Posted on 09/12/2010 10:23:11 AM PDT by thecodont
For a glimpse of how venomous and debased the discourse about Islam has become, consider a blog post in The New Republic this month. Written by Martin Peretz, the magazine’s editor in chief, it asserted: “Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims.”
Mr. Peretz added: “I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment, which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.”
Thus a prominent American commentator, in a magazine long associated with tolerance, ponders whether Muslims should be afforded constitutional freedoms. Is it possible to imagine the same kind of casual slur tossed off about blacks or Jews? How do America’s nearly seven million American Muslims feel when their faith is denounced as barbaric?
This is one of those times that test our values, a bit like the shameful interning of Japanese-Americans during World War II, or the disgraceful refusal to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.
It would have been natural for this test to have come right after 9/11, but it was forestalled because President George W. Bush pushed back at his conservative ranks and repeatedly warned Americans not to confuse Al Qaeda with Islam.
Now that Mr. Bush is no longer in the White House, nativists are back on the warpath. Some opponents of President Obama are circulating bald-faced lies about him that are also scurrilous attacks on Islam itself. One e-mail bouncing around falsely accuses Mr. Obama of lying and adds, “His Muslim faith says it’s okay to lie.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Take a deep breath.
A leftist rag using a quote from a leftist rag to bash anyone who opposes Shariah
Daily earning their reputation as the New York SLIMES!!
You have to register for the NY Times in order to comment on his blog. I think the Times is getting desperate for people to sign up because they are being more provocative, and it’s free. I don’t know if it was always free, but it’s free now. I think the best thing we can do is ignore these folks. Because they don’t care if they offend or not, what they care about is getting enough hits to seduce advertisers into believing they are worth investing in.
How do America’s nearly seven million American Muslims feel when their faith is denounced as barbaric?
Many of them feel outed. Exposed. And they feel embarrassed and defiant.
Actually his “insulting Islam as a recruiting tool” argument is essentially the same as Sean Hannity’s.
“I think the best thing we can do is ignore these folks.”
To paraphrase:
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.
So being Islamic is a wonderful thing and we should be nice to Muslims...but claiming Obama is a Muslim is so awful it has the author reeling over what's become of America.
Uh, I guess I'm missing something.
Too bad we didn't have a Democrat in the White House when those things occurred, or they never would have happened, right?
Don't be a killjoy, libs love nothing more than getting into full "You people are all evil, and I'm the only voice for the downtrodden in this wretched land!" mode.
Probably about the same as America's chr*stians feel when the libs at the NYT make fun of them.
LOL...it makes them want to chop off heads and blow shit up.
I agree with the writer to a point.Fortunately we have a Constitution to protect us all from government abuse.
Imagine if the Muslims were a majority population here.We would be forced into converting to Islam.
With Muslims I believe in Ronald Reagan’s maxim,Trust but verify in everything they do.
I love how the libs have, after NINE YEARS finally admitted to liking SOMEthing about Bush, NINE YEARS after he could have used a little support.
How he could be such a boob, so anti-woman for his pro-life position, so stupid for talking about Jesus, and yet AT THE SAME TIME show such moral bravery and rise above the very people the libs claim controlled him, never seems to trouble them.
Liberalism truly is the religion of those who think with their emotions.
“I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment, which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.”
Funny, you weren’t so bent out of shape when people called Bush a Nazi, made a film and jokes on TV about assassinating him, and when Obama called the majority of people in this country dopes for clinging to THEIR religion. But one person PONDERS something, and it’s “OH WHAT A WORLD!!!!!”
“when their faith is denounced as barbaric”
Muslims stone people to death. Dwell on that. The victim is restrained so they can’t move and then one or more people start throwing large rocks at them until they’re dead. Other people are standing around watching and approving. This is not a criminal act in their society. It is a legally inflicted punishment.
I emphasize, this is not an individual’s barbarism. It is part of their society.
It's interesting, but in a related op-ed in the same newspaper, someone of Iranian heritage wonders whether things were better under President Bush.
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