Sarajevo, an added thought.
You said earlier:
Quote:
...Nor should I hope anymore that we can talk openly and like equals. The first post I did here (deciding to post again and try to have some conversations here after I was banned) was deleted minute after I post it! Strangely, post appeared after but first reaction on my post told me volumes. They are many more things to say and to explain, but I just don’t see possibility here nor chance for that… And with that I will finish leaving you the floor and this (your) place to rant against me and my opinions and beliefs.
First, I'll note that in this thread while some including me disagree with you on some things and more disagreed with Hedges, everyone has been more than reasonable IMO.
I spent some time, long ago, in the ME. Stationed in one country and visited many others. Had I walked in one of the many restaurants I ate in while there and said, loudly that "Islam is the problem and you all hate Christians" or something worse (and I'll emphasize that I do not and did not think that and would never have said such a thing) I suspect most of the people in the restaurant, being as polite as folks in the ME are, would have ignored me. Still, there's a strong possibility someone would've broken a chair over my head. If that had happened, I would have deserved it.
Yet, you seem to believe that if you come into a Weblog board that is heavily populated with Americans, many of whom are current or former US military people and say some extremely critical and sometimes controversial things while posting links to some great and good articles and occasionally to some that have a very anti-American slant (I include Hedges article in that category) that these people should simply uncritically agree with you. I think, perhaps, that is an unfair expectation.
I think you can add to this board but I suggest that fairly constant accusations of unmitigated evil can cause a certain lack of welcome. Seems unnecessary to me; we ought to be able to disagree without getting in cat fights. Your comments on this thread show you and we can discuss things reasonably even though it started out with an inflammatory link and it seems to me that reason can continue to be displayed by all of us.
Somewhat of a tangent, but not really...
I just got an email from MEMRI which is, by analogy, on point to the general discussion.
Quote:
Algerian Dissident Journalist Arezki Ait Larbi: Stop "Witchcraft Trials" For Christians in Algeria
In the western Algerian city of Tiaret, a 37-year-old convert to Christianity is currently on trial for "practicing a non-Muslim religion without authorization," under a 2006 law regulating the religious practice of non-Muslims. The charges were brought against her after police found copies of the Bible in her possession.(1)
In a May 27, 2008 article in the Algerian El-Watan daily, Algerian dissident and journalist Arezki Ait Larbi called the case a "witchcraft trial" and described a tightening alliance between the government and Islamists in the country. He argued that the only way out of the impasse was the formation of a popular movement that would confront intolerance and reaffirm respect for liberty of religion and conscience.
Arezki Ait Larbi, currently a correspondent for the French daily Le Figaro, is a well-known civil rights activist who has been imprisoned several times since he first became active in public affairs, during the "Berber Spring" of 1980. He was recently acquitted of charges of defamation brought against him for an article he wrote documenting torture in Algerian prisons.(2)
More...
As a number of you know, I've spent a fair amount of time studying witchcraft and witch trials. One point that comes through very clearly when you lok at the trials, whether they are in Europe, Africa, North America or the Middle East, is practice of social labelling and social blame associated with them. Put really simply, you identify a source of "Evil", you name it and, most importantly, you drench the symbolic environment with that association. After a while, it becomes almost impossible for people to dis-aggregate the associations. The reason I think this is relevant to the current discussion is because the labelling and association process is (apparently) a human universal that operates regardless of culture, although the punishments differ.
There is a second process, again universal, that needs to be brought up - "reification". This is just a fancy way of saying take a concept, idea or drug induced hallucination and treat it as if i were a real "thing" (or person). The process of reification operates in almost all settings and it is one of the most difficult processes for people, as individuals, to deal with, especially when emotions run high.
Food for thought...
Marc