connecting*the*dots

21 Responses to “Why Are *You* Getting So Fired Up?”  

1. 1 texastentialist Feb 4th, 2006 at 9:46 pm

   Those that want to outlaw flag burning typically would describe themselves as good Christians. I would like to remind these folks of the obvious irony in responding to a threat to freedom by restricting freedom. But it is not just the First Amendment that is under assault. So is the First Commandment of the Jewish and Christian faiths, and the First Pillar of the Muslim faith.

   By elevating the flag to an object of transcendent veneration — an untouchable idol — the proposed amendment strikes at the core of Jewish, Muslim and Christian belief systems.

   The Ten Commandments apply to Jews and Christians alike. Heading the list is the commandment to have no other god, meaning no other absolute allegiance. The Second Commandment extends that prohibition to veneration of material objects — it forbids “bowing down to” or worshipping graven images of any kind. The point of all this is that no temporal power is worthy of the veneration that must be reserved for God alone.

2. 2 texastentialist Feb 4th, 2006 at 10:15 pm

   I have an image of compassion from malkin’s own camp.

   http://jasmynecannick.typepad.com/jasmynecannickcom/2006/02/white_antigay_g.html

   There’s plenty of rightous hatred to go around.

3. 3 Sean Coon Feb 4th, 2006 at 11:11 pm

   And in the end, that’s what it is — righteous hatred.

   The cartoon incident is despicable. The Editor of the Denmark paper posted the cartoons as an editorial comment, basically taunting Muslims by trying to make a point to transcend their religion. *Their religion* For almost 1400 years, Islamic tradition has kept the likeness and depiction of the Prophet Mohhamed sacred. I realize that’s hard for us secular folk to understand — hell, devout Christians can be found delivering a velvet Christ portrait to a swap meet *while* wearing a gold idol of Christ’s execution devise dangling around their neck — but Muslims defend The Prophet of their faith; they did it when he was alive, and they do it centuries later. Why?

   Faith. Commitment. Sacrifice. Community. Love.

   Before any of these newspapers or bloggers can stand on a sure leg of righteousness, I’d like to see them simply get on their knees to pray five times per day. Try it. For just a week. Try excusing yourself in your office and pray in the community mensroom, hoping that the angled wall by the sink faces east. Try stopping on a sidewalk at sundown and praying while people walk by and laugh. The next time you’re at LaGuardia Airport, look to the cab station and find the prayer rugs piled up on one another.

   The folks that pass by and chuckle, the ones who are trying to devise a “comeback” to this comment, these are the “infidels” Islamic fundamentalist commonly refer to.

   Michelle Malkin couldn’t sleep the other night, so she put together a video greatest hits of “Islam hatred” to random Arabic music, balanced it with *more* reprints of the cartoons, and for good measure, threw in images of 9/11 at the end. She title her clip, “first, they came for…” when in reality, this entire mess was created by non-Muslims poking the faith of Islam. Malkin can try to spin her improprieties anyway she’d like, but her midnight film makes her that much more culpable.

   She’ll get on her knees five times a day, but only when Fox News is involved.

   We’re not dealing with good Christians or people with common decency; we’re dealing with opportunists, capitalists (gotta get my pageviews, no matter the meme!) and spiritually dead human beings.

   They’ve made their bed.

4. 4 Christopher K. Leavitt Feb 5th, 2006 at 3:52 am

   I suggest you visit my blog for my take on this whole situation. You have a trackback there, and I will delete it if you do not publish this link.

   I must quote an old saying: “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

   Burning the US flag is PROTECTED SPEECH INSIDE THE USA. WE ARE STRONGER THAN THE INSULTS, AND ONLY PROTEST IT CIVILY. Good luck with that around the world.

5. 5 texastentialist Feb 5th, 2006 at 8:05 am

   I’ll have to take exception with you friend…the need isn’t for Christians to be as dogmatic as Muslims. just because they hit the floor 5 times a day doesn’t make you holier than thou. Yes Christians in America tend to be hypocritical…it’s the market replacing Jehovah…it’s the cognitive dissonance that allows us to live a quiet righteous life in the burbs hating fags.

