I read this piece and just had to post it here on IST……there has been so much said about Muslims and their religion and this piece is excellent…..I will not post a link because it will spoil the post…..I hope the author will forgive me for posting the whole thing……(I will explain my reasoning later)……
SALINA, KS—Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was “perfectly happy” to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world’s second-largest religion.
“I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11,” Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam’s approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. “What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?”
“And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero,” continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. “No, I won’t examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people’s universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell.”
“Even though I am not one of those people,” he added.
When told that the proposed “Ground Zero mosque” is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, “I know all I’m going to let myself know.”
Gentries explained that it “didn’t take long” to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.
“All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts,” said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country’s armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. “Period.”
“If you don’t believe me, wait until they put your wife in a burka,” Gentries continued in reference to the face-and-body-covering worn by a small minority of Muslim women and banned in the universities of Turkey, Tunisia, and Syria. “Or worse, a rape camp. That’s right: For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps.”
Over the past decade, Gentries said he has taken pains to avoid personal interactions or media that might have the potential to compromise his point of view. He told reporters that the closest he had come to confronting a contrary standpoint was tuning in to the first few seconds of an interview with a moderate Muslim cleric before hastily turning off the television.
“I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn’t want to hear,” Gentries said. “But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of ‘other’ to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities.”
Added Gentries, “That really put things back into perspective.”
I know I have some more Right wing readers and they will be pleased that I posted such a piece……and after they read it I will let them know what this is all about…..and I pray that the author will understand why I broke protocol and posted the entire piece……
Now……check out the first comment to see where this piece originated……
Do not get too excited….this is what we call…SATIRE…..
http://www.theonion.com/article/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou-17990
Once upon a time, The Onion was satire. I’m afraid it’s now getting closer & closer to Mainstream News.
Gotta love The Onion!
Yep….Merry Christmas….chuq
Merry Christmas.
Thank you
Sadly, this one could easily be true; personally, I know at least two people who would never realize it was satire, even if they’d read it straight from the Onion…. & they both claim having many friends who would lap this up just like it came from the pulpit on Sunday….
I’ll refer you to Ron White’s interpretation of ancient wisdom, to wit: “You cain’t fix stewpid.”
What I’m afraid of is, this one will be reprinted in the WaPo, as straight news….
Hmph.
gigoid, perfectly happy to be the dubious
Good point….that is why I had to be sure that everyone knew where it came from…..chuq
You always say that……
‘Stewpid’
Hahahaa….
Just where are you on the bell curve?
Looking down on me I bet…….;)
rotfl..grin
That coincides with this piece as well.
(From answering_islam.org)
” ISIS is not playing by a Western-style negotiating rule book. It is following Muhammad’s instructions to his followers to offer three choices to infidels: conversion, surrender, or the sword. Bin Ladin has explained that the West’s rejection of this framework is the whole reason for its conflict with what he calls ‘the authority of Islam’:”
“Our talks with the infidel West and our conflict with them ultimately revolve around one issue; one that demands our total support, with power and determination, with one voice, and it is: Does Islam, or does it not, force people by the power of the sword to submit to its authority corporeally if not spiritually? Yes. There are only three choices in Islam: [1] either willing submission [conversion]; or [2] payment of thejizya, through physical, though not spiritual, submission to the authority of Islam; or [3] the sword, for it is not right to let him [an infidel] live. The matter is summed up for every person alive: Either submit, or live under the suzerainty of Islam, or die.” (The Al Qaeda Reader)
This is typical misinformation….read the passage called “The Hypocrites”….
I have to agree with the points being made by the satire.
Hmm. I stand by my supporting evidence based on reality. This satire targets the religion,Islam, not the people who are deceived, Muslims. It is in reality too close to fact to be f pure fiction.
NO body’s belief is delusional regardless of their belief….
Lobo,
That’s so PC.
Can I ask you something?
What exactly is happening in the cognitive process when an individual is being Politically correct?
PC is a cop out for people that do not want to agree with what one states…..there is NO such thing as PC only in the minds of little people that cannot accept others way of life or thinking… peace out
Lobo,
I believe all people have equal intrinsic worth apart from their beliefs. I also believe that truth is hiearchical, and not equal. Are you saying that all beliefs are equal or all people are equal or both?
Both….there is NO one more deserving or “blessed” than any other….
Are you speaking of separating people from ideology though?
People are equal. Ideology is not.
Ideology is a belief….and one’s belief is just that….I refuse to say whether right or wrong…I may not agree but I am not the one to say if it is wrong…..no one is….
So then how is it exactly that you quote Thomas Paine ?
If delusion AND error are the same thing, which what I hear you are saying, how does one separate them and how do you go about doing it if as you say, “it’s not my job” ?
My job is to do what I believe is right and honorable….I leave petty judgements for smaller minds.
Lobo,
If your automobile is black, to say it is black is truth. It cannot also be white, for to say it is white, is false. You are a postmodern. You are saying truth can be”both, and” ,instead of truth being “either, or”. Postmodernism is the root of PC. It embodies and was popularized by everything wrong in the political system that wants to tell everyone what they wish to here, whether true or false, thus ,”both, and”.
PC is not a actually thing…it is used as an insult to people that do not agree with you….a political system is only as good or bad as the people that push it….even Aristotle knew this…..
Oh goody the old “apples or oranges” argument…..Btw a car is a car matters not the color…..same with people…..
