Comments on: News Brief, Karma Police Edition

By: The Poet Omar

The Poet Omar — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:42:43 +0000

Josh, thank you very much for this :

These demonstrations should also serve as stark warnings to pundits and bloggers who enjoy referring to â€œMuslimsâ€ or â€œthemâ€ as a unitary people group (or who wonder where all the â€œmoderatesâ€ areâ€”they are staring you in the face).

You are absolutely right and this is a harsh reality that I have been trying to educate those in the blogosphere about for the past few years. If we as a society cannot distinguish between Sunni and Shiite, Salafist and Sufi, then we are absolutely lost in the GWOT. Another key issue (that you wisely point out) is that there is a HUGE difference between a Turkish Muslim or an Indonesian Muslim and an Iranian or Saudi Muslim. Many, in fact, probably most of us come from moderate backgrounds (my ancestors were from Turkey, Persia, Greece, Armenia, etc.). Only a very small % of the world’s Muslims are radicals. Granted in a religion with over a billion adherents, even a small % is noticeable, but far too many (mainly on the right, but lefties do it too) are guilty of the tired and massively incorrect formula of Muslim = Terrorist. Thanks for helping to promote some education on this issue!

By: Joshua Foust

Joshua Foust — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:15:02 +0000

That’s fair. I don’t think it’s disgusting, but I think you can make a case for it.

By: Ron Coleman

Ron Coleman — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:15:07 +0000

That’s a big difference! I’ll take it.Sometimes bloggers get overwrought, I among them. I thought it was a disgusting move by NBC though.

By: Joshua Foust

Joshua Foust — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:09:38 +0000

I don’t think you’re complicit, just overwrought.

By: Ron Coleman

Ron Coleman — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:04:45 +0000

Hi, Joshua. Naturally I picked up your pingback. Too bad you resorted to name-calling without exploring the issue, as commenters on my blog did. It is especially funny when bloggers self-righteously describe other bloggers as ’self-righteous,’ as if the name-calling blogger considers himself something other than right when he blogs, or as if his characterization itself was an indication of anything like open-mindedness.Having said that, do you really think there is no difference between (1) releasing exclusive and inflammatory footage that was prepared by a mass murderer for the explicit purpose of celebrating his crime, and (2) posting a still photograph of the person — a photograph already found all over the Internet — that admittedly links to the already-released video that is, also, already all over the Internet? If you see no difference between these things then I suppose you are right, I am complicit, and a total schmuck. If you can imagine some possible distinctions between these action, though, then perhaps there is room for discussion. Because you have an interesting and evidently very popular and successful and thoughtful blog, I bet you can recognize this distinction if you will try. Just a thought.