   We don’t need more devotion from the these faiths since these faiths lead to division and destruction. A pox on both of their houses!

6. 6 Sean Coon Feb 5th, 2006 at 2:00 pm

   Chris, I did visit your site; I linked to it in the flag montage.

   The point in my post was to express how most Americans feel a strong connection to the flag, and wince when we see anyone burning it; especially someone from another country. I’ve heard more than enough hateful commentary from fellow Americans when our flag is used as such. There’s also the citizen crowd that want to outlaw that expression of free speech within our borders. I’d guess that many of the Malkin ilk fall in line with that thinking, which contradicts the “righteous” freedom of the press meme (with the Prophet Mohhamed cartoon) she’s leading in the right blogosphere, which encourages people to reproduce the offending images everywhere.

   No matter how you look at it, that’s hypocritical.

   Look, I’m not getting into a debate about what religion is *right*, I’m attempting to make a point about *respect*.

   People can think organized religion is a crock (as I do on many levels), but I also understand that religion is deeply personal. Respecting certain guiding principles of a another religion, especially one that is as *simple* as not depicting or reproducing an image of someone else’s savior, when we all know It’ll cause varying degrees of fury, well, that’s just common sense… out of respect.

   *I think* your cartoon speaks to your position that Muslims are trying to force their religion down your throat. Within the context of the commotion of the past week, I wouldn’t agree that is happening *at all*. Fundamentalist Muslims are reacting in an over the top fashion, but from a cornered position of Muslims in this New World Order.

   Now, speak with a moderate Muslim in Jordan, and you find different, more complex issues being raised. it’s not about one religion or the other (that black and white conversation sells newspapers and gets page views on blogs), it’s about understanding that Islam is slowly moving into the modern world, while the rest of the world is moving into a post-modern existence (which doesn’t help either transition).

7. 7 Sean Coon Feb 5th, 2006 at 2:26 pm

   Tex… a pox! LOL. I agree, really I do. Re-read my comment. I wasn’t implying that more dedication to a faith would save the world, only that such a change in daily behavior just might shed light on a personal connection to certain principles that other people hold sacred.

   Again, another exercise of understanding; nothing more, nothing less.

8. 8 Chris Leavitt Feb 5th, 2006 at 11:08 pm

   See my new comic flipping off God and Christ. This also is protected speech. I know that most Muslims don’t kill anyone. It’s the silence about those who kill in Allah’s name that worries some people, myself included.

   What’s needed is a jihad to cleanse Islam of the radical factions, but it could go either way. I realize that. Peace be with you.

9. 9 Beth Feb 6th, 2006 at 9:48 pm

   The folks that pass by and chuckle, the ones who are trying to devise a “comeback� to this comment, these are the “infidels� Islamic fundamentalist commonly refer to.

   Sean, surely you don’t think we–those who are anti-Islamic fundamentalist (and who don’t “pass by and chuckle”–WTF?)–are the only ones they call “infidels!” I hate to break it to you, but no matter how much you excuse their behavior, defend their “right” to not be offended, whatever…they’d smite your neck (their words, not mine) as soon as they’d smite mine. That is, unless, you are facing Mecca five times a day as well OR enabling their quest for world domination.

   Is that what you plan to do to save your neck? Enable them? Or convert? You say it’s so noble to pray five times a day, to live an Islamic lifestyle, are you saying they are better because of it–despite the violence, oppression, misogyny, abuse, etc. etc. etc.? I mean it’s not like any of that is some right-wing invention, y’know. It’s in their own book. Read it; you may be surprised when you find out what they really think of YOU and the world around them. Don’t cherry-pick, either. Pay particular attention to the revisions (for lack of a better word) Muhammad made after Medina. It’s all there for you, if you are truly interested. It’s silly to make this an issue against other AMERICANS, when it’s ALL of us they hate.

