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Comment #198597 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 24, 2008 at 9:32 am
Advocatus - don't make me come over there.
If Israel wanted to wipe out the Palestinians, it would have done so and the UN would have hopped up and down and done nothing. And for the record, there are a few people who are beginning to reach the end of their tether with respect to the Palestinians.
Now, back in the real world, the last time there was a continuous rain of rockets on the capital city of a major nation, the response was to completely level the enemies cities and send hundreds of thousands to their deaths. That was during World War Two, when London was bombarded, and the British retaliated by flattening vast numbers of German cities.
And your gratuitous insults and vile swearing in that last post were absolutely out of order.
I wouldn't say that Israel is necessarily "One of us", it does have its unsavory aspects (such as race based citizen laws, among others) but it is certainly a better bet than trying to talk to Hamas which only today finds itself in violation of the not even week old truce with Israel.
602. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198534 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 24, 2008 at 8:12 am
al on the subject of East Timor, here's a good commentary on the subject of Islam in Indonesia:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015505.php
Punkt aus basta, as we say in the fatherland.
When looking at the Tanakh and Qu'ran I see few differences save choice of wording
Look: Possibly there would be some abstract justice in closing down the settlements, I don't know. I don't see it myself, I must admit. Why should Jews not live among Arabs? Lots of Arabs live in Israel, and do very well there. There are rich Israeli Arabs; there are Israeli-Arab pop stars and comedians; there are Israeli-Arab intellectuals, teachers, writers, businessmen, athletes. Why, when the whole thing gets sorted out, should there not be Jews living in Arab territory �" as there were for centuries past? What, exactly, is wrong with the settlements? I don't see it.
But, okay, let's suppose there is some valid moral objection to the existence of the settlements; and let's suppose my reader's plan were to be carried out, and all the settlements were removed, their populations transferred back to metropolitan Israel, their buildings razed, their fields ploughed with salt. Does anybody think it would make a damn bit of difference? There was no such thing as settlements, no such thing as "occupied territories," before the 1967 war. There were no such things in 1960, for example, when Adolf Eichmann was abducted from his hiding-hole in Buenos Aires by Israeli secret agents, an event recorded by Saudi Arabia's principal government-controlled newspaper as: "ARREST OF EICHMANN, WHO HAD THE HONOR OF KILLING 6 MILLION JEWS".
The problem of the Middle East is not the settlements. It is not this piece of land or that piece. It is not the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem or Temple Mount. It is not oil, or land, or water, or history, or geography, or metaphysics. The problem is in plain sight. You know what the problem is, and so do I. The problem is that the Middle East hates the Jews.
603. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198492 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 24, 2008 at 6:25 am
Had your "nation" not instigated most if not all of what it is currently getting I'd say by all means fight back. But given the circumstances the only amount of compassion I can muster for you people is, you've made your bed now lay down in it.
604. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198445 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 24, 2008 at 1:27 am
I'd like to add one other thing. There's no easy or soon answer to this. There's no way this will be settled in a few years, or even a few decades. This war will continue to rage for the rest of our lives.
Better get used to it. Better get ready to man the barricades and watch the sky. Hugh FitzGerald has a good article on the subject:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/019411.php
And, NC, if you want to see where muslim immigration is taking us, read the following short story:
http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm
Read the follow-up message to. It will make your hair stand on end.
605. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198444 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 24, 2008 at 1:20 am
NakedCelt you still haven't addressed the point that Muslim immigration is pushing our societies towards extinction. I'm sorry, but our first duty must be to hold the line. If we keep letting Muslims into our nations, we may as well just cut our own throats.
Increasing numbers of Muslims in our societies means increasing levels of gang-rape, increasing weakness on the part of our politicos to deal with this problem, increasing abuse of women, increasing intimidation - no. This has got to stop, and it has got to stop right now.
You called me naive once for implying that Muslims might convert out of sheer appreciation of the benefits of the West.
You can't destroy one culture and replace it with another without gigantic misery
Marx wasn't wrong about everything, you know.
Unfortunately many of those women will themselves be "supporters" of shariah, in that they'll teach their families to abide by it, out of sheer concern for their safety if nothing else.
Like I said, we need to help people over that difficult first step of confronting their own beliefs.
606. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198230 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Remove from Islam typical religious topics of a god and mystical aspects (Allah, jinns, angels, satan, houri, miracles, heaven, and hell) and there is a lot remaining.
607. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198196 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 10:54 am
It wasn't a criticism of you, it was one of Irshad.
