Post Cartoons and DIE!!!

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by timd99

You still don't see the difference, do you?

I don't see any difference between them and Eric Rudolph. And while I think there is really no excuse for the reaction, there is an explanation. The cartoon violates their religious tenets (their 10 Commandments,) then goes on to blaspheme their "Jesus." So I guess they have more passion about their religious "laws" than the average American, excepting the Radical-Extremist Christians who are just like them.

[Triple_Z]

Originally Posted by timd99

Do you own an AK-47? Do you fire rounds into the air sharing your hatred of the "flavor of the month"? Do you wear a mask to hide who you are?

Maybe we as a nation are more tolerant of freedom of speech. But I as one person am sick of people chanting "death to ********" because somehow they were offended.

I'm currently wading through "The Arab Mind" by Raphael Patai. It's an interesting look into why the Arab people do what they do and act the way they act. From what I've read so far, the book would probably say that this method of behavior is to be expected. The author goes into such things as child rearing and the stark contrast between men & women and how they treat children. To make a long story short, the book theorizes that Arab men tend to display a machismo trait which is all talk and no action (unless in a mob mentality state). He traces this back to childhood and parents inability to make threats/demands and follow through with consequences if they're not obeyed. Basically, generations of this behavior has developed a culture that is all about "saber rattling", but generally fails to have the tenacity to follow through on what they say.

It can be dry at times, but I recommend the book to anyone looking to learn about Arab culture.

[BigBadBoom]

Originally Posted by Triple_Z

I'm currently wading through "The Arab Mind" by Raphael Patai. It's an interesting look into why the Arab people do what they do and act the way they act. From what I've read so far, the book would probably say that this method of behavior is to be expected. The author goes into such things as child rearing and the stark contrast between men & women and how they treat children. To make a long story short, the book theorizes that Arab men tend to display a machismo trait which is all talk and no action (unless in a mob mentality state). He traces this back to childhood and parents inability to make threats/demands and follow through with consequences if they're not obeyed. Basically, generations of this behavior has developed a culture that is all about "saber rattling", but generally fails to have the tenacity to follow through on what they say.

It can be dry at times, but I recommend the book to anyone looking to learn about Arab culture.

I'm interested, would you say its an unbiased report or another swipe at the middle eastern people?

[Napalm]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

I don't see any difference between them and Eric Rudolph. And while I think there is really no excuse for the reaction, there is an explanation. The cartoon violates their religious tenets (their 10 Commandments,) then goes on to blaspheme their "Jesus." So I guess they have more passion about their religious "laws" than the average American, excepting the Radical-Extremist Christians who are just like them.

I can appreciate the view point. As an agnostic, I see all the religious quarrelling as bizarre and unnecessary. However, it must be pointed out that such a violent, intolerant reaction is seldom seen in the modern Christian world and it seems that, per capita, there are far more "Radical-Extremists" in the Muslim world. For every Eric Rudolph there appears to be 10,000 Muslim versions. The backwards logic baffles me. There is little unrest when people announcing they represent Islam cut a bound hostage's head off on video but there are riots,shootings, death threats and boycotts when someone who isn't even Muslim and isn't even on their continent, blasphemes Mohammed.

Two short stories, I was in a majority Muslim country a few years ago and got into a taxi cab. The driver asked where I was from and I told him that I live in the USA. He was quite nice at this point and very interested, asking what state and what I do for a living. Then he asked me if I believed in God. I told him that I don't believe one way or the other. At this point he blew up, started yelling at me, stopped the car and told me to get out. I seriously thought the guy was going to attack me.

In another instance, it was Ramadaan and once again I was getting into a taxi. As it was very hot, I had a bottle of Gatorade with me and took a drink when I sat down. Again, I was ridiculed and told that I was intolerant and unsympathetic because I was drinking in front of him while he was being a good Muslim and fasting. He, however, did not kick me out of the cab, just yelled at me.

Nothing even close to this has happend to me in a majority Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu country..ever..

So..it appears to me, from my personal experiences, that there is far less tolerance in the Muslim world for anything outside of their rules. Everyone must be tolerant towards them and their beliefs, but they hold a hard line against those who do not. Even super conservative Christians aren't as difficult. The worst thing a Christian ever wanted to do to me was "save me".

[jim schmidt]

I got a taxicab in the deep South once...







Well, no I didn't really, but I did get kicked out of the Dome of the Rock once for kissing. Nobody killed me though.

[timd99]

To chop off an 18 year old girls head is ok, but to do a caricature of "your god" is not acceptable.

Still trying to figure that one out.....

