Taxa de homicídios do Brasil é similar a de zonas de guerra

BRASÍLIA (Reuters) - Mais de 150 brasileiros foram assassinados por dia
em média no ano passado, o que equivale às taxas registradas em zonas de
guerra, disse o Ministério da Justiça na segunda-feira.

Foram cerca de 55.000 vítimas de homicídios em 2005, o que supera em alguns
milhares o número de civis mortos em três anos na guerra do Iraque.

http://br.news.yahoo.com/060925/5/1968z.html

Brazil murder rate similar to war zone, data shows

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - More than 150 Brazilians were murdered
each day last year on average, putting Brazil on a par with some war
zones in terms of its homicide rate, the Justice Ministry said on Monday.

Some 55,000 Brazilians died of homicide in 2005 -- a few thousand more
civilians than in three years of war in Iraq, according to leading
estimates.

Brazil, a continent-sized nation of 185 million people starkly divided
into rich and poor, has had notoriously high crime rates for years.
Millions of poor live in urban slums and unpoliced rural areas where
guns are easy to come by.

el1414

el1212, inman3, flowerg

The Jews

Should it be noted that the Jews in spite of centuries of persecution,
slaughter and rejection are not blowing themselves up with explosives?

Where reason is thy splendor?

Our Histories

"But a professor of Islamic law at Qatar University, Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, proposed another route: A debate with the pope on the history their faiths. His offer, posted last week on the Web site of the Al-Jazeera television network, contends Christians should study their own turbulent past." Quoted from seattlepi.com at
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Christianitys_Sword.html

Mr. Muhammad is right that the history of Christianity and Islam both have plenty of violence but what about the history of the founders of each one of these two faiths? What is there to say about Muhammad and Jesus as it relates to conquest?

More Reason or Lack of

"... at a religious workshop of Muslims and Christians earlier this year, the Rev. Hans Ucko, a representative from the nearly 350-member World Council of Churches, said no real understanding is possible until the faiths look beyond their own texts.

"The Quran, Bible and other sacred books should come with a warning label," he said. "It should say, `These books may contain passages that can be interpreted for violence and intolerance.'" quote from seattlepi.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Christianitys_Sword.html

Rev. Hans Ucko ought to take a second look at the Christian Bible specially under a section popularly known as "The Ten Commandments" for the moral framework of the Bible. Having said that, I concur with Rev. Ucko that there is much violence narrated in the Bible. The test of reason on this issue however is: Is the violence narrated in Bible condemned, commanded, prohibited, tolerated or abhorred? How do the narratives relate to the Ten Commandments? Is there a case when murder is not murder?

The Pope Invites Muslim Leaders

The following paragraph is quoted from ABC News International at
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2486620&page=2

"On Sunday, Benedict praised an Italian nun who was shot to death on Sept. 17 in Mogadishu, Somalia in an attack that might have been linked to the worldwide anger over the Regensburg speech. Benedict noted that the nun forgave her attackers as she lay dying, showing "the victory of love over hate and evil.""

My comment: Forgiveness of one's enemies IS consistent with the character of the God of the Christian Bible.

The Post-Reason Age

It should be said that a call for reason in the post-modern western civilization touches at wery heart of the ideological handicap of our age.

Pope Benedict's call for Reason

That a journalist would misinterpret the Pope's argument is puzzling coming from a journalist. Yet it proves what is implied in Pope's speech, namely that failure to employ reason in dialog cripples its outcome. Meacham misses two important points: violence in any religion is inconsistent with the nature of the God of Christianity; the islamic reactions to the Pope's comments prove the Pope right.

That the dean of the Harvard Divinity School would state that "Historically, there is no more basis for arguing that Islam is irrational than there is for arguing the same about Christianity or Judaism" proves that Mr. Graham must not have read either the Bible or the Koran. He fails to take into account that the holy books provide the ideological basis for each religion. Read side by side it is unquestionable which one provides historical and rational consistency and prophetic integrity.