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Saturday, August 17, 2002 |
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From Jeff Jarvis' weblog, a "blog moment" written about the upcoming 1 year anniversary of Sept.11, one which grabbed me with it's poignance :
"It has been a year... : ... and my greatest blessing is my family. I have written before that starting on that day, my children would not let me leave their sight without saying, "I love you." They still do. And so do I."
4:13:43 PM 
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It seems that many "Christian" sites are helping to perpetuate the kind of thinking demonstrated by Mr. Graham (I won't call him Reverend). I notice scores of "Muslim attacks Christians" articles, which seems a bit backwards from what is needed, unless of course, this is your aim: to cast Islam as the terrorist's religion. Once again, it's like calling Christianity the religion of the KKK. Christianity is but a political and social and emotional tool for the KKK, as Islam is to the terrorists. I also noticed a site recently that prided itslef on being non-judgmental and calling for unity amongst Christians, but whose content regarding Muslim-Christian relations seemed heavily weighted toward Islam as the enemy and citing Muslim on Christian violence (and omitting the scores of scenarios of the opposite variety since Sept.11).
1:23:44 PM
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"I'm certainly not preaching against Muslim people," Graham said Wednesday on WBT-AM radio. "I am concerned about our nation, and on Sept. 11 last year, we were attacked by followers of Islam, claiming to do this in the name of Islam." |see the artcle on ABC News
See below, my citing of the Timothy McVeigh case, and consider the invoking of Christian principles by the Klu Klux Klan. On the west Wing last fall, there was a special "post Sept. 11" episode done by the cast that featured a discussion with some students by Josh, and he made the comparison:
The terrorist are to Islam as WHO is to Christianity? Answer: KKK
Nobody asks the Church to apologize for the KKK, becuase everyone knows they are a radical racist group, and despite their claims to be followers of Christ, we easily see their TWISTING of the truth; their "hermeneutic of convenience" (meaning, they interpret the scriptures the way they see fit, as justification for their actions and goals).
No, it seems to be lost on Mr. Graham that you are falling prey to the trap of lumping a whole group into one for the actions of a few disturbed, disillusioned, self-deceived , self-proclaimed "saviors" of the Islamic world. And that's all they are, is self-proclaimed, among their fellow "deceived".......which are many, but still do not represent the faithful of Islam.
Graham states further:
"The silence of the clerics around the world is frightening to me," he said. "How come they haven't come to this country, how come they haven't apologized to the American people, how come they haven't reassured the American people that this is not true Islam and that these people are not acting in the name of Allah, they're not acting in the name of Islam?"
|see the article on ABCNews.com
Uh, Mr. Graham, THEY (the Muslims) did NOT do it. Did American Christians apologize to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing because Timothy McVeigh was a "Christian"? No, because what he did had nothing to do with any association with any association of himself with the Christian Church or Christian beliefs (except maybe in his own head....which is precisely the case with the terrorists). Why is this so hard to understand? Intolerance, bigotry, and hatred: that's why it's hard. These things are hard to see past when they blind us to the truth.
And oh, by the way, Mr. Graham , please SHUT UP!
1:02:24 PM
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Earlier this week I got a report from the urologist that was MUCH better than what I had a year ago. Last year my PSA had been elevated, and so I was referred to a urologist, who , in the absence of any other obvious causes, did a biopsy last Sept. 7. That turned out to show no sign of any cancer of the prostate. 6 months later, my PSA was relatively unchanged, so we extended the watch another 6 months. Last week, I got a card from the doctor saying my PSA was a couple of points lower (maybe it was the Selenium I've been taking for about 3 months). Anyway, things are looking like they are moving in the right direction.
Last year, after the biopsy, I received the good news about 10 in the morning on Sept.11 --- it was very strange, the feeling I had then ---- very relieved and celebratory, but still in disbelief about what was happening in New York and Washington.
12:37:24 PM
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More Lessig 
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The good folks at O'Reilly have put up a transcript of Larry Lessig's now-legendary speech at OSCon on July 24. |
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After dinner we went out to Aqua Blue, a terrific restaurant for which there seems to be no reference on the Web. The kid was so wasted he ate about three bites of spaghetti and fell asleep on the floor. | [Doc Searls Weblog]
11:55:48 AM
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The previous entry obviously raises my ire, wouldn't you say? The things I wrote on Thursday about The Southern Baptist Convention are closely related. It has to do with people who call themselves Christians (and I believe that they are, but simply missing the mark when it comes to the way they either understand or treat people, or both......which is a pretty serious offense in my book in the matter of "being a Christian", becuase I also believe it has to do with the way you "live it".)
The audio file linked from the article earlier this week about Tony Campolo includes a segment where Camplolo mentions how many Christians who were wearing "WWJD" pins ("What Would Jesus Do?") took them off after September 11 and put American flags in their place. This to me is sacrilege.
10:50:24 AM
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More media coverage on an issue where I want to say to the clueless, bigoted, narrow-focused conservative Christian people: "Shut up, for Jesus' sake!" So I'll say it:
SHUT UP FOR JESUS' SAKE! before you embarass yourself!...... (too late)
Detractors say the 220-page book, which discusses 35 verses from Islam's holy text, could convert Americans to the religion of terrorists blamed for the deaths of about 3,000 people on Sept. 11.
It could "convert them"???? Get a clue, people! If the religion of Islam is so evil, as you say, then how in the world could the "study" of such be convincing enough to "convert them"?
"It's almost farcical that so many people would follow it (Islam) and call it a religion of peace," said Glover, whose conservative Christian group recruited three unidentified students for the lawsuit against UNC. "It means peace through submission to Allah, and for everyone else it means death."
The farce, Mr. Glover, is that you can be a Chrsitian and say you believe in a Scripture that teaches the same exact stuff regarding the "pagan enemy", where God is reported to have ordered the wholesale slaughter of all people in a city...and even the animals...... What do you do with that? There's a "special interpretation" called for there, one which you refuse to grant to the Islam relgion when it comes to their own "seemingly contradictory" texts and passages. I could say that it's "almost farcical that so many people would follow the Christian Right and call it a religion of Jesus when its own followers are so militant, quick to judgement, and quick to call for retaliation". (Of course, there I go again, lumping these examples into the entire "Christian right", but that's OK, though, right Mr. Glover? Isn't that the way it's done? Aren't all Muslims of the same ilk and of the same mind about how the Quran is interpreted as were the terrorists and their supporters? Isn't this the way to approach these matters? )
James Moeser, chancellor of UNC's Chapel Hill campus, said the intensity of discussion surrounding the issue demonstrates a need for information.
Mr. Moeser is a refreshing example of the "thinking and discerning" theologian, one who is clearly "thinking" and acting on the desire for education and rationality rather than blind prejudice and fear, perpretated by , once agin, clueless loudmouths of the religious right. (Not all adherents of the "Christian Right" are clueless and/or loudmouths, but these clowns are).
"We need to explore our own religious biases in this country, our own fear of examination, our own intolerance," Moeser said. "The faculty has succeeded in choosing a book that is provocative in the best sense of the word, provocative of inquiry, even controversy. Universities thrive on controversy."
I guess one could say that the religious right loves it too, it gives them a chance to air their venom in public, and once again embarass the people who strive to live as Jesus would, and look at the person.
10:33:36 AM
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