One of Vox’s authors who has been at the forefront of the push to
denounce critics of radical Islam as “Islamophobes” has dramatically
reversed course on the issue of ISIS’ connection to Islam.
On Thursday, Max Fisher said it’s time for the president to
stop pretending
no such connection exists. Just as significant, he revealed that he and
others in the media have been intentionally misleading Americans out of
a desire to control what readers think about Islam.
Obama is faltering. He has veered so far into downplaying
Islamist extremism that he appears at times to refuse to acknowledge
its existence at all, or has referred to it as violent extremism. While
he has correctly identified economic and political factors that give
rise to extremism, he has appeared to downplay or outright deny an
awkward but important fact: religion plays an important role as well.
This is backfiring. Obama’s conspicuous and often awkward attempts to
sidestep the role of religion in Islamist extremism end up only drawing
more attention to it.
Fisher has previously written numerous articles for Vox claiming, for
instance, that those who objected to his invocation of the Crusades at
the National Prayer Breakfast were
hate-mongers
and Islamophobes. Today, Fisher said it’s time for Obama to tell the
truth about ISIS: they are religiously and historically connected to
Islam.
While ISIS’s Islam is reviled and rejected by the
overwhelming majority of Muslims, the group and others like it are at
least in part an earnest religious phenomenon, motivated by
not-wholly-inaccurate revivals of puritanical medieval Islam, as well as
by more modern — but still Islamic — strains of political Islamism. It
is important for Americans to see that, and to see that their president
sees it.
But Fisher goes beyond stating the truth to pointing out why he and
so many others in the media have been seemingly eager to help the
president conceal it.
To be fair to the Obama administration, the idea that
ISIS and al-Qaeda are totally divorced from “real” Islam is one that the
media — including me — have furthered as well. Motivated by a
well-intentioned desire to curb Islamophobia, perhaps as well as a
desire to undermine these groups’ ideology, this media narrative is
nonetheless analytically incomplete. Worse, it is condescending, by
suggesting that readers cannot be trusted with the truth.
The media knows what is true but they also know what they readers are
supposed
to think. Though he doesn’t use the phrase, what Fisher is describing
is political correctness. Will anyone else in the media admit this has
been driving coverage, or will Fisher become a pariah for doing so?
No more historically connected to Islam that our founders burning witches in league with the devil.
ReplyDeleteits a medieval mentality, not mainstream.
it's also very close to a mental illness. religion can give people a distorted sense of reality and purpose, depending on how deeply rooted and fundamentalist. is it mentally ill to believe in unicorns and dragons without a shred of doubt? The Bible mentions both - numerous times. it is just about the only belief system that trumps a reality/evidence based perception, even with a highly educated person. add to that sociological peer pressure.
The point of this post is the fact that Obama's childish obsession with Islam is driving people within his own political party away.
DeleteAs a defender of Obama, you frame one of the very reasons I despise the man. Haters of America find reasons to put down our Founders. Ditto Obama. You have proven my point.
As far as your opinion about religion? As a self-serving existentialist (is there any other kind), you can only speak form yourself. Illness or not, as a Disciple, my opinions about Faith and Purpose are not my own. I like the distinction between the two. Christ died for folks like yourself. That is a historical fact. It makes no difference whether you believe his purpose for dying illness related or not. Who are you? Like myself, you are a nobody in the larger scheme of things. Everyone begins with "faith" and moves into understanding. Scientist are paralyzed without the faith they place in their mathematical postulates (axiomatic math equations without mathmematical proof other than "they work"). Christians believe in God -in-Christ and move into knowledge, in like fashion. Both science and Christianity begin with faith. The faith of the godless scientist (and there are plenty of scientists who are believers at some level beginning with Einstein) leads that person to believe he is lost in the universe, without hope or ultimate purpose. Most importantly, this faithless scientist has no reason to be moral or civil to his fellow man outside of the fact of his own, personal opinion. . Kind of pathetic, no?
