Trying to be brief: Skippy's essential argument seems to be that people don't do or support objectionable things (terrorism in this case?) unless they're pushed in that direction by others' mistreatment. This is of course a common liberal approach. Left out entirely are any substantives, such as Islam itself.
Mightn't Islam have distinctive qualities? Couldn't Muslims have their own reasons for their actions, whatever we think about them?
Religious minorities in most Muslim countries suffer legal and personal discrimination to various degrees, far in excess of anything that North American Muslims experience. The Copts in Egypt are a good example. Where are the Coptic terrorists?
I suspect that American tolerance and welcome won't lead to Muslim loyalty to America. They'll instead lead to more Muslim demands for political accommodation.
It's worth noting that Skippy's speaking as a (Canadian) conservative. The extent to which he's borrowing from the liberal playbook is unclear. He had a recent post responding to complaints that, for a conservative, he seems awfully down on fellow conservatives. Not so, replies Skippy: he's down on Republicans, not actual conservatives. See here. That link might provide some perspective on where he's coming from... or you may come away thinking that he's a closet liberal who simply doesn't want to admit his liberalism-- sort of a reverse of the dude at I Want a New Left-- a self-professed leftie whose values, as laid out on his blog, seem to dovetail almost completely with classical conservatism.
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Trying to be brief: Skippy's essential argument seems to be that people don't do or support objectionable things (terrorism in this case?) unless they're pushed in that direction by others' mistreatment. This is of course a common liberal approach. Left out entirely are any substantives, such as Islam itself.
ReplyDeleteMightn't Islam have distinctive qualities? Couldn't Muslims have their own reasons for their actions, whatever we think about them?
Religious minorities in most Muslim countries suffer legal and personal discrimination to various degrees, far in excess of anything that North American Muslims experience. The Copts in Egypt are a good example. Where are the Coptic terrorists?
I suspect that American tolerance and welcome won't lead to Muslim loyalty to America. They'll instead lead to more Muslim demands for political accommodation.
Sorry, not very brief.
Thanks for the comment, Rhesus.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that Skippy's speaking as a (Canadian) conservative. The extent to which he's borrowing from the liberal playbook is unclear. He had a recent post responding to complaints that, for a conservative, he seems awfully down on fellow conservatives. Not so, replies Skippy: he's down on Republicans, not actual conservatives. See here. That link might provide some perspective on where he's coming from... or you may come away thinking that he's a closet liberal who simply doesn't want to admit his liberalism-- sort of a reverse of the dude at I Want a New Left-- a self-professed leftie whose values, as laid out on his blog, seem to dovetail almost completely with classical conservatism.
As to your points, which I didn't respond to: I'll have to respond later. I'm taking short breaks away from my ETS tutorial/certification procedure.
ReplyDeleteSkippy's post reminds me of why I always distinguish between Islam and Islamism.
ReplyDeleteJeffery Hodges
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