I'm surprised at this short comment, because I'm not sure at all that the media does let off Islam. Look at what the Glenn Beck cohort say, day after day, about Islam and those who practice. There is no one in mainstream media saying anything that hateful about, say, Christians because of clinic bombings & shootings and the Olympic Park Bomber; or about Libertarians because of Timothy McVeigh, the Unabomber, and the spate of paranoid school shootings. Don't want to sort of pick at this but that comment really doesn't seem fair, at all, to the millions of good people who get blamed for this radical fringe.
Au contraire, Daniel. Christians -- at least Evangelical Christians -- are indeed tainted with a broad brush when a clinic is attacked or an abortionist is shot. It is made quite clear to all and sundry that the perp was a conservative Christian. You won't, however, hear much made about this concerning the Panama City gunman: "Clay Duke, the man who opened fire on a Florida school board Tuesday, posted a “last testament” on Facebook decrying the wealthy and linking to a slew of progressive sites including theprogressivemind.info and MediaMatters.org." You find me a piece of commentary in, say, the NYT, cautioning all of us not to connect Evangelicalism with the mindset that would cause a person to shoot an abortionist. I'd love to read it. But we are told over and over again not to connect the acts of Islamic terrorists with, well, Islam. Well. what the hell are we supposed to connect it with? Oh, of course, our evil ways, right?
You really think so? I mean, certainly in the moment of the event they're identified; but, you don't see anyone with the following of Glenn Beck claiming that 10% of all Christians are radical terrorists. Christianity is hardly in need of any defense. In fact, Christian rhetoric forms the backbone of several very powerful, mainstream movements. But maybe as I don't self-identify as religious, and am surrounded at all times with the trappings of Christianity, such things don't affect me and so I don't notice them.
Still, I wouldn't disconnect a heinous act from radical Islam — but I do from Islam at large. We are at war in Islamic countries, under fire from radicals who wish to prosecute a war between their brand of Islam and "the West", so I think it is fair to emphasize the truth in mainstream media: that the vast majority of Muslims are just ordinary people, and this group of radicals is not representative. This truth has to be emphasized in the face of these acts, whose goal is to goad us to greater intolerance and to more confrontation.
Honestly, I am more worried about riots, about the possibility of a kristallnacht in America — worried about how quickly we lose our humanity and how fast Democracy collapses in the face of violent spectacle and easy hysteria.
If Islam is granted forbearance, perhaps it's because they're the most visible antagonist at the moment. The most visible antagonist is only the most recent one. Not long ago it was Castro. Or Soviet Russia.
You don't hear in the media at all about Hinduism, or Taoism. Buddhism gets some mention, but only because so many Americans have come to embrace it.
The point is, there are elements within our culture who always need an Enemy to hate, an Other to despise and fear. Radical Muslims are the current Enemy. They won't be forever, but they are right now.
The point to remember, though, is that it is the RADICALS of any religious group who are the true enemy, not the ordinary rank and file. That's a reminder of perspective I do often see repeated in the media. But that's not apologia, that's keeping it in perspective, to not turn EVERYONE into an enemy. I recall the near-lynchings of Arabs in NYC after 9/11. That was because some people were painting with the broad brush of hating ALL Muslims, not just the radicals who were the cause of 9/11.
No, no, no, no. The radicals of any religious group -- the people who think the matter down to its roots -- are the only people who understand their faith -- and usually find themselves at odds with the so-called orthodox. The Sufis are the radicals of Islam -- they get it. It is the people who reduce their faith texts to literal trivialities who are the problem in every faith. As for riots, Daniel, you have just reminded me of my next post. Are we having fun or what? Just remember, if the wrong people take over, we'll be together ... in front of the firing squad.
I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree — militant radicals, in my mind, are just Machiavellian. "Thinking" is not much in their nature, although elaborate and often logical delusions are. They grasp childishly at whatever power they can wield just like a dictator, industrialist, or megachurch pastor. It has as much to do with the spirit or religion as a gum ball machine.