   Finally, every one of us is fully aware that the cartoons offend Muslims, just as “Piss Christ” and other things offend Christians, and Holocaust denial offends Jews. But what you’re overlooking is the REACTION to each of them. Nobody’s going to that extreme when those things happen every single day, both in our own country and elsewhere in the world (especially the Islamic world!). I can’t really believe you actually think we don’t understand that they are offended. It seems to me that you *want* to believe that, to attribute more negative attributes to people like Michelle Malkin, Chris (above), and by default, me. Sorry, but that’s just dishonest.

10. 10 Sean Coon Feb 6th, 2006 at 11:12 pm

    If you understand that depicting Mohhamed would be considered sacrilegious, why would you condone the behavior republishing of the image, especially as blood begins to boil oversees where a small percentage of Muslims are violently reacting to the prodding?

    Simple question. Answer it.

11. 11 Very Concerned Feb 7th, 2006 at 3:37 pm

    Sean….you are an obvious idiot. You should take a few moments, or even years to study islam and at least act like you know the truth before you show your ass, as those who are members of the “religion of peace” have shown their evil, murderous faces.

12. 12 Sean Coon Feb 7th, 2006 at 5:48 pm

    VC, you couldn’t walk ten feet in my size 14’s if you wanted to, but thanks for the concern.

13. 13 texastentialist Feb 7th, 2006 at 10:10 pm

    yo VC, you want to see some “evil, murderous faces”?

    Pick up a book on the four Catholic major movements, starting with the Medieval Inquisition in 1184 and ending with the Spanish Inquisition in 1834 and the Crusades - which were a series of several military campaigns—usually sanctioned by the Papacy—that took place during the 11th through 13th centuries.

    All the dominant organized world religions lead to violence as a a key component of proselytization. How can it be a sin to destroy the lost and damned?

    Oh and Sean is my boy, so kiss my cracker ass.

14. 14 Sean Coon Feb 7th, 2006 at 10:26 pm

    killing in the name of!!!

    …easy tex, keep class running at 45 straight, you know they can’t handle that degree of extra credit. noggins might pop across the land if they start to see shit for what it is.

    you had to expect such reactions when i went out of my way and treaded through the malkin maze of misinformation. i wonder if anyone actually rolled over the images in the post, read the quotes and clicked through… that’s probably too much to ask.

    and you are a fuckin’ cracker ;-)… by the way, i watched bill hicks, sane man last night. dude was spot on. wow.

15. 15 Chris Feb 8th, 2006 at 3:11 am

    “I linked to it in the flag montage.” WTF IS THAT!!! You give me a cheesy link with no mention of what it is, or why you link to it? EXCUSE ME, BUT YOUR SHIT IS DE-LINKED, PAL! I did enjoy commenting on your site, but must ask you to at least publish the name of my blog next time you have occasion to. Look, I don’t want to be lumped in with Ms. Malkin and all the other people you linked to in your lovely “montage.” I’m sure it’s very artistic to someone, but I like people to be able to see my name on whatever they are clicking on. THANKS FOR NOTHIN’ DUDE!

    I’ll probably link to you in a future post, ranting about this, or something else. You do have an interesting site. Just give a little RESPECT to the people you cite on your blog.

16. 16 Sean Coon Feb 8th, 2006 at 3:20 am

    well, that’s art for you; it’s not explicit. btw, your comment link is still there, i just formatted it in html for you.

    you have a nice day, too.

17. 17 wtf Mar 1st, 2006 at 7:09 pm

    What religion they follow?

1. 1 Respect! at Skoogie.be - The Weblog Pingback on Feb 4th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
2. 2 The Mohammed Cartoon Incident In Context at connecting*the*dots Pingback on Feb 6th, 2006 at 9:59 am
3. 3 Skoogie.be - The Weblog » Blog Archive » Understanding Pingback on Feb 13th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
4. 4 Navaho Gunleg » Don’t forget! Pingback on Mar 31st, 2006 at 1:44 am