New religious posters

Originally posted by @fmf
There was a pretty active Palestinian-American called Scherzo - I think he was a Muslim, I can't remember for sure - who posted 5,000-6,000 times 2007-2010. I think his focus might have been the Debates Forum.

I seem to remember him as being an aggressive bigoted zealot.

Originally posted by @divegeester
I seem to remember him as being an aggressive bigoted zealot.

Sounds like he would have been right at home here then...

Originally posted by @great-king-rat
FMF, I'm interested. Do the Muslims around you not play chess? Is it a big no-no?

This is the best assessment I have found of the attitudes towads chess on the part of religious authorities, including Muslims, Jews and Christians.

http://dreamgreen.org/games/noble-celts-chess/144-religion-and-chess

For example:

In 680 the 50th rule of canons was interpreted as forbidding chess. But the caliphs themselves played and had chess players in their circle of influence. Legal scholars debated the merits of chess. It was legal to play chess if not played with items of chance (dice) and there were no betting or gambling on chess.

It was still disapproved in 725 by Sulaiman ibn Yashar but still popular among caliphs, especially when they moved their capitol to Baghdad in 750 and took their top chessplayers with them.

The caliph al-Mahdi wrote a letter to Mecca religious leaders to give up gambling with dice and chess in 780, but he died in 785 and caliph al-Rashid came to power who was an avid chess player.

By 810 the top chessplayers in the world were known and recognized and all had sponsors by powerful caliphs. In fact, the word Grandmaster was introduced by caliph al-Ma'mun in 819 AD.
...
Chess had picked up in Europe and pretty soon many of the clergy was spending more time playing chess than saving souls. In 1061 Cardinal Damiani of Ostin forbad the clergy from playing chess. He died in 1072 and chess was resumed in his domain.

By 1093 the Eastern Orthodox church condemned chess. The Church stamped out chess in Russia as a relic of heathenism.

In Europe some members of the clergy thought that receiving a "check" in chess was similar to committing a sin which one was able to redeem. A checkmate was similar to committing a sin that was perishable, and thus deadly.

...
In 1550 Saint Teresa of Avila, a Spanish conventical reformer, mentioned chess in her writings to illustrate ethics and chess. The Church authorities in Spain proclaimed her patron of chessplayers.
...
By 1195, the Jews were seriously involved in playing chess, but Rabbi Maimonides included chess among the forbidden games for jews.
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By 1500 chess was a recognized pastime for Jews on the Sabbath.
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The Puritans were against chess and discouraged chess play.

Religious leaders who have played chess include Thomas Becket (Archbishop of Cantebury), Charles Borromeo (Bishop of Milan), Pope Gregory VI, Pope Innocent III, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, Pope Leo X, Pope Leo XIII, Cardinal Richelieu, and Billy Graham.

In 1981 chess was forbidden in Iran as it encouraged gambling (haram). The chess players went underground with their boards and pieces. In 1988 the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989) issued a religious decree (fatwa), permitting chess play for Muslims as long as it was not played for the purpose of gambling (haram) and it does not delay the obligatory prayers or neglects other duties. The Ayatollah changed his mind after admitting that chess had its high educational and intellectual values. Chess made a comeback, spawning chess parks, chess palaces, and chess masters. In 2000, an Iranian became a world chess champion. In October, 2000, the World Girls' Chess Championship for 12 and under was won by Atousa Pourkashian of Iran at the tournment held in Madrid, Spain. Iran also produced a recent World Boys' Under 10 Champion. Today the Chess Federation of Iran occupies one of the best buildings among all sportive federations in the country. All over the country there have construction of chess clubs.

Prior to the Ayatollah, Iran, under the Shah, was the only Islamic country that organized chess and participated in chess tournaments, including the 22nd chess olympiad in Israel in 1976 (in Haifa).

In 1996 chess and other clubs were banned from some high schools in Salt Lake City, Utah. Most of the school board is Mormon which condemns homosexuality. Rather than let gay high school students form an organization, they banned all nonacademic clubs. School board members said federal law gave them only two options: allow all extracurricular clubs or eliminate them all. Some 30 clubs, including the chess club, are banned for 1996-97.

The Taliban believed chess was a form of gambling and distracted people from saying thier prayers. When the Taliban caught people playing chess, they would burn the chessboard and pieces and put the players in jail. For five years (1996-2001), Afghanistan was the only place in the world where playing chess was illegal. It was banned by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the supreme leader of the Taliban.

I have skipped out lots of great material - a feast.

It is possible that a key issue was the extent to which it either relied on chance or included gambling, but another factor was certainly the amount of time lost to the game.

Ireland had a traditional board game from ancient times, which is often translated as chess, and I recall that monks would lament the time they lost to that game.
http://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blogs/fidchell-the-ancient-celtic-chess-game

But maybe it is just the Spirituality forums on chess sites that are to be avoided:

Eph 4:31 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Originally posted by @great-king-rat
Please elaborate.

This place is a Christian/atheist fest. In the current climate of the media blaming ALL Muslims for terrorism I doubt many Muslims would want to submit themselves to the cheap shots around here. Heck even the JW's couldn't hack it, and they are like Christian.

I mean other than Christians who else puts there spiritual views out here recently?
Apathist, me ...i'm struggling to think of any others

Originally posted by @karoly-aczel
This place is a Christian/atheist fest. In the current climate of the media blaming ALL Muslims for terrorism I doubt many Muslims would want to submit themselves to the cheap shots around here. Heck even the JW's couldn't hack it, and they are like Christian.

I mean other than Christians who else puts there spiritual views out here recently?
Apathist, me ...i'm struggling to think of any others

There is a Muslim type back in Europe now that posts here. He visited the Middle East and claims to have actually fought in combat.

Originally posted by @eladar
There is a Muslim type back in Europe now that posts here. He visited the Middle East and claims to have actually fought in combat.

Whose that?

Originally posted by @karoly-aczel
Whose that?

"Whose" is possessive as in "Whose shoes are those?"

"Who is" can be abbreviated to "Who's" and might be what you were looking for.