Category Archives: Freedom

Nabil freedom festival parade 4th July
2013.

By: Viviana Ojeda

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Nabil freedom festival parade 4th July - Video

This freedom to pick and choose it might seem that this is a freedom only those outside Islam enjoy is not really there for everyone. It is a known fact that most people do not choose their religion as much as they are born into it.

Zurairi AR, MM

There was marked silence from Malay Muslim MPs on the proposed amendment that would see a child converted into Islam if either parent consents to it. Save for some dissenting voices, most of them see no problem with it.

Being Muslims themselves, I guess they are secure in the fact that their children will never ever get converted.

The ones who will get converted are the Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and irreligious kids. Never precious Muslims.

It is illegal for anybody to even try to convert a Muslim to another religion. Proselytising to Muslims is prohibited under syarie law in most states, under the threat of whipping and long stints in jail.

Conveniently enough, this does not apply the other way round. Proselytisation by Muslims is not only allowed, but encouraged.

This has caused awkward moments when a child happens to have just one parent who is a Muslim, she must embrace Islam as did her parent. She cannot choose to follow the non-Muslim parents religion, despite the other parent being... her parent.

Selangor Mufti Tamyes Abd Wahid had himself stressed this. Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria and him have both defended the unfair provision and told critics to back off.

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Religion is a game of numbers

What does freedom mean? To me, freedom means that if I don't agree with someone, I can say so. They may not like it or they may not like me for saying it, but I have the freedom to express my thoughts. They have the freedom to disagree and to express their own thoughts. They have the freedom to think I'm an idiot. I have the freedom to think likewise.

Even if I say something negative against the government, I have the freedom to say it. I won't be thrown in prison. My family won't be hunted down and harassed. My possessions won't be seized. My life won't be ruined. I can stage a protest. Others may join me. We can paint signs and walk around holding them, bringing attention to our beliefs. Freedom means we won't face retribution for our actions. Tar and feathers can only happen in the form of words.

Unfortunately, sometimes we as human beings take this freedom to an extreme. Sometimes people protest in places they do not belong, saying things that decent people do not say. They are hurtful and unkind, and yet, they have the freedom to do so. The French writer Voltaire said it so eloquently. "I disagree strongly with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

If I don't like something my church is doing, I have the freedom to say so. I also have the freedom to choose another church. Or, I have the freedom not to go to church at all. Most importantly, I have the freedom to go to church openly and without the fear of retribution. My friend Pastor Tom LoVan has been to underground churches in other countries. He knows what it's like to travel in secret to a place of worship that, if discovered, leads to prison, or worse. After Tom visited one such church the pastor was thrown in jail. Tom worked hard to get him set free.

Tom also knows what it's like to have a price on his head. One country did not want him talking about God. They not only banned him from the country, they had dire consequences in store for him if he showed up. God's truth is powerful. It changes hearts. It changes lives. It can even change countries. The price was been lifted from Tom's head. He was allowed back in. And God is flourishing in that country.

Being Tom's friend has changed how I look at freedom. He's the only person I know who was a child soldier. We laugh about the fact that the gun he carried back then was taller than he was. We laugh because he has a great sense of humor. We also laugh because it's so absurd.

Tom came to this country as a refugee and found freedom. The freedom to study, to learn, to grow and to become an incredible person, which he did. He has the freedom to help others, which he does every day. He also has the freedom to wear a suit that looks like the American flag. Of course, his wife had the freedom to ban that suit from his wardrobe. But I miss it. It was very colorful. The memory of it stills makes me laugh. Tom is colorful not only in dress but in personality. Sometimes his name will come up and someone will laugh just at the sound of his name. But it's always with a smile and with deep affection. To choose our friends is a freedom.

I have the freedom to stand up with my hand on my heart during the singing of The Star Spangled Banner. I have the freedom to carry the Pledge of Allegiance in my heart. I have the freedom to thank our veterans for defending our freedoms throughout the 237 years this country has been a country. I have the freedom to be forever grateful to them and their families. This country is not a perfect country, but I love it and I'm truly thankful that this is where I live.

I have the freedom to believe that real freedom came more than 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. For my sins. For that, I am eternally thankful. And I realize that freedom isn't free. It's priceless.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..." (Galatians 5:1). Live a life of freedom.

Link:
Yoder: Freedom can be great if not taken to extremes

July 4, 2013 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom Normal,IL-The Florence Freedom were in need of a quality start by a starter and they got that from Dan Jensen(4-2). Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the Normal CornBelters defeated the Freedom 4-2 Thursday night at The Corn Crib. The loss snapped the Freedom's streak of five consecutive series wins.

Normal took a 1-0 lead in the second after three straight singles from Ryan Lashley, Tyler Shover and Mike Mobbs. It was Mobbs' RBI single that scored Lashley to give the CornBelters the early lead.

