Re: Informed Comment by Professor Juan Cole - An Interesting Read
Juan Cole makes it sound as if there is some plot to make Muslims look bad. What he neglects to say is that there is more than enough media fodder to make Muslims look bad. Hostage takings, Daily Bombs, Beheadings, Al Qaedda tapes, think about the images that are available. Does the Western media sieze on these events? Sure. Then they attempt to explain them. Do they overstate the risk, and puff up the violence? Sure, the media is motivated to report the things which most interest the public. Importantly, without the ultra-violent fodder, the media would probably not cover the issue, as they would not have flames and explosions to run every night. A bomb a day cannot be ignored by any media. There is an avalanche of bad media images each day that should make Muslims wince.
So if Coles theory is, Islam is being miscast, it is not violent in and of itself, then he is missing a huge point. There are people who claim to follow the Quran who are doing horrific things in the name of Islam. *Juan Cole, and most Guppies choose to stick their heads in the sand, as if the actions of these people should be automatically parsed by everyone as deviant outcasts of Islam. The West sees them as the *vanguard of a new Islamic Political Revolution, not marginalized deviants. Without these bozos, Juan Coles' "Hate Mongers" would not have much to talk about.
Adding to the fear of these people is the methods they used. The 9/11 hijackers, and London Bombers blended in to Western Society. So how is a reasonable person supposed to visually separate a terrorist from a neighbor? How can we tell the reasonable business interests of the UAE from the Bin Laden Import/Export group? It is the actions of these fanatics that taint the common Muslim. The fears of the West have some basis. They are not wholly irrational. At best the "Hate Mongers" play on these fears, but it is the actions of the extremeists that create the fears.
OG, Your main argument in asserting that Muslims' Actions all over the world provide enough fodder to the rest of the world to blame them as “irresponsible human beings”appears at a first glance to be coherent, legitimate and fairly convincing argument. However, upon further examination of the underlying structure of your argument, a number of flaws become evident to such an extent that neither you argument nor the derived conclusion can be taken too seriously. Among the most pivotal shortcomings of your argument are its inability to address or even acknowledge its assumptions and lack of examples to substantiate its claim.
For instance, citing examples such as hostage takings, daily Bombs, beheadings, Al Qaedda tapes etc and trying to link all these barbarian crimes performed by a certain group who has a political agenda to a certain religion or a community is nothing but a vague attempt of falsifying the facts.
You are also so wrong when you said that there are attempts to “explain” those barbarian crimes. I can tell you that much that these days no one tries to justify those crimes and just like any other community in this world, Muslim community is also tired of this unending “terrorism”. Muslim community does not share any sympathies with Al-Qaeda, not because it is scared of Bush but because Muslims also want to live a normal life just like any other community. Go take a walk in Lahore, Karachi, Cairo, Jeddah streets and you will understand what I am saying.
Yes OG “a bomb a day cannot be overlooked by media” but are we Muslims solely responsible for it? That is what you always fail to address (and I believe deliberately) in your arguments. Why is it so difficult for you to be balanced? Just because these bomb blasts take place in Muslim countries, does it mean that Muslims are violent people? Is it our mistake that the nature decided to pour all the oil in Muslim lands? You always fail to understand that it is not a war of religion. Al-Qaeda is not a religious organization but it has a political agenda. As a matter of fact AQ never claimed to have any particular religious agenda. Do you even know what Al Qaeda’s agenda is? I am sure your answer would be “why would I care”. Well, that is fine if you do not care but please do not misrepresent the facts either.
And by the way, I am interested to know of your reaction when you read everyday that 100 people got killed in a bomb in Iraq? I bet you read it, throw the newspaper on your car seat, get your cup of starbucks coffee and head to the office. That is what we all do. For us, it is just another news. But hey, it is not your home or my home which has burnt yet. It is not your son or my son which has blown off in a bomb yet. So we really cannot feel the pain and anguish of those common people who have gone through it. Therefore it is better for us to not to interpret anything on behalf of those poor people who have lost everything.
Seriously speaking did you even pay attention to Professor Cole’s words “**All human beings are the same. They all have the same emotions. All laugh when happy and weep when sad. There are no broad civilizations that produce radically different behavior in human beings” **and after living in one of the most cosmopolitan country in the world for 10 years, I can relate myself to these words with utmost sincerity. For you and many other, these words mean nothing but emotional drama but seriously speaking, we should pay attention to these words.
You told us that we choose to stick our heads in the sand but you always and I repeat it again, always fail to mention the name of another group who has always chosen to stick its head in the Middle East Sand.
And in respond to your last paragraph, we Muslims do not even care what westerners think of us anymore. If the West wants to label the whole Muslim community a “terrorist community” based on the action of few mad people and fails to recognize the services and peaceful lifestyle of millions of Muslims living in western societies for decade then LET IT BE THAT WAY. If that would lead to a clash of civilizations, then LET IT BE THAT WAY. We won’t and should not be apologetic for nothing anymore. After all we Muslims are sensible enough to differentiate between a common American and Mr Bush’s gang!