Radical Islam And The Sphinx.

[Khandro]

'Before he was deposed, President Morsi appointed as governor of Luxor a former member of Al-Gama's al-Islamiyya, the terrorist group that in 1997, murdered 64 people in the Temple of Hatsheput .
Under his watch, monuments were neglected, while extreme Islamists began demanding the destruction of pre-Islamic monuments such as the 4,500 years old Sphinx and Pyramids.
One cleric, Sheikh Murgan Salem al-Gohary, said in a TV broadcast aired in Egypt: "All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed the Buddha statues...". Before they had a chance to blow up the Sphinx, the military seized power from the Muslim Brotherhood last June.'
Isn't this unthinkable, and sufficient reason alone for Islamic extremism to be challenged?

[Svejk]

they're mentally ill, imo.

[boxtops]

I remember that it was the Taliban who destroyed those thousand year old Buddhist statues when they first came to power, on the same grounds, which caused international consternation. The extremists are missing the point - nobody worships those statues. IMO.

[jomifl]

Quite Boxy, did anybody ever worship the sphinx, or the pyramids? By the twisted logic of islam anything that is regarded a holy by anyone who is not a muslim should be destroyed. This raises some interesting problems not least of which is that some mosques were originally the holy buildings of other religions.

[Khandro]

What I gather is his statement "All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols" is unfounded.
It appears that the Quran states: "And had God willed, they would not have associated idols with Him. And We have not made you a guardian over them, nor are you over them a patron (6:108); for you be your religion and for us be ours. (109:6)" It appears tolerance of other faiths is not optional in Islam but a requirement, and coexistence within the framework of religious pluralism is, and should be, an aspiration for all Muslims.
It seems he greatest problems we are facing, are being brought about by the false interpretation of the Koran by stupid, uneducated clerics.

[douglas9401]

Knobends the lot of them.

[jomifl]

The koran like the bible can be interpreted however anyone wishes, which is why troops going into battle are blessed, presumably to win without killing.

[ludwig]

// Isn't this unthinkable, and sufficient reason alone for Islamic extremism to be challenged? //

Definitley. They're cultural vandals, and that in itself is reason that they should be challenged.

When you also consider the fact that they hate everyone else in the world and want to kill them all, that's the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as I'm concerned.

[naomi24]

It is sufficient reason – but there are other reasons. Graceless, ignorant, morons.

[jomifl]

You missed out vengeful and vindictive, Naomi.

[sandyRoe]

Would it not take a great deal of effort to dismantle the pyramids?

[sandyRoe]

I think there are 3 now at Giza. Were there 4 before Napoleon came along?

[Khandro]

Also a Sufi Muslim made start on the Sphinx in the 13th century, that is why the nose and some of the face is missing.

[Khandro]

divebuddy; There seems to be a lot of hokum surrounding Bonaparte and the pyramids, I can't see the point of him wanting to plunder and transport thousands (millions?) of tons of marble, and to where?
http://www.strangehistory.net/2013/12/02/napoleon-and-the-great-pyramid/

[sandyRoe]

The Roundheads were iconoclasts. Though admittedly their vandalism happened some 350 years ago.

[ludwig]

Every so often a bunch of fascists comes along that wants to destroy everything and kill everyone that doesn't fall in line with their philosophy. Such evil must always be recognised for what it is and resisted.