National Anthem During Prayers

mommyrunning

Anytime an American is in another foreign country, that country should start abiding the American ways immediately and the American way is to spread freedom and what better way to spread freedom by oppressing non-christians right to pray by blasting music!

I really hope this was a sarcastic reply. America assuming everyone is like us or should be like us is probably one of the reasons why we haven't been more successful helping other countries. It is important to respect other people's religions and cultures. I am proud to be an American (served 10 years in the Air Force) but sometimes I am embarrassed by our arrogance. How often do we hear people saying people who come to American should learn English yet when we go to another country we don't try to learn their language.

As a former military member just want to point out most of the military is awesome and this one person is not representative of the majority. Unfortunately, just like any group you have some who do things that go against the values of the group.

DBoone85

What are you all talking about? How will the world learn about freedom if Americans don't go and tell the world at every opportunity we get? That prayer thing is probably code for some war against freedom anyways. Good for him for disrupting their code words.

Smack.

darkguardian419

I'm atheist, but I still have respect for the religious preferences of others. I don't think what the soldier did was awesome. It was offensive.

I think if we turned it around and said that Christians were having a prayer time and someone played the Islamic Call to Prayer or another country's national anthem they would be very offended.

This exactly...

DBoone85

The link appears to be from a totally reputable news source, right? I have googled this incident and can find nothing about it from any real news website. And you KNOW CNN would have been ALL OVER IT if it were true.

mommyrunning

This appears to be from 2012 and this person appears to be a real person but no news story which is probably good in this case as it will only cause more problems for our soldiers currently serving.

SuperVixen2B

Wait...where are all the people shoutin' 'MURICA!!! ...? I'm confused...is this backwards day?

WhatAnAss

Total **** move.

For sure! What a D!ck!

redheaddee

This thread is remarkably drama-free.

...until Taunto came in, LOL.

seltzermint555

All I can think of is "this is why no one likes our country"

yup!

JoRocka

I wonder if it's even true. I hear about a lot of things like this that turn out to be hoaxes. I checked Snopes for it but they don't have anything. I certainly hope it's not true because it is highly offensive and I like to think our soldiers are trained better than to do something so stupid.

ETA: I've done more research and this happened back in Dec. 2012. The soldier's name is Beau Embrey. Videos show him playing it at a military base. All the videos claim it's during Muslim prayer time, but since they have formal prayers 5 times a day, it wouldn't be hard to hit at least one of them just by coincidence. LOL. As far as I could tell, no Muslims were within hearing distance.

Well- to be fair- 5 isn't' that many times- I mean I pee more times than that and can play all sorts of music between and not hit my pee breaks- so I think it's not unreasonable to STOP doing it....I don't think it's that hard to avoid it honestly.

BUT- thank you for the follow up- I had to actually hack cut/paste the link into my original thread b/c I cant' access ANYTHING- there are some YouTube videos as well- but clearly those are off limits at work.

taunto

All I can think of is "this is why no one likes our country"

I once got up to a woman and told her that "I am better than you". Everywhere she turned, there I was, reminding her that I am better than her. She went to get a drink of water. I told her I only drink water that is filtered 8 times and the water she is drinking is suitable only to bathe in. Then I told her I am better than her.

She started dancing, I told her that this is not the appropriate dance for the occassions and I showed her the dance she ought to be doing. Then I reminded her that this is the reason I am better than her.

Then I told her that I am better than her because I make more money than her, even though I had no idea how much money she makes.

I told her I have more education than her, even though I had no idea what her education was.

I told her that her skin color isn't good enough and that mine is better than her.

Eventually she understood that I AM in fact better than her and she slept with me.

This is the same tactic America uses and is the reason we all love America!

doorki

I wonder if it's even true. I hear about a lot of things like this that turn out to be hoaxes. I checked Snopes for it but they don't have anything. I certainly hope it's not true because it is highly offensive and I like to think our soldiers are trained better than to do something so stupid.

ETA: I've done more research and this happened back in Dec. 2012. The soldier's name is Beau Embrey. Videos show him playing it at a military base. All the videos claim it's during Muslim prayer time, but since they have formal prayers 5 times a day, it wouldn't be hard to hit at least one of them just by coincidence. LOL. As far as I could tell, no Muslims were within hearing distance.

Well- to be fair- 5 isn't' that many times- I mean I pee more times than that and can play all sorts of music between and not hit my pee breaks- so I think it's not unreasonable to STOP doing it....I don't think it's that hard to avoid it honestly.

BUT- thank you for the follow up- I had to actually hack cut/paste the link into my original thread b/c I cant' access ANYTHING- there are some YouTube videos as well- but clearly those are off limits at work.

While this clarification is welcome, it does not excuse the idea that people think that it is a good thing when they thought he was intentionally playing this through their call to prayer.

DjinnMarie

Jrocka- the video has been removed. But from comments posted, I agree it's disrespectful.

As to why I quoted this. You are very much mistaken. If you were to read and study the Koran and hadiths, you would realize that these "fundamentalist wackos" are simply following their religious texts and edicts. They not only understand their religion, but are extremely devout. The Koran and hadiths DO give them religious justification for their actions. Just like all abrahamic religions, Islam IS violent, and not only condones it, but promotes it. The difference between peaceful Muslims and the extremists is their interpretation on their holy books. Peaceful Muslims interpret, while extremists take the word of the Koran literally, which btw, the Koran said it is meant to be taken. The Koran is the direct word of god, dictated to mohammed, and cannot be changed, updated, revised or interpreted.

So please don't say that religion has nothing to do with islamic extremists. Or that extremists don't understand their religion, because they most certainly do.

