I PREFER A MORE HONEST AND DIRECT APPROACH. I SIMPLY TELL THE PERSON WHAT IT IS THAT I DON'T LIKE. IF KNOW THAT THE RELATIONSHIP CAN'T GO ANY FUTHER, I DISAPPEAR FOR A FEW DAYS AND IGNORE HIS PHONE CALLS. ONCE I DO PICK UP THE PHONE I FEEL DISTANCED ENOUGH TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE " HEY BOO. YOU KNOW WHAT, I JUST CAN'T DO THIS. I DON'T FORESEE US WORKING THIS OUT. YOU'RE TOO FAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM FOR ME. WE CAN BE FRIENDS BUT NOT LOVERS. DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY, I CARE FOR YOU AND I LOVE YOU BUT I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU".

These people are not being honest o. If the man can talk a good game and has good stuff then most women will be so desperate to be with him.

As for me. Yes. If he shows me potential and willingness to succeed then I will work with him and make a plan with him. That's what I did with my husband and it's working. We have a our own home, a nice car, nice clothes and plenty of food to eat. It wasn't always like this but I believed in him not in whether or not he had money. Now we are happy and life is getting better for us by the day. What makes me happy is knowing that what we have, I helped to build it.

It is foolish the way we lie to ourselves and expect others to believe the same lie. I cannot change the way any one thinks therefore I won't try. What I will do is speak on the facts. Love is an act of SELFLESSNESS that requires a person to constantly do what is undesirable to him or her for the sake of the one he or she loves. Like a mother dieing for a daughter to survive. A father going hungry to see that his family is fed. This is the basis of true love and is the type of love it takes to make a relationship work. This is something that you have a choice over. You choose who you love. Love doesn't come up to you with a gun demanding that you love this person. Love is a choice. Everything in life is. Choosing to attempt to love a married man does not mean that you have successfully done that. There is nothing that a single woman can offer a married man except sex and sex is not love. When he is done busting his nuts, he still has to go home to his wife and kids. He won't leave them for you. This saga has continued for centuries and the wife and kids always win the man over and the single lady's life is always messed up. The single lady goes into deep depression when she realizes that she was only being used. The women in Nigeria are somewhat lucky because there is a chance that man will marry her as a second wife if he gets her in a family way. In America, a man can only marry one woman and if a woman finds her husband cheating she can kill him and the woman he's cheating with. I think that you can love a married man if you are his wife.

My apologies, Dr. Tee. I did not know that you are a Christian. Having said that, I hope that what I wrote helped you discover the answer you were looking for. And yes, that is the beauty of Nairaland. Peace and God Bless You!

It is important to research the history of the book- as some call it- that you read. Since you appear interested Dr. Tee, read the King James Version of the Bible. From what I have found it is the closest translation to the Hebrew ( original ) script. It is also important to understand other things about the Bible such as the fact that Shakespeare translated the KJV version of the bible that is used world wide. He did this under the order of King James- hence the name King James Bible. There were other translations - Greek, Latin, Portugese and so on and so forth. But none were in any form of English. King James- who followed Constatine- was a Christian. Constatine used Christianity to control his subjects. King James wanted to convert his subjects from the Lutheran and the Protestants and the Quaker belief in order to have a more spiritually civil kingdom. There was one problem. Few of the subjects could read. The few who could read could only read in English. Since Shakespeare was the most popular playwright at that time, King James drafted him to translate the Latin, Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible into the modern prose and tongue of the time. The year the work was completed was 1611. So knowing this, if you study the tongue and prose of the Englanders and other people who spoke English at this time then you would understand that the way in which they spake often became a narrative which required diligence, patience and understanding.
Having said that, it is not the interpretation that we use from personal experience but rather a diligent comparison between what the different scripts have said- then understanding what the scripts have said. If they all agree then the conclusion on what a verse meant. For instance, before Jesus came to Jerusalem- the priests allowed people to sell things in the Church. Jesus overturned the tables and told them they were unholy for doing so. What do you gather from this? ( Read Mark 11).
Moses allowed people to divorce their wives- Jesus said that Moses only allowed that to happen because their hearts were so hard but Jesus said " Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. (9) And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication (sex with someone she is not married to- adultery), and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery[color=#990000][/color]." Matthew 19:8-9
What change did Jesus make here?
Leviticus is full of what we call the Mosaic Law. Many people misconceptualize the weight of the Mosaic Law because they first do not fully understand the purpose of the Mosaic Law. Moses' Law were conditional and situational. He had all of the Children of Israel to control- the Laws God gave Moses for the people were the ten commandments. The people were not satisfied with this therefore Moses decided to come up with rules and regulation- his laws (man's laws not God's laws)- that would be used to keep these people from going crazy and killing each other.
I have been long winded enough. So, in conclusion, the Bible has has to read carefully in it's entirety to be understood. Secondly, you can't understand it the way a Christian person understands it if you don't believe. You have to read it as if it were true. Then you will see what everyone else sees. It is a book written from the inspiration of the Holy spirit and has been proven to have been completed over centuries and not at one time. All this has to be taken into consideration. then maybe you will get an understanding

