http://sigcarlfred.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html
Now, to be clear, 'we the people' know there is a middle ground. We live with our neighbors, day in and day out, and despite differing views, we still meet at the BBQ or at the pool. The paid hacks, however, hate that reality because it dilutes the message that we are in a crisis. Politics, religion and advertising are all geared towards the creation of a crises. A crisis demands action without thinking or accomadation. The hacks understand that the only way to push an agenda through is to present that product or agenda as the answer to a crisis- because if there is no crisis, we will find a way to compromise.
Every day, the message is 'crisis.' We have been conditioned to react quickly and forcefully. Of course, part of that response responce is to hate the things we can't control. As a result of the ever increasing 'hate', some people are driven to blindness and violence. Compromise and accomadation are the last thing they want. In fact, too many people don't even know how to compromise and reach an accomadation with someone of differing ideas.
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" The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."
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We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.
Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.
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To Iranians, Ahmadinejad wants to appear at the helm of the Starship Enterprise, boldly looking ahead and charting new frontiers. They want to follow this brave man, who's only concern is the nation- or so it is made to appear. 'No other nation can deny Iran it's future,' has become the mantra of the day in Iran. This carefully packaged image is seductive to a people long restricted by religious law and straining at their binds.
So as to put to rest any questions, about their real intentions and high ideals, both Saddam and Ahmadinejad did what every Muslim leader in the region does: They made Israel the enemy- not only of the Palestinians (whom virtually every Arab in the regions abhors) but the enemy of Islam as well. Throw in a few wild conspiracy theories, a harsh repressive police force and the road to maintaining power in the region is assured. Theaten to use oil prices as a tool against the hated western nation , and local populations will thank you for repressing them. Make sure the media, school currulums and carefully chosen clergy that will spew hate, bigotry and revisionism and the populations that number millions, will come out and march for you.
There was a time that one could measure the tyranny of the dicatators. The bigger and more numerous the image 0f the 'great leader,' the more repressive the regime. That is no longer the case. As we noted, Ahmadinejad is a prop, and no more. The real power is with the mullahs and always will be. They are using Ahmadinejad to distract the world from their tyranny and to further their ambitions.
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western analysts and policy makers. We may not talk about it or deliberately point it out, because western culture does not demand confrontation, assume an adversarial posture or give much credence to that kind of bluster that emanates from much of the Arab and Islamic world.
Defending corrupt and cruel regimes is like defending the KKK, because they are in another country. In fact, distance does not absolve western Arabs and Muslims from condemning hate. In the same way that anti Islamic hate must be confronted and denounced, so to too must any hate that emanates from the Arab and Islamic world be confronted and denounced.
The reformers have a difficult job. In addition to building a future for Islam, they must come to terms with a part of their recent past. They must not only abandon, but exorcise much of the culture from which they emerged. That is no easy task. They need to refocus how Muslim values are expressed.
We noted that earlier immigrants came here understanding that they were to be included in the melting pot we know as America. They understood they were free to practice their religion, maintain their customs and keep their traditions. They wanted to be a part of that melting pot and contribute to it. It was understood that the fruits of their labor and their standing in the community would determine their credibility in the community at large. In other words, they understood that they had to contribute to the well being and ethos of America. How did they do it? Well, there are community hospitals built by Catholic and Lutheran charities. There are hospitals built by Presbyterian and Jewish charities. There are community food kitchens sponsored by virtually every ethnic group in this country, from Croats and Bulgarians to Swedes and the Hare Krishna. These groups contribute. It didn't take long for these groups and others to get involved.
In fact, the road to reform for most societies and cultures came about with the recognition that we needed to contribute to better our common society and culture. It was working in unison for a common good, that was to be the fertile soil of freedom.
Muslims in America need to participate- not just in front of the camera, but every single day in as many ways as possible. America wants and needs Muslim unsung heroes in the same she needed unsung heroes from every other immigrant group. The committment to the melting post by the few is representative of the committment of the many.
Ali Eteraz made a shrewd observation in this post, when he noted that
...your behavior must be guided by immanent and non-metaphysical guidelines...
With those few words, he sums up Islamic reform.
We will discuss Eteraz' post, Rise Of Radical Atheism And Theocon Calumny in part two of Relative Reform Or The Race To Reform.
