Iraqi Devil Worshippers Demand Rights

I didn't pick the title - that was the title
given to this article.

These folks want religious freedom. They
were poorly treated under Saddam. They
want to be sure that it doesn't happen
under freedom.


www.news24.com...

Excerpt -

'Devil-worshippers' want rights
23/05/2005
News24.com

Shaikhan - At a mountainside temple in the heart of Iraqi Kurdistan,
pilgrims from the minority Yezidi community come to worship the
peacock angel, also known as Lucifer.

As Iraq moves toward a new post-Saddam Hussein political order, the
Yezidis, long regarded by Muslims as "devil-worshippers", are seizing on
this key moment in history to enshrine their community's rights in a new
constitution.

"Discrimination against the Yezidis must end, and our political and religious
rights must be recognised in the constitution," said the faith's hereditary
leader Mil (Prince) Hazem Tahsin Said.

"As Kurds and as Yezidis, we were doubly victimised by Saddam Hussein,"
says the 40-year-old chief, who doubles as tribal and religious leader to
his people.

more at the article -
www.news24.com...



[edit on 5/23/2005 by FlyersFan]

they believe that Lucifer was rewarded by God for not worshipping Adam...

on a side note....

"For now, the traditions are preserved by singers who recite hymns, and monks who perform night-time dances around a fire to the sound of flute and drum – a ceremony reminiscent of those performed by Sufi "whirling dervishes." "

I've read some about those whirling dervishes, if I can find the source that I was reading from, I'll post it....I found them interesting...

the source I took this quote from....

www.uniontribune.org...

Interesting read. Despite being a practicing Christian I absolutely agree that they should have the freedom to practice their choosen religion as free as the next person\religion.

Yezidis follow a pre-Islamic religion, which some believe was founded in the 12th century by Sheikh Uday bin Masafel al-Amawi

Er, shouldn't any pre-islamic religion be somethign that was founded before islam was in the area?

Fierce guardians of their traditions, Yezidis do not permit outsiders to convert to their religion.

This seems to be true of the zoroasterians and druze, apparently its a matter of pragmatism, accept converts, risk geting muslims converts, IE become a source of apostacy, which is very bad.

The faith has six distinct levels of initiation — princes, sheikhs, senators, seers, ascetics and the community of the faithful, which comprises about 70% of the Yezidi population.

Senators??? I can understand the rest, but a latin term?? Interesting. Perhaps their professing to worship the allah of islam is a bit of a cover, like with the Druze in this thread


[edit on 23-5-2005 by Nygdan]

"The Yezidis hold that Ta´usi-Melek is as fire with two dualistic elementary abilities: Fire as light, but also fire to burn: The good and the evil are one and the same Person.
Simultaneously is a human being itself a mixture of two powers: good and evil, i.e. every Yezidi has a part of Ta´usi-Melek in himself."

www.malaezdiyan.com...


maybe more of a gnostic line of thought, with it's duality and such?

Well, you know, the Shia are in power in Iraq and I don't believe for a split second they would allow anything like this. Like their Iranian brethren, they would make short work of anyone digressing from the "one and only true" religion of theirs.

Originally posted by Nygdan

The faith has six distinct levels of initiation — princes, sheikhs, senators, seers, ascetics and the community of the faithful...

Senators??? I can understand the rest, but a latin term??

Latin has been around for thousands of years. Perhaps some of it
infiltrated the area from the old Roman times. Who knows??

Originally posted by Aelita
Like their Iranian brethren, they would make short work of anyone digressing from the "one and only true" religion of theirs.

?

You mean the Shia of Iran, where zoroasterianism is openly practed, as opposed to sunni arabia, where shia'ism itself is illegal???

The shia seem more 'tolerant' of other religions in general than the sunnis, or at least there are a lot of 'mystical' and 'not quite islamic' offshoots of shia.

FlyersFan
Perhaps some of it
infiltrated the area from the old Roman times. Who knows??

