More Anti-Muslim E-mails? WHATEVER!
Since the war in Iraq began in March, there has not been a day go by where I do not receive some type of anti-Muslim or anti-Arabic e-mail.
You have all seen them. The two most common are:
1) Syria voted against the U.S. x amount of times at the U.N.; Iran voted against the U.S. x amount of times at the U.N.; etc. etc. etc., and
2) REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103!; REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!; REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon!; etc., etc., etc.
Well, people I am tired of it.
The average American today will not hesitate to start letter writing campaigns merely because he or she has received 5 unsolicited "spam" mails. On the contrary, these same people freely forward such hateful messages willy-nilly without considering the fact that they might actually be offending someone. It saddens me that we have evolved into a country that wants to send business people to jail simply because we are too laze to tap our delete button a dozen times a day, yet we have no problem searching through our mailboxes for hours to send such hateful propaganda to people who might not want it.
This is no different than when a fellow white man comes up to me and uses the "N-word" without hesitation assuming that I will not take offense merely because I too am white. The same holds true here. Simply because I am American does not mean that I have to hate every Arabic or Muslim person around. It is funny that the premise of this war was to HELP THE MUSLIM PEOPLE! This, folks, is hipocricy at its finest hour.
This chain mail is nothing more than anti-Arab propaganda. The U.N. voting statistics do not mean anything. They neglect to point out the issues in which these Arab countries voted "against" the U.S. We have Congressmen that vote against the majority most of the time too. That does not automatically make it wrong. That is what democracy is all about - right? Without supplying us with the subject matter of these U.N. votes, how can we form any sort of rational opinion based on facts?
My problem with our country these days is that if it is not OUR WAY then it is automatically the WRONG way. However, it does not seem to surprise me since we do live in a country full of conformists who refuse to accept peoples' differences among our own society. The politicking of today seems to take advantage of these same ignorances that plague our nation, and by bolstering it with a little "patriotism," attempts to gain enough public support to take on the world. All of this is done without any regard for sovereign foreign nations to govern themselves in any way they deem to be appropriate.
Article comments
1 - mishka
you are so stupid. so we all are wrong and you are right?!
2 - TheRagingCritic
Wow. I forgot I even wrote this.
Funny though that three years later we still have not found any weapons of mass destruction...
Funny that over 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died since I wrote the article...
Funny that anti-American sentiment has grown exponentially since then...
And I am the stupid one?
Three years later and nothing has contradicted the points I made.
So yes, I am right. And yes, you are wrong!
3 - Richard Brodie
My problem with our country these days is that if it is not OUR WAY then it is automatically the WRONG way.
Yes. Let's be open minded about this. Our way is not to strap bombs around our waste and blow ourselves up in the middle of a bunch of innocent people. Our way is not to comandeer airliners and fly them into office buildings where innocent people are working.
Yes. Let us not be so arrogant as to conclude that just because these kinds of actions are not OUR way, they are necessarily the WRONG way.
If the culture known as Islam sees nothing wrong with these kinds of actions, let us be sensitive about not "offending someone", by suggesting that we are somehow SUPERIOR just because it is not our way to engage in these kinds of actions.
Let us rather adopt the accepting, standardless attitude that all cultures are equally RIGHT, and not be judgmental towards people who act in ways that are different from our own.
Let us not be offensively condemnatory and say that suicide murderers are acting WRONGLY. Instead let us say only that they are acting DIFFERENTLY from how we would act.
In this way, The Raging Critic will not have to have any "problem with our country these days."
THE HEART OF ISLAM: Enduring Terror for Humanity
4 - Mug
The U.S.A way is blowing up a entire country for Oil.
the U.S.A way is to rape innocent iraqi women and kill at will inoceent men driving to work in iraq
the U.S.A. way is to show one side, and be openly hateful to the religion of Islam with no understanding, and no knownledge but CNN to speak on Islam...wow, have intellegent..
The U.S.A way is to say your fight for freedom, when you don't even have freedom to say what you wanna say without being thrown in Jail
the U.S.A way is to tell muslium women to take of their viel as it is so-called opressive, but yet think of a NUN wearing the Veil as a holy statement for GOD.
I'm just glad I'm not living in the U.S....
5 - Dave Nalle
I sure am glad I'm not living in the fantasy USA which Mug describes. I wonder where that country is located. We should nuke it.
