Western Resistance

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January 16, 2006

Florida: Response to S.I. Rosenbaum's Article in the St. Petersburg Times

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Western Resistance and this writer has been mentioned in an article by S.I. Rosenbaum in the St. Petersburg Times. We were mentioned twice, and quoted just one time:

"We want to wake up the people of the Western world to the dangers of Islam," said Miami's Sorge Diaz of WesternResistance.com

Those are my views, exactly. (And yes, my real name is Sorge Diaz.) They are, in fact, a very good description of our mission. Two other individuals mentioned in the piece, Joe Kauffman of Americans Against Hate, and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch also take issue with the article. (Robert Spencer even called his response A notch above child molester.)

Unlike Mr. Spencer, I had harbored no hope, not even a shred, concerning the nature of Ms. Rosenbaum's piece. Perhaps because of it, I'm having a hard time summoning outrage. But I want to do something different; I'll do my best to examine some of the unstated premises that lead to a piece like Are bloggers against hate, or feeding it?, Ms. Rosenbaum's article.

Unstated Premise 1; hate is always bad, except when it isn't: The article's title is telling: "Are bloggers against hate, or feeding it?" The writer examines in great detail how the actions of bloggers either lead or might lead to hatred against Muslims, but no attention is paid to hatred by Muslim themselves, or to the message of Islam. Only hatred--or "hatred"--by non-muslims is worth reporting.

Unstated Premise 2; Comments by non-muslims should be examined, comments by Muslims accepted uncritically: The message of Muslim spokesmen is never critically examined in the piece, while the message of their critics, well....

Unstated Premise 3; There is such a thing as Moderate Islam: The existence of Moderate Islam, a great, wonderful doctrine that will save us all, is assumed away; it is never looked for, let alone found. The History and Theology of Islam is conveniently ignored.

Unstated Premise 4; The Government is Always Right, when it agrees with us: I'll give you the passage:

Daniel Sutherland of the Department of Homeland Security said the government is more interested in forging bonds with Muslims.

"There is no clash of civilizations going on here, there is no "us' and "them,"' he said.

Stop the presses, a guy from the Department of Homeland Security repeated the Government's official view, it must be true! It amazes me how reporters capable of unbound skepticism of the Government in some areas, become willing peddlers of the official line when that line agrees with the "Islam is a Religion of Peace" canard.

That doesn't cover all the premises, but you get the idea. The problem does not lie with Ms. Rosenbaum's faults as a reporter, however many they might be. (She is, as far as I can discern, a gracious interviewer, and an obviously empathic individual.) The obstacle standing before us is the official line offered by the Press at large, Academia, both major Political Parties in the U.S., and almost everybody in a position of authority in our societies. It will take an enormous effort to break through those barriers. But it is not impossible. Whatever the odds, we must move ahead with our mission, confident that truth will prevail: the future of our Civilization, the world in which our children will live, is at stake.

Posted by Ruy Diaz at January 16, 2006 11:59 PM

Comments

Posted by: Thumper at January 16, 2006 5:55 PM

Posted by: Franze at January 16, 2006 6:33 PM

Posted by: Thumper at January 17, 2006 10:08 PM

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