It's kind of pathetic you believe that all morality comes from faith. Believing that you must have a religious delusion - specifically 'your' religious delusion is required in order to be 'moral' or 'have purpose' is divisive. In a small way, it is a symptom of the same affliction the radical Islamists suffer from. The religious delusion of Islamist extremists is the same 'my way is the only way to god' thinking.
DeleteYou belittle science, and your 'faith' had led to conclude some very provably wrong conclusions, as it has with other religious people. Not to say the the product of religion is always wrong, but as Bill Maher said, "Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do." You very quick to jump to conclusions based on ignorant false comparisons that reinforce your ideology. That is what is pathetic, and is an impediment to learning and truth. It is with this same zeal that Islamic fundamentalists jump to the conclusions that a radical interpretation of their 'scripture' must be 'the truth'. Both examples of how 'faith' can distort reality and purpose. You call it prayer, some say talking with an imaginary person is a mental disorder.
It is easy to believe we're special, exceptional, because as far as we can see - which isn't very far, we are. It is easy for small minded people to lose perspective. We as proto-humans were just barely beginning to walk upright when the light of our galaxy reached our nearest neighboring galaxy of Andromeda that contains a trillion suns, many like our own Of course you can't conceive of that because you are a science denier, with a small minded tiny perspective.
" The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me." - Albert Einstein
1. You wrote “It's kind of pathetic you believe that all morality comes from faith.” - that is not what I said. I said, you have no moral authority for fixing my sense of morality or civility. None. Now. To argue, as you do, that we have no choice, does not change the fact you have no existential authority over my life; you can point to nothing that give you permission to ell me what to do.
Delete2. You wrote: “The religious delusion of Islamist extremists is the same 'my way is the only way to god' thinking.” Not even close. Christians believe their God in Christ is the only God, True enough. But they don’t believe that killing the opposition is the way to filling our church buildings. Apparently, you missed that difference.
3. I agree with Bill Mahar.
4. Because YOU call it an “illusion” is a meaningless argument to me.
5. “It is easy for small minded people to lose perspective.” Exactly.
6. “you are a science denier,.” Nonsense. I deny the “science” that says a man can become a woman or “cold is caused by warming” or the fantasy that tells us the emissions of a given and single volcano has less impact on our environment than a Chevy Nova.
7. Finally, like I said, at some level, Einstein believed in “God.”
“Behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force is my religion. To that extent, I am in point of fact, religious.”[8]
“Every scientist becomes convinced that the laws of nature manifest the existence of a spirit vastly superior to that of men.”[9]
“Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.”[10]
“The divine reveals itself in the physical world.”[11]
“My God created laws… His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking but by immutable laws.”[12]
“I want to know how God created this world. I want to know his thoughts.”[13]
“What I am really interested in knowing is whether God could have created the world in a different way.”[14]
“This firm belief in a superior mind that reveals itself in the world of experience, represents my conception of God.”[15]
“My religiosity consists of a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit, …That superior reasoning power forms my idea of God.”[16]
See the article, here: http://www.bethinking.org/god/did-einstein-believe-in-god
Einstein's concept of "god" was certainly greater and more encompassing than the god of christianity, which he clearly saw as a childish man made concept. Einstein was humble enough to recognize that science couldn't provide all the answers.
DeleteNumerous times, the Bible commands killing those who believe differently. Apologists write it off as 'ancient jewish law' and the like. It is no different than the violence that appears in the muslim scriptures. It is an individuals mentality that creates an adherence to these primitive concepts.
For mankind to evolve further, he must abandon primitive and divisive concepts and come together as a species. However, the conservative idea that America has to dominate the world because we are the best is untenable, counterproductive, ....it's backward tribal thinking.
Well, under current leadership, maybe we are no longer the greatest nation in the world, but before Obama, your statement is simply wrong headed and represents the very national resentment I charge Obama as having.
DeleteTake America out of WW II, for one of many examples, and, the world we know would be pure crap. No one says we are perfect, but we do not colonize, we do not kill our women for violating the rules, we allow the most immoral to have a voice in our domestic agenda, we cherish freedom of speech as NO OTHER NATION DOES. We are the greatest democratic, self-governing nation in the history of mankind. No nations cares about the environment to the degree of this country (we contribute only 17% of the worlds green house emissions) and have driven industrial revolution until recently.
