described his daughter’s attacker on Friday as “an agent of Satan”

No, more like an "agent of Islam".

This has less to do with religion than the desire of humans using religion to control the masses. Really no different that the catholic chutch did in Europe for 1400+ years. Same thing, just a different label and humans have done this to each other since before recorded history and most likely continue to do so far into the future, the only hope for change is young people like this young lady standing up for what is right, no matter the cost. You can point fingers and blame religion all you want for these actions, but its just human nature and the battle for power that are at fault....WWII Germany used the Jews as the fault for their problems, but it was control, power and using the insecurity of a country that was the driving force that caused the worst war in human history to happen.

So I take it that you are comfortable with a 15 year old girl taking a bullet to the head for standing up to Islamic terrorists?

Shouldn't you be in Mecca right now throwing stones at the devil?

I've heard the Taliban has reiterated their commitment to killing her. I'm not hopeful of her chances of any longevity should she return to Afghanistan. Their moon god is a vengeful god.

Yep they did Wet Willy, they are sick. And she is from Pakistan.

I hope and suspect that another country offers her family asylum. Though this girl is very strong, she may insist on returning to Pakistan where she aspires to be a politician and help the country. Though, a previous article stated that she wanted to be a doctor but her dad talked her into becoming a politician.

Johnathan: I would respectfully like to disagree with you on the comment that:

no place has come to point of no return as Pakistan

50 of Pakistan's highest religious clerics got together and issued a fatwa against those who tried to kill Malala.

The Prime Minister has called her 'our daughter', denounced in the strongest possible terms what was done to 'our daughter' and has repeatedly asserted that the attack on Malala constituted an attack on all humanity. The outpouring of well-wishes and hopes for speedy recovery has come not only from western countries but from all over the world. They have dedicated a new university dedicated to IT technology, named it after her, and it is open to anyone who wants to study, male or female.

I would not consider this the 'point of no return'. They are slowly coming to see the value in westernized ideas and technology, and the younger generation, who, like Malala, grew up tin the middle of privation, war, repression and hate, are tired of it through the internet and TV and increasing global interconnectivity, they have seen what is possible; they have seen the future of the world, and they want to be part of that. They ultimately are the ones who will rule their country, and while it may not happen today, tomorrow, or even in five years, I am firmly convinced that by the end of my lifetime we will see peace in the Middle East, tolerance and acceptance, an end to conflict, religious intolerance and bloodshed.

How about the story about the women and their daughters killed by drones while picking up firewood?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57513747/officials-8-women-killed-in-nato-airstrike/

How is their recovery going?

They don't have angels to thank for her survival. They have Western science and medicine to thank. We'll see where the angels are when they go back to their @!$%# hole of a country and the Taliban finish what they started. (That being the case, I really do hope they are granted asylum and move to a safter part of this planet where she can get her education in peace).

Riverboy21 1.5

My mistake. I knew it was Pakistan but my fingers typed Afghanistan.

Amanda: You have a right to be in your own imaginary world of eternal hopes!

Many of you have been ignoring what followers of Islamic cult have been doing in the Afghan and Paki regions!

Most Muslims follow one-way traffic and many have one-way vision! For these reasons, 15 year old Malala girls' cases have been going on in millions in that region.

It has been my observation that Angels, do indeed, help other Angels and may guide the doctor's hand, as well.

This child has a mission and a purpose, her work is not done yet. May she, like so many before her, (Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Kennedy, Mandela, etc) have the strength, love, and support to get her work done here on earth.

I certainly hope this girl recovers fully.

But I would like to remind everyone that "angels" and other nonsensical religious references have nothing to do with ANY of this. This girl's recovery was brought about by the common sense, goodwill, and intelligent actions of human beings.

Indeed, this tragedy was caused by the irrational, hateful, and murderous actions of those who themselves admit that they are fueled by their religion.

It's all very nice and cutesy to talk of "angels" and "satan", but the truth is that that sort of mindset leads to this sort of irrational tragedy in the first place.

And you can bet that "angels" won't provide as much help to this young girl as will modern medical techniques.

Wow, I sure am glad you guys got to throw your mandatory "there is no god" talking points in there.... I was worried I hadn't seen them by the 1st reply to the first comment...

...Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people)...

Jonathan,

Actually Sufism is about meditation, spiritual training, and transformation of your immature personality.

Pure racism!

Change your name to no brain adam...Islam is a religion, not a race. twit.

