[lit-ideas] Re: faith & secularism
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 09:28:44 -0400
Even if those in charge have decided to make degradation and humiliation a
policy (a tactic perhaps, policy is a stretch), the comments about Condi
are are just plain stupid and downright childish. How can the rest of it
be taken seriously? Likewise, even assuming the war were against Islam,
the buck stops with Bush, not with Condi. This is warped.
> [Original Message]
> From: <JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 5/18/2005 4:17:23 AM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] faith & secularism
>
> "At the end of the day, it's not about words or holy books or pork or
dogs
> or any of that. It's about what these things symbolize on a personal
level. It
> is infuriating to see objects that we hold sacred degraded and debased by
> foreigners who felt the need to travel thousands of kilometers to do
this.
> That's not to say that all troops disrespect Islam- some of them seem to
> genuinely want to understand our beliefs. It does seem like the people in
charge have
> decided to make degradation and humiliation a policy.
> By doing such things, this war is taken to another level- it is no
longer a
> war against terror or terrorists- it is, quite simply, a war against
Islam
> and even secular Muslims are being forced to take sides."
>
>
> _http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/_ (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/)
>
>
> Wednesday, May 18, 2005
>
> The Dead and the Undead...
>
>
> ?She stood in the crowded room as her drove of minions stood around
her...?A
> huddling mass trying to draw closer to her aura of evil. The lights
flashed
> against her fangs as her cruel lips curled into a grimace. It was meant
to be
> a smile but it wouldn't reach her cold, lifeless eyes? It was a leer-
the
> leer of the undead before a feeding...
>
> The above was not a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer- it was just
Condi
> Rice in Iraq a day ago. At home, we fondly refer to her as The Vampire.
She's
> such a contrast to Bush- he simply looks stupid. She, on the other hand,
> looks utterly evil.
>
> The last two weeks have been violent. The number of explosions in
Baghdad
> alone is frightening. There have also been several assassinations-
bodies being
> found here and there. It's somewhat disturbing to know that corpses are
> turning up in the most unexpected places. Many people will tell you it's
not wise
> to eat river fish anymore because they have been nourished on the human
> remains being dumped into the river. That thought alone has given me
more than
> one sleepless night. It is almost as if Baghdad has turned into a giant
> graveyard.
>
> The latest corpses were those of some Sunni and Shia clerics- several of
> them well-known. People are being patient and there is a general
consensus that
> these killings are being done to provoke civil war. Also worrisome is
the
> fact that we are hearing of people being rounded up by security forces
(Iraqi)
> and then being found dead days later- apparently when the new Iraqi
government
> recently decided to reinstate the death penalty, they had something else
in
> mind.
>
> But back to the explosions. One of the larger blasts was in an area
called
> Ma'moun, which is a middle class area located in west Baghdad. It?s a
> relatively calm residential area with shops that provide the basics and
a bit more.
> It happened in the morning, as the shops were opening up for their daily
> business and it occurred right in front of a butchers shop. Immediately
after, we
> heard that a man living in a house in front of the blast site was hauled
off
> by the Americans because it was said that after the bomb went off, he
sniped
> an Iraqi National Guardsman.
>
> I didn?t think much about the story- nothing about it stood out: an
> explosion and a sniper- hardly an anomaly. The interesting news started
circulating a
> couple of days later. People from the area claim that the man was taken
away
> not because he shot anyone, but because he knew too much about the bomb.
> Rumor has it that he saw an American patrol passing through the area and
pausing
> at the bomb site minutes before the explosion. Soon after they drove
away, t
> he bomb went off and chaos ensued. He ran out of his house screaming to
the
> neighbors and bystanders that the Americans had either planted the bomb
or
> seen the bomb and done nothing about it. He was promptly taken away.
>
> The bombs are mysterious. Some of them explode in the midst of National
> Guard and near American troops or Iraqi Police and others explode near
mosques,
> churches, and shops or in the middle of sougs. One thing that surprises
us
> about the news reports of these bombs is that they are inevitably linked
to
> suicide bombers. The reality is that some of these bombs are not suicide
bombs-
> they are car bombs that are either being remotely detonated or maybe
time
> bombs. All we know is that the techniques differ and apparently so do
the
> intentions. Some will tell you they are resistance. Some say Chalabi and
his thugs
> are responsible for a number of them. Others blame Iran and the SCIRI
militia
> Badir.
>
> In any case, they are terrifying. If you're close enough, the first
sound is
> a that of an earsplitting blast and the sounds that follow are of a rain
of
> glass, shrapnel and other sharp things. Then the wails begin- the shrill
> mechanical wails of an occasional ambulance combined with the wail of
car alarms
> from neighboring vehicles? and finally the wail of people trying to sort
out
> their dead and dying from the debris.
>
> The day before yesterday, a bomb fell on Mustansiriya University-
_Khalid of
> Secrets in Baghdad_ (http://secretsinbaghdad.blogspot.com/) blogs about
it.
>
> We've been watching the protests about _the Newsweek article_
> (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050517/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/newsweek_quran)
with interest. I?m
> not surprised at the turnout at these protests- the thousands of Muslims
angry
> at the desecration of the Quran. What did surprise me was the collective
> shock that seems to have struck the Islamic world like a slap in the
face. How
> is this shocking? It's terrible and disturbing in the extreme- but how
is it
> shocking? After what happened in Abu Ghraib and other Iraqi prisons how
is
> this astonishing? American jailers in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown
little
> respect for human life and dignity- why should they be expected to
respect a
> holy book?
>
> _Juan Cole has some good links about the topic._
> (http://www.juancole.com/2005/05/guantanamo-controversies-bible-and.html)
>
> Now Newsweek have retracted the story- obviously under pressure from the
> White House. Is it true? Probably. We've seen enough blatant disregard
and
> disrespect for Islam in Iraq the last two years to make this story sound
very
> plausible. On a daily basis, mosques are raided, clerics are dragged
away with
> bags over their heads? Several months ago the world witnessed the
execution of
> an unarmed Iraqi prisoner inside a mosque. Is this latest so very
surprising?
>
> Detainees coming back after weeks or months in prison talk of being
forced
> to eat pork, not being allowed to pray, being exposed to dogs, having
Islam
> insulted and generally being treated like animals trapped in a small
cage. At
> the end of the day, it's not about words or holy books or pork or dogs
or any
> of that. It's about what these things symbolize on a personal level. It
is
> infuriating to see objects that we hold sacred degraded and debased by
> foreigners who felt the need to travel thousands of kilometers to do
this. That's not
> to say that all troops disrespect Islam- some of them seem to genuinely
want
> to understand our beliefs. It does seem like the people in charge have
> decided to make degradation and humiliation a policy.
>
> By doing such things, this war is taken to another level- it is no
longer a
> war against terror or terrorists- it is, quite simply, a war against
Islam
> and even secular Muslims are being forced to take sides.
>
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