My mother and brother are flying between two big American cities tomorrow. I talked to my mom on the phone today and said, "Well, I love you, just in case." And though we were joking about how they're more likely to be hurt on the way to the airport, and how security will be tight tomorrow, I still got a lump in my throat. And it focused my laser beam even more.
I saw Nihad Awad from CAIR on TV last night, talking all that "terrorism has nothing to do with Islam, religion of peace, jihad is a personal struggle" nonsense. I remembered that baloney today when I read these harsh words on Ace's post:
Although I've usually been careful to use the preferred term "Islamofascist" as most "resepctable" commentators do, with the occasional sloppy slip-up, as a means of distinguishing peaceful, loyal Muslims from the terrorists--
I'm dropping that practice, as of today. Until the Muslim community can demonstrate it is, in word and deed, as opposed to the slaughter of its fellow citizens as true citizenship in the UK, US, Australia, etc., demand, I'm not pretending we have an "Islamofascist" problem anymore. What we have is a Muslim problem.
If the Muslim community wanted to eliminate terrorism, it could do so within a month.
As it's not part of the solution, it's part of the problem, and it's time to judge it as such.
I'm mad that my mom can't get on a plane without thinking the worst. I'm mad that terrorism has worked on me, that I'm scared today. I hate that after five years of this junk, I have little but contempt for the Muslim community.
Hand me my needles; I need to do some serious aggression knitting.
Posted by Sarah at August 15, 2006 03:36 PM | TrackBackI feel the same way about Christians and wars of imperialism. You can't really seperate the two.
Posted by: Will at August 15, 2006 07:39 PMYour snappy comment doesn't make sense to me, Will. You're going to have to elaborate.
Posted by: Sarah at August 15, 2006 09:14 PMPlease, allow me to elaborate.
You say (or agree with anyway) that the Muslim faith is directly linked to terrorism because "if the Muslim community wanted to eliminate terrorism, it could do so within a month." And the reason (you must suppose) that the Muslim community can eliminate terrorism is that the Islamic faith controls and heavily weighs on the actions of terrorists. (This, of course, completely discounts real-world, current issues that might influence terrorists - ie: if Muslim terrorists are pissed about Western involvement and presence in the Middle East, they're going to be pissed whether the Muslim faith allows them to or not.)
I look at the history of the world and see the genocide of natives, the empires of Britain and France, the wars by Germany in the 20th century, Vietnam... these are wars of imperalism, whether resource-based or ideological, and they're wars fought by Christian countries that were, and continue to be, horrific monstrosities on a global but very human scale.
If I were to assume things about Christianity the same way you assume things about Islam, it would be very easy to blame all the tragedies of the past on the Christian community and go around calling people Christianfascists.
But that shit is too easy, and most of all, it's wrong, IMHO.
To quote Joe Dirt, you're focusing on the wrong part of the story.
Posted by: Sarah at August 16, 2006 07:31 AMI have been sitting at my computer for 15 minutes trying to write a comment. These issues bring up such powerful emotions for me. I can't express my feelings.
Everything I have read tells me that Islam is a religion of violence, that they are not interested in sharing the earth peacably with non-Muslims. Maybe I need to read the Kuran myself to see what it really says. I want to believe that the religion teaches peace but I have seen no evidence of that. All I have seen in the news is evidence of the contrary.
I hope your family members are safely on the ground by now.
Posted by: Lou at August 16, 2006 01:25 PMYour Joe Dirt comment doesn't make sense to me, Sarah. You're going to have to elaborate or quote from a better movie. I suggest Wayne's World.
Posted by: Will at August 16, 2006 02:04 PMWill blows goats. I have proof.
Posted by: Sarah at August 16, 2006 05:42 PMAll I have to say about that is asphinctersayswhat.
Posted by: Will at August 16, 2006 06:15 PMbitch rip chip
Posted by: jewboy at August 16, 2006 10:29 PMYes, your brother and I made it to our destination on Wed. and back home Sat. night. I wonder what would have been going through Will's mind if he was boarding a plane on the terrorists' "D-Day?" I was extremely observant in the airport and boarding the plane. Our seats were near the restroom, and I watched every single person go in and come out. I didn't mind having to take my shoes and jacket off for security, having no lipstick, lip balm, or lotion in my purse (which I always carry), having the TSA search our bags, showing my driver's license at several points, having my purse searched (I made it easier on them because I put all of the contents in a ziplock bag inside my purse), seeing National Guardsmen in the airports and lots of TSA officers everywhere. I also prayed alot! It's sad that the terrorists have made it necessary to change some of the things in our lives that we normally take for granted, but if that's what it takes to keep us safe, then I don't mind the little inconveniences. The only thing I would change would be to do profiling! I really don't care whether it's politcally correct or whether it offends certain people. We have a long list of terrorist attacks to justify it.
Otherwise, it was a great trip, weather was beautiful, gourmet meals, got to do some fun things after our meetings, etc. Really enjoyed it.
Love,
Mama