I was referring to the prolific use of racial slurs and the obvious hate directed towards a particular people. "Paki." Twit.

No Alias Adam: For the crimes Pakis, especially Muslims in particular have done to non-Muslims, Muslims of minority sects and girls and women, "Paki" is a moderate word.

Where is the racism there?

If I was in a Muslim majority nation, I would have been killed by now for my freedom of expression.

It was our blunders to permit Muslims in non-Muslim majority nations for their hate and killer actions including terrorist activities.

You people don't deserve even freedom of religion and expressions in our nations for misusing all facilities we give you people.

Why don't you people go back to your Muslim majority nations instead of being liabilities and curses on our societies and nations?

He did, didn't you read the arti...oh wait, this is the internet. I forgot, nobody actually reads the article.

PeteMT ....pretty basic english comprehention class would help you a lot bud..

Rw: And you could take a course in remedial spelling.

yeah: effective trolling *requires* that you don't read the article. But you did get further than most.

pete: yeah & rw asked a valid question. You said "I hope he's thanked the doctors."

And if you did read the article you would no longer need to "hope." He HAS thanked the doctors. As well as the angels.

Just saying...

Jonathan: "Before followers of Islamic cult set their feet on Afghan and Paki regions, they were quite peaceful and prosperous."

With respect, I'm not sure I understand you. Pakistan was created from India as a MUSLIM (rather than Hindu--India) country. So how could it be "before followers of islamic cut set their feet on Paki regions?"

Just asking?

Anyone notice that the father and sons are dressed in comfy Western clothes (albeit like the 1970s) and the mother and the daughter in her hospital bed are wrapped up in tablecloths? WTF is up with that? Even when shot in the head she dare not show her hair?

Islam is so sick.

And Maxwell, Pakistan was part of India and mostly Hindu (+Buddhist and Christian) before the Muslims came and repressed the native religion.

It's always something, isn't it?

Rachel: Actually Pakistan was carved from India in order to make it Muslim--(India's Hindu).

Watch the movie, "Gandhi"--it will show you much better than I exactly what happened.

;^)

Rachel, would you prefer she be wearing short shorts and tank tops like the liberated wardrobe of the western woman. Why is modesty oppression to you.

News flash: a lot of Muslim women choose to wear a head scarf.

rachel said;

Anyone notice that the father and sons are dressed in comfy Western clothes (albeit like the 1970s) and the mother and the daughter in her hospital bed are wrapped up in tablecloths? WTF is up with that? Even when shot in the head she dare not show her hair?

She may not want to.

First; her belief system decrees that 'women should guard their beauty' from all but those closest to them.

Secondly: She's been shot in the head. Half of her hair has likely been shaved so the doctors could surgically split her scalp open and cut her skull to get the bullet out. Many, many women in the US who have had such head trauma operated on (and women and children undergoing chemotherapy for cancer) choose to cover their head with hats, handkerchiefs, etc. There's a whole industry that makes wigs for child cancer patients so they can cover their heads (I've donated over six feet of hair over four haircuts in ten years for that purpose.)

When I was in the hospital having my face reconstructed after a bike accident that broke my orbital socket in multiple pieces, they had to shave the right side of my head from my eyebrow to my jawline to put in plates that would hold the broken bones together. I didn't leave the house for a month until the hair grew back on the shaved portion enough to cut the rest of my hair hat short to match. And I till wore my husband's baseball caps for two months later until the hair was thick enough to cover the patch on the side of my head.

And...what if they used surgical staples? If this were you, would you really want people to see staples in your head?

Third: your 'tablecloths' remark---they live in a desert country it is hot and dry and there are dust storms/sandstorms. Having loose fitting clothing will protect the skin from the heat and damage of the sun, in addition to providing extra cloth so that if a dust storm were to rise suddenly, they can quickly pull a loose flap of cloth over eyes mouth and nose to prevent sand/dust getting in.

Fourth: have you ever been in a hospital fora long period of time? You know what hospital gowns look like? They're tablecloths so that doctors can reach under and change catheters, bathe certain portions of your anatomy, and if something goes wrong they can attach monitoring equipment much faster and more easily than fumbling with buttons, zippers, velcro,strings.

Maxwell, I don't have to watch Hollywood's version of history--I read and have plenty of Indian friends. Hinduism predates Islam by about 5000 years. The country of India was divided BECAUSE the Muslims couldn't bear to share their land with Hindus. Why do you think Pakistan is nearly 100% Muslim but India has one of the largest populations of Muslims in the world? Because MUSLIMS are intolerant bastards.