The Freedom tied it in the sixth on an RBI single by left fielder David Harris. Then in the sixth, with the bases loaded and with David Carillo at the plate, Normal starter Michael Schweiss(1-0) plunked him forcing home J.C. Figueroa as the Freedom took a 2-1 lead.

The CornBelters tied it in the seventh on a T.J. Gavlik sacrifice fly. Then in the eighth, Mike Schwartz led off with a single against Jensen. Keoni Manago then got down a sacrifice bunt advancing Schwartz to second. Kit Carter then came in out of the Freedom bullpen. Pat McKenna came through with a ground rule double scoring the go ahead run to give the CornBelters a 3-2 lead. The very next batter saw Oscar Garcia single home McKenna to give them a 4-2 lead.

Jensen suffered the tough loss as he pitched 7.1 innings allowing eight hits on three runs with a strikeout.

Schweiss earned the win throwing eight innings holding the Freedom to six hits on two earned runs. Alan Oaks recorded his second save for Normal. Junior Arrojo led the Freedom with a 2-3 performance.

The Freedom will return to Florence to start a nine game homestand Friday night. The Freedom will begin a three game series with the Frontier Greys. The Freedom will have RHP Chuck Weaver(0-0 2.55) on the mound. The Greys will feature LHP Matt Costello(1-3, 3.49). The game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki and Jake Meyer starting at 6:20 pm on radio station 1320 AM and gospel1320.com.

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Freedom Drop Rubber Match to CornBelters 4-2

Agartala, July 5 (IANS) Freedom fighters from Bangladesh will visit the Indian state of Tripura to locate graveyards in the northeastern state where soldiers of the 1971 Liberation War were buried, officials of the two countries announced here Friday.

"Bangladesh sought India's help to identify the graveyards in Indian territory where slain soldiers of Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War were buried. We have so far identified two such locations on the outskirts of Agartala city," West Tripura District Magistrate Kiran Gitte told reporters.

Accompanied by Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria district's Deputy Commissioner Nur Mohammad Majumder, Gitte said: "Through the union home and external affairs ministries, we have received several hundred names of Bangladeshi soldiers buried during the Liberation War in villages along the border."

A two-day meeting of officials of Bangladesh and India, held here Wednesday and Thursday, discussed, among other issues, the identification of the burial spots of the 1971 Liberation War, after which Bangladesh was created from the former East Pakistan.

Gitte led the Indian side at the meeting, while the Bangladesh team was headed by Nur Mohammad Majumder.

Both the officials, while briefing the media about the outcome of the meeting, said a team of freedom fighters from Bangladesh would soon visit Tripura to identify locations where the soldiers were buried.

The Bangladesh government is likely to either take the remains of the slain soldiers back, or protect the graveyards with the help of India.

In December 2007, Bangladesh had taken back the remains of Liberation War hero Hamidur Rahman from northern Tripura's Kamalpur area and reburied them in Dhaka with full state honours.

Hamidur Rahman, one of the seven top war heroes, died aged 18 during the Liberation War against Pakistan.

Gitte said that so far two burial spots have been identified at Ramnagar and Golchakkar on the outskirts of the state capital.

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Bangladesh freedom fighters to look for fellow-soldiers' graves in Tripura

From Tahrir Square in Cairo to Times Square in New York City, the human cry for and celebration of freedom has come to define modern man's highest aspirations for himself and the one ideal that modern societies hold in highest esteem. After centuries of human history in which slavery and human bondage were accepted as norm, the struggle for individual and collective freedom ought to be commemorated as real progress in realizing the awesomeness of God-given human dignity.

"Truly, We have instilled dignity into the Children of Adam," God reminds us in the Quran (17:70). And, for this reason, perhaps, the Muslim sage and second caliph of Islam, Umar bin al-Khattab, reportedly warned one of his governors against taking slaves, saying, "O 'Amr! When did you begin to enslave and subjugate people after their mothers have given birth to them as free people?"

When we speak of freedom, we speak of those physical and institutional barriers that restrict a person or peoples from exercising the right to follow their conscience. Beyond this, however, there are important philosophical and practical questions on the meaning and scope of freedom, for no human value can be limitless or left completely unchecked by other greater values. Every society will have to answer for itself these rather difficult and complex questions.

In this sermon I want to focus our attention on, arguably, the least considered aspect of freedom -- an aspect without which the human being and societies will never be able to realize the highest promise embedded within the genome of freedom. I speak of that most precious independence known as inner freedom.

This freedom is a freedom that allows us to unshackle ourselves from the bondage of our own egos, false desires, delusions, addictions, and evil inclinations. God alludes to this inner human trap that one must escape when God asks rhetorically in the Quran, "Have you ever considered [the kind of person] who makes his own desires his deity?" (25:43).

