The Gaza Tragedy - Time to Speak Up!!

Mr. Ehud Barak’s address to the parliament affirmed Israel’s intention for the Invasion of Gaza strip as the continued air strikes drew a horrible blood-bath leaving the International Community in tears and zipped mouths. . In wake of hitting critical Hamas targets, Israel has flattened schools and government buildings, refugee camps, University Buildings killing women and children remorselessly to salvage and protect their territory from Hamas rockets. Almost the entire Arab & Muslim world seems as silent as the grave and have turned away their eyes from the terrorizing onslaught and massacre of the innocent Palestinians.
The tally of the death nearing 400 and almost 1500 injured requiring immediate medical attention in hospitals that are almost incapable of functioning and those facilities are now bleeding every resource available owing to the Israeli sanctions. Israel have taken up a strategy what the world refers to as ‘Terrorism’ – instilling fear for an ideological goal and deliberately targeting, and disregarding the safety, of non combatants. This is as much an act of terror as a suicide bomber rips apart a market place.
It is the sole responsibility of our Arab and Muslim leaders to join hands and voice as one a common stand against such carnage. These concerns can no better be addressed to the world powers, who blindly support not only the Israeli occupation but also approve of the onslaught by stating that: "Israel has the right to defend itself", by our current Muslim leaders, especially the Arab League as they hold with them the Key to driving their economies. Not as a threat rather a stern warning.
It is also vital for the Muslim world to realized that if Israel could hamper the UN resolutions and care less about the International Criminal Laws and deem the Invasion of Gaza as its right, it could very well breach their borders to further secure itself from potential threats; since Israel has vividly indicated that "... it is in continuous threat from its neighbors"
This is the time for the Muslim Leaders to set side their differences and stand united against a common cause, for their fellow brothers and sisters, for humanity and for themselves. Help yourself, Help your brothers and sister, Help Gaza - if is after all a part of us.

Taking Science on Faith

Science – the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypothesis. Faith, on the other hand, is a belief in the trustworthiness of an idea. Many regard science as the only authentic source of dependable, immutable, absolute, universal, mathematical laws of an unspecified origin that governs the universe. However, others rest their faith on a set of beliefs derived from religious precepts. There has always been a constant debate between those who believe in having faith is sufficient and those who need scientific evidence that could proof the assumption that nature is ordered in a rational and intelligible way. In science, a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, whereas in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue.
Below is a small excerpt from one of the reading material I was brushing through. Though the source and authenticity of this passage is dubious, it justifies the clean-connection between science and faith:

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the Problem Science has With GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and…
Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent )

Professor : You can't answer, can you ? Let's start again, Young Fella. Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Is Satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor : Where does Satan come from ?
Student : From . . . GOD . . .
Professor : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn't it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor : So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer)

Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, who Created them ?

(Student had no answer)

Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you. Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD , Tasted your GOD , Smelt your GOD ? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't..

(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events )

Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat, a Little Heat or No Heat. But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as Cold. Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat. We cannot Measure Cold. Heat is Energy. Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.

(There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )

Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of Something You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . . . But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't. If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?
Professor : So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor : Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD. You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing. Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?
Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument was going )

Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor, Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?

(The Class was in Uproar)

Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's Brain?

(The Class broke out into Laughter)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's Brain, Felt it, touched or Smelt it? . .. . No one appears to have done so. So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that You have No Brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir?

(The Room was Silent. The Professor stared at the Student, his face unfathomable)

Professor : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . .. . Exactly ! The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving.

NB:
That student was Albert Einstein.

Though the story is a little dramatized, it does assert the notion that science has its own faith-based belief system that suffices merely to strength the Link between Man & God!!!

Mumbai Attacks - A different Perspective

In the latest developments of the mystique Mumbai Attacks, Pakistan has, after intense pressure from the US and continuous pinching from India, arrested the accused masterminds and reassured every critic eye its complete ‘Focus & Commitment’ towards fighting global terror.
It is intriguing how the Indian government has put forth ‘baseless’ claims and delicately entangled Pakistan through the universal blame-game-strategy to pacify an enraged and anguish population which had immediately become skeptical of its present government policies and demanded quick results. Baseless - because the claims have been derived on the authority of the statements of one of the captured gunmen who is ostensibly a Muslim, whose own name is a mystery (is it Mohamed Ajmal Amir or Ajmal Amir Kasav?), who is accountable for spreading terror and killing innocent people, who earlier posed as a Mujahidin from Deccan and later a Jihadi from Faridkot, who had been a thief for the good part of his life and who feels no regret nor remorse for such a merciless act. How credible could he or his information be? How rationale would it be to indulge in political confrontations? I would grade his information as worthless and insignificant.
Would be it interesting to view the entire scenario as a complete fabricated plot devised by the Indian government as an elusive attempt to destabilize LeT operations in Kashmir, amid the election season, by pressurizing Pakistan to have their chief arrested since the Indian Security forces have failed to gain control and avert the menacing situation. Or is it a blatant message from Raj Thackery to the North Indians to exit Mumbai.
The Indian authorities should refrain from making any accusation towards Pakistan's involvement as the balance of speculation could shift either way.