Quote for the day
"The United States is not at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject.....We seek broad engagement based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. We will listen carefully, bridge misunderstanding, and seek common ground. We will be respectful, even when we do not agree. And we will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better -- including my own country."
One is tempted to wonder which aspect of Islam he finds most worthy of "appreciation". Is it the Koran's call to conquer and subjugate unbelievers? The injunction mandating death for non-monotheists? The permanent legitimization and codification of slavery? The explicit subjugation of women? The relentless pattern of aggression and violence against the non-Islamic world for fourteen centuries, except when the Enlightenment and the industrial revolution made the West too powerful to confront? Which of these things "has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better"?
The President also endorses the "Islam is a religion of peace which has been hijacked by extremists" delusion, just as I feared during the election.
It's impossible to tell for sure whether Obama is spouting all this Bush-like drivel because he really means it or because he thinks it's necessary for diplomatic reasons. The fact that his own family has some Muslim background allows one to hope that he knows more about Islam than Bush did, and thus understands the threat better (non-Muslims of Muslim background tend to have the most realistic view of Islam) -- but I'm not counting on it. Most likely he's just making careless assumptions about what Islam is really like, as Americans who lack actual knowledge about it tend to do. If so, let's hope his future education on the subject doesn't cost us too much.
One is tempted to wonder which aspect of Islam he finds most worthy of "appreciation". Is it the Koran's call to conquer and subjugate unbelievers? The injunction mandating death for non-monotheists? The permanent legitimization and codification of slavery? The explicit subjugation of women? The relentless pattern of aggression and violence against the non-Islamic world for fourteen centuries, except when the Enlightenment and the industrial revolution made the West too powerful to confront? Which of these things "has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better"?
The President also endorses the "Islam is a religion of peace which has been hijacked by extremists" delusion, just as I feared during the election.
It's impossible to tell for sure whether Obama is spouting all this Bush-like drivel because he really means it or because he thinks it's necessary for diplomatic reasons. The fact that his own family has some Muslim background allows one to hope that he knows more about Islam than Bush did, and thus understands the threat better (non-Muslims of Muslim background tend to have the most realistic view of Islam) -- but I'm not counting on it. Most likely he's just making careless assumptions about what Islam is really like, as Americans who lack actual knowledge about it tend to do. If so, let's hope his future education on the subject doesn't cost us too much.
posted by Infidel753 at 6:27 AM
2 Comments:
People who emphasize the good side of Islam, while saying that the bad side is due to extremists is analogous to looking at Hitler in a different way.
If we ignore all the bad stuff Hitler did, he was a terrific guy! He loved the children of Goebbels, he was always very kind to his dogs and to his secretary ("Are you well rested, my child?" Hitler asked. "I have something to dictate to you." Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary). We just have to learn to set aside things like the Holocaust and the fact that 50 million plus people died in WW2 to see the real Hitler.
Too true! Of course, even back in the 30s there were people who insisted on making out Hitler to be a reasonable guy, someone we could do business with if we were just willing to accommodate him a little. Luckily, they did not carry the day.
If Nazism had lasted a bit longer, today we would probably be plagued with believers in the existence of "moderate Nazism", insisting that the mass murderers were "radical" or "extremist" Nazis who had "hijacked" the peaceful message of the great humanitarian prophet Hitler.
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