Amanda, her belief system--or maybe the belief system of her repressive, backward, awful religion believes it is women's responsibility to dress in antiquated, uncomfortable, inconvenient clothes to keep men from raping them. Clothes that make many jobs impossible to do for a woman. Their belief system keeps women locked away without education.

THAT'S WHAT SHE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST, YOU FOOL!

though by your ignorant lights, this is good in a desert country (much of Afghanistan is mountainous and dry but NOT desert. How wonderful of the men to give up a dust-protecting costume so only the women get the cloth and are FORCED to wear it while the men dress in comfy western garb.

And she was shot in the NECK. No American or British woman would drape her "staples" in a non-sterile cloth in the hospital. And what do you think, her mother has staples, too.

Sick of you making excuses for this sick culture.

And Amanda, you wouldn't have draped your injured face in a dirty cloth from outside or gotten beaten up or killed for daring to wear a man's cap and it was your choice to cover your head and then WHEN YOUR HAIR GREW BACK, had the freedom to go outside with the wind in your hair.

You PC creeps are part of what keep women in chains, making excuses.

But I'll forgive you--maybe you had permanent brain damage.

I don't know who you are rachel but really, using creeps in any part of your response only makes you seem childish. If you read books about the middle east you will find a lot of women like to cover their heads on their own. I think we need to remember that freedom is personal. This little girl is in the UK and although I don't know for sure am pretty confident she knows that. Perhaps she believes in modesty and part of that, for her, is covering her head. Freedom is not what you want for someone else but rather what they want. So, there is the possibility she believes in modesy and you don't which is all good.

Rachel, you sure are a mean one.

rachel said:

Amanda, her belief system--or maybe the belief system of her repressive, backward, awful religion believes it is women's responsibility to dress in antiquated, uncomfortable, inconvenient clothes to keep men from raping them. Clothes that make many jobs impossible to do for a woman. Their belief system keeps women locked away without education.

The Qu'ran simply states that a woman should be modest and guard her beauty against all outsiders. I've never run across 'antiquated uncomfortable inconvenient in my research, and in fact, my Muslim friends (one of whom is a British Muslim) adores 'skinny jeans'. There's nothing in her belief system that says she cannot wear the, she says it simply requires that the skin be covered. Nowhere in the Qu'ran does it state that a woman must be uneducated--on the contrary, knowledge is to be sought after and education is a desirable thing. It's only the fundamentalists who think women should not be educated (who don't advocate for literacy and education because it loosens their followers' dependency on them.

How wonderful of the men to give up a dust-protecting costume so only the women get the cloth and are FORCED to wear it

Actually if you look at the garb of the Bedouin tribes of the desert, the men wear the same--loose, flowing burnooses as they ride their camels and those pureblood Arabian horses through the desert. And not all Muslim women are forced to wear it--I'm sure you've seen lots of women walking an American street every day wearing shirts and slacks and headscarves. It's only the traditions of whatever sect they're from that decrees the wearing of burkas, and many Westernized Muslims don't. The other night I was watching a documentary about an archaeological expedition in Egypt uncovering another Pharaonic tomb and there was an Egyptian woman archaeologist, a Dr, wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt and a headscarf giving orders to workmen on how to best uncover a child mummy.

It's equivalent to some sects of Christianity decreeing their girls wear only skirts, or the Amish wearing dresses and bonnets, the Hutterites only wearing dresses. Each sect dresses according to their tradition; nowhere in the Qu'ran does it describe what women are supposed to wear in exacting detail.

And she was shot in the NECK.

She was shot in the head:

Despite Yousufzai's progress, she has a long way to go. Doctors have said she will be in the hospital for months and need skull reconstruction. One of the bullets that hit her grazed her skull, chipping the bone but not penetrating her brain. That likely saved her life and prevented the kind of brain damage that her family feared.

No American or British woman would drape her "staples" in a non-sterile cloth in the hospital...

And Amanda, you wouldn't have draped your injured face in a dirty cloth from outside...

How do you know it was non-sterile? She's in a British hospital, there is a considerable Muslim population in Britain too. Her parents could have brought it, the hospital (most likely) had it laundered and cleaned, and let her wear it for the picture, or she could have had it with her already, or it could have been a present from any one of the well-wishers who have come to visit, or even a member of the hospital staff--there are Muslim doctors and nurses,too.

And what do you think, her mother has staples, too.

