Have you seen the "3 things about Islam" video?

[antof9]

I just watched this (it's long -- 8 minutes), and am not sure what to think. I don't know anything about the person or organization who posted it, the "related videos" on the side give me pause, and I'll be honest; I'm confused by what could be implied from this video, if it's accurate. I'm very curious to hear your thoughts -- the people who

Comments

[miketroll]

Another YouTube take on Islam. Probably the best known is Geert Wilders' little movie, Fitna, which intersperses belligerent quotations from the Qur'an with graphic scenes of 9/ll destruction. (On a different tack, there's also a text-based gem alleging that *Israel* is running Al Qaeda as a tool to make the West more antagonistic towards Islam!)

With Fitna the viewer knows who the producer is and where he's coming from. This is not so clear with your link, though the message is similar. Who is the author / voiceover? Sounds Middle-Eastern, certainly not German, in any case making the same case as Fitna - that Islam itself is the enemy of the West. It would be nice to know the author and his motive.

Most of the arguments about the scriptural base in the Qur'an for waging all-out war against the infidel were familiar to me, but I hadn't heard about the Qur'an's alleged injunction to resolve textual contradictions by always taking the later verse as the authority.

This doesn't ring true. Why are we not given chapter and verse? Moreover, what writer would say his text was the pure, unadulterated word of Allah, crystal clear, no need for interpretation, only obedience - oh, and by the way, Allah says if he does goof along the way, take the later verse as a correction!?

In the real world, crazies who seek to use scriptural authority as a pretext for mayhem are a small minority. It's absurd to imply that all Muslims are potential terrorists.

Nonetheless, the Islamic community is a source of terrorist activity. After the 7/7 bombings in London, the police and anti-terrorist agencies quickly targeted home-grown Muslims, probably male and <30. They weren't wrong.

And yet there were widespread claims that the police were picking on innocent Muslims in their pursuit of the terrorists. Did people expect the police to interrogate a few members of the Royal Horticultural Society in the interest of balance?

Sure, it's uncomfortable for ordinary Muslims to have the crazies in their midst, but it would be better for them and everyone if they joined the public sense of repugnance in larger numbers, and if Muslim clerics were more outspoken in their rejection of terrorism.

[antof9]

I just didn't like his pronunciation of "fiery"!

Funny how these things draw our attention :)

[appleshoelace]

I thought his pronunciation of 'fiery' was interesting. It was the only word he got wrong, and he pronounced it as it logically should be pronounced, if you think of words like 'pier' and 'tier'.

[antof9]

Thanks for your comments -- they are greatly appreciated. I'll admit that the thing that bothered me most was lack of information about the creators of that video.

I appreciate and agree with a lot of your other comments. Thanks, really for taking the time to watch it and make remarks.

[appleshoelace]

I've known German people with exactly the same accent as this guy - generally Germans who have become very good at English and who learnt UK English, with RP accent. Maybe it's people from a certain part of Germany, as obviously there are different German dialects and accents, and not all German people have the same accent when speaking English, but I'd say he's almost definitely German. I've never heard any other nationality speak with this accent.