True enough, but still rather strange. Then again, senatore means something like 'senior', old man, so perhaps it is from latin and was kept up like that, tho, I think that the predominant european language in the region has been greek for a long time. Might be a stretch that they'd've picked it up from when Syria was a province of the Empire.


Then again, if the faith was started from long before, perhaps its a continuation of the roman mystery religions! That might be really interesting. The connection to fire worship and zoroasterianism might be an affect, in this hypothetical line of thinking, of Mithraism, which was very popular amoung the legions. Perhaps this settlement on a hill is in some way a long preserved tradition of that! So old, and so altered from having to cooperate with the muslims, that they themselves have forgotten it!

Originally posted by dawnstar
[...]

"For now, the traditions are preserved by singers who recite hymns, and monks who perform night-time dances around a fire to the sound of flute and drum – a ceremony reminiscent of those performed by Sufi "whirling dervishes." "
[...]

Considering the roots of the founder ... one could perhaps expect that connection:

"Sheik Adi [Musafir] was himself a member of a wandering order of Muslim Sufi mystics" - source

-- and --

The Yezidi revere the Prophet Mohammed and the Sufi mystic Adi Musafir - source

The Yezidi seem to have acquired concepts from an especially wide range, I would have thought it fairly uncommon to have seen a religion with influence drawn from both the pre-Christian cult of Mithras, and Islam (amongst others)...

I'd say it's an entirely fair call on their part for their religious freedom however.

Originally posted by J_3
Despite being a practicing Christian I absolutely agree that they should have the freedom to practice their choosen religion as free as the next person\religion.

That's what I say. Exactly. They dont' seem to be the ones blowing
up people all over Iraq (insurgent 'muslim' fanatics do that). So they
are better behaved than the fanatical offshoots of the 'main stream'
religion of the area. The one that claims to serve Allah. Go figure!!

I love this. The information doesn't come out, but at the same time Muslim leaders are screaming and bellowing demanding their religious freedom throughout the wester world. Ahh, the hypocracy.

Well, I guess it goes to show what will happen to religious freedom if Islam takes over any of the western nations.

Well, I guess it goes to show what will happen to religious freedom if Islam takes over any of the western nations.

No, not really. You're not taking into account all the Islamic states on this planet; I was never aware taht Turkey discriminated against Non-Muslims, as I do with countries such as Pakistan..

Regardless, Lucifer is not Satan himself; the word Lucifer does not occure untill Jeromes Latin Vulgate, I hardly doubt these people are worshiping the devil as they are a diety wholly alien to conventional faiths surrounding thier habitat.

Deep

Actually, Lucifer is mentioned in Isaiah 14:12. One of the biggest misconceptions, though, is that that passage was refering to Satan. It is not, it's refering to a Babylonian king named Lucifer, the son of the morning.

As to Turkey not persecuting non-muslim religions, check this out.

Originally posted by junglejake
Well, I guess it goes to show what will happen to religious freedom if Islam takes over any of the western nations.

Note, If the modern extremist variants take over, yes. However, notice, this group is several hundred years old. Indeed, they've co-existed with islam for that time. Same with the zoroasterians and jews and christians and 'Unitarians' (of the levant) and other non-islamic groups.

Compare the history of those groups in 'islamdom' compared to pagans in 'christiandom'. Notice, they still exist in the middle east, they've been wiped out in europe.

I mean, yes, if the US gives up on the middle east and the peopel running the insurgency are given full reign, these 'devil worshippers' will have good reason to be extremely nervous.

zerodeep
I hardly doubt these people are worshiping the devil as they are a diety wholly alien to conventional faiths surrounding thi

Indeed, they seem to simple be a paganistic religion of some sort, not 'satanists' or anything of the sort. 'Lucifer' and "satan' might not, according to some, have the same indentity either. Lucifer is sometimes the 'morningstar', the 'light bringer', indeed, jesus is called the morningstar at times apparently. Whereas satan is pretty exclusively evil, and only exists in an evil context.