Dave
6 - barry Gardner
Pied Piper
The story of the tourist who walked into a Hastings curio/antique shop.
After looking around for a while, he noticed a very life-like bronze statue of a rat. It had no price tag, but it was so striking that he decided to have it anyway.
So he took it to the owner and said: "How much is this bronze rat?"
The owner replied: "It is £12 for the rat, and £100 for the story."
Well the tourist gave the man his £12 and said: "I'll just take the rat - you can keep the story."
As he walked off down the street, he noticed that a few real rats had crawled out of the sewers and begun following him.
This was a little disconcerting, so he started to walk a little faster,but within a couple of blocks the swarm of rats had grown to hundreds, and they were all squealing & screeching in a very menacing way.
He increased his speed & ran on towards the beach, and as he ran, he looked behind him and saw the rats now numbered in their MILLIONS, and they were running faster & faster.
By now very concerned, he ran to the edge of the sea and threw the bronze rat far out into the water.
Amazingly, the millions of real rats jumped into the water after it and were all drowned.
The man walked back to relate all this to the shop owner, who said:
Quote:
"Ah, you've come back for the story then!"
"No," said the tourist - "I came back to see if you've got a bronze Muslim fundamentalist cleric.
7 - barry Gardner
Australia says GO And Britain should the same
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.
"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.
Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."
"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"
"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!"
"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."
"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.
"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,
'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."
"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths!
If you agree please SEND THIS TO EVERYBODY YOU KNOW!
8 - Nancy
Well, God bless Mr. Howard. I only wish American leaders had such backbone, & would make the same "invitation" to those in the US who don't like the dominant culture & require everything to be translated or done their way in the name of cultural diversity & pc.
9 - Jason Kirk
Islam does not separate religion from state, many many muslims beleive that the state should protect Islam. Muslim institutions in the west constantly complain about Islamaphobia and demand laws to ban hate speech and insulting religion. They are supported by muslim states and muslim international organisations such as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), who seek to give Islam a place in all societies. They claim that Islam, the Qur'an, sharia and Muhammad mush all be protected from critizism, however factual that critiszm may be. Islamist organisations in the west also use the laws of libel, human rights and the equality to silence any critizsm of Islam. Large funds are set aside for such skillful lawyers.
This approach puts off many people who might otherwise critisize Islam and so limits there free speech. This situation is beginning to limit public discussion on Islam and even the threat posed by Islamist terrorism. It presents a real challenge to both civil rights and national security in Western states. Islamists present Islam to the non-Muslim West as tolerant and peacable. They have a project to re-write texts about Islam for Western audiences. They present Islam and islamic history in the best possible light, stressing only its peaceful and pleasent features while denying the intolerant and violent ones, not least its many wars of expansion. They have created an atmosphere in which it is becomming difficult for public figures to critizise Islam or talk openly about the challenges posed by Islam.
Some muslims have resorted to violence and the threat of violence to frighten governments into meeting there demands. Examples include the riots in Oldham, UK 2001 and in Paris in 2005. This approach seems to be effective in the west, where governments want to avoid riots in the streets of their cities. The Danish cartoons of Muhammad and the riots of violence that followed prompted many western politicians to express sympathy with Muslim anger.
In addition, leading western personalities, both Muslim and non-Muslim have been threatened attacked or even murdered. Examples are the fatwa against Salam Rushdie in Britain in (1989), the assasination of Theo Van Gogh (2004) in the Netherlands, deat threats against politicians Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Gert Wilders in the Netherlands, death threats to the Jyllands Posten editor Flemming Rose and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in Denmark and a plot to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks in Sweden. As a result the media, academics and publishers have also begun to censor their work.
In colclusion -- Governments and the public must be made aware of the danger of allowing Islamic Activists to take over Muslim organisations and claim to represent all muslims. The excessive demand of Islamists must be rejected, along with the blaming all host societies for all the difficulties faced by muslims. It is important that demographic western societies do not give up there hard won heritage of equality before the law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. It must be made clear that tolerance must work both ways and that threats of violence are unacceptable. Muslim communities must try harder to isolate and expose Islamists who reject integration and the violent radicals among them. The growing Islamisation of the west should be seen as both a challenge and an opportunnity to sharpen our thinking and renew our evangelism.