August 21, 2006

Why do they hate our freedoms? In which it is argued that many of the problems within the muslim community are self-made, providing a fertile ground for populist leaders. The floor is open for discussion.
posted by Northern Exposed 17 years ago
  • I'll start the discussion with a working link to the article.
  • What freedoms?
  • *adds SMT to The List*
  • Oooh, I've n3ver been on a list before! Oh, damn, that one.
  • Oops. I always wondered why so many links went bad. Now I know. hides head in shame, runs into next room
  • Mmh. Exploiting the frustrations and fears of a population to create scapegoats out of foreigners, and demonize them in order to make them pliable to carry out your goals. Where have I seen that... "Muslims have developed a complex. They think they won't be heard if they don't shout. Every statement is like a war." Then there is real war, the war of terrorism. Okey.
  • It would help if there was a prominent and widely admired moderate Muslim leader who is as well known as Osama.
  • "I am a Muslim but I am not a fundamentalist Muslim." (Do Christians say, "I am Christian but not an evangelical Christian?") Um, yes. I think a lot of Christians are saying that these days, actually.
  • It would help if there was a prominent and widely admired moderate Muslim leader who is as well known as Osama. It would, definitely. I'd probably have to ask why there are comparatively few news stories about, for example, Queen Noor of Jordan? I'd suggest that it might be that painting Muslims as terrifying extremists sells more papers. "Evil man in cave gloats over killings" is more exciting news than "Humanitarian addresses UN".
  • Another problem is the sorry tactic of apparently progressive people excusing the bigotry of fundamentalist Muslims because they don't want to be bigots, or out of some misguided 'the enemy of my enemy...' stupidity. So homophobia, misogyny, etc. are swept under the carpet or not mentioned. Kind of a head-exploding logical Twister phenomenon, but not an uncommon one amongst some 'left' groups in the UK and Australia. This isolates and makes things difficult for more liberal Muslims and secular people from the Middle East and other areas where Islam is strong.
  • "I am a Muslim but I am not a fundamentalist Muslim." (Do Christians say, "I am Christian but not an evangelical Christian?") Um, yes. I think a lot of Christians are saying that these days, actually. Even a lot of Christians whom I would think of as "fundamentalist" are making sure to distance themselves from the Pat Robertsoin types.