[license2ill]

Originally Posted by timd99

To chop off an 18 year old girls head is ok, but to do a caricature of "your god" is not acceptable.

Still trying to figure that one out.....

The culmination of dehumanization. They've learned.

[Triple_Z]

Originally Posted by BigBadBoom

I'm interested, would you say its an unbiased report or another swipe at the middle eastern people?

It's not a recent work. It was first published in 1976 with an update done in 1982. So current events to that time would be the Six Days War, or the hostage situation in Iran. The author, in his preface, talks about his fascination with Arab culture and the people. He studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem, so some folks might indicate that there is a Jewish/Arab conflict present. He is European, Hungarian I think. So you're not going to get a US vs. Muslim perspective. The scholars he includes as his friends were highly regarded Muslim scholars in the Arab community. So I'd say he takes a fairly neutral approach, or maybe more of a scientific approach.

My sister's b/f picked up another one (slightly more controversial work) which is an analysis on the suicide bombers, their motivation, etc. If I manage to get through this one in a reasonable amount of time, I may pick that one up next. If you go to Borders or similar large chain, you'll find both of these books in the Int'l section on Arab culture...they'll probably be very close to each other.

[Triple_Z]

Originally Posted by Napalm

The worst thing a Christian ever wanted to do to me was "save me".

+1...my sophomore roommate in college was a Jehovah's Witness. Although we did manage to get into some interesting theological discussions. If he got stumped, he'd go back and seek answers from the Elders at the Kingdom Hall. It was at about that point that he magically had another Witness friend start coming around all the time, almost as if trying to keep him from interacting with myself and my other non-Witness buddies. Go figure.

Speaking of which, what took you to the Middle East? Vacation? Business? Just curious.

[license2ill]

Originally Posted by Triple_Z

+1...my sophomore roommate in college was a Jehovah's Witness. Although we did manage to get into some interesting theological discussions. If he got stumped, he'd go back and seek answers from the Elders at the Kingdom Hall. It was at about that point that he magically had another Witness friend start coming around all the time, almost as if trying to keep him from interacting with myself and my other non-Witness buddies. Go figure.

You live in years denominated by the life of their savior, you trade in money that takes the oath of trusting in their god, etc., etc. They have established a cloud of cultural dominance over you that you have already been forced to accept and celebrate as your own being. Ultimately those covert and insidious cultural aspects are the most powerful means of control, while freeedom from them defines our ideas of self and humanity. The overt acts of conversion are meaningless in the whole scheme of things. They've already got you living and breathing by their will.

[bush]

Everybody seems to think that ALL muslims are radical extremists. People need to understand that this isn't the case, and the ones that are completely batshit-loco are giving the majority of the Muslim population a bad rap.

Same thing goes for every other religion, including atheists. I've met plenty of decent people, but there's lots of rotten Christians, Jews, and Athiests. People wanting to pick a fight with every other religion just to prove they're right.

They're all fucking nuts, no need to be all worked up over the muslims.

[license2ill]

Originally Posted by bush

Everybody seems to think that ALL muslims are radical extremists. People need to understand that this isn't the case, and the ones that are completely batshit-loco are giving the majority of the Muslim population a bad rap.

Same thing goes for every other religion, including atheists. I've met plenty of decent people, but there's lots of rotten Christians, Jews, and Athiests. People wanting to pick a fight with every other religion just to prove they're right.

They're all fucking nuts, no need to be all worked up over the muslims.

All religious thought, regardless of the god worshipped is flawed in it's basis for moral truth. It's all just domination strategy in it's fundamental foundation.

The will to seperate self and dominate other is evident in these cultural conflicts. Eventually it is realized that one consciousness exists, and it is self-loathing.

[Fargin_Bastige]

But you SHOULD be worked up, I mean, look at all of the television coverage!

[Napalm]

Bush: It's just that the muslim ones are trying to kill the rest of us, not save us.

TripleZ: I used to live in S.E. Asia and spent a lot of time going around Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Lot's of muslims in that neighborhood. I still go back on vacation periodically. Then just a short time around Egypt on business.

One thing I will say about Malaysia and Singapore is that even though they are muslim countries and you still find that hard line position, the governments don't put up with much extremist shit. They put the clamps on because they realize that sort of thing endangers the leadership.

[Triple_Z]

Originally Posted by license2ill

You live in years denominated by the life of their savior, you trade in money that takes the oath of trusting in their god, etc., etc. They have established a cloud of cultural dominance over you that you have already been forced to accept and celebrate as your own being. Ultimately those covert and insidious cultural aspects are