Frank,
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at this short comment, because I'm not sure at all that the media does let off Islam. Look at what the Glenn Beck cohort say, day after day, about Islam and those who practice. There is no one in mainstream media saying anything that hateful about, say, Christians because of clinic bombings & shootings and the Olympic Park Bomber; or about Libertarians because of Timothy McVeigh, the Unabomber, and the spate of paranoid school shootings. Don't want to sort of pick at this but that comment really doesn't seem fair, at all, to the millions of good people who get blamed for this radical fringe.
Au contraire, Daniel. Christians -- at least Evangelical Christians -- are indeed tainted with a broad brush when a clinic is attacked or an abortionist is shot. It is made quite clear to all and sundry that the perp was a conservative Christian. You won't, however, hear much made about this concerning the Panama City gunman: "Clay Duke, the man who opened fire on a Florida school board Tuesday, posted a “last testament” on Facebook decrying the wealthy and linking to a slew of progressive sites including theprogressivemind.info and MediaMatters.org."
ReplyDeleteYou find me a piece of commentary in, say, the NYT, cautioning all of us not to connect Evangelicalism with the mindset that would cause a person to shoot an abortionist. I'd love to read it. But we are told over and over again not to connect the acts of Islamic terrorists with, well, Islam. Well. what the hell are we supposed to connect it with? Oh, of course, our evil ways, right?
You really think so? I mean, certainly in the moment of the event they're identified; but, you don't see anyone with the following of Glenn Beck claiming that 10% of all Christians are radical terrorists. Christianity is hardly in need of any defense. In fact, Christian rhetoric forms the backbone of several very powerful, mainstream movements. But maybe as I don't self-identify as religious, and am surrounded at all times with the trappings of Christianity, such things don't affect me and so I don't notice them.
ReplyDeleteStill, I wouldn't disconnect a heinous act from radical Islam — but I do from Islam at large. We are at war in Islamic countries, under fire from radicals who wish to prosecute a war between their brand of Islam and "the West", so I think it is fair to emphasize the truth in mainstream media: that the vast majority of Muslims are just ordinary people, and this group of radicals is not representative. This truth has to be emphasized in the face of these acts, whose goal is to goad us to greater intolerance and to more confrontation.
Honestly, I am more worried about riots, about the possibility of a kristallnacht in America — worried about how quickly we lose our humanity and how fast Democracy collapses in the face of violent spectacle and easy hysteria.
If Islam is granted forbearance, perhaps it's because they're the most visible antagonist at the moment. The most visible antagonist is only the most recent one. Not long ago it was Castro. Or Soviet Russia.
ReplyDeleteYou don't hear in the media at all about Hinduism, or Taoism. Buddhism gets some mention, but only because so many Americans have come to embrace it.
The point is, there are elements within our culture who always need an Enemy to hate, an Other to despise and fear. Radical Muslims are the current Enemy. They won't be forever, but they are right now.
The point to remember, though, is that it is the RADICALS of any religious group who are the true enemy, not the ordinary rank and file. That's a reminder of perspective I do often see repeated in the media. But that's not apologia, that's keeping it in perspective, to not turn EVERYONE into an enemy. I recall the near-lynchings of Arabs in NYC after 9/11. That was because some people were painting with the broad brush of hating ALL Muslims, not just the radicals who were the cause of 9/11.
No, no, no, no. The radicals of any religious group -- the people who think the matter down to its roots -- are the only people who understand their faith -- and usually find themselves at odds with the so-called orthodox. The Sufis are the radicals of Islam -- they get it. It is the people who reduce their faith texts to literal trivialities who are the problem in every faith.
ReplyDeleteAs for riots, Daniel, you have just reminded me of my next post.
Are we having fun or what? Just remember, if the wrong people take over, we'll be together ... in front of the firing squad.
I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree — militant radicals, in my mind, are just Machiavellian. "Thinking" is not much in their nature, although elaborate and often logical delusions are. They grasp childishly at whatever power they can wield just like a dictator, industrialist, or megachurch pastor. It has as much to do with the spirit or religion as a gum ball machine.
ReplyDelete