Malala's mother is from the older generation, the generation who grew up in front of Taliban rule.Those old injunctions about not being photographed might still stick with her--many traditional peoples in the world ask that photos not be taken of them. that was why i said in one of my above posts that it is Malala's generation that will change the world they live in, for the better. The old guard is changing and the younger guard have new ideas.

or gotten beaten up or killed for daring to wear a man's cap

No, but I did get in a heated discussion on the bus with a guy who liked a rival sports team from the one I was wearing, and I'm sure you've heard of fans from different sports teams beating each other up after a game, or even killing each other over whose team is better.

it was your choice to cover your head and then WHEN YOUR HAIR GREW BACK, had the freedom to go outside with the wind in your hair.

Maybe it is Malala's. We don't know. When she gets older, she may decide to change belief system from Islam to something else, or maybe she will choose to remain Muslim. maybe someday their traditional dress code willrelax and she won't have to. That's up to her.

But I'll forgive you--maybe you had permanent brain damage.

Forgive me for what? What have I done to you simply by typing messages? There is nothing that you need to 'forgive' me for; I'm absolutely positive I don't know you, and you don't know me, and we are most likely never going to meet in real life, so what could I have possibly done that you would feel required to 'forgive' me for? I feel no need to apologize for anything, though, if i have offended you unknowingly, if you could inform me of the fact I will be more than happy to apologize for the offense--I do not mean to offend anyone.

Now, as to what I read int the meaning of your comment--if being open-minded, willing to look at other cultures, other races, and be objective abut their traditions and beliefs is indicative of 'brain damage', then I will cheerfully be brain damaged and I hope more people would acquire this particular form of brain damage. The world might be a better place.

Amanda and Rachel - OUCH!! Cat fight!!!!!!!!!!

Cat fight? I don't know about that but I do know Amanda is obviously the classier lady here.

To all the poster saying India is a Hindu country - it is not. India is a secular country. East and West Pakistan were created specifically for Muslims. Paki meaning pure Stan equating to land or place ie.e Land of the Pure. I believe Nepal is the only Hindu country in the world - at least - it was.

AMANDA,,,,,The Qu'ran simply states that a woman should be modest and guard her beauty against all outsiders.

So only the pretty girls have to cover? Seems it should be the other way around. If the ugly girls cover, it will be much easier for them to get a rapist.......umm... husband.

rachel said:

Pakistan was part of India and mostly Hindu (+Buddhist and Christian) before the Muslims came and repressed the native religion.

The country of India was divided BECAUSE the Muslims couldn't bear to share their land with Hindus.

I got curious about this so I went to look this up. Pakistan was created in 1947 by the Indian Independence Act of 1947--the British ceded control of India back to its people and India split into two countries, India and Pakistan, and from what I read it pretty much seemed like it was oing from both sides. Ghandi himself was apparently assassinated because of this:

The all India Muslim League (AIML) had been formed in Dhaka in 1906 by Muslims who were suspicious of the Hindu-majority Indian National congress. They complained that Muslim members did not have the same rights as Hindu members. A number of different scenarios were proposed at various times. Among the first to make the demand for a separate state was the writer and philosopher Allama Iqbal, who, in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League, proposed a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated Indian subcontinent. According to Iqbal, such a separation was imminent in a near future, according to his vision.

The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution making it a separate nation a demand in 1935. Iqbal, Jouhar and others worked hard to draft a resolution, working with Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had until then worked for Hindu-Muslim unity and who now was to lead the movement for this new nation. By 1930, Jinnah had begun to despair at the fate of minority communities in a united India and had begun to argue that mainstream parties such as the Congress, of which he was once a member, were insensitive to Muslim interests.

In 1940, Jinnah made a statement at the Lahore conference that seemed to call for a separate Muslim country. This idea, though, was taken up by Muslims and particularly by Hindus in the next seven years, and became a more territorial plan. All Muslim political parties including the Khaksar Tehrik and Allama Mashriqi opposed the partition of India. Mashriqi was arrested on 19 March 1940.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar strongly opposed the partition of India. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar summaries Savarkar's position, in his Pakistan or The Partition of India as follows,