And before anybody jumps on the "but Christianity was violent too!" Yes I know. All abrahamic religions are.

So, one of our soldiers played our national anthem during Muslim prayers?

I agree. Disrespectful.

It is not the religion of Islam that murdered our people. It is the fundamentalist wackos that did so, hiding behind the guise of religion while keeping their followers ignorant. Those "people" are the equivalent of the KKK or Westboro church, both of which are Christian but obviously do not represent the faith. It is very important to keep the RELIGION and the PEOPLE separate, because ISIS and ISIL and all these fundamentalists obviously have never read nor understand their proclaimed religious tomes. I have read them, and no where does it say it is OK to blow people up who disagree with your faith. Not in ANY religion.

taunto

I wonder if it's even true. I hear about a lot of things like this that turn out to be hoaxes. I checked Snopes for it but they don't have anything. I certainly hope it's not true because it is highly offensive and I like to think our soldiers are trained better than to do something so stupid.

ETA: I've done more research and this happened back in Dec. 2012. The soldier's name is Beau Embrey. Videos show him playing it at a military base. All the videos claim it's during Muslim prayer time, but since they have formal prayers 5 times a day, it wouldn't be hard to hit at least one of them just by coincidence. LOL. As far as I could tell, no Muslims were within hearing distance.

I feel like the bolded part needs some clarification. Even though I realize this video is complete BS and that this didn't happened or if it did, it wasn't the intent of the soldier, I just wanted to say this. When you say 5 times a day, it takes literally no more than 10 minutes each time to pray. The prayer is done in very low volume and is usually not audible outside of the mosque. There are certain mosques who do and certain occassions asks for it to be audible outdoors but typically, it is not the case. And the loud prayer voice you hear, its called azaan, which takes no more than 1 minute to say.

The more you know

bugaboo_sue

You know I don't agree with the whole "no one likes our country" song that everyone here is slinging. Sure the Islamic extremists don't like our country but to say everyone doesn't is a bit daft.

I have friends all over the world and no one has an issue with America or Americans. Issues with the POTUS and with some of our policies (healthcare for one)? Sure but America as a whole? No. Not even a little bit. Several years ago my husband would go on a golfing trip to Ireland and he as an American was welcome with open arms. They were eager to hear all the news that was going on and more importantly to hear the truth about what was going on.

So it's rather a blanket statement to say "no one likes our country". Or perhaps I just associate with people who aren't angry and out to get everyone.

corehawk

You all say it was disrespectful, that he should have been a better representative of our country. Have any of you been in war? Have you had to deal with death all around you? Maybe don't be so quick to judge a man fighting for your freedom. Maybe try a little harder to put yourself in his shoes.

DjinnMarie

In Afghanistan it is not just around mosques. It is broadcasted through entire cities. I also know this happens in cities in Saudi Arabia.

I wonder if it's even true. I hear about a lot of things like this that turn out to be hoaxes. I checked Snopes for it but they don't have anything. I certainly hope it's not true because it is highly offensive and I like to think our soldiers are trained better than to do something so stupid.

ETA: I've done more research and this happened back in Dec. 2012. The soldier's name is Beau Embrey. Videos show him playing it at a military base. All the videos claim it's during Muslim prayer time, but since they have formal prayers 5 times a day, it wouldn't be hard to hit at least one of them just by coincidence. LOL. As far as I could tell, no Muslims were within hearing distance.

I feel like the bolded part needs some clarification. Even though I realize this video is complete BS and that this didn't happened or if it did, it wasn't the intent of the soldier, I just wanted to say this. When you say 5 times a day, it takes literally no more than 10 minutes each time to pray. The prayer is done in very low volume and is usually not audible outside of the mosque. There are certain mosques who do and certain occassions asks for it to be audible outdoors but typically, it is not the case. And the loud prayer voice you hear, its called azaan, which takes no more than 1 minute to say.

The more you know

Return_of_the_Big_Mac

Djinn, all ideologies can become violent... in fact, any ideology that says that it is "universally true" will inevitably condone violence in some form (even if it is in self defense). From there, any act of aggression can be justified as an act of preemptive self-defense.

As for the "fundamentalist whackos," they actually aren't following the commandments of the Hadith or Koran. There are some justifications for their actions (if they feel their religion is being threatened) for religious warfare but the guidance is fairly limited and the rules of engagement are very strict (they're not allowed to target innocent civilians or continue fighting when it is clear that the aggressor does not wish to attack their faith).

To try to simplify our current geopolitical instability as a struggle of religious extremists against the West's freedoms is silly and misguided. As always, the reality is complicated and involves subtleties that most Americans don't care to understand.

DjinnMarie

One of the biggest struggles our soldiers face is keeping their humanity while dehumanizing the enemy. Dehumanizing the enemy is essential for military operations and conflicts. It's a very effective defense mechanism. The problem here is nobody really knows who the enemy is, as they don't wear a uniform. So the distinction is somewhat more difficult for them.

With that said.... It's still disrespectful, despite it being understandable. There is a difference.

You all say it was disrespectful, that he should have been a better representative of our country. Have any of you been in war? Have you had to deal with death all around you? Maybe don't be so quick to judge a man fighting for your freedom. Maybe try a little harder to put yourself in his shoes.

Return_of_the_Big_Mac

You all say it was disrespectful, that he should have been a better representative of our country. Have any of you been in war? Have you had to deal with death all around you? Maybe don't be so quick to judge a man fighting for your freedom. Maybe try a little harder to put yourself in his shoes.

I know that if you're in a country where you want the local population on your side, you go way, way out of your way to not piss them off.