Posted by Eva Hart Lowell Thomas,famous journalist, in book titled The New Popular History of the World 64 author Wallace Caldwell with editorial advisers from Harvard,Yale,Columbia,Duke,John Hopkins Universities and states,"If we know a nation's history and vast relations with the world, then we can understand that nation. Why do her rulers act the way they do? How did she (Russia) get that way?" I present this following information for Peace Between Nations by understanding another's way and customs religiously and otherwise and to solve these conflicts and differences in healing the wounds and pains. In 1380 The Mohammedan religion---or at least a militant version of it---reached Jolo Island and its ferver and intensity found a welcome in the spirited passions of the Tao Sug also known as Moros of Jolo Island on southernmost part of Philippines. Visaya means slave and later came to mean Christian which gave added grounds for taking the Spanish as well as the Filipinos for slaves. Perhaps the most extraordinary quality the Mohammedan religion developed in Jolo is its fanaticism. For years, no Moro would attend school for fear of "invisible conversion" to Christianity. As recently as 1940 the students of one of the schools killed all their non-Moro teachers for no reason that the authorities were ever able to discern. And even today, some people of Jolo will not ride in a car, simply because Christians introduced automobiles to the island. It is also a problem for Moros to go to the hospital, because according to their reasoning if they died a Christian would touch them, and this is not to be borne. But of all the religious fanatical aspects of the Moros of Jolo Island, the most terrifying are those described by the words juramentado and amok. Amok is a word as old as the Malayan language, and it refers to anyone who goes murder-mad and kills and kills until he himself is killed. With the advent of Mohammedanism, the peculiar emotional possibility which going amok represented was given a purpose. The origin of the Juramentado goes back to the Holy wars against the Christians when a devout follower of Mohammedanism was guaranteed transition from earth to heaven if he after purification at the Mosque,set out to kill the first Chritian he saw and as many thereafer as he could until he was killed himself. Going amok is still a serious problem in Jolo Island. In Manila if you say your going to Jolo, people will caution you to watch out for the Juramentado and remind you that only two years ago a juramentado entered Jolo Cathedral with his gun and fired indiscriminately, murdering among others the daughter of the present Governor of the Sulus. Because of certain peculiarities in Jolo character, this mood of murder and self-immolation sits easily on Jolo consciences. Furthermore,a juramentado or amok is always the result of a violation of a person's Martabat or self-respect which is, to a native of Jolo a man's most important,private,tender, and sadly enough vulnerable possession. When your martabat is hurt you are "at the end of your patience" according to Moro and your only recourse is to go Amok. A wife's infidelity is main cause of these crimes, but other motivations also operate. A short while back a man went amok and killed three innocent bystanders before he was shot down by police for resisting orders to stop. The cause of his actions it seems lay in the fact his wife on day before chided him for poor love-making. A similar sensitivity operates in other spheres of life on island. Some years ago the brilliant spear dance of the Moro was banned by law because too many deaths. Not until 1848 when steamboats were first used in Sulu waters did they gain sea superiority over pirates' garays (canoes) and secure some measure of turbulent control over the island. Deprived of piracy the Moros turned to land brigandage and smuggling. North Borneo tried to stop these crimes. The Moros believe in going to Mecca every other year for greater prestige. They will get money by any means necessary to go to Mecca the article says. In 1899 the new American rulers of the Philippine Islands relieved the small Spanish garrison on Jolo and invented a "policy of attraction" in the hope of subduing the island peacefully. One of the concessions was the acceptance of slavery. Much later, as a token of gratitude to the Americans for their tolerance of Jolo customs, the late wife of present Sultan made a gesture at abolishing the practice. Instead of five hundred slaves at her command, she kept only five maids for her bath and five others to sleep at her side by night. One Moro I talked to started off by saying,"Now take spitting. A Moro gets fined for spitting in street and fined five pesos by Sanitary Inspector. So he asks himself ,"Have I not the freedom to spit?" And then, there is the housing question. According to the Koran,Allah gave the Moro land and the right to live on it. So he builds his little nipa hut of palm leaves near hotel in Jolo. Along comes a Fire Inspector who says it's dangerous and tears it down. It is a wonder he concluded patiently, that we don't all go Amok these days." From Harper's Magazine June 1955 ed., by Faubion Bowers 1948 and referred to by Harcourt,Brace and Company College Grammar Handbook by John Hodges 1941-1956 from paragraph contrast exercise article. Kamlon,mythical and mysterious leader and his men have one weakness because of their overpowering fear that Christians will touch their dead, they fight relentlessly to recover their casualties. One battle raged for 3 days simply to recover one dead body. This is only time when Kamlon allows any sort of prolonged battle contact or is not master of combat situation. Kamlon it is figured may have only 200 followers on tis tiny island, but his invulnerability and supernatural protection the Phillipine army have more plausible explanations. He is mobile. From the above book I mentioned of the New Popular History of the World with foreward by Lowell Thomas it states the Moslems have code saying,"They condemn murder, fraud and cruelties to slaves,orphans, women. Against idolatry,witchcraft,ursury,alcohol. Give alms. The Moslems worked on alchemy which helped develop chemistry. Contributed to algebra and trigonometry. Moslems cultivated a great culture too. They fostered scientific agriculture,manufactured metal-wares,woolen,perfumes. Aladdin and Sinbad the sailor delighted thousands. Mohammed in 630 called a Holy War and promised his followers Paradise if they would die fighting in his Holy Wars. The first Caliph over all Moslems was located in Baghdad and they so early in time make people convert to Islam. There is a contemporary report of Pope Urban II of France's address rallying western European peoples,mainly French, to a Holy War against the invading Turks of Alexius,Emperor of Rome, territory. We, Christians did not start the conflict with Moslems. The Caliphs began persecuting the Christians in later eleventh century. We,Christians believe in love and forgiveness. We hate the murder of innocents. Proverbs Ch 6. I hope this Jolo Island story and their customs and rules presented will heal the conflicts that divide us from others. If we address conflicts,problems of people then we can have Peace and not any violence. Alexander the Great when he conquered the Egyptians wisely respected their Religion says the historian. Let the flame of love and understanding glow, not hatreds. I love to read about Christianity and history. Eva Hart A Christian citizen Army 62-70 Rec job Sec of Def 64 670 Eddy St. Sfc 94109
on February 24, 2007, 6:28 pm
70.132.19.179
TO: Senator Dennis Kucinich (D) Ohio February 24, 2007
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