Was Allah The Moon God of Ancient Arab Pagan?



By Syed Kamran Mirza



Historical evidences, impartial logic, well versed references and all available circumstantial judgments can very well prove that—(a) Allah name of deity was pre-existed much before the arrival of Islam, (b) Pre-Islamic Pagan peoples worshipped Allah as their supreme deity (moon-god). Allah’s name existed in pre-Islamic Arab. In ancient Arab the Allah was considered to be the supreme God/deity (as Moon-God) and Arab Pagans worshipped Allah before Islam arrived.



Let us examine below some valid questions and answers :

Did the Pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic times worship 360 gods? Yes

Did the pagans Arabs worship the sun, moon and the stars? Yes

Did the Arabs built temples to the Moon-god? Yes

Did different Arab tribes give the Moon-god different names/titles? Yes

What were some of the names/titles? Sin, Hubul, Ilumquh, Al-ilah.

Was the title “al-ilah” (the god) used as the Moon-god? Yes

Was the word “Allah” derived from “al-ilah?” Yes

Was the pagan “Allah” a high god in a pantheon of deities? Yes.

Was he worshipped at the Kabah? Yes.

Was Allah only one of many Meccan gods? Yes

Did they place a statue of Hubul on top of the Kabah? Yes.

At that time was Hubul considered the Moon-god? Yes.

Was the Kabah thus the “house of the Moon-god”? Yes.

Did the name “Allah” eventually replace that of Hubul as the name of the Moon god? Yes.

Did they call the Kabah the “house of Allah”? Yes.

Were al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat called “the daughters of Allah”? Yes.

Yusuf Ali explains in fn. 5096, pg. 1445, that Lat, Uzza and Manat were known as “the daughters of God [Allah]”

Did the Qur’an at one point tell Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat? Yes. In Surah 53:19-20.

Have those verses been “abrogated” out of the present Qur’an? Yes.

What were they called? “The Satanic Verses.”



The variable names (Sin, Hubul, llumquh, Al-ilah) of moon god were used by various tribes of pagan Arabs. Pagan god SIN was the name of Moon-god.





Who is actually Allah?



According to Islamic Theologians (Mullahs, Maulana, Moulavis, etc.), or Islamic teachings-- Allah is the supreme God or creator who (suddenly one day?) talked or introduced Himself with Prophet Muhammad through an Angel named Gabriel, disclosing the truth that it is the Allah who created everything in the universe. Surprisingly, Qur’an never defines the word “Allah” as to who actually Allah was or what was the relation of Allah with pagans. I believe, 99% percent of Muslims do believe that—Allah’s name was invented or started right from the time when Gabriel disclosed the truth (?) to Prophet Muhammad in the cave of Hira Parvat (Mountain) and gave Muhammad the Quran. They believe that before this truth was revealed—pagan Arabs were in the total darkness (Andhakar Zuug) and they used to worship various puppet goddess and that the pagans were very evil people. I can bet on this fact that no mullahs ever told us the real truth, neither they believe this clean truth that “Allah” was in fact a pre-existing deity in pagan Arabia. What a hypocrisy?



