World events

But... even if they normally would take something like this seriously, they won't. IS is Sunni. He's Shi'a.

That's what I'm doing. I've said it as plainly as I can: ISLAMISM (which comes from Islam). And if I am such an extremist, then why do I support Muslim reformers? Why do I support the right to be religious in the first place? In what way am I "extreme"? And what is wrong about hating the hateful parts of any religion?

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to be labelled a hate-filled extremist simply by pointing out the obvious.

Have I asserted my atheism here I wonder? And when was the last time I got into a full blown discussion about God? If I am so fervent, you should be able to find thousands of recent* examples of me preaching about atheism. Good luck with that.

But since you bring it up, my sensitive friend, I am against faith-based religion in general...true. But they are not all quite as bad as each other all the time, and I reserve my ire for theocracy rather than 'religion' -since it is many things to many people- these days. Islam happens to be the problem child of religions where that is concerned.

*my teenage years are probably more in line with the angry atheist stereotype. But I cringe at those comments nowadays

In an absolutely extraordinary development, it has emerged that one of the attackers on Saturday was previously featured in a documentary on tv about British extremists called "The Jihadi Next Door"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-4016377 … -extremism

I am struggling to comprehend why after every single attack a statement is made along the lines of "the attackers were all known to the police [or intelligence services]" - and this time, even more, he'd been known to tv documentary makers! - so why don't the police/intelligence services stop them? Arrest them? (Genuine question - I really can't get my head around it.)

One of the barriers to change is the term, "Islamaphobia" which is always bandied around in conjunction with such derogatory words as "racist" and "sexist". The term "Islamaphobia" suggests that criticism of the ideas of Islam is tantamount with attacking Muslims. That is ridiculous; as one person put it: saying that hating Islam equals hating Muslims is like saying hating cancer equals hating cancer patients.

But the genius of the word, "Islamaphobia" is that it suggests that hating the cancer IS hating the cancer patients (as long as that cancer is Islam; feel free to criticize other religions!) To whomever invented the term, I give you my begrudging salute; one can not but marvel at how brilliantly it equates opposition to
ideas with bigotry.

:/

While that may very well be true, Pawel, this is not a problem with "all faiths." There is only one religion for which people believe the criticism of its ideas equals the criticism of its constituents. No one believes criticism of Buddhism means hatred of Buddhists. Why have we afforded only Islam such protection against criticism?

I mean I'm really asking, why? I don't know.

Long story short, because they didn't grow out of it and there is a confusion between ethnicity and religion. Which is also, actually, a point to discuss.

This, THIS is what I'm talking about.
This kind of action -if perpetuated and stuck to- will make a difference!

I agree. Any lasting turn to the better will have to come from within the Muslim community. Those clerics have my respect for they do take some personal risk with going on public record like this. It's like standing up against the Mafia in Sicily.

Volker

I hope you're right. But I still encounter the word more times than I'd like to, particularly in 'liberal' media. Perhaps if not the word, certainly its meaning. Even me, an extremist atheist, treads more carefully when critisicing or even talking about Islam in public, because I know that it's inclined to be taken the wrong way -- as evidenced by my Norwegian friend. (No, not that one. The less attractive one.)

That Evergreen college thing is messed up.

They won't last a day in the real world, so they're going to make trouble for those who actually can. They're going to say that the reason their diversity studies degree isn't making them 400k a year is because of the institutional bigotry, and they're going to riot for reforms that will make life harder for people who are actually working.

You know, I was out at the family farm of some friends, and we were sitting beside a fire, under a tent, making hamburgers over the fire, while meanwhile cows grazed in a nearby pasture, and it occurred to me how odd it was: these are the people feeding America, the people who work all day long to sow their fields and mow their massive lawn, and nobody ever thinks about them, nobody ever thanks them.

And then driving home, I thought about all the intersections that are kept well paved, and these long country roads that you can drive without getting into any trouble. And back in the suburbs, these streets that are kept safe by police. And it occurred to me that we should all just calm down a bit. You know what? For the most part, people get along pretty well.

I guess my only fear is that all the "very loud minorities" of extremist ideologies will mess up the 90% here that live in relative peace.

Germanic thundergods reclaiming territory??

I defend Thor's right to be wrong.

Some levity amongst the madness

Isis attacked Iran's Parliament, 12 dead.

I wonder how many more attacks are left in 2017, but moreover, I wonder how long until something finally snaps, and how high the body count is going to get before we realize that our 'thoughts and prayers' don't mean anything unless backed by actions.