America always needs an enemy. And people to fear monger us up into a frenzy of democratic defense of our way of life. It all looks so desperate. Saying anything to keep the blood flowing and the six-packs frightened and angry.
"The problem with Islam is deeply rooted in its doctrines, its history and ultimately its founder, Mohammed himself. "
This is a perfectly legitimate thing for any bigot to say, right? Let's substitute Jesus into that sentence and watch the indignation turn into as ugly a hatred as anyone can find anywhere. But that'll be OK, 'cause, well, we're Christians and that makes all the difference. We're allowed to be bigots. Our way of life is under attack. By infidels, no less. Oh wait .. something about this sounds too familiar.
Well, not exactly, Blue. The statement "America always needs and enemy" could itself be construed as bigoted, especially in reference to an article written by a Briton. Moreover, if the statement re Islam is backed with chapter and verse from the Koran, the statement deserves addressed on those terms, and on those terms may still be proved wrong. Not every criticism of Christianity is bigoted - there are legitimate objections to Church policy and history. In other words, addressing Dalrymple's - or anyone else's - arguments in a civil, rational manner is better than tossing around epithets. Otherwise, what we have is not discussion, but sloganeering.
America always needs an enemy. And people to fear monger us up into a frenzy of democratic defense of our way of life. It all looks so desperate. Saying anything to keep the blood flowing and the six-packs frightened and angry.
ReplyDelete"The problem with Islam is deeply rooted in its doctrines, its history and ultimately its founder, Mohammed himself. "
This is a perfectly legitimate thing for any bigot to say, right? Let's substitute Jesus into that sentence and watch the indignation turn into as ugly a hatred as anyone can find anywhere. But that'll be OK, 'cause, well, we're Christians and that makes all the difference. We're allowed to be bigots. Our way of life is under attack. By infidels, no less. Oh wait .. something about this sounds too familiar.
-blue
Well, not exactly, Blue. The statement "America always needs and enemy" could itself be construed as bigoted, especially in reference to an article written by a Briton.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, if the statement re Islam is backed with chapter and verse from the Koran, the statement deserves addressed on those terms, and on those terms may still be proved wrong. Not every criticism of Christianity is bigoted - there are legitimate objections to Church policy and history. In other words, addressing Dalrymple's - or anyone else's - arguments in a civil, rational manner is better than tossing around epithets. Otherwise, what we have is not discussion, but sloganeering.