“
Mr. Savarkar... insists that, although there are two nations in India, India shall not be divided into two parts, one for Muslims and the other for the Hindus; that the two nations shall dwell in one country and shall live under the mantle of one single constitution;... In the struggle for political power between the two nations the rule of the game which Mr. Savarkar prescribes is to be one man one vote, be the man Hindu or Muslim. In his scheme a Muslim is to have no advantage which a Hindu does not have. Minority is to be no justification for privilege and majority is to be no ground for penalty. The State will guarantee the Muslims any defined measure of political power in the form of Muslim religion and Muslim culture. But the State will not guarantee secured seats in the Legislature or in the Administration and, if such guarantee is insisted upon by the Muslims, such guaranteed quota is not to exceed their proportion to the general population.^[3]

Most of the Congress leaders were secularists and resolutely opposed the division of India on the lines of religion. Mohandas Gandhi and Allama Mashriqi believed that Hindus and Muslims could and should live in amity. Gandhi opposed the partition, saying, "My whole soul rebels against the idea that Hinduism and Islam represent two antagonistic cultures and doctrines. To assent to such a doctrine is for me a denial of God."

For years, Gandhi and his adherents struggled to keep Muslims in the Congress Party (a major exit of many Muslim activists began in the 1930s), and in the process enraged both Hindu Nationalists and Indian Muslim nationalists. Gandhi was assassinated soon after Partition by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, who believed that Gandhi was appeasing Muslims at the cost of Hindus.

Seven said;

AMANDA,,,,,The Qu'ran simply states that a woman should be modest and guard her beauty against all outsiders.

So only the pretty girls have to cover? Seems it should be the other way around. If the ugly girls cover, it will be much easier for them to get a rapist.......umm... husband.

It's not only Qu'ranic law, it's Old Biblical Jewish law too. You've seen statues of Mary wearing a veil and a long dress. That was the prevailing tradition of dress throughout the Middle East at the time. Joseph, Mary and Jesus were Middle Eastern Jews.

Amanda: Saying something is a personal choice is a bunch of crap when that person lives in a land whose religion allows her to get beaten up for not covering up. Or if raped--even at the age of 11--killed by her family or jailed for "fornicating." Or that woman risks losing her family and livelihood if she doesn't obey the rules to cover up.

The Jews have moved on. The Muslims never have. But you make excuses for them. Go live there and make your choice to wear your husband's baseball cap.

But congratulations for finally reading something to try and learn before you post. Still, Muslims live freely in India BUT Hindus are persecuted and often killed in Pakistan.

Adam: thank you. When it comes to standing up for these oppressed women, I'm as mean as I need to be. It's the PC "Ooooo, Islam is not the probleeeem" from such as Amanda that keeps them in chains.

Women in Afghanistan and Western Pakistan are kept locked in one-room houses, can't read, no radio, no TV. All alone in those dirt-walled, dirt-floored house. The suicide rate among them is astronomical.

If Amanda wants to do something, send money for the organizations that educate the women. Especially now Amanda's finally interested in educating herself! This little girl was brave. I was remarking on the hideous religion that oppresses her, not her choices.

rachel said:

Amanda: Saying something is a personal choice is a bunch of crap when that person lives in a land whose religion allows her to get beaten up for not covering up

The religion might but the laws don't allow that. Although in the past when the fundamentalists were on the ascendant (when she started keeping her blog after the Taliban settled in the Swat valley) it would have been done and, when found, would be quietly swept under the rug-- but with the new majority in Pakistan being people who support ideas like Malala's, that is quickly becoming a footnote in their history.

The Jews have moved on. The Muslims never have. But you make excuses for them.

I'm making excuses for no one. I'm simply trying to get you to understand that there are the fundamentalist Muslims and there are Muslims like Malala, and although it's terrible that such a thing had to happen to someone so young, it's had the effect of polarizing the Muslim world, showing us all who are the real 'bad guys' and who are the peaceful Muslims.

The Jewish religion is centuries older than Muslims. The Jews were around long before Jesus was born; Jesus was a Jew. Even though a few of the Jewish religious leaders played a role in Jesus's death, the majority of Jews had evolved past their 'let's kill everyone who doesn't agree with us' phase.

The Christians sprang into existence after Jesus's death in about 30CE, but they weren't a formal, organized religion until the Council of Nicaea got together all the scrolls of Christian teachings i starting about 329 CE and bound that in a book and caleld it the Bible. Islam wasn't born until the sixth century, when Muhammed started relaying the words of God's angels as he supposedly saw in his visions The full book called the Qu'ran wasn't completed until 630 or 640 CE.

The Jewish religion has had millenia to evolve. Christianity has had roughly about two thousand years to evolve and still there are certain parts of the world where Christians kill witches and burn historic artifacts as pagan idols. Islam is still relatively new at only about 1400 years old. Let's see where they are in 600 more years. If they are still in their 'let's kill everyone who doesn't agree with us stage, then I will agree that they haven't 'moved on'.