It is in many ways the most difficult freedom to attain, and the one that requires the greatest struggle. In a saying that is attributed to Muhammad, the Prophet turned to his companions after a long and difficult battle, saying, "You have arrived with an excellent arrival. You have come from the lesser jihad [struggle] to the greater jihad [struggle]: the striving against your false desires." While the chain of transmission back to the Prophet is questionable, scholars throughout the centuries of Islam have taken it as true at least in its wisdom and have written entire works on the meaning of greater jihad. The Quran itself speaks of this greater struggle when it says, "As for those who strive in Our path, We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead unto Us: for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good" (29:69).

Inner freedom is not vague or idealistic. It is real and has very real manifestations. It is what allowed a young Abraham, upon him be peace, to oppose the false beliefs of his people, freeing himself from idolatry. It is what allowed Hagar, upon her be peace, to run between the mountains in the middle of a desert, searching for sustenance, freeing herself from despair. It is what allowed Moses, upon him be peace, to speak the truth in front of a tyrant, freeing himself from a fear that would have left him speechless. It is what allowed Mary, upon her be peace, to bear the false accusations against her reputation with patience and forbearance, freeing herself from resentment and anger. It is what allowed Jesus, upon him be peace, to pray to God for his people's forgiveness even when they abused and abandoned him, freeing himself from hatred and malice.

The Prophet Muhammad, too, was a constant exemplar of what it means to be a person and community of inner freedom. When, upon hearing that she was sick, the Prophet visited the rude woman who would throw filth on him, he showed us what it means to be truly free. When the Prophet smiled at the harsh Arab who pulled on the neck of his cloak, making demands, he showed us what true freedom really looks like. When the Prophet chose compromise and a peace treaty over continuous war with the belligerent Meccans at Hudabiyyah, he showed us how truly free people act wisely rather than foolishly. When, toward the end of his life, the Prophet entered Mecca victorious and granted amnesty to his former enemies, he showed us that truly free people choose forgiveness over revenge.

The attainment of this inner freedom does not come easily, nor does it happen overnight. Rather, it requires struggle over the course of a lifetime. It requires an inner revolution that overcomes the dictators within us. The aspiration for inner freedom requires a spiritual practice that disciplines the ego and moves the soul toward higher purposes. And this is where the spiritual discipline of fasting is related, intimately, to freedom.

The month of Ramadan, in which Muslims are prescribed to fast from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse, at its most basic level, every day during the daylight hours from dawn to dusk, is nearly upon us. Fasting is the one prescribed discipline or practice that is actually about restraint rather than action. And in this there is a profound wisdom. It teaches us that there are times when restraint is just as powerful, if not even more powerful, than action. Fasting is like pulling back a wild, galloping horse from the brink of a cliff.

Read more from the original source:
Imam Sohaib Sultan: HuffPost Jummah: Freedom and Fasting

Editors note: On Thursday, July 4, there was a full-page advertisement in the news section, placed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Published in full color, the advertisements main message was Celebrate our godless Constitution, and it featured portraits and quotes from six of Americas Founding Fathers. The advertisement was paid for by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and does not reflect the views of The Seattle Times.

Religion is a protected right

Having just returned from vacation in Pennsylvania, named for William Penn, who worked to ensure freedom for religion and nonreligion, it is illuminating to see the full-page ad from the Freedom From Religion Foundation on July 4 promoting the removal of all things religious from the public domain.

Even Thomas Jefferson stated in our founding document that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, explicitly establishing a religious basis for the liberty we celebrate today.

Freedom of speech, too, is a fundamental First Amendment right for all, rather than being limited only to those with no religious basis. Sadly, we seem to be losing the First Amendment protections of freedom of religion.

Ron Carson, Renton

Advertisement was informative

Thanks to The Seattle Times for printing that very attractive, informative full-page ad from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Its about time that people learn the truth about our Founding Fathers thoughts on religion and the need for separation of church and state.

Phyllis Becker, Port Hadlock

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Advertisement from the Freedom From Religion Foundation

The Pointer Sisters - Freedom
Music video by The Pointer Sisters performing Freedom. (C) 1985 BMG Music.

By: koollatter

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The Pointer Sisters - Freedom - Video

Art.Nemesis - Freedom
Brand New Summer Song from Art.Nemesis tumblr.com/artlovesnemesis instagram.com/artlovesnemesis twitter.com/artlovesnemesis.

By: artlovesnemesis

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Art.Nemesis - Freedom - Video

Rare Item Monday #1- Freedom glove
Starting of the new series of rare item monday! i uploaded this a little late though sorry. Send me stuff for mailtime anything is fine even a pillow. youtub...

By: TheAnimal2204

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Rare Item Monday #1- Freedom glove - Video