Some important factors which will suggest that the name“Allah” was already in use by Pagans as their chief God/deity:



(A) In pre-Islamic days, that Muslims call the Days of ignorance, the religious background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic. Through Moon, Sun, Stars, Planets, Animals, wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make contact with the deity. At Mekka, “Allah” was the chief of the gods and the special deity of the Quraish, the prophet’s tribe. Allah had three daughters: Al Uzzah (Venus) most revered of all and pleased with human sacrifice; Manah, the goddess of destiny, and Al Lat, the goddess of vegetable life. These three daughters of Allah (there is a Quranic verse about them) were considered very powerful over all things. Therefore, their intercessions on behalf of their worshippers were of great significance.

(B) Arabs used to give their children names such as—Abdullah (slave of Allah). Clean proof was the fact that, Muhammad’s father’s name was “Abdullah”. Logical analogy here is—had there been no “Allah” in pre-Islamic Arab, there could be no Abdullah or slave of Allah in Arabia.

(C) Even today, in the entire Arab World, not only Muslims but all other non-Muslim (Jews, Christians, Sabians, Bahai, an atheist etc.) Arabs says—“Ya Allah” as the expression of surprise or unhappiness/sorrow.

(D). Albert Hourani’s statement: “The Islamic name used for God was “Allah”, which was already in use for one of the local Gods (it now used by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians as the name of God (A history Of Arab people by Albert Hourani, 1991, page-16, Belknap press of Harvard University, USA)



History tells us two theories of Allah’s existence in and around the Kaba Sharif: (1) Pagans used to call the largest Statue amongst the 360 deities as ALLAH—whom they used to consider the chief/supreme deity (god). Or, (2) Pagan Arabs used to worship 360 deities inside Kaba Sharif, and they used to consider them different smaller deities under the total control of a single most powerful chief deity called “ALLAH” who was invisible (Nirakar) and was the all-powerful, all-knowing, and totally unknowable.



Amazing Similarities with Hindu Religion:



In India’s Hindu religion is quite similar to the number two theory (above) of pagan belief. Although, Hindus worship many different Goddesses—they invariably have faith upon a single supreme invisible deity called “Bhagaban” (some call it “Ischhaar”) whom they call “Nirakar”. And, surprisingly there is no sculptural image/figure for this Bhagaban. But all Hindus worship Him along with other numerous deities. This Bhagaban is considered as the lord of all other deities. What would happen—if some intelligent prophet would have asked Hindus to give up worshipping other goddesses and keeping only Bhagaban as their only deity making it a monotheist religion just like Islam? Could it not be another religion like Islam?



Now some factors which will suggest “Allah” was the Moon-god of Arab pagans:



(A) In Qura’n there are at least a dozen verses in which Allah repeatedly swears by the names such as moon, sun, stars, planets, night, wind etc. It is a mystery why the creator Allah (?) should swear by his creations. Normally, we swear by the name of something much superior to us, such as we swear by God or by the name of our father (who is considered senior or superior to us). But we never swear by the name of something inferior to us. Here in the Quran swearing fashions of Allah (God) by moon or stars hinting us that Allah considered these things superior to himself. And this makes us to think (otherwise) as to who actually acted as Allah in Quran? However, in his explanation of why the Qur’an swears by the moon in Surah 74:32, “Nay, verily by the Moon,” Yusuf Alli comments, “The moon was worshipped as a deity in times of darkness”(fn. 5798, pg. 1644). Perhaps, this swearing of Allah was due to the usual/cultural habits of worshipping moon as their God in pagan customs.



