I Wear Pants;492496 wrote:I don't think it was really a poor choice of words because I understood what he meant. But I can see how it would be taken a different way and when taken that way would sound like a horrible thing to say.

I Wear Pants;492941 wrote:And out from under the bridge isadore emerges.

isadore;492975 wrote:I have never claimed the United States has been perfect. But I do claim it has done more for freedom than any other nation.
As opposed to you and Kim il Sung I do not see the United States as the most imperialist nation in the world.

As opposed to you and Mr Zawahiri I dont see America forcing other nations to bow before us.
And as opposed to you and Mr. Bin Laden I see no jusitification for the terrorist tactics used against us.

Writerbuckeye;492976 wrote:I don't think the Imam chose his words poorly. I believe he's smart enough to know exactly what he was saying -- and he believes what he said.

Footwedge;492452 wrote:So when are you going to show me where I said Jesus promotes violence? I got all week.

Crickets......

isadore;493003 wrote:You have written what you believe.
How can the statement
"we are the nearest thing to imperialists in the world" have its meaning changed in any context. That stands on its own as a condemnation of our nation.
"So we have the right to just run roughshod over anyone and they are automatically the bad guys for using gorilla/brutal tactics that are their only real way to fight. We are too large an enemy for almost any single country to fight. Is everyone just supposed to bow to our will then?""
And how can the above statement be taken as anything but sympathetic toward our enemies and condemning toward us.
Of course each statement was given on its own in separate replies. That is the context.

two ringing condemnation of America.

I wear pants wrote:So we have the right to just run roughshod over anyone and they are automatically the bad guys for using gorilla/brutal tactics that are their only real way to fight. We are too large an enemy for almost any single country to fight. Is everyone just supposed to bow to our will then?"

isadore;495202 wrote:I like puppies.

isadore;495218 wrote:^^^
I am not that fond of kittens until they turn into cats who are known servants of the devil.

According to a recent survey by the Arabic online news service Elaph (Arabic version here), 58 percent of Arabs think the construction should be moved elsewhere. And according to a Media Research Center study released last week, 55 percent of network news coverage of the debate has come down on the pro-Mosque side.

The MRC study also found that on the question of whether opposition to the mosque demonstrated a widely held "Islamophobia" among Americans, 93 percent of network news soundbites answered ion the affirmative. In contrast, when asked whether the United States is a "tolerant" or "bigoted" society, 63 percent of Elaph respondents chose the former.

So the Arab world has a more favorable view of Americans than our own media elite, and sides with the American people over the network news broadcasters on the hot-button issue of the day.

There is no gain to be had, no hearts and minds to be won, in Imam Rauf insisting that Ground Zero can't be hallowed ground because there is a strip joint and an off-track betting office nearby. This may be true, but it is irrelevant.

A terrible deed took place on that ground nine years ago. Nineteen young Arabs brought death and ruin onto American soil, and discretion has a place of pride in the way the aftermath is handled. "Islam" didn't commit these crimes, but young Arabs and Muslims did.

There is no use for the incantation that Islam is a religion of peace. The incantation is false; Islam, like other religions, is theologically a religion of war and a religion of peace. In our time, it is a religion in distress, fought over, hijacked at times, by a militant breed at war with the modern world.


Again, from Elaph, here are the thoughts of an Arab writer, Ahmed Abu Mattar, who sees through the militancy of the religious radicals. He dismisses outright the anger over the "foolish and deranged" Pastor Terry Jones who threatened to burn copies of the Quran. "Where is the anger in the face of dictatorships which dominate the lives of Arabs from the cradle to the grave? Would the Prophet Muhammad look with favor on the prisons in our midst which outnumber the universities and hospitals? Would he take comfort in the rate of illiteracy among the Arabs which exceeds 60%? Would he be satisfied with the backwardness that renders us a burden on other nations?"

The first Arabs who came to America arrived during the time of the Great Migration (1880-1920). Their story is told by Gregory Orfalea in his book, "The Arab Americans: A History" (2006). The pioneers were mostly Christians on the run from the hunger and the privations of a dying Ottoman empire. One such pioneer who fled Lebanon for America said he wanted to leave his homeland and "go to the land of justice." Ellis Island was fondly named bayt al-hurriya (the house of freedom). It was New York, in the larger neighborhood of Wall Street, that was the first home of the immigrants.

dwccrew;495031 wrote:Clearly you hate gorillas. And probably puppies too. I hate guerilla tactics, but not gorillas.

isadore;495218 wrote:^^^
I am not that fond of kittens, they turn into cats who are known servants of the devil.

I Wear Pants;495445 wrote:Obviously since you feel that kittens are servants of the devil and any rational person would do everything in their power to thwart those who serve Satan we can deduce that you kill every kitten that you can.

What a monster.

jhay78;495423 wrote:Interesting article from earlier in the week:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/09/20/survey-shows-arabs-more-opposed-gz-mosque-american-media



Obviously, not all Arabs are Muslims, but that's still an interesting stat.

Another from the WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703743504575493711825224290.html