Again, How do you know what is truth and what is error so as you quote Paine, separate them?
What has Paine got to do with it…I think he had an exceptional mind and his words are profound…..truth and error are up to you and I am sure that you “know” what is right.
Truth is truth without regard to what I choose to believe.
Think Bill Clinton who famously said,”It depends on what your definition of IS IS.” “Is” is a necessary component for the definition of truth, what IS is true. Clinton questioned reality , what”is”, because he had no defense in his trial. He was impeached.
And that was a game that small minds had to play…..when you cannot dispute his policies then his morals are attacked…..yep he was impeached but yet he remained prez….where was the good in that?
The illustration is the point to the philosophy you are in fact using, moral relativism. No truth, you imply, is absolute.
So you want to have philosophical discussion….my truth is absolute…to me…I do not particular care with anyone agrees with me….I suppose the only truth is found in the Bible?
No. But we do believe that all truth is as God ordained it, timeless, eternal, and universally true for everyone. Unalienable.
Both Christianity and Islam make the claim to exclusively upholding truth. Both can be wrong but they cannot both be right.
Depends on what you are to believe…personally both are just nothing more than a way to try and control a persons life and thought….I have my beliefs and as I have said many times….it is just that…my beliefs…..yours are yours….
Truth is universally mine and yours.
But truth sets those who believe it, free!
Thanx for being so concerned over the tagline of my blog…..if you notice…well maybe you have not…..I try to make people question what the read or hear…..I really do not want to convert anyone….that also is for small minds…..you cannot find what you think is the truth without questions….it is all so simple….
Truth is universally mine and yours.
I will agree that truth is universal and I would add that truth can withstand scrutiny ….
Well,well,well….
True…….
Being brought up in many countries I none the less was defined as a Christian,Church of England….
After many journeys I succumbed to my own philosophy eventually….:)
I am not a religious person…though I try to be kind.. depending on the stupidity I see around me….I am not as tolerant these days…alas.
‘What exactly is happening in the cognitive process when an individual is being Politically correct? ‘
I state here…I loathe PC……
Most religions are delusional…..
Heirarchy?
Well I ain’t on the bottom rung..
‘NO body’s belief is delusional regardless of their belief’….
I cannot agree with you there chuq…..
It is not my business to inquire about peoples religion….
It is my business if I find they are trying to convert me….I will not be P.C…though I will not be rude.
A couple of years ago while finding myself in Dubai for the upteenth time… Dreadful place…
I saw on the beach a child of 7/8/9 (western) being converted by a Muslim,I presume….being taught to pray…on the beach….
No problem,though it crossed my mind if his x pat parents knew…? grin x pats? keep them.
The majority of Muslims are peaceful…..
However, in my atheism, I see something…..
Something I do not like…
I see people feeling threatened by the huge mosques being built in the UK.
I see ghettos of burka clad women…..in a Christian country…..
Are we stupid?
Has tolerance gone mad?
This is a predominately Christian country and the people are getting restless…..
We see a decline in church attendance….
I guarantee you that church services will soon go up in response to what they see as a threat from the Muslim community with their resources…..eg…having enough money to build their huge Mosques.
I listen closely….if you do not you are in trouble.
I find myself in a strange position……
Heirarchy is a ‘given’
Where is the charm of church bells ringing out?
I hear the call to prayer….when done without that wretched loudspeaker…it is very beautiful…
In the meantime I really do not wish to hear it here…..
Tribal we are…..
I say it again…….Christianity is being destroyed in the middle east……
I am not religious in the accepted sense…..
We need to get a grip……
We, the people,are not as tolerant as you chuq…..
We,also need our identity….
Poke the E.U.and global corporations…and while I am at it…sharia law in this country.
Oh,you can throw in F.G.M.
Tolerant?
Was Jesus tolerant?
money lenders to you….Matthew 21:12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove …
Somethings do not change….
We even open up on a Sunday….
Just where is a day where money don’t change hands?
Religion is a means for expanding being,for enlarging consciousness…
I see little of it.
Religions may confine expansion to one center…
I see a lot of it.
Man believes he has will; this is his illusion.
Remember never fear to hate the odious….as long as it is not misdirected…
Sermon over for today…
A unlikely peaceful year……to you all..
There is ‘absolute truth’
We in our limited understanding do not know it……
Subjectivity it would seem is the order of the day….
and man’s possible evolution will just be that……meaning ones own which includes….. accepting our own contradictions……being of this world but not in it seems to me the only viable way to exist…
In the meantime I very much enjoyed reading the comments….
I am off to buy myself a set of white feathery wings and lift off……aaahhh these mortal coils…what to do?
A little something for you…grin
The Allegory of the Cave – Plato https://youtu.be/LTWwY8Ok5I0 via @YouTube
I am Dutch and I don’t know what the Onion is about. If I didn’t read here that the article was satire I would have taken it seriously. The truth of the matter is that you might expect statements like that from some Americans.
In the past the “Onion” has been quoted by many sources until they read it was satire and not fact….it has lost some of its punch…..and you are correct……this does sound like many Americans these days basically because of the election…..sad in so many ways….chuq
I truly enjoy my international readers…..they have a better grip on some aspects of the stuff I write….thanx again for coming to IST…..chuq
You are very welcome!
I try to give historical perspective whenever it is appropriate….please do not be a stranger….chuq
From a guest passing by I turned into a follower!
And I am very pleased to have you on board….chuq