Reza Aslan On Muslim violence myths

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Comments

  • yosiyosi Posts: 3,038
    BB, I think I've made it very clear that I don't think that any religion can be easily essentialized, which is why I try to talk about how people understand the demands of their religion rather than what a religion demands. I don't think that the way Saudi Arabia treats women is indicative of how "Islam" demands that women be treated. I do think that Saudi Arabia is not so much of an outlier when you look at the broader Muslim world. Basically, my point is not that Islam is bad, but that there is a worrying amount of bad interpretations of Islam floating around in the world, and that the number of people that subscribe to some variation of those interpretations is not insignificant.

    As for my absence over the summer, as I've already said on another thread, you can thank the bar exam for that, as well as my own lack of desire to engage in pointless circular arguments with people too angry to have a rational discussion. I have no idea what you think I'm "doing," (since I'm not "doing" anything other than posting when the mood hits me), but I have to say that I find your tone/implication to be more than a little paranoid/conspiratorial, and not at all welcoming.
    you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane

  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    Paranoid? Lol. No yosi, I just know what you're doing. And guess what, so do a lot of people. Lucky you the bar exam landed right during the mass murder and systematic genocide your Israeli leaders enjoyed in gaza. Talk about luck. But maybe I'm just being paranoid?
  • benjsbenjs Posts: 9,150
    badbrains said:

    Paranoid? Lol. No yosi, I just know what you're doing. And guess what, so do a lot of people. Lucky you the bar exam landed right during the mass murder and systematic genocide your Israeli leaders enjoyed in gaza. Talk about luck. But maybe I'm just being paranoid?

    Again, please try and look at what Yosi wrote earlier objectively. Yosi is NOT calling for drawing conclusions - he is calling for exploring avenues. That is a HUGE difference, and I whole-heartedly agree with him in exploring avenues. Believe me badbrains, if I refused to explore alternative and largely inconvenient maybe-truths, I wouldn't feel the way that I do about the injustices which have and continue to occur to Palestinians (and to Muslims at large).

    What you watch on the news - THAT is Islamophobia. They have short snippets depicting extremism, one-directional communication, zero statistical analysis, conclusions drawn on fringe cases. What Yosi did here - that was due analytical process. Calling for an INVESTIGATION, on a medium with bi-directional communication between someone with an opinion, and the masses which consume it (i.e. us).

    Seriously, you know we're playing for the same team here, but this is one discussion where we might have to disagree. What Yosi said leaves me largely unchanged about what the BEST avenues to explore are - I just think it's critical to analyze everything. Do I think at the end of the day it could be a waste of time? Definitely. Do I think it should be a vetoed topic on this bidirectional medium? Nope. For what it's worth, Yosi condemned Jewish and Christian sentiments on the last page as well, and on another note, If you think he wants peace and justice any less than you, it's worth revisiting his posts over the last little while. Your allegiances may lay on different sides of a border, but I believe your goals (peace, justice, coexistence) are mirrored: you just have different approaches on how to get there.
    '05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2

    EV
    Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
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