The ever-excellent David Thompson (yes, that one):
Mr al Yafai offers no analysis of preceding events and no reflection whatsoever on the moral incontinence of Islamist indignation, or its deranged disproportion, or its coercive intent. Nor does Mr al Yafai pause to consider whether those who do commit atrocities in the name of Islam – say, by detonating babies, or children, or the mentally disabled – do so because they believe they’re following Muhammad’s own teachings and example. Which is, after all, an implied point of the cartoons…
Also disregarded is the stated reason for the cartoons’ republication – i.e., an affirmation of free speech following the arrest of three Muslims accused of plotting to kill one of the cartoonists, Kurt Westergaard. Such trifling details are, apparently, not to be thought about. Instead, Guardian readers are encouraged to believe that the only conceivable motives are trivial and malicious…
But what is perhaps most curious about Mr al Yafai’s piece is that it shows a familiar and conspicuous disinterest in whether the cartoons do in fact depict some truth about Muhammad, his teachings and how they are used. A detail which might help explain why they arouse such preposterous rage.
Lighten up, man: they’re cartoons. Stupid muslimized bees.
well….if u think about it, most killings are revenge based. except for ppl that get wacked in the execution of a robbery or some other crime.
but school shootings? like Columbine and Northern Illinois? and homicide bombings, definitely. the whole palestinian/jews thing is inculcated revenge. btw it isnt over philosophy..its about land.
the biology is fascinating…the neuroreceptors for revenge are co-located in the same small part of the neocortex as receptors for opiate usage and love/sex. two other behaviors with a high physiological pleasure payoff that can lead to addictive behavior.
its pretty sillie to try to blame this on Muhammed i think. like blaming the Spanish Inquisition on Thomas Aquinas.
Except it isn’t really revenge. It’s action taken against a 3rd party. For it to be revenge, the target needs to be the one that wronged you.
and even suicide, regular solo suicide.
there are two basic kinds: the first, the suicider is just in such awful pain, and they think they are useless and everyone withh be better off with out them.
the other kind is revenge.
like, there! i showed u!
oh no edu guy
all those ppl that get killed in homicide bombings? the civvies? and the students in the campus shootings? they are consorting with enemy, supporting the enemy.
the revenger is totally capable of seeing them as legitimate targets with a payoff.
suicide is sad.
I believe the murderer is capable of seeing whatever it is he needs to see to be able to go through with it, which doesn’t change the fact that they are lying to themselves. If there is a God, which I believe there is, I suspect they get schooled on that fact in short order.
oh i believe in god/allah/hashem too, but i just dont think that entity is very helpful in this situ.
and like Sir Richard says, religions sort of nuture this kind of behavior.
ermm….all religions, sorry.
No need to be sorry. I tend to agree. Organized religion in the hands of the non humble, or the outright evil, is often a weapon.
u can see how that wud be useful in the EEA (environment of evolutionary advantage).
your religion is a memetic tribe….fear of other religions and attributing horrible and evil belief systems to them wud act as a natural immunization.
fear of the other, right?
Fear of the other used as a tool to gain power and control over them, which would enhance your tribes ability to pass along its genes at a greater rate than the other. If I think about that for too long I’m likely to go find a drink, and I gave it up for Lent.
nishi – You say you believe in a god. Do you practice a religion or just analyze them a la Sir Richard for shits and giggles.
This post reminds me of the segment I watched on TV last night where Mama Sheehan was standing up for the Muslim Brotherhood. I really wish she would run against Pelosi.
im a sufi and a mu’tazhili
the First Obligation of the mu’tazhili is to approach god/allah/hashem thru science and reason
so in studying evolutionary biology i am actually practicing my religion
;)
i dont actually think Sir Richard finds religions humorous
altho…his interview with Ted Haggard was stone hilarious here
Sir Richard is only comedic about religion on accident.
Education Guy:
I admire your resolution; I can’t decipher most of what Nishi writes, let alone engage in a discussion with him.
Her, actually.
Thanks Cowboy, although to be fair I don’t have much of a problem understanding nishi.
The Sufi are a small sect, and quite the mystics.
Look up “Nasruddin” sometime.