Mason Cooley Quotes
God makes the covenant, and observes it as He pleases.
Cooley, Mason. City Aphorisms, Sixth Selection. Pascal Press, 1989.
This sura is interpreted by some Islamic fundamentalists as absolution for the killing of a non-Muslim by a Muslim. It was Allah who did it. In a greater sense, critics of Islam observe that many Muslims and Islamic nations have a double standard of responsibility for crimes. If the victims are Muslims, the normal standards of morality hold; but if a non-believer there can be no crime. Terrorism, torture, beheading, mass murder can all be done with a clean conscience if a Muslim takes this interpretation of this sura. Many Muslims however take an opposite point of view. These people do not have the concept of fatalism and lack of free will that others believe. There is a parallel to this problem in Judeo Christian countries although it is less common statistically. But the murder of physicians who perform abortions, and the Jewish radical fundamentalist who killed innocent Arabs at worship are examples of people who viewed themselves as instruments of God in their heinous activities.
Fundamentalist Christians and Jews believe that the Bible is the revealed word of God. In Islam, not only is the same position taken, but it is specifically forbidden to even think about or have a personal opinion about a matter which appears in the Koran—decided by Allah and revealed to the Prophet Muhammed.
This quotation illustrates the negative attitudes towards democracy that existed with many “leaders” of the time. Stuyvesant was appointed by and reported to the Dutch West India Company—not to the government of Holland. New Amsterdam was a commercial venture just as most of the English American Colonies were. Stuyvesant was not a particularly good governor in terms of both making money for the company or governing the new city.
Shlomo ben Yitzchak
Mason Cooley was an American aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of these such aphorisms Cooley developed was "The time I kill is killing me." He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the College of Staten Island. He was also an assistant professor of English at Columbia University from 1959 to 1967 and an adjunct professor from 1980 to 1988. He received his B.A. from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. from Oxford.
