The Islamic Way of Bridge Building

The Lightness of Being put up this post. I fisked.

She replied earlier today. What follows is another, inevitable, fisking.

After a few paragraphs of palaver, she says:

First of all, I have as much right to criticize this society as any one else. I work, I pay taxes, I contribute and I help out in every way that is possible. I am a peaceful and loving woman, intelligent and valuable in every sense of the word. No one is doing me any favors by giving me a space in this society. It is my patriotic duty and in essence what makes this society great, to speak up.

When did I question your right to speak up? Seriously, in over two years of blogging with almost 5000 posts when have I made any statement that would spark that kind of reply?

Don’t give me that ungrateful crap, because when it is all said and done, my very presence here, demands my voice to be heard. You will not marginalize my voice and my existence simply because you deem it irrelevant.

No-one has the right to be heard. Do give the matter some thought.

Irrelevant? To the contrary, I think your voice is very relevant. As this post unfolds, you'll see why.

Second, the claim that Islam is not a race, therefore up for criticism, is fine as long as you actually spend time critiquing the religion in an intelligent manner and not tarnishing every single Muslim with the malign stereotypes you have caricatured in your head for them.

How big of you to say, "Yeah, Islam can be criticized as long as one doesn't do A, B, C..." You sure have a handle on free speech.

Islam ought to be critiqued in any way imaginable. If you dislike the whipping, then go ahead and air your thoughts and feelings. That's the essence of free speech.

If a few people commit crimes on behalf of Islam, it’s not my place to apologize for them. And yes, declaring everyone “guilty until proven innocent” simply by association is an act of hatred, racism and honestly stupidity.

So, Islam is not a race but if I don't approve of Islam (and thus, by extension, those who follow it), then I'm a racist. It's funny that one can be a racist while not taking into account any race.

It’s so cute to pretend we forget the crimes committed by Christians, by Jews, by atheists by Communists by any other group for the privilege of the few. Excuse me let us pretend the inquisitions never happened, let us justify the crusades, let us move beyond slavery and colonization AND neo colonization.

This is what I wrote: "How many Christians, Jews, atheists and Buddhists murder innocents in the name of their God / beliefs in the modern world?" This gal has to go back centuries to find comparable crimes by Christians!

Maliha wasn't satisfied by limiting herself to Islamic stupidity. She had to bring in Leftist lunacy to spice things up:

Let us pretend that Zionism and occupation is not happening. Let us act like the IMF and World Bank aren’t pillaging third world countries. Let us pretend that keeping a majority of the world’s population in poverty and debt is justifiable. Let us then close our eyes to multi national corporations raping and pillaging the world for the comfort of the few.

I'm curious, how does one pillage a third world country?

“Perhaps, I missed the news about the Jewish group that took Palestinian kids hostage, and then later raped and murdered hundreds of them.”

Oh no, you are obviously not reading the news, and forgot that Jews are currently occupying and terrorizing Palestinians every single day (and have been for decades?) Have we forgotten their plight?

The Palestinians voted in a genocidal terror group as their government. They've chosen open war with Israel. It's illogical and immoral to blame that tiny nation for defending herself.

Isaac, you have been reading my blog and cutting and pasting what’s convenient for your opinions and worldview.

That is an odd way of looking at the matter. I wasn't born with rigid opinions and a worldview--they were defined and conceived after living in Muslim nations and reading Islamic sources.

See, this is why your voice is so relevant:

1. I am thankful everyday for leaving behind such a horrific and debilitating religion. Your precious words only reinforce my decision.
2. I get to present your thoughts to a larger audience. I think that the collective West has an excellent sense and a superb BS detector. I bet that when most of them read what I have to say, they share my judgment. When they read the statements of angels like you, they again share my judgment. It's a win-win!

More from Maliha:

Spewing out hatred and spreading stereotypes is simply a self defeating act. If you want to spend your time burning bridges and spreading hate, that’s your prerogative, please don’t pull me down that hole with you.

Are you implying that you're building bridges!? You say that the MSM maligns Muslims and that in the US there is "systematic dehumanization" of Muslims. In addition, the financial organizations are raping the downtrodden, the West is "keeping the world poor" and the Jews are terrorizing innocents.

What kind of rhetoric would you use if you were burning bridges?

Should you choose to make this phantom of “Islam” your arsenal, then I can’t help you and it’s not your place to demand that I justify my beliefs to you and your likes.

When did I demand that. Sounds like a... phantom demand! In any case, you can't justify your beliefs. They have no basis in either rationality or morality.