Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Robert Spencer : Wherever there is a debate in
Germany as to whether a mosque is allowed to let the muezzin call sound
in the neighborhood via loudspeaker systems, a controversial discourse
is certain. This was also the case in Gelsenkirchen at the beginning of
last year, when the Integration Council debated, at times heatedly,
loudly and emotionally, about the Greens’ proposal to make the Islamic
call to prayer possible once a day at two locations in the south and
north of the city.
Ultimately, this could not be implemented
legally and politically. Nevertheless, the Ditib Mosque in
Gelsenkirchen-Hassel on the street Am Freistuhl 14-16 let the muezzin
call ring out every day during the fasting month of Ramadan. Since it
was not possible to pray together in the mosque to break the fast at
sunset due to the pandemic, the mosque association decided to do so. “We
want to help the Muslim community members and make them happy,” WDR
quoted Cesur Özkaya, the chairman of the Turkish-Islamic Ditib community
in Hassel, as saying at the time. In a letter to the neighbors, he
asked for understanding for “the sign of solidarity”.
The editors
were not aware of any complaints from the neighborhood of the mosque in
the past year. It’s a little different this year. It was at least
“awkward” that even on Good Friday, the muezzin call was heard in the
district, although in memory of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the
church bells did not even ring that day, residents of the WAZ report.
“I
was amazed to learn that the Hasseler Ditib association had the muezzin
called to prayer on Good Friday of all days,” says FDP councilor
Christoph Klug, who was approached by some Gelsenkirchen citizens at the
weekend. “I think this approach is insensitive, even if it’s Ramadan,”
says Klug. “I would have wished for more consideration and understanding
for the Christian community, for which Easter and especially Good
Friday are the highest holidays next to Christmas.”
Cesur Özkaya
regretted that the municipality did not distribute flyers and inform the
neighborhood this year. “We should have done better,” he said in an
interview with this editor. Otherwise, he pointed out that the
congregation had had permission for the weekly muezzin call to Friday
prayers for 22 years. “We’ve always done that on Good Friday in recent
years, and there have never been any complaints,” says Özkaya.
As
in the previous year, he wanted to have the muezzin called every day to
break the fast this year: “The pandemic is not over yet,” he says.
However, out of consideration for the neighbors, he now wants to refrain
from doing so for the remaining days of Ramadan. “We really value being
good neighbors,” he says. In discussions in the past, the community has
always received encouragement from non-Muslim residents of Hassel.
The
community does not need an extra permit for the daily muezzin call
anyway, explains a spokesman for the city of Gelsenkirchen when asked.
As long as the call to prayer does not exceed the maximum volume of 55
specified in the technical instructions for protection against noise (TA
Lärm).
