Day: November 17, 2015

By JC

You get the founder of America’s and the world’s most valuable company.

By JC

I attempted to add the following comment at Intelligent Discontent on Don Pogreba’s post “Does Islam Promote Violence? Stupid Question Gets a Smart Answer.” As usual, my comments get moderated and never post.

Pogreba’s post consists of nothing more than a much regurgitated Reza Aslan interview at CNN as an answer to his question. Unfortunately, Don refrains from adding any original thought to the video, so one must assume that he is down with it.

Fortunately, there are people far more informed than I (and obviously Pogreba) who have much invested in the matter, and avoid trite knee-jerk responses to the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East, and spilling over into Africa and Europe. I much prefer the well thought out discussion by the two ex-Muslims quoted below to Aslan’s theatrics. So here is my comment (reformatted into a post here) to Don:

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So I don’t why Don would post Reza Aslan’s interview without doing a bit of due diligence. Aslan’s interview sparked a huge outcry in the Muslim sphere after it was aired on CNN….

For those who would like to hear a cogent rebuttal, “Reza Aslan is Wrong About Islam and This is Why”, Muhammad Syed and Sarah Haider (co-founders of Ex-Muslims of North America, a community-building organization for ex-Muslims) weigh in at Patheos.com:

…We believe that Islam badly needs to be reformed, and it is only Muslims who can truly make it into a modern religion. But it is the likes of Reza Aslan who act as a deterrent to change by refusing to acknowledge real complications within the scripture and by actively promoting half-truths. Bigotry against Muslims is a real and pressing problem, but one can criticize the Islamic ideology without treating Muslims as themselves problematic or incapable of reform.

There are true Muslim reformists who are willing to call a spade a spade while working for the true betterment of their peoples — but their voices are drowned out by the noise of apologists who are all-too-often aided by the Western left. Those who accept distortions in order to hold on to a comforting dream-world where Islamic fundamentalism is merely an aberration are harming reform by encouraging apologists.

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Please go read the whole post by Sayed and Haider. It is a refreshing alternative to the liberal apologies offered by “the left” in the West.

byWilliam Skink

James Conner isn’t making himself any new friends with his coverage of the David Lenio spectacle, and that’s because he’s made the prescient assertion that this case is being groomed for the national spotlight. To counter this assertion, Jonathan Hutson took on Conner directly with a guest post at Cowgirl.

This story is now getting much wider traction, thanks to Hutson’s efforts (because Conner was right). Here is Hutson with piece at Huffington post, titled: White Banker’s Son Threatens to Shoot School Kids and Jews, Gets ‘Get Outta Jail Free’ Card. And here’s the title of another article, this one at Raw Story: Banker’s son from Montana who threatened to shoot kids and Jews is back online despite ban.

What does Lenio being the son of a banker have to do with this case? Both articles go on to say virtually nothing about Lenio’s father, but I guess it’s good framing for a liberal audience.

Everything about this case is starting to stink. Who benefits from politicizing this and hyping it for national consumption?

What angers me about out of state interests jumping on the prosecution of this unstable young man is that prosecuting him to fullest extent of the law won’t alleviate the threat this person represents to local communities. If he’s mentally ill, prison will worsen his mental status. If he gets on probation, he will have to remain in Montana unless he gets cleared to leave. His job prospects will be that much worse, which is significant because throughout his tweets his perception that he’s a “wage slave” seems to be a primary factor in his rage toward the malignant forces he perceives are oppressing him.

David Lenio is a microcosm of the macro crisis facing young men around the world. Lack of economic opportunity combined with an absence of fulfilling personal relationships makes young men much more susceptible to extremists ideologies.

Last month I came across an article making this very point. I can’t remember if I linked to it, but here it is:

There’s a Way to Stop Mass Shootings, and You Won’t Like It.

That’s right. You’re not going to like it because it’s going to require you to do something personally, as opposed to shouting for the government, or anyone to “do something!”

You ready? Here it is:

“Notice those around you who seem isolated, and engage them.”

If every one of us did this we’d have a culture that was deeply committed to ensuring no one was left lonely. And make no mistake, as I’ve written before loneliness is what causes these shooters to lash out. People with solid connections to other people don’t indiscriminately fire guns at strangers.

I know what you’re thinking. That’s never going to work because no one is going to make the effort to connect with the strange kid sitting by himself at lunch each day. No one is going to reach out to the gawky, awkward guy at work and ask him about his weekend.

You’re probably right and that’s an absolute shame.