Thursday, May 19, 2011

Are athiests the most vulnerable?

Here's a post about G. Willow Wilson, the writer of a graphic novel called Air, which may be a stealth assault on airport security, and how she converted to Islam. The focus here is on an interview she gave to a British-owned site called Bleeding Cool about a year ago, a site that's mostly junk, IMHO. First, let us comment upon the quote taken from her book, The Butterfly Mosque:
Through the bile and ignorance of the radical imans and self-righteous apostates, through the spin of the news networks and the pomposity of academics, I saw a straight, unwavering line. How could I be disappointed? I did not believe in Islam; I opened my eyes every morning and saw it.-G. Willow Wilson
You know, if you're going to speak so disrespectably of apostates and draw a moral equation between them and radical imams, which you apparently deny represent authentic Islam, then I don't see what you're getting at.

Her book is about:
...the story of how an American girl from a secular east coast background converts to Islam, moves halfway around the world, and falls in love- with a culture, a city, a faith, and a man. It’s also the story of how she began to find her voice as a writer; a voice that would give back to works such as her graphic novel Cairo,and the monthly series Air, both published by DC/Vertigo. [...]

The travel adventures of a post-9/11 westerner in the Islamic world would by itself be interesting enough, but Wilson’s narrative takes the reader one step further into the culture as she details her struggles and revelations as she converts to Islam.

Religion was taboo in my family, and Islam was taboo in my society. -The Butterfly Mosque
The latter is with good reason, if the Koran is going to call for obnoxious violence and declare Jews the sons of monkeys and pigs, as per Suras 2:52-65; 5:59-60: 7:166. But the former may suggest how she fell to Islam - no religion in her family, which reminds me of Melanie Phillips' own notes on how the secular vacuum created in Britain has been exploited by Islam.
“Let’s face it,” she says, “when you hear ‘convert, you think ‘crazy’.People tend to stick with whatever tradition they were born into, not because they necessarily see it as the ultimate truth, but because it has personal, symbolic meaning for them- see, now we’re getting into AIR territory! To convert to a different religion is to say you believe there is more truth in it than in the one you left behind, which is neither postmodern nor terribly PC.” The process was neither easy nor simple, and Wilson found her struggles in both of her cultures. On the Egyptian side, she had to figure out the protocols and etiquettes of a complex culture often in stark contrast to her American upbringing. Meanwhile, she had to consider how the experiences of her life were affecting and be received by her friends and family back home. This is of course not to mention the greater American culture which more often than not portrays Muslim women as either victims of a misogynistic theocracy or jihadist conspirators.
Well just look at that, she was apologizing for Islam's misogyny and Sura 2:223. This also suggests she has contempt for concerned Americans. I assume she also thinks that about 9-11 Families, something I've often felt is important to wonder about. Her standings are especially atrocious following the horrific rape ordeal Lara Logan experienced, and Meredith Jessup and Mary Rogers' own revelations of their own creepy experiences in Egypt years before, where it's simultaneously noted that plenty of local women too have been persecuted.

Now here's something more than a bit naive, and also very troubling:
Despite the many prejudices and misinformation about Islamic culture, Wilson has high expectations for how her book will be received by fans of her comic book work. “Comics readers are the most open-minded, try-anything-once, take-people-as-they-are readers I’ve come across. Period. I get ignorant flack from PhD-holding literary people that I have never gotten from comics fans, ever.” Before her comics career, Wilson had written on her experiences and observations for periodicals ranging from the Atlantic Monthly to Cairo Magazine and was the first westerner to interview Sheikh Ali Goma’a, the highest ranking official in Sunni Islam. “For awhile I was skeptical, and I thought, ‘Well, the only reason I’ve escaped the religion headache is because my religion isn’t in the forefront of my comics work’. So I went to Emerald City Comic Con last year wearing a traditional headscarf, just to see if there would be a difference. Nobody batted an eye. I was completely sold out of books before the end of the first day. There are times when I feel like I owe the fans of my comic books my sanity, because the rest of the world is not nearly so kind.”
First, note BC's apologia. Second, I'm afraid it's rather naive to say that comic readers are open-minded. As I've noticed when reading the board of CBR on occasion, there are some who're very anti-Israel and even tolerant of Chomskyism. Third, look at who she interviewed - Ali Goma'a, who penned the following trash in the Wall Street Journal in 2009:
Israel's occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end; its continuation is an affront to the fundamental tenets of justice and freedom that we all seek to uphold. In Iraq and Afghanistan, full sovereignty and independence must be restored to their people with the withdrawal of all foreign forces. President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4 was a landmark event that opened the door to a new relationship between Islam and the West, precisely because it acknowledged these imperatives. Yet much work needs to be done by both sides.
And what justice and freedom does that mean? Shari'a, I presume? Which is just what Egypt looks to be facing with the Muslim Brotherhood coming to the fore. As an Israeli citizen, I take special offense that Wilson would associate herself with such a monster, especially if she respects his standings, and also that the WSJ would ever be willing to publish such disgust. Conservative paper my foot. This is even more stench-ridden now that Obama's made another not too surprising pander to Mahmoud Abbas.

On top of all this, there lies the intriguing question of whether athiests are particularly vulnerable to Islam. I suppose the answer is yet and no, but in Wilson's case, it's clear that if her family disrespected religion to the point of where they'd make no effort to provide a proper education on it, then that could suggest how Wilson fell for it. And, it's a disgrace that someone like this is being given jobs in comics and graphic novels.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nonsense, utter nonsense.

Anonymous said...

religion is for retards.

Pastorius said...

You're right. Absolutely.

Look at these retards:

http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/2011/04/27/christians-mock-gays-at-shocking-easter-service/