars, He looked at Elijah and said, “This is the price that you are going to have to pay if you want to free your people.” The price is jail. The price is persecution. The price is being evil spoken of. And, sometimes the price is death itself. Unless you are willing to pay the price, do not accept the assignment. Then He said to Elijah, “If you don’t accept the assignment, somebody else will. So why don’t you go ahead and get the big name.” The scriptures teach that Elijah said, “Here am I, send me.”
I did not know Master Fard Muhammad—I only saw His picture; but, I listened to Elijah Muhammad teach me something about Allah (God), the Original Man, and, how the Qur’an and Bible were actually made.
I want you to think: Either this is revelation, or, it is some made-up madness. But tell me: How could made-up madness raise a man from the dead? Tell me: How could made-up madness take a fool like me, and make me honored and respected all over the world? Tell me: How could made-up madness make Malcolm X? How could made-up madness make Muhammad Ali?
Let us reason together.
Fact-checking:
The Bible teaches, “He stood and He measured the Earth.” In 1930, when Master Fard Muhammad came, He told us that, “The total area of the land and water of the planet Earth is 196,940,000 square miles.”
196,900,000 sq miles
He said, “The circumference of the planet Earth is 24,896 miles,”
Close. 24,901 miles
and, all of us had to memorize this. “The diameter of the earth is 7,926 miles;
7,926.41 miles to be exact.
the area of land is 57,255,000 square miles;
57,500,000 sq mi
the area of water is 139,685,000 square miles.”
The oceans alone cover 141,600,000 sq mi.
He said “The Pacific Ocean covers 68,634,000 square miles
63,780,000 sq mi
and the Atlantic Ocean covers 41,321,000 square miles.”
41,105,000 sq mi
“The Indian Ocean,” He said, “covers 29,430,000 square miles,
28,400,000 sq mi
and the lakes and rivers cover 1,000,000 square miles.
False.
The hills and the mountains cover 14,000,000 square miles;
The “hills”? Does this include the hill in my back yard?
the islands are 1,910,000 square miles; and the deserts are 4,861,000 square miles.
False.
Mount Everest is 29,141 feet high,
and the producing land is 29,000,000 square miles. The earth weighs 6 sextillion tons—a ‘6′ followed by 21 zeros
Wrong: 6,585,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons
—and is 93,000,000 miles from the sun,
Close – 92,960,000 miles – but not close enough to be Allah in the flesh.
traveling at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.
66,700 mph actually.
Light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second,
Right. Widely publicized, by the way.
and sound travels at the rate of 1,120 feet per second.
While in his day, this was often said to be at 1,126 feet per second, the speed of sound varies depending on where you are. It ranges from 590 to 620 mph for most air craft. The speed of sound at sea level is 761.207051 mph.
The diameter of the sun is 853,000 miles.”
Actually, 865,000 miles
In 1930, before you knew anything about Mars, Master Fard Muhammad called Mars an “inhabited planet.” He said, “Mars is 141,500,000 miles from the sun,
In Fard’s day, it was widely expressed that Mars is 141,500,000 miles from the Sun. Like all planets, however, this varies with a minimum of 128,000,000 miles and a max of 249,000,000.
and she travels at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.”
Mars travels at an average of 53,979 miles per hour
He said, “Her diameter is 4,200 miles.”
The diameter of Mars is 6794.
Master Fard Muhammad said, “Mercury is also an inhabited planet and is 36,000,000 miles from the sun.
Mercury’s orbit is severely elliptical meaning that the planet’s distance to the Sun varies. At its closest, Mercury is 46 million kilometers (28.5 million miles or 0.31 AU) from the Sun. At its furthest, Mercury is 70 million kilometers (43 million miles or 0.46 AU) from the Sun, with an average of 58 million kilometers (36 million miles or 0.39 AU). It seems Master Fard had read a book that listed the average, not accounting for the fact that Mercury is only briefly at such a distance.
Her diameter is 3,000 miles
Close. 3,032 miles. Close, but not close enough for “Allah in the flesh.”
and she travels at the rate of 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.”
107,280 mph
Think about that. No matter how close they are to the sun or how far they are from the sun, all of the planets travel at the same rate of speed.
False.
Master Fard Muhammad said, “Jupiter is 483,000,000 miles from the sun.
Very close. Only off by half a million this time.
She takes eleven years and nine months to make one complete circle around the sun
More or less correct. Close enough, in other words.
; her diameter is 88,700 miles;
Exactly correct. For once.
Saturn is 886,000,000 miles from the sun;
Also varying, Saturn’s average distance from the Sun is 891,000,000 miles.
Uranus, 1,782,000,000;
Nope. 1,784,000,000 miles. Only 2 million off this time.
Neptune, 2,793,000,000 miles from the sun;
2,829,691,160 miles
The far planet Platoon, or Pluto, is 4,600,000,000 miles away from the sun; yet, the light of the sun reaches her and has her spinning at the same speed of the other planets (1,037 and 1/3 miles per hour).
3,670,050,000 miles away from the sun, with an average orbital speed of 10,438mph
Hopefully, this is been edifying and perhaps even a wake-up call. As the Torah teaches “God is not a man.”
In recent years, even months, there has been a radical shift in the direction of mainstream politics from the status quo of the past two decades. In the early 1990’s it was unimaginable to believe that the then Vice President would be leading the charge …