(B) Yousuf Ali stated (Page-1921-1623 of his English Translation of Holy Quran):



“Moon-worship was equally popular in various forms………Apollo and Diana—the twin brother and sister, representing the sun and moon. …in the Vedic religion of India the moon god was Soma, the lord of the planets…….moon was male divinity in ancient India. Moon was also male divinity in ancient Semitic religion, and the Arabic word for the moon “qamar’ is of the masculine gender, on the other hand, the Arabic word for sun “shams” is feminine gender. The pagan Arabs evidently looked upon the sun as a goddess and the moon as a God.



The Pagan deities best known in the Ka’ba and round about Mecca were Lat, Uzza, and Manat.…the 360 idols established by the Pagans in the Ka’ba probably represented the 360 days of an inaccurate solar year. This was the actual modern pagan worship as known to the Quraish contemporary with our prophet”



(C) Influence of Moon in Islam:



Who can deny the paramount influences of moon in Muslim’s life? In Islam, moon is considered holiest astronomical object, and moon is the guiding light of all Islamic rituals/festivals. Contradictions and conflicts are very common with the dates of Eids and Ramadan and obviously it is a chronic problem and moon is the nucleus of this problem. Crescent moon and stars are the symbolic sign in the national flags of many Muslim countries, and it is present over the Mosques, in the Muslim graveyard etc.



Prophet Muhammad compromised to Pagans to establish Islam in Arabia:



Prophet Muhammad did his clever tactics of adapting many rites of paganism into Islam, in order to accommodate Islam among the pagan Arabs. He made lots of political pacts with the Pagan Leaders such as Abu Suffian to accommodate his new idea of religion and he agreed to incorporate many of the Pagan rituals in Islam. Prophet Muhammad asked the pagans to worship only the “Allah” the largest God,

And destroy the idols of all other gods and goddesses that existed in Kabah. To establish oneness (monotheist) of God, he repeatedly asked them not to make any partners to Allah (That is why we can find hundreds of Quranic verses “asking not to make any partners to Allah). Finally, the Prophet was able to convince (by force of course) the pagans to destroy all idols, and on return (he) agreed (perhaps) to keep the “Names” of the goddess of most famous Pagan tribes as the alternative names of Allah—hence Islam has 99 NAMES of Allah.



Prophet Muhammad did command his followers to participate in these pagan ceremonies while the pagans were still in control of Mecca. (Please See Yusuf Ali, fn. 214, pg. 78). , “the whole of the [pagan] pilgrimage was spiritualized in Islam, ” (Yusuf Ali: fn. 223 pg. 80). In the Tafsir (of Quran-2:200) maoulana Yousuf Ali stated: “After Pilgrimage, in Pagan times, the pilgrims used to gather in assemblies in which the praises of ancestors were sung. As the whole of the pilgrimage rites were spiritualized in Islam, so this aftermath of the Pilgrimage was also spiritualized. It was recommended for pilgrims to stay on two or three days after the pilgrimage, but they must use them in prayer and praise to God.(#223 of Shane’nazul by Maoulana Yousuf Ali, page-81)



In Islam many rituals performed (today) by devoted Muslims in the name of Allah are connected to the pagan worship that existed before Islam. Pagans practices of the Pilgrimage of Kabah once a year--the Fast of Ramadan, running around the Kabah seven times, kissing the black stone, shaving the head, animal sacrifices, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, snorting water in and out the nose, praying several times a day toward Mecca, giving alms, Friday prayers, etc. are strictly followed by Muslims today. Nobody can deny the fact that, all the above rituals of Muslim’s hajj today—existed well before the arrival of Islam.



It is highly plausible to consider the fact that by incorporating much of the Pagan’s rituals in new religion Islam—Prophet successfully reduced the pagan-risk and it was perhaps one of the most important milestone-attempts to conquer the minds of Pagans resulting in massive breakdown of the Pagans’ moral and support to oppose Islam.

