(no subject)
Just for the record....I'm not Muslim. Nor do I aspire to be. I don't particularly like the theology of Islam anymore than I like Christianity or Judaism. I find all of them pretty paternalistic and certainly none of them fall in line with my political or moral beliefs, much as I may have tried to squeeze them in during my years in the Christian Church. I don't see Muslims as fundamentally better people. I try to see all my neighbors as fundamentally the same. It's important to note that I often fail at that, because I have the same narrow-mindedness and prejudices of the average person.
So why do I find myself defending Islam so often? I was asked this just this morning. The answer is pretty simple; Right now I think it needs defending. Both from within and without. And this is the best articulation I've found of why I think that;
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22wright.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp&adxnnlx=1258898547-Mm2MJ85GaG5lsp3YOT65nA
Crazy knows no religion. Power-hungry and corrupt has no creed. Anyone can take any religious text and twist it to their own evil ends if they have a mind to. Why do we everyday folk so often damage our own moral high ground against crazy and evil with our rhetoric? Rhetoric like American Muslims aren't reeeeeally Americans, their allegiance is first to their religion and second to their country. And this is not to suggest that anyone reading this has ever repeated anything like that, but frankly, I hear it a lot out there on the street, and it makes me sick to my stomach. If this sentiment sounds familiar, it's because it is the exact kind of rhetoric the Nazis used to justify their actions against German Jews.
Bringing Nazi Germany into any discussion always feels hyperbolic and kind of a copout, but my point is, we don't have the luxury in this country of allowing our natural fear of "otherness" permeate our political environment, because of what we've set out to do here. So, yes, I hear people when they bewail out-of-control political correctness, but it is a side effect of a more important endeavor, all men being created equal and whatnot. Does this make me shed a tear for a jihadist, or justify his or her actions as a reaction to prejudice or war or whatever? Absolutely not. But we have great potential for evil in our own souls, and every time it makes itself obvious it....
YES, I'M GOING TO FRIGGIN' INVOKE ASHCROFT HERE
...strengthens our enemies. So please, pleeeease stop feeding the crazy.
So why do I find myself defending Islam so often? I was asked this just this morning. The answer is pretty simple; Right now I think it needs defending. Both from within and without. And this is the best articulation I've found of why I think that;
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22wright.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp&adxnnlx=1258898547-Mm2MJ85GaG5lsp3YOT65nA
Crazy knows no religion. Power-hungry and corrupt has no creed. Anyone can take any religious text and twist it to their own evil ends if they have a mind to. Why do we everyday folk so often damage our own moral high ground against crazy and evil with our rhetoric? Rhetoric like American Muslims aren't reeeeeally Americans, their allegiance is first to their religion and second to their country. And this is not to suggest that anyone reading this has ever repeated anything like that, but frankly, I hear it a lot out there on the street, and it makes me sick to my stomach. If this sentiment sounds familiar, it's because it is the exact kind of rhetoric the Nazis used to justify their actions against German Jews.
Bringing Nazi Germany into any discussion always feels hyperbolic and kind of a copout, but my point is, we don't have the luxury in this country of allowing our natural fear of "otherness" permeate our political environment, because of what we've set out to do here. So, yes, I hear people when they bewail out-of-control political correctness, but it is a side effect of a more important endeavor, all men being created equal and whatnot. Does this make me shed a tear for a jihadist, or justify his or her actions as a reaction to prejudice or war or whatever? Absolutely not. But we have great potential for evil in our own souls, and every time it makes itself obvious it....
YES, I'M GOING TO FRIGGIN' INVOKE ASHCROFT HERE
...strengthens our enemies. So please, pleeeease stop feeding the crazy.