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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brian1501 who wrote (155427)	11/30/2002 3:11:53 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1579715

I know this wasn't pointed at me, but I had to comment anyway. I think Islam is getting such a bad wrap because it seems that nobody is willing to denounce the actions of the extremists without a "but". You get comments like "the terrorism is bad BUT you have to understand blah blah". Also, you have people preaching not only hate, but hate coupled with encouragement to kill. Terrorism (especially targeting children) is one case where the end does not justify the means. It's so far from reassonable, it makes the lack of denouncement from other Muslims that much worse. I don't understand what you're proposing. We are a nation in which Christians make up the majority. We also are the most violent developed nation in the world in which at least a portion of that violence is committed by people who were raised as Christians. As Mani suggested, is it the religion or the culture that's responsible? It would seem then, according to your thesis, that its the religion, and that American Christians should be making some sort of apology for all the killing. Frankly, I can't remember the last time I heard an American Christian stand up in the name of their religion and denounce the violence. Certainly, there are Americans who do but its not in the form of a religious apology.....so I don't see why you expect the Muslims to do the same. Besides, there ARE Arab/Muslims who have denounced the killings; unfortunately, their voices can't be heard over the explosions. As for the insertion of a "but"......I don't understand why you are surprised. I have heard this lament over and over, and I don't get it. This country denounces the suicide bombings with such regularity you could set your watch by them. Yet, why are the good people of this country not even questioning the questionable tactics of the Israelis, specifically Sharon? Does the suicide bombings absolve us from having to do any further investigation into the conflict? Several weeks ago, Sharon was on national Israelis TV talking about the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. During that talk, he specifically stated that the Palestinians will never have their own state......as if its his right to make that determination.......and that if the Palestinians are good Muslims, the Israelis will live in peace with them. How is that any different than King George telling the colonists they could not be free? I suspect that if the technology had existed back then, the colonists may have been capable of a few suicide bombers of their own. Is anyone surprised when a wife kills her husband after years of physical and emotional abuse and refusing her right to be free......as horrible as spousal murder is? The crime is not acceptable but it's certainly understandable. So then, if you know the history of the Middle East, the level of violence is not so surprising. The Israelis are in the power position and have been baiting the Palestianians and doing much worse for years now. On Sharon's watch, Palestinians were massacred by Lebanese Christians. Under Sharon's watch, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled in the West Bank on land that was supposed to be a part of an independent Palestinian state. This list of Israeli wrongs goes on and on. Under these circumstances, is it really that surprising the Palestinians resort to extraordinary means to kill? I certainly don't condone it nor defend it.......its disgusting.......but I certainly understand why its happening. They want their freedom. Why do we in this country focus on the suicide bombings and make no attempt to understand why things have come to this horrible place? The same dynamic is in play in the conflict between the Irish Caths. and Prots. When all else fails, they shoot nails into the kneecaps of their enemies to insure they will go lame. We would not do that to an animal and yet we do it to each other. I believe if you want to condemn the violence committed by the Palestinians then you must condemn the behavior of the Israelis as well. There is rarely a conflict where one side is absolved of all guilt and can not be held accountable, and this is definitely not one of them. I look forward to your response. ted

To: brian1501 who wrote (155427)	11/30/2002 4:43:48 PM
From: Mani1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1579715

Brian, I can't see any correlation between the point I was making, and your response. Having said that, I want to respond to your post. Re <<I think Islam is getting such a bad wrap because it seems that nobody is willing to denounce the actions of the extremists without a "but".>> There is no question that a extremist group like Al Qaeda should be denounced and condemned without any conditions or qualifications. I 100% support our goal of completely destroying this group and killing its leaders. I do not consider myself a Moslem but there have been plenty of unconditional condemnations by Moslem leaders and country through out the world. The problem is that these leaders are never invited to talk shows that most derive their opinions from. They are not invited because they do not make for a heated discussion and interesting sound bites. As far as the "but", I think it is more like an "and". I without any conditions condemn Palestinian suicide bombers, and (not but) I also condemn Israeli policies which takes away the humanity and dignity of Palestinians people and treats them like cattle in the name of biblical note, "right of return". One mistake that almost everyone seems to make, is that trying to understand why a person performs an act is not the same thing as excusing it. It is OK to try to understand why a suicide bomber does what he does, and that should in no way be interpreted as excusing or endorsing that act. Mani