Meeting Muslims at CPAC
Rarely have I anything substantial to add. Let the pros blog, and I'll kibitz.
More important than the Everydude were the Muslims For America gentlemen at CPAC, who are worth a few bytes of blogosphere.
The second day began with some talking heads, and then I ducked out for the Tea Party.
Here Michelle Malkin helped remind me about the need for the gym:
(Aside: 15April looks like the next Tea Party go-round. Can we improve attendance by an order of magnitude?)
As I returned to the Omni, there was Mr. UK persona non grata himself:
One day I'll master this posing business.
During the afternoon, I dropped by for some conversation with Muhammed Ali Hasan, and the younger fellow of whose name I'm unsure (whoops).
They seemed decent chaps. I was pleased and encouraged at their presence at CPAC, and friendliness.
Later, before the under-publicized, but nevertheless packed screening of Fitnah, they passed out a flyer that said "Geert Wilders is Ill-Informed". You had to expect some response, and one cannot find fault with this. Once the door opened, they stood in the room. Pamela Geller emceed the event, and was followed by Andy Bostom and Robert Spencer, who rather firmly rebutted the flyer the MFA had circulated beforehand. Wilder's speech was substantially similar to the one he'd given in New York a few days prior.
After all that, the movie was anticlimactic. There are quotations, possibly lacking sufficient context, clips of various speakers making assertions that are challenging to view dispassionately, and images that make a Stephen King flick seem like a Warner Brothers cartoon. The only thing merciful about Fitnah is its brevity. Afterward, I walked to the side wall where the MFA guys were standing, shook Hasan's hand, and said "I know that ain't you". I think they may have been just a little uncertain about the reaction to the film, and I hope the rest of the crowd was as gracious with them.
Besides rejecting the violence depicted, it seemed the overarching issue was freedom of speech. Wilder's struggle not to have the Dutch courts used against him is just a brick in a larger, Orwellian wall. I'm more a geek than a psychologist, so I can't puzzle out the masochistic synergy between European liberalism and extremism. However, peering into the future, the story doesn't seem to end well for those of European stock.
Whether or not you agree with Mr. Wilders, his fate is yours, with just a few years separating the two. He may dress more snazzily than Joe the Plumber, and certainly has better hair, but it is imperative that those of us who enjoy life outside the media spotlight support those on the cutting edge of the struggle for basic rights.
However, this post is really about the MFA. I genuinely want to believe them moderate, and learn more about these fellows, and Islam in particular. I want to believe that, just as Christianity produces the occasional Koresh monster, so too the terrorists are aberrations. I also hope that things progress to the point that the reaction to what is considered blasphemous can be prayer for the artist (may the Almighty forgive Serrano, who knows not what he does with his waste).
Again, let's spend some time getting to know Muslims. I daresay the social conservatives in the crowd may have more in common with Muslims than, say, most of Hollywood.
More important than the Everydude were the Muslims For America gentlemen at CPAC, who are worth a few bytes of blogosphere.
The second day began with some talking heads, and then I ducked out for the Tea Party.
Here Michelle Malkin helped remind me about the need for the gym:
(Aside: 15April looks like the next Tea Party go-round. Can we improve attendance by an order of magnitude?)
As I returned to the Omni, there was Mr. UK persona non grata himself:
One day I'll master this posing business.
During the afternoon, I dropped by for some conversation with Muhammed Ali Hasan, and the younger fellow of whose name I'm unsure (whoops).
They seemed decent chaps. I was pleased and encouraged at their presence at CPAC, and friendliness.
Later, before the under-publicized, but nevertheless packed screening of Fitnah, they passed out a flyer that said "Geert Wilders is Ill-Informed". You had to expect some response, and one cannot find fault with this. Once the door opened, they stood in the room. Pamela Geller emceed the event, and was followed by Andy Bostom and Robert Spencer, who rather firmly rebutted the flyer the MFA had circulated beforehand. Wilder's speech was substantially similar to the one he'd given in New York a few days prior.
After all that, the movie was anticlimactic. There are quotations, possibly lacking sufficient context, clips of various speakers making assertions that are challenging to view dispassionately, and images that make a Stephen King flick seem like a Warner Brothers cartoon. The only thing merciful about Fitnah is its brevity. Afterward, I walked to the side wall where the MFA guys were standing, shook Hasan's hand, and said "I know that ain't you". I think they may have been just a little uncertain about the reaction to the film, and I hope the rest of the crowd was as gracious with them.
Besides rejecting the violence depicted, it seemed the overarching issue was freedom of speech. Wilder's struggle not to have the Dutch courts used against him is just a brick in a larger, Orwellian wall. I'm more a geek than a psychologist, so I can't puzzle out the masochistic synergy between European liberalism and extremism. However, peering into the future, the story doesn't seem to end well for those of European stock.
Whether or not you agree with Mr. Wilders, his fate is yours, with just a few years separating the two. He may dress more snazzily than Joe the Plumber, and certainly has better hair, but it is imperative that those of us who enjoy life outside the media spotlight support those on the cutting edge of the struggle for basic rights.
However, this post is really about the MFA. I genuinely want to believe them moderate, and learn more about these fellows, and Islam in particular. I want to believe that, just as Christianity produces the occasional Koresh monster, so too the terrorists are aberrations. I also hope that things progress to the point that the reaction to what is considered blasphemous can be prayer for the artist (may the Almighty forgive Serrano, who knows not what he does with his waste).
Again, let's spend some time getting to know Muslims. I daresay the social conservatives in the crowd may have more in common with Muslims than, say, most of Hollywood.