As regards the whole spiritual thing, the problem is that you can never be sure when, whether it's under the influence of the right Imam or just spontaneously, it goes horribly not-spiritual.
608. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198192 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 10:42 am
"Islamism" means the belief that political sovereignty belongs to God, that the Shari'ah equates to state law, and that it is a religious duty on all Muslims to create a political entity that reflects the above.
609. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198087 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 7:20 am
Who's that then? I thought that McEwan was part of that "elite".
610. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198084 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 7:11 am
completely agree with regards to "our" political strategy. Hanging racists out to dry is purely a personal strategy for individuals who wish to distance themselves from distasteful others. And "hanging them out to dry" means calling them for what they are not stifling them.
I remember wondering if the BBC had asked Nick Griffin for a comment!
611. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198072 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 6:45 am
I can, however, imagine certain very nasty groups in the UK such as the BNP trying to become "fellow travellers".
612. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #198062 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 6:24 am
A problem with your plan. The Harbis and others practicing this form of taqiyya would simply pretend to be apostates in order to gain swift access to western countries. You would be creating a pipeline for the most hardcore Islamists (potentially).
"Who are these funny brown-skinned people with their different food, behaviour and clothes? I don't like change, so I don't like them. I can't use words like "Paki" anymore. I'll use "Muslim" instead."
613. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197981 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 23, 2008 at 2:59 am
I'm afraid this will be directly counter-productive. Given the hostility of Islam to apostates, I'd guess there are a lot of Muslims �" women especially �" who secretly see the irrationality of the whole thing but don't dare admit that to themselves, much less anyone else, out of a very realistic fear of severe consequences. We don't want to slam the door that represents their only hope in their faces. We want them �" no, we need them to know that if they do decide to walk out in courage, we'll support them every step of the way.
I have to query this. Unless the attacks are extremely effective and at the same time entirely and transparently just, I fear the main effect will be to select for the more virulent strains of Islamic belief (those that advocate jihad by the sword rather than the pen).
No argument there �" except to note that walling off the dar al-Islam completely has the opposite effect (consolidating and strengthening it).
I'd agree reservedly with this, but I'm not sure about "cultural imperialism" to describe it. Ideas, not customs, are the battleground.
There is no one alternative to oil; we need lots of them
Much as I see the horror of the burqa, for instance, I don't think forcing Islamic women to choose between staying at home in their shariah communities (because they can't wear the veil to work or school) and running the risk of being killed for their family's honour (because they took the veil off) helps anybody.
As for the Christian missionaries �" I have noted this elsewhere �" their primary weapons are hospitality, generosity, and acceptance. If you're suggesting adopting those weapons, I'm all for it. But I think they might be a little inconsistent with your ideas (1) and (3).
"The West" has a record of supporting regimes and other groups worldwide for short term gains who later turn out to be part of the problem, especially once we have armed them.
614. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197734 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Getting this thread back to the question of what can be done, I have three simple things that you, yes, you, sitting infront of your computer screen, can do to stop the Jihad.
1. Read. Learn about Islam. Read the Qur'an (preferably the penguin N.J. Dagwood translation as this is at least not as wrist-slittingly boring as the other translations). Read sites like jihadwatch.org and faithfreedom.org and thereligionofpeace.com that document the activities of the jihad. Make sure you know what you're talking about, which brings me to point 2:
2. Talk. Speak out on any scale you can. Personally, I've brought this subject up in the lab, on the bus, at parties, to feminists, to gays, to Christians, to atheists, to anime geeks, to gliders, to coursemates, to everyone I've come into contact with. Write on forums, write letters to editors, mention it to people at your sports club, whatever, wherever, whenever. You can never know in what mind what connections will be made. The more people who know, the safer we'll be.
Don't let anyone get away with ignorance. If they drag up the whole 'If you kill an innocent person, it's like killing the whole world' point out that that verse goes on to recommend crucifixion and hacking off the hands and feet of the unbelievers. If they say 'racism', point out that many Hindu and Sikh immigrants are just as worried about this problem, and that the ignoring of it is allowing genuine racists to climb on the bandwagon. If they say 'tiny minority of extremists' ask them how they know, and bring up the opinion polls. If they say 'religion of peace', point out that pious muslims call Muhammad the Prophet of the Sword. Mention little Aisha. Mention the 90% of Pakistani women who report abuse. Even if people get angry now, they may come to a day when they hear the latest atrocity and think 'that person might have been onto something. Maybe I should do some research.'
