Is Hamas a religious based organization, or a strictly politically based group?
485236
Hamas is the modern day Adolf Hitler. Destroy it ASAP. Its evil incarnate. All these answers are great emotional upheavals. But then its the opinion of sane people and must be given respect.\nWhat about Christian democrat parties, by the way. What about George W. Bush's adherence to the holy book? Does secular minds who condemn hamas realize that religious doctrines are always there. Faith is the common denominator of all of us. If I am a Christian, I have no right to condemn those who are not. US government has taken a U turn after failing to find WM-D's and told the world that its democracy whose restoration  is their primary objective and they are killing children and women and elderly and getting American soldiers killed to restore democracy. If a people have elected Hamas as their political leadership why do we start to object then? When will we get rid of our hypocrisy? World is fed up of US policies of hegemony and 'pick and chose' only those 'democracies' which suits its expansion plans. Like in Pakistan US backs a general who came to power after toppling a democratically elected government. Double standards have only instilled in our minds a false sense of superiority and 'rulers of the world' which is catastrophic for the peace. Regional as well as global. IRA was not Muslims, the Oklahoma bombings and the Columbine high school massacres had nothing to do with Islam or Hamas or Muslims in general. Lets stop at policing the planet and thrusting upon them what we think is right. Others have their rights and they have all the moral rights to exercise them. Wake up! Please.\n\nannexure:\n\n"one US sodier is not worth all the population of P... (or whatever the conquered country the question-er had in mind). Its patriotic and I fully agree. Every nation must respect his soil and soul. For every nation the right is there to sanctify its own people. Driving car bombs is what exactly american would do if Iraq or Mexico would have ruthlessly bombed it slaying all the moral reasoning. When you drive a nation's own people out of their homes with force or fear, then you don't expect garlands. Lets face it, I"m not Iraqi or supporter of terrorist activities. But when we take the basic rights of other people in our hands, then we must be prepared for backlash. Are we forgettng the lessons of Vietnam war? The viet kong guerillas ambushed, killed, burnt and maimed american soldiers there till the US realised its too damaging and had to accept defeat (no offence). Now I didnt read anywhere that Vietnamese were Muslims.\nIf George W. Bush is secular and wages war against a code of ethics and is proud to be christian, then Hammas is secular too. That answers the question?\n\nAnnexure II:\n\nA very good example of how media influences the minds of (largely) US citizens is here. "...we see them wearing those masks,.. next thing we see is riots...and protests." The answer-er is right in asserting that she/he thinks its not good because of what she/he sees, and admits that "I dont know a lot about them." That is the root cause of so  many misunderstanding. Without having a fair knowledge, we label people as 'bad' just because fox/abc/nbc says so. Yes Hamas is a political organization. Just like Republicans or Democrats. It won recently held elections and got a right to elect its leader as the head of the Palestenian government. That is what democracy is. Give the people right to choose. US policiy to enforce democracy on other nations didn't need another attack on Palestine on this pretext at least. They have elected representation. But can we take from the right to protest if a foreign force takes from them their own land and resources? Is it not terrorism? And if Hamas or others protest, are they not justified in the face of the terror of occupation forces? Did French after capitulation by Germans not wage a guerilla warfare to free their country? We honor
690554
The Palestinian people elected Hamas (a terrorist group) as their government.  I think this is called "cause and effect".  You elect terrorists into your government and the people who gave you aide will stop giving.\n\nSeems pretty simple to me.
291365
Iran is a theocracy. Their religious leaders are also their political leaders. Although the people themselves are very westerniazed, their leaders are not which leads to a lot of discontent within the people. They are about 10 years away from having a working nuclear program, but are a nuclear threat. Don't know what else you want to know without you asking specifics, but that was some random stuff.
777337
Actually, they aren't based on that religion.  Some do match laws within that religion, but they aren't Based on Any religion... see: Treaty of Tripoli which expressly states America's Gov't is not based on the Christian religion.  Then, also, see Code of Hammurabi... which are laws written by the Pagan King of Babylon, long before Moses was even born.  (Which some scholars believe the laws in the Old Test were copied from during the Jewish captivity in Babylon).\n\nEven if they were based on the laws in the Bible... it was be strictly Jewish Laws, not Christian... as, if anyone were to ask one, many Christians claim those laws are Done Away With when Jesus died.\n\nIf they get any more contradictory, they're going to have to write their own Bible... all together different from the one they have now.
355515
Why in the world would "the west" support a government with a party in power that is a terrorist organization?  Israel is a democracy that has tried to deal with terrorist attcks in a non-violent way.  Hamas has been behind those attacks.  Why send aid to a country whose government is bent on terrorism?  \nWhen Israel and Palestine get to a place where both will sit down and draw up a peace plan and then stick to it, things will be better for Palestine.
1025405
Since it is extremely difficult to defeat terrorists without adopting their methods, as Golda Meir did post the Munich Olympic massacre, governments are faced with the dilema of being branded as state terrorists. Religious terrorists are generally much harder to deal with, as their fanaticism is instilled in them from birth, and often supported by State Governments. Recent events in Iraq and Afganistan illustrate the fact that in most circumstances terrorists are funded and supported by external Governments as part of a global strategy, adopted to put pressure on Western Alliances (USA, UK, EU.). This global strategy is usually aimed at resolving the Palestine/Israel situation, so I suppose the only answer to the question is It is pointless negotiating with terrorists as individual organisations, resolution can only be obtained by pusuading their sponsors to cease their support.
