I can think of criticisms of my own tribe. Important criticisms, true ones. But the thought of writing them makes my blood boil.
I imagine might I feel like some liberal US Muslim leader, when he goes on the O’Reilly Show, and O’Reilly ambushes him and demands to know why he and other American Muslims haven’t condemned beheadings by ISIS more, demands that he criticize them right there on live TV. And you can see the wheels in the Muslim leader’s head turning, thinking something like “Okay, obviously beheadings are terrible and I hate them as much as anyone. But you don’t care even the slightest bit about the victims of beheadings. You’re just looking for a way to score points against me so you can embarass all Muslims. And I would rather personally behead every single person in the world than give a smug bigot like you a single microgram more stupid self-satisfaction than you’ve already got.”
That is how I feel when asked to criticize my own tribe, even for correct reasons. If you think you’re criticizing your own tribe, and your blood is not at that temperature, consider the possibility that you aren’t.
“If you think you’re criticizing your own tribe, and your blood is not at that temperature, consider the possibility that you aren’t.”
Well, my response to this liberal would be:
A. Most of us don’t even think in terms of “tribes” because we are civilized and not primitives
B. The only reason you have that feeling is because you have placed your tribal allegiance above principles, which was a huge mistake.
The only problem with that is we seem to find time and time again, these outrageous acts are not as isolated as one might think.
Take for example Indonesia’s requirement that women’s virginity must be checked before entry into the army. I’m not giving you the url, that’s your job and will show up in your search history.
This is a major sovereign country’s policy. No, this isn’t radicals, this is the norm.