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Legion, for crying out loud. We all understand that groups like the Taliban, and Al Quaida,in all of its incarnations, are intolerant, destructive terrorists. No kidding.
But that said, what does that have to do with Muslims opening a mosque near Ground Zero? You can’t damn entire groups of people on the basis of the actions of some group members. If we do that, then we are no better than they are. Do we damn all Catholics for the horrors of the Inquisition? Do we hate all the people of Spain for the actions of Cortez? Are all decendents of the people who murdered innocent people in Salem, without redemption? They were only following their faith, too. What about slavery, in all its forms? How about hating all Japanese because of the atrocities in China and Korea before and during World War II? Do you mistrust all black people because some black kid mugged you three years ago? When is it enough? At some point, the hate has to stop.
We fight those who want to distroy us, but we don’t hate or pre-emptively squash those who just happen to share their race, creed or color. That is not what America is supposed to be about.
Legion —
While I know you enjoy posting these examples of Islamist intolerance…. Do you REALLY not see a distinction between fundamentalists and people of faith?!
What about the regular acts of intolerance by Christian fundamentalists? (That, YES, many times involve acts of violence as a group.) Is there no distinction between these folks and the old ladies that make tea at the Congregationalist Church in Mystic, CT?
Is there NO way that the Muslims opening this mosque and COMMUNITY CENTER are good, proud Americans?
Benson / legion, I respectfully disagree with you on Holder. It’s not like anyone needs to be educated about the link between radical islam and terrorism. We all know about it. That congressional committee definitely knew the score already, and like most committee hearings the point was the public airing of grievances not real information gathering. I think it is a tactical mistake to give in to the urge to make the public dialogue about islam. In additional to the line drawing rules I already gave, here’s another one: never ever draw a line unless you are certain to get an advantage from doing so. By drawing a line between us and islam we give the bad guys an advantage. (as an aside, let’s face it, most the islamic world will not appreciate the distinction if we just attack “radical” or “fundamentalist” islam or something like that – they will just see it as us vs. them). We have a huge financial and military advantage over the bad guys. We should be out there quietly making use of those advantages (and we are). IMHO getting noisy about how the bad guys are muslim is just a bad chess move.
“There is a difference between a “lone wolf” nutjob who latches onto some ideology to justify their killing, and a social/political/religious movement that is gaining adherents and which has the means to finance multiple acts of terror.”
OK, I can see that, although Eric Rudolph was part of a loosely organized group, which was why he was able to evade law enforcement for so long.
In any event, I’m not going to go through the rest of my life worrying about losers like that guy who tried to blow up the truck in Times Square. It’s like worrying about getting hit by a car. Yes, it could happen and we should take precautions. But am I going to live in fear? Not me.
One more thing – if the Times Square incident exemplifies the result of Taliban “training,” we have little to fear.
Legion, for crying out loud. We all understand that groups like the Taliban, and Al Quaida,in all of its incarnations, are intolerant, destructive terrorists. No kidding.
But that said, what does that have to do with Muslims opening a mosque near Ground Zero? You can’t damn entire groups of people on the basis of the actions of some group members. If we do that, then we are no better than they are. Do we damn all Catholics for the horrors of the Inquisition? Do we hate all the people of Spain for the actions of Cortez? Are all decendents of the people who murdered innocent people in Salem, without redemption? They were only following their faith, too. What about slavery, in all its forms? How about hating all Japanese because of the atrocities in China and Korea before and during World War II? Do you mistrust all black people because some black kid mugged you three years ago? When is it enough? At some point, the hate has to stop.
We fight those who want to distroy us, but we don’t hate or pre-emptively squash those who just happen to share their race, creed or color. That is not what America is supposed to be about.
“…hell, a woman journalist can’t even
walk around those places without a
head covering.
why?”
Because to do so is considered disrespectful in their culture. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but really there’s nothing wrong with that.
Legion, outstanding question at 1:05
Legion —
While I know you enjoy posting these examples of Islamist intolerance…. Do you REALLY not see a distinction between fundamentalists and people of faith?!
What about the regular acts of intolerance by Christian fundamentalists? (That, YES, many times involve acts of violence as a group.) Is there no distinction between these folks and the old ladies that make tea at the Congregationalist Church in Mystic, CT?
Is there NO way that the Muslims opening this mosque and COMMUNITY CENTER are good, proud Americans?
Benson / legion, I respectfully disagree with you on Holder. It’s not like anyone needs to be educated about the link between radical islam and terrorism. We all know about it. That congressional committee definitely knew the score already, and like most committee hearings the point was the public airing of grievances not real information gathering. I think it is a tactical mistake to give in to the urge to make the public dialogue about islam. In additional to the line drawing rules I already gave, here’s another one: never ever draw a line unless you are certain to get an advantage from doing so. By drawing a line between us and islam we give the bad guys an advantage. (as an aside, let’s face it, most the islamic world will not appreciate the distinction if we just attack “radical” or “fundamentalist” islam or something like that – they will just see it as us vs. them). We have a huge financial and military advantage over the bad guys. We should be out there quietly making use of those advantages (and we are). IMHO getting noisy about how the bad guys are muslim is just a bad chess move.
“There is a difference between a “lone wolf” nutjob who latches onto some ideology to justify their killing, and a social/political/religious movement that is gaining adherents and which has the means to finance multiple acts of terror.”
OK, I can see that, although Eric Rudolph was part of a loosely organized group, which was why he was able to evade law enforcement for so long.
In any event, I’m not going to go through the rest of my life worrying about losers like that guy who tried to blow up the truck in Times Square. It’s like worrying about getting hit by a car. Yes, it could happen and we should take precautions. But am I going to live in fear? Not me.
One more thing – if the Times Square incident exemplifies the result of Taliban “training,” we have little to fear.
I still think jews are the chosen people
😉
my beef with Holder is will you fucking just say the 9/11 trials aint happening in NYC and much less in Chinatown?!!!!
tjbur6,
and where was that famous “tolerance and understanding” towards Ezekiel’s tomb?
http://www.theblogmocracy.com/2009/12/30/islamists-erase-jewish-identity-from-ezekiels-tomb-in-iraq/