The central shrine at Mekka was the Pagan’s Kaaba (called House of Allah), a cube like stone structure which still stands though many times rebuilt. Imbedded in one corner is the black stone, probably a meteorite, the kissing of which is now an essential part of the Muslim’s pilgrimage.



It is the historical fact that the Ka’aba, the sacred shrine which contains the Black Stone, in Mecca was used for pagan idol worship before Islam and even called the House of Allah at that time. The name of the God whom the Arabs worshipped was the god of pantheon—Ali-ilah the god, the supreme, the predeterminer of everybody’s life or destiny—the chief God “Allah”



Who did not read the story of BLACK STONE which was very sacred (povitra) to all various tribes of Quraish. When one day this sacred stone was needed to transfer from one place to another, there was a quarrel amongst the various tribes, as to who will carry that sacred stone? Then most intelligent and righteous young boy Muhammad (was not a prophet then) invented the solution of this serious problem. He (Muhammad) put this sacred stone over a Chaddor (piece of cloth) and asked one representative from each tribe to hold the Chaddor and carry the stone. I narrated this story briefly just to prove that—black stone did exist long before Islam was invented.

In summary, it has been truthfully and logically proven with all possible available circumstantial evidences/rational that, Islam was not a new religion but it is a reformed paganism. I believe thatall these monotheistic religions have more or less similar origins. This idea of monotheistic religion was not a brand new invention. Monotheistic thought was declared by Ancient Pharaoh Kings, Mesopotamia’s king Hamarubi (3000 B.C.), and Alexander the Great (300 B.C.). Differences were, these kings demanded that they themselves were the God whom everybody should worship.



References:



1. The Holy Qur’an, Translated by A. Yousuf Ali, Published by Amana Corporation, Brentwood, Maryland, 1983

2. Buchari Sharif, Bengali Translation by Maulana Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, Sulemani Printers and Publishers, Dhaka, Second edition-1999

3. A History of the Arab peoples, by Albert Hourani, the Belknap press of Harvard University press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991

4. Dr. Robert Morey, 1996 Research and Education Foundation.

5. Gilchrist, The Temple, The Ka’aba, and the Christ (Benoni, South Africa, 1980), p. 16.

6. G. J. O. Moshay, Who Is This Allah?, (Dorchester House, Bucks, UK, 1994), pg. 138

7. Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not A Muslim, (Prometheus, Amherst, 1995) p. 42.



8. Encyclopedia of Islam, eds. Lewis, Menage, Pellat, Schacht (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971, II:1093.)

I think that the bible should be read in it's entirety before being commented on. We make many statements that would be answered if we continued to read. The topic comes from a scripture in Numbers 5:11. I just see one problem with that. there are over 60 books in the bible. You read a chapter from one scripture and now you are confused. After Moses there was, Joshua, Samuel, Nathan, King David, King Solomon, JOb, Habbakuk, Nahum, Malachi, Matthew, and mainly Jesus. Jesus changed a lot of things. Like Kimba said, when Jesus came he changed salvation by law to salvation by grace. we receive grace from God through Jesus.

I really don't have a lot to say except that you should read the whole bible not just the interesting parts.

Adoption
Your pregnancy ends with giving life
You may feel good and positive about your choice
You will remember giving birth
You will have plenty of time to plan your and your baby's future
You can hold, name, and love your baby
You can have continued contact with your child
Abortion
Your pregnancy ends with death
You may feel guilt and shame about your choice
You will remember taking a life
Abortion is final; you can’t reverse your decision
You will never know or treasure your baby
You will miss the opportunity to see your child develop

I attached some pictures of what it looks like to abort a 24 week pregnancy
maybe if your friend sees this she will change her mind

Read this story:
Birth of an Angel


Angels
Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day, she asked God:
They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?
Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She'll be waiting for you and will take care of you.
But, tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile - that's enough for me to be happy.
Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you everyday. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy.
And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language men talk?
Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.
And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?
Your angel will place your hands together and teach you how to pray.
I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?
Your angel will defend you - even if it means risking her life.
But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.
Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me - even though I will always be next to you.
At that moment, there was much peace in heaven. But voices from earth could already be heard and the child, in a hurry, asked softly:
Oh, God, if I'm about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.
Your angel's name is of no importance. You will just call your angel, "Mommy".

