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Friday, October 10, 2014

TRNN - Islamophobia And A Challenge To Bill Maher - Deepa Kumar On Reality Asserts Itself Part 1

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6 comments:

Ed said...

I don't know, I'm with Maher. I haven't listened to the whole thing and have only sketchily listened to Maher's comments, but if 75% of Musims believe that the Danish cartoonist should be punished... he has a point.

This lady doesn't bring any new arguments as far as I'm concerned.

When the Koran was compared with the Greek Scriptures, Jay was talking though his hat. I'm no Christian but nah, where are the new testament stonings?

10:52 AM
Ed said...

Me too I guess. But we have to remember that we created the Islamic State. Starting with the Mujahadeen and continuing with atrocious policy in the area for thirty years.

The beheadings are great PR, forcing the president to make political moves. Actually, getting beheaded is probably a lot more humane than getting hit by a Tomahawk missle.

Islamophobia. Being a fundamentalist Quaker isn't so evil, so fundamentalism isn't the problem. I'm starting to agree that there's such a thing as a bad religion, a religion to watch out for.

3:23 PM
Glynn Kalara said...

I just read the NY Times editorial on this topic and mostly agree with it. Religion is more a reference pt. for identity then it is a guide for behavior in most people. That ISIS is Muslim is a fact because they say their Muslims, so Muslims need to get over the fact that they do indeed have some very weird f*cks in their faith. On the other hand people like Maher have to get down off their high perch as well and start to understand that religion in most people is more a reference for cultural identity then anything else. Just because Bill has a Jewish father and a Catholic mother and has never felt he belonged to either group and is obviously angry about it is not an excuse to generalize the way he does about all religions and the people in them. I find him to be obnoxious and elitist at times and don't find him funny at all. More times then not I find myself listening to his angry rants for a few mins. and just like Limpdick and the ranters on the right I have to turn the channel.

4:24 PM
Jim Sande said...

Ed, I don't think of the Quakers as fundies. The characteristics I think of in fundamentalism verge on tribalism to the extent that there's no place for anything else, any other world view. It's very us versus them. Also it's almost unconscious, I think of humans emerging from the ether of pre-human activity especial mind activity, and that is where the fundamental mind rests. Quakers are way beyond that. Even to rise to the level of promoting peace, that requires a greater sense of the individual, a larger conscious mind. I would add that the concept of a peaceful world where all of humanity can exist side by side is not in the fundamentalist's mind. So I am thinking about a particular definition of fundamentalist and as far as I can see, it makes a lot of mischief.

5:10 PM
Jim Sande said...

Glenn, I hear you on Maher, I often don't find him funny. Didn't he also foist an entire cast of knuckleheads from the right onto the public? Coulter, what's her name who ran for political office and had to distance herself from being a witch, name escapes. Maher is a bit of an egomaniac, but he's made a good career, he's eating well and he does do a service in taking on some of the worst wingnuts. I give him credit for that. But your main point that religion often is only a focal point of cultural identity rather than a practical guide for knowing oneself in the best sense of the word, is absolutely true.

5:15 PM
Glynn Kalara said...

Ed I don't disagree. If people are totalitarians or authoritarians hiding behind a faith they need to be outed. At the same time we do need to realize that different cultural s focus differently on these issues. If Sunni Muslims need to live in a place with Sharia law, fine move to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan etc. If Shia need their version , fine move to Iran. I also feel the same way about fundie Christians and Orthodox Hindus and Jews. Keep your religious laws to yourself folks , we live in a secular Republic with a defined Constitutional separation of CHURCH /et al. and STATE. The founders knew exactly what happens when this separation isn't maintained. They developed our Constitution with two hundred yrs. of religious strife right behind them in Europe and wanted none of it here. So, all the religious folks out here please don't try to force the rest of us to feel that we need to live under such codes or system of laws based on YOUR particular faith.

10:31 AM

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