Oh, and, mankind stopped evolving thousands of years ago, Slick.
My point about Einstein is secure and provable, in view of the fact that I just offered proof. In the end, Einstein did not believe the universe was and is unattached from some kind of unknown reality we can call "God."
If the world was united, evil like ISIS would be erased in short order.
DeleteEinstein had no regard for your made up judeo christian god and the bible. His statement proves it.
Again he said it was the result of human weakness and is childish. As I said, his idea of god was that of something far greater than conjured up by men during the Dark Ages. Societal pressure to conform to an organized religion is and always has existed in this society since our founders time. Compare the public statements of Jefferson, Paine, and others with their private writings - what they 'really thought'... you'll realize most were too smart to believe in such nonsense as literal christianity, but they were charged to lead a religious populace. Einstein was no different. Today, like then, our leaders are forced to profess their 'faith' in order to lead. It's rather sad state of affairs. Being a non-believer to conservatives is like being a traitor. The bigotry is strong.
Can you imagine if the great world powers would come together as a cooperative planet? The technology advanced would be tremendous. Military budgets instead spent on research and development to make a cleaner, safer, more prosperous planet.
BTW... yes, humans ARE still evolving Mr. Science denier. We've acquired the genetic mutation that allows us to digest lactose, wisdom teeth have become vestigial - 35% of the population is born without wisdom teeth,1,800 genes devoted to fighting infectious diseases like malaria have only become prevalent in humans in the last 40,000 years, the human brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350 cubic centimeters in the past 30,000 yrs, blue eyes did not exist before 10,000 yrs ago - it is a recent mutation. These just a few signs humans are continuing to evolve, 'slick'.
http://listverse.com/2009/01/05/top-10-signs-of-evolution-in-modern-man/
You write: “Einstein had no regard for your made up judeo christian god and the bible. His statement proves it.” Who in the world are you debating? Certainly not me. Nothing I have written has Einstein believing in a personal God. You are 50 years too late if you think this a “news flash” for me. Go back and read what he actually said. He did believe in an unexplained force in addition to what he saw as fact. Understand that Einstein began with premonition and move into the science of what he already knew or suspected. That is what made him so special.
DeleteYour second paragraph is absolutely true. What a great world it could be. Too bad you and Obama and the rest of the Utopian mindset has no clue as to human nature, its quest for superiority, its fascination with evil (by anyone’s definition) and its desire to enslave.
As to your last paragraph, there is a difference between evolutionary theory and changes to the human body as realized per comparisons over the course of 6,000 or more years (back to before the days of Egypt).
As to your use of the reference given and the claim for continuing evolution of mankind, I was born with wisdom teeth as were all of my children. But more than this, your referenced article does not cite sources, does not identify those who made the supposed discoveries, does not identify sources used for making pathological comparisons that take us back 40,000 years, nor does it identify those who actually wrote the report or accumulated the data used in the report or give their credentials. More than this, it assumes that an animal that lived 40,000 years ago and is more closely related to a monkey, is, in fact a modern man.
In Smithson's case, I can definitely see the lack of evolution.
DeleteThe religious right is incredibly funny. It have put people like Stewart and Maher in business.
Case in point: ALABAMA.
Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore, ordering probate judges to ignore the federal court order and refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Alabama also passes a “Sharia Law” constitutional amendment, “It would prohibit judges and other state officials from basing any of their decisions on ‘foreign law.’” Foreign law.... Stewart asked, “Where was the Bible written, again?”
HAHAHAHA! The religious right is a joke.
Obviously man stopped evolving years ago, or you would not write such non-sense. So now, you think Sharia law is a good thing? Or is it that you deny the Judeo/Christian influence of our founding. Do yourself a favor, Slick, visit the Supreme Court and take a look up, near the ceiling of the wall opposite the judges, and tell me what you see.
Delete