Posted on 09/09/2004 6:40:41 AM PDT by Pokey78
"...Allah hates sin..."
Correction: God hates sin.
Allah thrives on it.
Thanks for the ping.
Stupid and insipid. Think about it... if this is all there is, then there is zero point in altruism. Everyone would have the morals of Clinton (either or both).
Our world would look like that Star Trek episode with the evil Kirk and Spock.
In other words, this is the world the Left wants.
Imagine, indeed.
Would you put me on your Steyn ping list please?
I was trying to hit them with their own stick. But it didn't work. You're right -- God hates sin.
Yeah, I hate it when people say we worship the same God.
The Islamic culture is under severe attack from the Western culture. Western TV and movies pour into their countries. Their children are educated here. Each educated Muslim can accommodate the West or rebel and become radical.
I've heard the thing about how Muslims will have a difficult time with democracy -- and I have my doubts. If it's introduced bottom up, rather than elitist down, it should work. Iranians immigrants become successful citizens. They follow the typical American immigrant story. In one generation they're voting, arguing politics and participating. It'll be the same in Iran.They're the same people. If they can do it here, they can do it there. Balances and incentives must be worked out. Have faith. Most people exposed to freedom, love it.
Who wants to live in fear of the midnight knock on the door? Not us. Not them. You fear the uneducated -- you fear they will vote in the worst of the worst. And that's a fear of ours too. Among older people it might be true. They fear change. That fear must be death with. Somehow they need to feel safe with the changes. The process will be difficult. Change will happen -- rational control of that change is the only solution.
The democratization of Iraq and Afghanistan and (I believe in 4 years) Iran will hit harder than the H-bombs some FReepers want to throw. This will hit even the uneducated masses watching al-Jezeera when these governments are voted in and out by their own people. What will happen in Egypt? In Syria? Lebanon? Jordan?
Mark wrote a great article about the West's weaknesses. Remember our enemy, radical Islam also has great weaknesses. The major one is they underestimate the staying power of the US. Even Vietnam, as politically messed up as it was and abandoned in the end, could have been won. The US stayed with it for 12 years. We still have nine years to go before we reach that on the war on terror.
Yes, Radical Islam has great weakness -- more than they know. You can see it in the way the culture uses so much force to maintain - and to maintain badly. And we are richer beyond their wildest imagination. At any point, if we tire of this, we can win the war. We have that much power.
WWIII was the Cold War. Won without a shot being fired, said Lady Maggie Thatcher in regards to Pres. Reagan's work.
Thanks! Yes, we were just talking about this!
"You're right -- Islamic cultures know us through our movies. And that's a shame. If I knew this culture through Hollywood, I would consider it a trash culture. Folks at FreeRepublic aren't fans of liberal Hollywood. You've identified a problem in the battle of ideas. Do you have a solution? "
Yes, our trashy Hollywood movies give a bad image of the US--but also some good filters through. First, the Islamic world isn't stupid. They don't buy every cliche they see as truth. Secondly, the things we don't notice, that we take for granted, may have the greatest effect. "Kill Bill" is a violent movie that glorifies revenge--but it assumes the attack on Uma Thurman is by definition evil, and justification for revenge. It assumes a woman is capable of becoming a killing machine and wreaking revenge. These assumptions themselves are disruptive to Islamic culture, both for men and women.
I'm thinking of the propoganda the Soviets showed in the '60's of black people rioting. They said, "See how evil the Capitalist culture is?" They pulled the propogranda when they learned the main message people got was, "Look how wealthy America is! Even the poor, oppressed rioters have wrist watches and TVs!"
The main impact of these films may not be the overt story, but the unstated assumptions of our culture--the individual is paramount, individual freedom is assumed, and everyone by working can gain wealth.
The problem with our corrupt films is a real one and the answer is simple: don't patronize them. Don't watch them, don't buy the DVD's or anything. Cut off the funds. Let the corrupt watch the corrupt and support the corrupt.
You will see the real problem is that a large section of our culture really wants to watch this stuff. That is the real problem--that there is a demand for this. And the solution to that is to change the human heart through Christianity.
bttt
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