3. Pay the anti-Zakat. That is, set a little aside - it doesn't matter how much, a little is fine, though more is better of course - of your monthly salary to support anti-Jihadist causes, such as the aforementioned websites, such as the Iranian dissidents, such as the Ayaan Hirsi Ali fund. I've been contributing to that since it started, even when I was flat broke and out of a job. It's the best damn money I ever spent.
My motto is: Pay the anti-Zakat today, or pay the Jiyzah tomorrow
So, for the moment, good night and good luck.
615. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197637 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Does anyone know what the definition of a hate crime is in the UK?
616. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197630 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 11:59 am
Oh yeah felandath I don't know whether you have registered in the forum, but if so, I sent a couple of messages to you.
617. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197623 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 11:43 am
We need to get that list of yours publicized. It won't get much attention as a comment.
618. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197612 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 11:27 am
felandath, I'll take this as a great compliment:
Fanusi, I assume that you too were born into the Islamic faith
The points you have suggested are drastic, but most of it actually does make sense.
You and I need to find a way we can talk one on one with our moderate brethren first. Would love to hear your ideas on this. I take it that u have been thru the same struggle that I am currently going thru.
619. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197605 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 11:20 am
What is needed is criticism from the inside if that's at all possible in this case.
Criticizing from the outside only strengthens a stance.
I wonder how Winston Churchill, if he was alive today, would describe the cancer of aggressive fundamentalism Islam?
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.…A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities ... but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome. [The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pp. 248-50.]
the new Koran of faith and war: turgid, verbose, shapeless, but pregnant with its message
620. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197595 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 11:07 am
It sounds like you are saying that the only way to beat Islam is with an outright war that would result in the deaths of thousands. I hope I misunderstood you
621. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197553 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 10:18 am
BorderCollie here's an excellent lecture on the subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKWf7iX6ru0&feature=related
Sargeist, three words: Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
622. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197534 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 9:51 am
Welcome aboard, zoltix.
The fascist parties have made gains by attacking Islam on the grounds that muslims are foreigners.
623. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197522 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 9:35 am
Sure thing, Sargeic. Here it is in finnish:
http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Internet-kirjoittelu vie tamperelaismiehen vankilaan/1135236788703
And here's a translation:
http://vasarahammer.blogspot.com/2008/06/finnish-blogger-sentenced-for-two-years.html
624. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview
Comment #197508 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 9:13 am
Professor Dawkins, may I respectfully suggest that you pen a letter of solidarity for this man? Your name means alot and they wouldn't dare pull this stuff on you.
The really frightening thing is that this is hardly the first such case. A finish blogger was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for, quote "insulting Islam", close quote. We have all these campaigns assuring us that Islam is peaceful, and we have these EU directives and so on.
Our elites seem to be falling over themselves in a haste to surrender.
And what's really wierd is that he used this term 'Islamism'. There's no such thing. Osama bin Laden doesn't call himself an Islamist. Neither does Ahmadinedjad, or Nassan Hasrallah, or any of the others. They call themselves Muslims, and they have added nothing to Islam. They're just following the words in the Qur'an, Hadith and Sira.
A good definition of the dividing line between freedom and tyranny is when the government prohibits free speech. I wonder when it will be time, if it's not time already, to begin thinking of us as under Islamic occupation.
This has got to stop, and has got to stop right now, before the Jihad becomes impossible to resist.
625. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197436 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 3:31 am
The problem is, isn't it, that there are lots of people who think that there are certain things we shouldn't do, regardless of the benefits to mankind?
I'm just hoping for the day when we can grow babies entirely outside the womb, when we know how to fiddle with the genetic code with precision, and hence when we can just grow replacement body parts and organs by cloning brain-free versions of ourselves
626. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197418 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 2:32 am
I meant to get back to this:
Why not use human synthesized flesh and body parts instead of those poor animals? It would be better for us and better for them.
627. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197383 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 22, 2008 at 12:06 am
markg I know the apologetics. But you don't cite enough from that article:
However, the fact that DDT is not formally banned in developing nations does not necessarily mean that those nations have the option to use it. Developing nations are typically heavily dependent on aid from agencies that made the aid contingent upon non-usage of DDT. The British Medical Journal of March 11, 2000, reports that the use of DDT in Mozambique "was stopped several decades ago, because 80% of the country's health budget came from donor funds, and donors refused to allow the use of DDT."[113] Many African nations have been dissuaded from to using DDT in part because the European Union has said that their agricultural exports may not be accepted if spraying was "widespread."[114]
There are claims that restrictions on the use of DDT in vector control have resulted in substantial numbers of unnecessary deaths due to malaria. Estimates for the number of deaths that have been caused by an alleged lack of availability of DDT range from hundreds of thousands, according to Nicholas Kristof,[105] to much higher figures. Robert Gwadz of the National Institutes of Health said in 2007 that "The ban on DDT may have killed 20 million children."[106] Paul Driessen, author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death,[107] argues that the epidemic of malaria in Africa not only takes the lives of 2 million people a year, but leaves those who survive malaria unable to contribute to the economy while sick and more vulnerable to subsequent diseases that might kill them.