But congratulations for finally reading something to try and learn before you post.

If you look over my previous posts, there's not a single thing I've said that didn't come from research. You said Malala was shot in the neck--I pasted a clip that said she was shot in the head and faces skull reconstruction. Perhaps, if you were to do some research of your own, you too might become more openminded. Start with looking up the 50 Islamic clerics who issued a fatwa against the assassins of this little girl; then look at what their prime minister has said about her, her bravery, her courage; read about the new IT technology college they have dedicated to her and named for her and see how it is open to all, male and female, who want to attend. Read the comments from other religious leaders praising her and saying that her bravery shames the rest of the Muslims who won't stand against the fundamentalists. Look at the other events all acorss the region as the tide of the Muslim world turns against the fundamentalists.

Women in Afghanistan and Western Pakistan are kept locked in one-room houses, can't read, no radio, no TV. All alone in those dirt-walled, dirt-floored house. The suicide rate among them is astronomical.

Um. Malala was not kept locked in a one room house in Pakistan. She was free to attend school, had access to internet (to write her blog) and certainly has access to TVS and other such trappings of modern technology.

I was remarking on the hideous religion that oppresses her,

All organized religions seek to 'opress' their people, to marginalize anyone who doesn;t agree with them, and victimizing women is no exception. There';s a passage in the bible that forbids a woman from speaking in church and decrees that she should be kept at hime,. The Christians have had two thousand years to evolve past that; the Muslims have 600 years left to go on that. As I said, let's see hwrre Islam is in 600 years, if they are still at this stage, I'll agree with you.

Open your eyes and truly SEE. You cannot defeat your enemy unless you know them, and once you know them, you realize they are not the enemy, they are people just like us, like you, like me. Some more openminded than others, some who cling to their religious beliefs, but we are all human.

Don't be so obtuse, Amanda-excusemaker. I KNOW the enemy and it is Islam. They're not just like me. You have never been to Afghanistan, I have. Her father might have been more liberal than most. Examples of one are just that.

Shot in the head and her head's not shaven? How unsanitary of them.

And the "Christianity has 600 years on Islam" argument is utter bullcrap. Christianity came of age, pulling the rest of the world behind it without TV, Internet, newspapers, education for everyone, etc. All advantages Islam now has. They're cheerfully willing to adopt modern weapons and bombs and the Internet to hatch their diabolical plots but not to educate or free their women.

If you're willing to let 600 more years of suffering go by, that's just great. Selfish, but great!

If you were there, you'd see little girls out playing. Then, at the age of 9 to 12 they disappear. Look at ANY news photo of Afghanistan or rural Pakistan. No teenaged or older women. THIS IS WHAT MALALA IS FIGHTING AGAINST. But you prefer to honor her enemies. Read these:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/another-dead-child-bride/

http://newsflavor.com/world/asia/afghanistan-legalizes-rape-child-marriage/

Maxwell...: Before Islam in the current Afghan and Paki regions, Buddhism was thriving.

Taliban were so inolerant before NATO forces entered Afghanistan that they blew up one of the biggest Buddha's statue in Bhumiyan. It was a major tourist attraction.

This is one proof of Buddhism and the technology in those days. Followers of Islamic cult can't build anything much, they know only how destroy whatever has been there!

Adam, I just saw where you wrote: should she be wearing short-shorts and a tank top (or something like it)? As if that's required in America. And then you said something in favor of modesty. Are you a Muslim? If not, you should be. Do you see western women beaten up for NOT wearing shorts and tank tops? No. It's a personal choice.

WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN, SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN, AND NOW N. AFRICA & AREAS OF EUROPE ARE BEATEN, JAILED, RAPED AND KILLED FOR NOT BEING "MODEST."

The word "modest" has come to mean "oppressed." Note that men are not required to be modest. There were Muslim laws about male modesty but those rules are the ones not followed. View any newsreel footage of Muslim lands: men in Western dress.

2300 women/year commit suicide in Afghanistan but does the PC selfish you-know-what Amanda care? No, she says, it's their personal choice!

http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/07/31/2300-women-and-girls-commit-suicide-in-afghanistan-each-year.html That's 23,000 in a decade.

3200 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan in more than a decade. Soldiers, people who signed up to fight. I guess being born female in a Muslim country is like being a soldier.

No! Both are man made.

