tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post8297007541460819333..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Can Islam be saved?Larry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-192090537533976752007-06-22T19:23:00.000-06:002007-06-22T19:23:00.000-06:00James - your scepticism about the risks of being n...James - your scepticism about the risks of being nuked show that you don't read Yankee Doodle's blog attentively. He paints a scary scenario. I hope he's wrong, but it isn't beyond the bounds of possibility - especially when your own criminally reckless leaders such as Cheney burble happily on about nuking Iran. <BR/><BR/>Anyone in a supposedly responsible position who seriously talks about nuking anyone should immediately be sectioned and locked up for life.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-66151022436618677692007-06-22T18:58:00.000-06:002007-06-22T18:58:00.000-06:00It's you who need a whack from the logic stick, se...It's you who need a whack from the logic stick, setting up this "either/or" straw man. <BR/><BR/>I've nothing against Muslims as human beings - I've lived next door to one for twenty years, and when necessary use local Muslim shops, despite their exorbitant prices.<BR/><BR/>What I do maintain, and your original post bears out, is that the doctrines of Islam are incompatible with democratic pluralist democracy as we attempt to practise it in the West. <BR/><BR/>Theocracies and open societies simply don't mix. The former rot the brain. Perhaps you'd care to post on this?anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-46838085881544323232007-06-22T14:21:00.000-06:002007-06-22T14:21:00.000-06:00This whole all or nothing thing is really irritati...This whole all or nothing thing is really irritating the shit out of me. Either Islam is a force of pure evil, and Muslims are out to eat our babies, or they're wonderful, sweet people being senselessly criticized by neo-con imperialists.<BR/><BR/>It's completely fucking moronic on <I>both</I> sides.<BR/><BR/>The Muslims do some seriously bad shit, or at least shit I seriously disapprove of. It is also the case that they're human beings, no less and no more stupid and evil as many Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and even some atheists.<BR/><BR/>We do not need to become torturing, warlike barbarians to resist, well, torturing warlike barbarians. But neither do we need to become namby-pamby excuse anything if you're an "oppressed minority" nihilists to avoid becoming torturing, warlike barbarians.<BR/><BR/>The <I>both</I> of you need a whack with the clue stick.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-6957402585852739842007-06-22T13:28:00.000-06:002007-06-22T13:28:00.000-06:00This isn't panic; just sober realism.Really?...or ...<I>This isn't panic; just sober realism.</I><BR/><BR/>Really?<BR/><BR/><I>...or to nuke you.</I><BR/><BR/>That's not.James F. Elliotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747033407956667363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-86004779569284253822007-06-22T11:52:00.000-06:002007-06-22T11:52:00.000-06:00"On general principles", maybe. But it would be re..."On general principles", maybe. But it would be reassuring if even a few of them raised their voices publicly sometimes.<BR/><BR/>As for "certainly winning", superior intelligence doesn't guarantee survival when a crowd of fanatical thugs decides to slit your throat - or to nuke you.<BR/><BR/>This isn't panic; just sober realism.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-31543269075254238702007-06-22T09:14:00.000-06:002007-06-22T09:14:00.000-06:00Strictly speaking "Islamic cultures" do not wish a...Strictly speaking "Islamic cultures" do not wish anything; A culture is a statistical abstraction of the varying wishes of individual people.<BR/><BR/>We can conclude on general principles that there are <I>some</I> individual people, members of Islamic cultures, who do wish coexistence with the West. They may presently be in the minority, but I see no reason not to support them and point their toes on the right path.<BR/><BR/>But it is definitely true that so long as the vast majority of individuals in Islam do not wish peaceful coexistence with the West, then conflict is inevitable. And, so long as we Westerners do not abandon our own core values in panic, it's a conflict we'll certainly win.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-10918308685569324972007-06-22T09:04:00.000-06:002007-06-22T09:04:00.000-06:00Excellent in principle, BB. But do Islamic culture...Excellent in principle, BB. But do Islamic cultures wish to co-exist peaceably with the West? I see no evidence of it. I only see continual assertions of superiority, fuelling a drive for ultimate domination.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.com