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| Europe |
| The Clash to End All Clashes? |
| 2006-02-07 |
| Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish Muslim writer based in Istanbul, Turkey. (His website is located at www.thewhitepath.com)": "This rage, then, is not a theologically driven response, but an emotional uproar by people who think that their faith and identity are being insulted. It is in a sense a nationalist reaction — the nation being the Muslim umma. (If this reaction were not nationalist, but purely religious in nature, then it would also follow on the mocking of Jesus Christ and Moses. After all, the Koran regards these holy men as God's chosen messengers.)" ... "Thus, if what we see is a clash of civilizations, the responsibility lies in the hands of the extremists on both sides: those who insist, "Yes, we have a right to ridicule God" and those who threaten, "We are going to kill you for it." The rest could get along." Zeyno Baran is director of international-security and energy programs at the Nixon Center: "...the most important step now is to cease tolerating intolerance. No Western (or Muslim) government should tolerate appeals to kill others in the name of religion. The longer such radicals who claim to speak for Muslims are allowed to do so freely, and the longer they are legitimized by Western governments that want to "develop open channels" to the Muslim community, the more demonstrations, riots, and killings we will see. After all, these protests and attacks were not committed "spontaneously" by Muslims, but were encouraged by radical groups — groups that can, with the right approach, be defeated." A dozen interesting interviews, including a number of moderate Muslims. Way too much to excerpt, RTWT. |
| Posted by:KBK |
| #4 "A large portion of the human race" - no, most people either believe in God, a God or gods, andor in the importance of morality and spirituality. Will agree is a "clash of civilizations" as the Radics are essen saying "SURENDER/CONCEDE OR DIE" to both America and the free world. America and the West must accept Socialism and OWG, or be destroyed - ditto for accepting Radical Islam and the Global Caliphate. WE FIGHT AND WIN, OR WE DIE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-02-07 20:41 |
| #3 "Thus, if what we see is a clash of civilizations, the responsibility lies in the hands of the extremists on both sides: those who insist, "Yes, we have a right to ridicule God" and those who threaten, "We are going to kill you for it." A tidy bit of moral equivalence there ... equating ridiculing God through free speech with murdering someone in cold blood. Sort of highlights the whole problem, doesn't it? I'm obliged to quote Bertrand Russell: "... I observe that a very large portion of the human race does not believe in God and suffers no visible punishment in consequence. And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence." |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-07 20:27 |
| #2 And I'll kill anyone who disagrees with me! |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-02-07 16:14 |
| #1 "...the most important step now is to cease tolerating intolerance." I agree. I personally am very intolerant of intolerance. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2006-02-07 16:12 |