The God of the Qu'ran and the God of the Bible are the same God. Both call Jesus the Messiah:

When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives thee glad tidings of a word from Him; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honored in this world and the next, and of those who are granted nearness to God, (Qu’ran, 3:46)

‘And he shall speak to the people in the cradle and when of middle age, and he shall be of the righteous.’ (Qu’ran, 3:47)

She said ‘My Lord, how shall I have a son when no man has touched me?’ He said “Such is the way of Allah, He creates what He pleases. When He decrees a thing, He says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is. (Qu’ran 3:48)

‘And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; (Qu’ran 3:49

‘And will make him a Messenger to the children of Israel (to say): ‘I come to you with a Sign from your Lord, which is that I will fashion out for you a creation of clay after the manner of a bird, then I will breathe into it a new spirit and it will become a soaring being by the command of Allah; and I will heal the night-blind and leprous, and I will quicken the dead, by the command of Allah, and I will announce to you what you will eat and what you will store up in your houses. Surely, therein is a Sign for you, if you be believers. (Qu’ran 3:50)

“And I come fulfilling that which is is before me, namely the Torah; and to allow you some of that which was forbidden you; and I come to you with a Sign from your Lord: so fear Allah and obey me.’ (Qu’ran 3:51)

‘Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate One, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel which are with them. He enjoins on them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful for them the good things and forbids them the bad, and removes from them their burden and the shackles that were among them. So those who shall believe in him, and honor and support him, and help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him—these shall prosper.’ (Qu’ran 7:158)

And the following is a declaration from the pope made in 1968 called the Nostra Aetate (thanks to latekate for the reference:)

3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.

Amanda: 1. You can write and shriek with tons of theories about Christianity and Islam.

2. What is more important is the practice of a religion/cult by its followers.

3. Everyone knows that religion is opium of masses. But many followers of Islamic cult are acting as if they are big heroin addicts.

4. It is people like you who give all sorts of spins, lies, and excuses for barbaric and beastly seventh century like actions of many Islamic haters and killers. You people are also guilty.

5. Religion has to reform with times. Time and tide wait for none.

6. If Islam does not reform with time, Allah's prediction will be true: Islam will be out of map in this century itself!

It is because of Malala that people might finally open their eyes to the various branches of the Muslim religion. Like with Christianity, there are THOUSANDS of different sects. By no means are the majority of them violent or against the presence of other religions. It's the extremists that grab the headlines, however, so a blanket is cast over everyone as a result.

In the Christian world, we've got everything from Jehovah's Witnesses to Episcopalians to Lutherans to Baptists to Catholics, and even the extremists like the wacky Westboro Church members are lumped in to "our" lot. Same applies for those who "fly the flag" of Christianity while bombing abortion clinics, killing doctors, shooting up/burning other religion's property (i.e. the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963, where four black girls were killed as some "upstanding white Christian" members of society tried to enforce their views).

So, too, are the Taliban and other extremists lumped rather unfairly in with the more peaceful followers of Islam. There is not one absolute Muslim religion and never has been. Perhaps seeing Malala's Muslim family will help illustrate that.

Wow, VERY well put!!

Thank you for that. What you say is true, so very very true.

You are obviously not very bright.

latekate,

You are obviously a religious bigot who is completely ignorant of the reality in the Muslim world. The "mad dogs" that did this to her are but a small minority of the Muslim people. Most Muslims I met during my 6 ears in Egypt were very kind and gentle people.

Would you have the world judge you by the rantings of Pat Robertson, or the lunatics at Westboro Church?

Please keep your bigoted remarks to yourself, lest the rest of the world judge us all as being a radical as you apperar to be.

Go Singbiker!!! You nailed it :)

Sort of funny when you think about it. There are Christians that hate Jews....funny how they forget that Jesus was a Jew! Get that people? Jesus was not a Christian!

Not to mention that the Old Testament is actually the Jewish "Bible" (the Tanakh)--only the Christian-tainted Books of Moses are missing two of their books. Jesus was born a Jew, lived the life of a Jew, held to the Commandments of a Jew, and died a Jew. Suck it up, people. If you want to walk in Jesus' footsteps, you'd best put away the pork, stop mixing milk and meat products, and look into the proper way to hold a Shabbat.

What's even funnier is that America once had a strongly anti-Semitic culture. Now the once-maligned Israel and all Jews around the world are our allies... even though just a few decades ago, you couldn't even check in to certain hotels if you were Jewish.