I am in the US so it is hard for me to get info on Nigeria but I hope this will help. Here is a list of websites on the toefl, gre, and the sat. There is also information on a place in Lagos to take the test. This may not be the actual place but the person there may be able to direct you properly. I found all this information online through the AOL search engine and through ask.com.
Like I said, really hope it helps. At the very least you should be able to contact a few of the place I listed below. Let me know how this turns out. Truth be told, there are plenty of scholarship opportunities in the US. If this turns out good then I will list them here.
www.testmasters180.com/lsat/ClassAllRegion.aspx
princetonreview.com
[url=http://free.hostultra.com/~sat_test/free-online-sat-test.html]free.hostultra.com/~sat_test/free-online-sat-test.html [/url]
[url=http://www.hostultra.com/~sat_test/gre-study.html]www.hostultra.com/~sat_test/gre-study.html [/url]
ftp.ets.org/pub/gre/727122.pdf
www.collegeboard.com/reg
http://www.toefl.org
abuja.usembassy.gov/wwwhxapr02e.html
nigeria.usembassy.gov/wwwhnov4.html
http://abuja.usembassy.gov/wwwhxapr02e.html


The EAC in Abuja is now located at USAID, 3rd Floor, Abuja Metro Plaza, Plot 992, Zakaria Mai-malari Street. The Metro Plaza is near the National War College, Central Business District, Garki, Abuja.

For those interested in taking the SAT, a new testing center has been opened up at the Model Secondary School, IBB Way in Maitama.

Please direct all inquire on how to study in the United States to:

EDUCATIONAL ADVISING CENTER
PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION
UNITED STATES CONSULATE GENERAL
2 BROAD STREET
LAGOS
TELEPHONE: 01-2630933
E-MAIL: ESCLAGOS@PD.STATE.GOV


OR TO THE
EDUCATIONAL ADVISING CENTER
ABUJA OFFICE, METRO PLAZA,
PLOT 992, ZAKARI MAIMALARI STREET, ABUJA.




or call 1-609-771-7100
For additional Information, please contact:

Dr. Margo Jang
ESL Instructor, Landrum 542, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099
Phone: (859) 572-5484 Email: jangm@nku.edu

Ms. Maureen Woods
Coordinator of Int'l Admissions, University Center 366, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099
Phone: (859) 572-5748 Email: woodsm@nku.edu
Ms. Jane Bratton
Processing Specialist, University Center 366, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099
Phone: (859) 572-1457 Email: brattonj@nku.edu

The main thing to know about the US is that it is better to get a visa and a social security number first. That way you can obtain a drivers license in the following states, Mississippi, Maryland, Washington, DC, New York and Virginia. I don't know of any others. The point of obtaining a driver's license means that you have residency in that state and therefore, admission and tuition fees will be cheaper and you can also qualify for something called financial aid. All universities have it. But you need a social security number to qualify. In applying for your visa, apply for work authorization as well. Work authorization gives you a social security number. You take your passport, new social security number to the department of motor vehicles in that state and get your license. When you go to the school, show them your license and the lease agreement for where you are staying. The school will then process you as an in state student verses and international student. The cost for tuition as an in state student at Bowie State University in Maryland is #180000 or $1800 as an international student it is #1600000. A major difference. As an instate student the government will give you #20000 or $2000 in PELL grant ( free money) and then give you over #100000 or $10000 in loans ( you have to start paying on the loan after you graduate from college. But you need a working social security number to get this benefit. This is not the only way. This is the cheapest way.
( a link for the department of homeland security and immigration www.uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm ) I used this site. It is the actual site for US immigration.[b][/b]


Take care and God bless. I hope that this works.