Contrary to popular belief, USAID does not "ban" the use of DDT in its malaria control programs. From a purely technical point of view in terms of effective methods of addressing malaria, USAID and others have not seen DDT as a high priority component of malaria programs for practical reasons. In many cases, indoor residual spraying of DDT, or any other insecticide, is not cost-effective and is very difficult to maintain
Reference is also often made to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring even though she never pushed for a ban on DDT.
Carson's main argument is that pesticides have detrimental effects on the environment; they are more properly termed "biocides", she argues, because their effects are rarely limited to the target pests. DDT is a prime example, but other synthetic pesticides come under scrutiny as well�quot;many of which are subject to bioaccumulation.
628. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197286 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 3:16 pm
And that comment abut the Nazi's to rationalize being a meat eater (I know it wasn't you), was way out of line.
629. As the world becomes smaller, the need to understand each other's faith grows
Comment #197282 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Tera I'm afraid that's not so. From what the hadith say, Muhammad was a monster even by the standards of seventh century Arabia. For example, he recieved a 'revelation' just in time to say that fighting during Ramadan - the sacred month - was okay, to soothe the outrage of the pagan Arabs. Another example is his doctrine of female subjugation. You see pagan Arabia was a very harsh place, but women had a certain status. He came up with certain 'revaltions' in order to keep Aisha and his other wives quiet about the fact they caught him with the maid.
I'm afraid that the books of the Horsemen are poor for understanding Islam. Sam Harris's is the best, but it still isn't as good as some proper books on the subjects. Could I recommend the following:
Why I am not a Muslim, by Ibn Warraq
The Truth about Muhammad, by Robert Spencer
Understanding Muhammad, by Ali Sina
Islam and the Psychology of the Musulman, by Andre Servier; out of print but released online:
http://musulmanbook.blogspot.com/
Two of these - Ibn Warraq and Ali Sina - are apostates, and the others are harsh critics of Islam. Nonetheless they say nothing that is incorrect or not based on the canonical sources. Yet if you want to see an example from the other side, read the _Sirat Rasul Allah_, the oldest known biography by a pious Muslim, Ibn Ishaq.
630. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197198 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 10:24 am
Believe me, grievances isn't what I'd like to flood the OIC with...
631. As the world becomes smaller, the need to understand each other's faith grows
Comment #197191 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 10:15 am
1. Let's have the actual words from the Koran and not your interpretations.
Book 008, Number 3309:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house at the age of nine. She further said: We went to Medina and I had an attack of fever for a month, and my hair had come down to the earlobes. Umm Ruman (my mother) came to me and I was at that time on a swing along with my playmates. She called me loudly and I went to her and I did not know what she had wanted of me. She took hold of my hand and took me to the door, and I was saying: Ha, ha (as if I was gasping), until the agitation of my heart was over. She took me to a house, where had gathered the women of the Ansar. They all blessed me and wished me good luck and said: May you have share in good. She (my mother) entrusted me to them. They washed my head and embellished me and nothing frightened me. Allah's Messenger (, may peace be upon him) came there in the morning, and I was entrusted to him.
008.012 Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them."
024.032
Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things.
Sura (4:34) - "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great."
"Abu Sai'd al-Khudri said : The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent a military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain. They met their enemy and fought with them. They defeated them and took them captives. Some of the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) were reluctant to have intercourse with the female captives in the presence of their husbands who were unbelievers. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down the Qur'anic verse: (Sura 4:24) "And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hands possess." That is to say, they are lawful for them when they complete their waiting period.(1479)" Abu Dawud vol.2 no.2150 p.577
I'll admit that I never read the Koran, I think I should now, but I know people who have read it objectively and claim it depends on how you interpret the words.
Not all religious people are fundamentalists. You don't seem to be able to differentiate between the two. That is my problem with your way of thinking.