198531
The Jew-Palestine conflict is more about land than religious beliefs.  The fight goes back to biblical times - to the story of Jacob and Esau (brothers).  Jacob stole Esau's birthright (blessings, land, etc) by deceiving their father.  \nEverything was passed to Jacob (from whom the Isrealites descended), including the land that now belongs to Isreal.  The Palestinians descended from Esau, and believe that the land rightfully belongs to them.  This is why extremists don't recognize Isreal as a valid State.  \nThis is of course a very simplified explination of this incredibly complicated situation.
190482
Nah.  I tend to question any links between God and any religious organization that relies heavily on violent means to an end.  To me, if the basis for any religion is not the promotion of world peace, harmonious existence, and peace with nature, the religion is not a true reflection of God's will.
146824
In no circumstances.  You must read this article from the L.A. Times.  \nhttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-goldhagen5feb05,0,1890552.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions\n\nBetter still, read the Hamas charter for your self (in the English translation by MEMRI.\nhttp://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD109206
1041611
Insya Allah. I think so.\nBut both sides have to learn to respect eachother.\nPalestine is secular country. Many Palestinian christians (50%) moved to the America's, while most of the muslims left to Europe and other arab nations. Fatah has been our goverment for DECADES. What did Fatah want? A SECULAR PALESTINE. The new Hamas wants an Islamic Palestine, but does not have the power or support to do so.\nCanaan land is the HolyLand for 3 religious , Muslim, Chirstian, and Judaism , so I think one of democratic State is the most appropriate way to make peace happened in Palestine-Israel area
266607
HAMAS has radical origin and if US isolate them they only get stronger and convince their supporters on radical  attitudes. because they won't have other options. if that would happen, they started to give the messages that  we are alone and have to solve our problems  with only  aggressing.this won't to help peace settlements in middle  east...but if care it?
71135
'EVER'  - sure.\n\nWhile Hamas is in charge.... NO, absolutely not.\n\nThis is rather discouraging, especially considering the progress that has been made recently, and the sacrafices on both sides to get where they were in the peace process.\n\nSo unless Hamas is kicked out...\n\nBest case scenerio, Hamas becomes a legitimate political organization (as opposed to a terrorist organization) and, maybe in 20 years, peace becomes possible again.\n\nWorst case scenerio, Hammas promotes more attacks on Israel some more and Israel eventually gets mad and destorys Palestine, enciting Iran to attack Israel, probobly with Syria's help.  America would get involved to help Israel, which would draw in Great Brittian, Russia, Poland (maybe France) on our side and set up WWIII. \nUS, England, Russia, Israel Vs. Palestine, Iran, Syria
148956
Which prophesies? If you are referring  to the violence ,yes they are obviously a part of that....Jesus said the days before his return would be like the time of Noah. If you look at Genesis violence covered the earth.  The hebrew word for violence is HAMAS...what a coincidence!! Hamas - the terriorist group -just won an election for the Palestinians - which are pro-violence so it is not a surprise. The muslims - or others-who participate in violence are fulfilling this prophesy about the end times. The muslims who refuse to control the terror, support it or allow it to happen are also guilty.\n\nHowever, negative muslims are not alone in being responsible.  There are also other nonmuslim people -religious and not religious -who participate in violence.The USA has murdered 4 million babies. It is called abortion and politicians made it legal.  None of these people were muslims.  There are nonmuslims dealing in drugs and prostitution - things of evil. They are guilty too.\n\nUnless people are actively fighting against evil, they are supporting it, and they share in the guilt.
1184605
"While murder, lying, stealing are great sins, which can land a person in the Hellfire, belief in any god other than God is called Shirk in Arabic and is unforgivable sin." (http://www.islam101.com/quizes/index.htm)\n\nWith that said many of the terrorist groups are just "groups". They are factions of radicals that kill people in the name of God. What happens in America with factions of highly religious groups that break laws by killing people? The leader or members of the group are dealt with. They are put in jail or taken out. Look at what is happening with the polygamist guy from Utah. He is being hunted down because he is breaking laws. \n\nIn the middle east there is not much security and the governments don't deal with these groups to prevent them from gaining power. If you take Hitler for example he lead a nation that was struggling and was poor. He pushed the blame on someone else for Germany's problems. He blamed the Jewish people. This gave Germans something to believe in. These religious factions or groups are doing the same thing.\n\nThe muslim religion is not bad it is just these factions of people that are causing the issues.\nHope I answered the question from at least my point of view.
1065705
Yes. You could see it in the election of Bush. The religious right that elected him think they have the right to make him push their policies. It is detremental. Though maybe not any more detrimental than having big business/oil impacting politics. \n\nCan't there be some type of limits on special interest groups like Focus of the Family pushing their agenda in Washington? It's a blight on the fact of democracy when big money and influence wins power in our government . . .
680103
It is still supporting Hamas.  The goal is to not have peace with the Palestinians and to steal thier land, having a reactionary government that Israel can falt out reject and ignore diplomatically is exactly why Israel supported Hamas in the first place.  It is ideal if the goal is to ignore efforts such as the Road Map, because of course, they "don't recognize Israel".  The fact is that Hamas could be brought to the table and would recognize Israel, but a long pattern of negotiations where Palestinaisn offered all and Israel offered ntohing reasonable by far (camp david) has made the Hamas line hard.  Palestinaians elected Hamas because they are tired of leadership that acts in accord with Israels rejection of peace and in doing so capitulates to the oppressor.  But Israel is in control (because the US allows it) and can only be brought to justice if the American people put pressure on them to do so, it is in our hands, make a call, write a letter, it is the least we can do.
633064
Because Terror is Terror no matter who is doing it.It should always be condemmed and be stopped.Do I agree with Israel..well no but Terror is terror.\n    Hamas is a terror organization period.Israel should get out of gaza and give the palestinians their state.This I believe would solve many of the middle eastern problems.