Here's another potential member...listen to him speaking to a radical Islamist...
Posted on 05/30/2005 4:47:09 PM PDT by forty_years
Concerns over the sensitivities of Muslims have once again taken members of the American media – even its government – over the top. Some in the media have decided that Islam should be treated differently from other world religions, and some in American government are spending too much time worrying about Muslim sensitivities, as opposed to concentrating on crushing the Islamist enemy.
An article published in the Washington Post on Tuesday, May 17 highlights examples of the mistakes being made by the media as well as in government.
Robin Wright, author of the Post’s article, “U.S. Long Had Memo on Handling of Koran,” refers to the Koran no less than three times as a “holy book.” The Washington Post is supposedly one of the pillars of American journalism.
Ask any of its writers, and I am sure they would tell you that the Post is objective and fair, and is steeped in the rules and science of journalism. But if this were so, would its writers confer special properties on the religion of Islam? Calling the Koran a “holy book” inside the pages of the Post is not responsible journalism. This term is de facto recognition that Islam and the Koran are intrinsically sacred or inspired by the divine. This is quite a leap of faith for an “objective” newspaper.
I am not questioning whether people of faith hold the Koran as "holy," but has the Washington Post decided that all its readers should consider it so? Is this official policy at the newspaper? What happened to objectivity? A full text search of the Post's archives for the terms "Bible" AND "holy book" returns, "Your Search for bible "holy book" returned 0 results."
The Associated Press’ “Stylebook and Libel Manual” and The University of Chicago’s “Manual of Style,” two books which professional journalists are taught to adhere to when writing, make no mention of a requirement to refer to the Koran as a “holy book.” There is no mention of a requirement that writers assume that Islam was inspired by the divine. The two stylebooks certainly do not require that Hinduism, Christianity, or Judaism be imbued with spiritual properties, nor is there any mention of calling the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, or the Torah “holy books.”
In a profession in which concerns over diversity and political correctness are out of control, it seems that some journalists have decided that one religion is more important than others. What about concern for the sensitivities of Jews and Christians? Would these same “concerned” journalists encode value judgments regarding a subject’s wealth or physical attributes? I doubt it.
Ms. Wright’s editorializing about which religion is truly “holy” tells us about her fears and those of her politically correct, compatriot journalists. Explicitly, these news writers would tell you that their motivations lie in cultural sensitivity. Implicitly, the truth of the matter is that these people are afraid, very afraid, of being blown up by crazed Muslim suicide bombers, and they hope to maintain their cushy lifestyles in the land of the free, home of the brave by placating the enemy.
But the Washington Post article goes farther than just revealing the bias of its author. It also shows to what lengths our government and military have been willing to go to placate the angry, Muslim hoards:
More than two years ago, the Pentagon issued detailed rules for handling the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, requiring U.S. personnel to ensure that the holy book is not placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas."
The three-page memorandum, dated Jan. 19, 2003, says that only Muslim chaplains and Muslim interpreters can handle the holy book, and only after putting on clean gloves in full view of detainees.
The detailed rules require U.S. Muslim personnel to use both hands when touching the Koran to signal "respect and reverence," and specify that the right hand be the primary one used to manipulate any part of the book "due to cultural associations with the left hand." The Koran should be treated like a "fragile piece of delicate art," it says.
In the Muslim and Arab world; where violence has become so endemic; where strength is measured by the size of a gun and the number of civilians one is willing to slaughter; these moves on the part of the U.S. military will be surely seen by Arabs/Muslims as weakness -- e.g., “Look at how we’ve got the Americans jumping through hoops.”
Weakness is not a luxury we can afford. Strength is the image we must cultivate and prove. Of course we should never intentionally defile anyone’s religious text – this is just common sense and common decency. But putting on gloves to handle a book?
Need it be said that many in our media have been advertising the weakness of their “liberal” belief system? A bevy on opinion polls show it obvious that the American media is disconnected from the American public – just look at the CBS’ Dan Rather and his “memo-gate” fiasco or Newsweek’s false and retracted story about flushing a Koran down the toilet.
Time for a reality check: Placating a vicious enemy is always counter-productive. The war against Islamist terrorists will not be won based on our handling of books, but on searching out and killing all the members of the terrorist organizations, as well as their supporters – just as we defeated the Germans and Japanese in WWII.
http://netwmd.com/articles/article1022.html
Does Al Queda issue regulations on how to handle the Koran during a beheading, such as how far away it should be to avoid any splatter? This should be coming from the Onion.
We should take all of the damn Korans away. Say "Look, we don't want to offend anyone, but these rules for the "proper" handling of this book are so complicated, and you all get so upset when some perceived insult happens, we'd rather not risk that happening anymore. Now, how about a nice eggs and bacon breakfast?"
Perfect for lining that new puppies cage.
Makes great filler for that pig feed.
Perfect for leveling the lid on the septic tank.
Way past time for a reality check, indeed.
You know, I have a wall at work dedicated daily to your posts, and that wall has become something of an addiction for many in the office.
I keep one under my hood to wipe my dipstick when I check the oil.
I use page 45...the one with the passage about lying in wait for the infidel.....to apply jock itch medicine.
Hell will freeze over before I call Muhammadanism's book holy.
2ND, GREAT LAUGH TODAY!
TOO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!
GODSPEED!
Here's another potential member...listen to him speaking to a radical Islamist...
I resent not being included in your list as an enemy of islam.
YOU GUYS ARE TOO FUNNY!
GODSPEED!
Sorry about that. The mistake has been rectified.
Amen to your tagline, BTW.
May I be considered for membership in the club too?
This doesn't appear to be a forum for the serious discussion of this topic, but here goes anyway.
Go buy a bible, a koran, a torah - and do whatever you want with it as a private citizen. But I can't believe the people here really want representatives of the government acting in their official capacity flushing religious writings down the toilet based on the religious content.
For the US military personnel, DODD 1300.17 para 3.1. states, "A basic principle of our nation is free exercise of religion. The Department of Defense places a high value on the rights of members of the Armed Forces to observe the tenets of their respective religions." This same respect is extended to EPWs and other detained persons in the Army's FM 3-19.40, Internment & Resettlement Operations.
Religious harassment, as an act of a pissed off or sadistic guard, shows a lack of discipline. As a strategy for intelligence collection, it's ineffective and shortsighted.
HOWEVER ... having talked with folks who work at the USDB and in the federal prison system, the Gitmo rules for handling the Koran go way beyond what other federal institutions are doing. In other words, if you're a Muslim in Martha Stewart's "Camp Cupcake", your Koran probably won't get the white glove, treat-it-like-a-valuable-antique treatment when it comes time to search the cell.
The other side of free exercise in a military environment is military necessity. While I don't think it's necessary to intentionally mistreat the Koran (and neither does the CJCS according to public statements), it certainly is necessary to search prisoners and their cells for security purposes.
Love that tagline as well. Yeah, let's deal with it!
islam is not a religion.
It is a death cult.
Do you want the government making that decision? Maybe they'll decide your faith isn't a religion, either.
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