632. As the world becomes smaller, the need to understand each other's faith grows
Comment #197149 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 8:19 am
There is nothing "immoral" about the ten commandments or the teachings of Jesus or Muhammed
633. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197075 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 3:22 am
No problem at all Sargeist, this was dying down, given that Vin seems to have headed for the hills.
The question about the 'morality' of taking life, any kind of life, is an interesting one. It begs the question of the standard of morality in question.
The idea that 'all life is sacred' sounds very nice, but it ignores that life is, always and invariably, in a state of perpetual war with other life. This includes plants, who will drive out their competitors, conduct chemical warfare against each other and their grazers etc. Darwin said that the easiest thing to accept, and the hardest thing to remember, was the universal struggle for life.
Hence I have no qualms about eating meat, consuming animal life. Or plant life for that matter. Yet there is a standard of morality, and that standard is human life. Which is to say the life of the individual.
When we just look at, say, social systems, we can objectively say that certain systems are evil, which is to say, profoundly destructive towards human life and happiness: Communism, Fascism, Islam... And there appears to be only one virtuous system, one that in fact and in reality provides humans with a chance at prosperity and freedom: liberal democracy and capitalism.
Now, on an individual scale, we can judge qualities of character in the same way. These qualities, these virtues, are acquired and learned habits - automatic ways of dealing with a certain type of situation. Since we can never really process each case on a case by case basis, starting our reasoning from scratch in each instance, we need these 'rules of thumb' to guide us. Now some of these virtues are profoundly beneficial to human life: Reason, Justice, Honesty, Courage etc. And some are profoundly destructive: Faith, Pragmatism, Sloth etc.
The key point is that these virtues are not social constructs or 'true for me', but true for all humans, in all times, everywhere. And they are so because of the nature of humanity and its relation to the world around it.
This brings me back whole circle to the question of eating meat and 'valuing all life'. Whenever I say that human life is the standard of morality and that's it, the asinine word 'speciest' comes up. The implication is that someone who extends the morality beyond his species is morally superior to one who confines it.
But there's a problem here. Values are hierarchial; you value some things more than others. If you value a new book, say, over a pack of cigarrettes, you will be drawn to skip the cigs to buy the book. Minor example. You sacrifice the items lower on your hierarchy to those higher.
Here's where this get's sinister. If you place a value, any value, higher than human life and wellbeing, you will, invariably and absolutely, be drawn to sacrificing human life to that value. This is why we have horrible stories about vegan parents giving their kids rickets by not feeding them right. This is why we have eighty million dead from malaria thanks to that narcissistic whore Rachel Carson and the DDT ban. This is why we have animal rights protestors who stymie research efforts thus ensuring that cures for horrible diseases will be delayed, and during that delay, people will die.
There's a tendency to think of these guys as fluffly and harmless. Not so. It's worth remembering that the SS practiced a respect for animal life that was nearly buddhist. The reason for this is that they believed in 'blood-and-soil', the mystic union of a people and their Land, rather similar to what alot of these ghastly hippies believe.
A rather roundabout comment, but I hope it's helpful.
634. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197040 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 12:57 am
No euphemism, but that doesn't mean child-rape isn't a huge part of this. No, they steal young boys for jokeys in the camel races, a hideously dangerous sport for children.
Destroying Islam will be a service to humanity.
635. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #197026 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 21, 2008 at 12:26 am
I can lecture you on the signs of psychotic derangement,
While nongovernmental organizations argue over how to end slavery, few deny the existence of the practice. ...[E]stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labor in Libya)...
636. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196833 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 1:21 pm
It looks to me more like the description of a new-age jackass than that of a typical liberal, at least by European stereotypes.
637. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196800 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 12:56 pm
al gotcha. I wasn't following Tera too closely.
638. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196777 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm
al again, I agree with you. But I also agree that our dependence on Saudi oil is a lethal weakness. We need to get off it, never mind how. If it's alternative energy, great. If it means seizing and holding those oil fields (which the desert Arabs could never have developed and exploited without the work of Western companies and Western technology) then so be it. The money weapon needs to be defeated.
639. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196766 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 12:20 pm
WAY ahead of you Tera. Here's the commentary par excellence on this lunatic:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/006850.php
Money quote:
I have been watching someone on television positively hallucinating about "winning" some "war on terror" by sticking it out in a country called "Iraq" where there are citizens who think of themselves as "Iraqis" and who are eager to put into place what sounds amazingly like the American Bill of Rights, after decades of enduring terrible misrule at the hands of some strange regime apparently totally unconnected to the behavior of the gentle Iraqis themselves -- possibly these mis-rulers arrived from outer space.
640. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196709 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 11:09 am
It's interesting. When I first signed up here, the tinfoil-hat leftists were stacked three deep. Now the most egregious irritants seem to have scurried away - xenocratic, brianclough etc.
641. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196689 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 10:39 am
al it's because of the Qur'an going on and on about 'young boys, chaste as scattered pearls' that you find in paradise.
642. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196687 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 10:37 am
And now, for my own perverse enjoyment: Deconstructing Vin!
head-fucked rabids
Have you booked your flight to Khartoum yet? !!!!
643. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196624 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 8:46 am
Vinelectric
You have been presented with facts and you have answered with insults and by avoiding the issues. This is abundantly clear to all, here
644. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196620 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 8:38 am
Any proof, Vin, any at all? Cute the way I have to buy a plane ticket to one of the most dangerous places in the world to check up on your claims. 'Fascist' - that's sweet, coming from someone who claims to be from the Sudan but says that there's NO WAY slavery is practiced here.
After the Reich was smashed, people travelled from one corner to the next and never met anyone, anyone at all, who knew anything about what the KZ's were really for.
645. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196616 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 8:29 am
Steve I rest my case.
In a PM our fine friend over here said there's no such thing as slaves being taken from the Sudan - and elsewhere in Africa - and sold in the Arab world, including Dubai, and that things like this don't happen:
http://www.camelraces.com/
http://www.ansarburney.org/videolinks/childcameljockeys_afterban.html
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/07/sinister_paradise.html
Key quotes of that last bit:
Paradise, however, has even darker corners than the indentured-labor camps. The Russian girls at the elegant hotel bar are but the glamorous facade of a sinister sex trade built on kidnapping, slavery, and sadistic violence. Dubai -- any of the hipper guidebooks will advise -- is the "Bangkok of the Middle East," populated with thousands of Russian, Armenian, Indian, and Iranian prostitutes controlled by various transnational gangs and mafias. (The city, conveniently, is also a world center for money laundering, with an estimated 10% of real estate changing hands in cash-only transactions.)
...
Sheikh Mo and his thoroughly modern regime, of course, disavow any connection to this burgeoning red-light industry, although insiders know that the whores are essential to keeping all those five-star hotels full of European and Arab businessmen. But the Sheikh himself has been personally linked to Dubai's most scandalous vice: child slavery.
Camel racing is a local passion in the Emirates, and in June 2004, Anti-Slavery International released photos of pre-school-age child jockeys in Dubai. HBO Real Sports simultaneously reported that the jockeys, "some as young as three -- are kidnapped or sold into slavery, starved, beaten and raped." Some of the tiny jockeys were shown at a Dubai camel track owned by the al-Maktoums.
According to the suit, as many as 30,000 boys from South Asia and Africa could have been victimised in what it calls "one of the greatest humanitarian crimes of the last 50 years".
"Because camel racing is extremely dangerous and arduous, especially for children," the suit says, "the Arab sheikhs would not make their own children jockeys and trainers. The sheikhs instead bought boys who had been abducted and trafficked across international boundaries and enslaved as young as two years old...
"The defendants robbed parents of their children and boys of their childhoods, their futures and sometimes their lives, for the craven purposes of entertainment and financial gain."
646. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196605 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 8:01 am
e forced the indigenous populations into many "treaties" and then broke every single one of them, while watching 90-120 million of them die off.
647. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196596 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 7:38 am
Okay, Father escaped from the USSR, worked in Africa, where I was born, and moved around ALOT. A truly discreditable amount.
I wasn't really ticked, it's just that bar-room brawls are kinda gauche.
648. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196594 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 7:37 am
Actually, this site is remarkably civil, all things considered, especially given the nature of internet discussions generally.
649. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196584 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 7:26 am
Very droll al-rawandi for the record, I grew up in Africa and have been trained in Tae Kwan Do, Kung Fu, Karate...
Steve, there is not much chance of convincing Vin, at least not anytime soon. If he was going to be convinced, he'd get convinced by those links I sent. And that goes for anyone who happens to read this exchange.
EDIT: Theme song for Vin: "When facts raised their ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. Brave, brave, brave..."
650. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates
Comment #196572 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 20, 2008 at 7:13 am
Steve, I don't know if this is a misunderstanding, but my ire was exclusively directed at Vin. And come on - we stand on the verge of a bloody global conflict and very possible extinction at the hands of Islam. Can't I just enjoy my vice of blasting the self-righteous?