Used to be that we hated the "savages" (Native Americans). Then it became "witches" (Salem witch trials and the like). Then the Chinese (brought over to build the railroads). Then Mexicans. Then Japanese. Then the Communists. Now it's the Muslims. Seems like we're not happy as a country unless we hate someone.

StandUpJokeOff,

Right on. You might also mention that Jesus looked NOTHING like the Caucasian image that is portrayed in most imagery of the European Christian religions.

You sound like a racist StupidBiker, who cares if Jesus may have been black! And I suppose you also have evidence that light-skinned people did not exist two thousand years ago.

SitDownJoker you're just babbling your anti-Christian garbage as usual so I have nothing to say to you.

Your bigotry shows through again, latekate. I never said anything about Jesus being black. I said he looked nothing like a northern European Caucasian. There was a very interesting Discovery program that addressed the issue. By using scientific procedures, and forensic reconstruction techniques, they fabricated a bust that was probably a more accurate depiction of what a Jewish man in that part of the world would have looked like.

The depiction was not of a black man, though I would not have a problem with that - as you obviously would, but of a swarthy complexioned man of Jewish origin.

also mention that Jesus looked NOTHING like the Caucasian image that is portrayed in most imagery of the European Christian religions.

No I think your racist, bigoted opinion of European Christians is showing. This is your statement not mine. It's not uncommon for art images to reflect the culture. Visit the Churches of Ethiopia.

No physical description of Jesus is contained in any of the canonical Gospels.

LateKate: I'm Catholic so you labeling me as someone who is "babbling your anti-Christian garbage" is an attack on me that I take quite personally. If you can't handle the facts, stay out of the Bible. Avoid reading history.

And calling someone racist and bigoted in their opinion is a violation of NBCNews.com's Rules of Conduct. Mind your manners.

Liza;

They are in Britain at the moment, and considering the number of people who say that the country's immigration should be closed to Muslims, there are some who would not agree with you--like the nutjob who shot up the Sikh temple thinking they were Muslims.

But I have heard that the family is planning on returning to Pakistan, to continue their fight from within the system instead of trying to work to change it from the outside. As our Founding Fathers did, they place their ideals higher than their lives and for that they have my respect and honor.

They've been offered asylum in many countries; but the father insists they will return home. If he continues in that direction; he will have signed his families death warrant. Very sad, as Malala can continue her fight abroad from her hometown and be much safer and effective.

Ummm.....get out of your box, scott. Try it--you may like it.

Scott! Are you ok? (((BIG HUG))))

It's funny to watch the bigots try to twist themselves into pretzels with this story... The girl and her family are Muslims. She's "brave and beautiful" - but... Islam is a disease that must be exterminated! She's fighting the extremists the way we (should) want her to - but we kinda should hate her and wish she was dead because she's a filthy, devil-worshiping muslim.

Oh - and what stupid clothes she's wearing. Savage.

Troy, that would be wonderful for her and her family but maybe not so much for Pakistan. Unfortunately, many people have to stand up and risk their own lives for things to change. I too would hope for her own safety that she stay in GB but we must let the people of Pakistan, and those rising up to make a difference, determine for themselves what is best. I'm not a believer but I agree with the poster a few back....all of us sending her great healing thoughts, thoughts for her safety and loving arms to wrap her in may help more than we know.

LOL. Not sure the dad is even smiling..

Isn't it just whites that smile for pictures, though?

Mifo,

No, it is NOT only "whites" that smile for pictures. I have thousands of photos I took of Egyptians, and nearly all of them are smiling. They love to have their photos taken. They may not be smiling because they may be intimidated by the crowd of film and video cameras they are facing, or maybe just because of the situation they find themselves in.

Haha. Sorry if I offended with my post. It was an obscure reference to Family Guy, not a serious racist comment. And for the record, I'm white and hate having my picture taken. And pretty much never smile when I do.

It says that this was not a trip to - insert Photography studio of your choice here - where everyone is in their Sunday best and postioned to face the camera. She is in a hospital bed, if I were her mother, and even though I'm not, I wouldn't want to be in the picture. But, that is me and that is me always........I hate, hate taking pictures much less while my child is recovering in a hospital bed.

Yes, but the father and brothers were obviously placed in that position by the photographer. Look at the set-up.

Oh, and I forgot to add; I agree with you on taking pictures. I don't like it either. Still, this is a family that has been thru alot and based on the women being so inferior in the Arab culture; I have to think that is why the mother is not in the picture.