I bet this message stays for a few minutes before the sepia thought police come charging in.

Doesn’t that remark seem stupid, now? Your obnoxious parting shot still exists.

Faiqa, We wish you would continue to participate on the thread, if only because you are passionate, eloquent and providing balance; besides, if you go, the communalists will go back to complaining about how “no Muslims” stand up to extremism.

Something to keep in mind: the majority of our readers do not comment. Don’t take their lack of commenting on this thread as a blessing on terrorist activity.

Many of them don’t bother discussing posts anymore, in part because the level of discourse here has dropped. We hear/read a lot of, “What’s the point in commenting?”. Additionally, and especially recently, the loudest commenters are people to whom many of us don’t relate. To that end, we wish some of you would remember that this is a second generation-centric blog, about the American Desi experience, and we write what we know. We never intended to be a place to discuss the politics of India. Bringing up what happens there isn’t helpful.

Finally, there are ways to make your point without resorting to personal attacks. If your comment was deleted, now you know why.

Say what? I live in a swing state. A local church was burned down recently. Does that mean Christians can’t pray freely now? And how are you so sure this is tied to the DVD? In every swing state? You’re going to condemn every swing state and cause fear/division in every swing state because of what some mo***** cs a***hole did.

This is disgusting fear-mongering on the part of Taz. Is this politics of reconciliation and hopeychanginess the Obama Youth are going to bring us?

Have you even seen the video?

FYI They found a can of pepper spray near the mosque

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/30/ddn093008mosquecopsweb.html

Sorry to burst your bubble, it looks like a crime was committed. I live in Dayton, and I can tell you it is very odd to find cans of pepper spray laying around. It wouldn’t suprise me in the least if a couple of good ol’ boys sprayed those kids.

“No chemical was found on the little girl – nothing at all. She certainly wasn’t “poisoned,” as you write. It’s reasonable that police didn’t charge a hate crime because there’s absolutely no evidence of a crime, period, nor any injury. “

So, following your logic (or lack thereof), the muslims just up and decided to stop their Ramadan services, call 911, and evacuate the building for no apparent reason? And before you reply, fire and rescue squad found no evidence of a natural gas leak.

It’s safe to say that you don’t have the credibility to criticize anyone.

you do this alot – you may have some point but you resort to sensationalism and fabrication to prove your point – in this case it’s borrowed from a specious “email by a witness,” taken second or third hand, at other times you just make something up, and then you’re called on it and you say you might have made a mistake, but your point still stands.

No chemical was found on the little girl – nothing at all. She certainly wasn’t “poisoned,” as you write. It’s reasonable that police didn’t charge a hate crime because there’s absolutely no evidence of a crime, period, nor any injury. The imam doesn’t link the dvd and the girl being sprayed.

You have no credibility as a writer. You lack the ability to criticize the dvd so you make up something else: “and then they poisoned a little girl!”

Let’s say the content is decent – I really think the irresponsible distribution of material that looks like anti-Muslim propaganda is enough for the fear-mongering.

From the 10 part clips on youtube, it seems that the documentary is close to (or longer than) a full 60 minutes. How many people are going to actually sit down, and appreciate the full film? The image on the cover – the title, with the symbol of Islam on one side, and a rifle on the other. How nuanced is that?

And the fact that the documentary is a well-informed take to viewers here say nothing of how viewers of a particular mindset would view it. Haven’t there been studies that show no matter what evidence is presented, individuals will use the evidence to reinforce their prior convictions rather that view the evidence objectively and possibly to overturn their convictions?

If this organization’s real attempt was to start a dialogue on terrorism, or to inform people, why didn’t they sponsor local viewings + discussion? The mass production and way in which the DVD was sent seems like a political maneuver to me.

you can figure out for yourself without relying on second hand info.

http://www.patwardhan.com/reviews/rkn_otherreactions.htm

I remember seeing one documentary in the state run television in India when Congress was ruling (I think).

how many times have Muslims formed a similar congregation to come out and criticize the bombers?

In fact the newspapers i read are full of muslims condemning such incidents unequivocally. Change your newspaper.

the Muslim community leaders have started issuing half-hearted statements denouncing terrorism.

Why are you presuming these are half hearted? Because your arguments are half assed?

Eid mubarak, and may the fleas of arabian camels infest the armpits of the world’s communalists.

Yes, a lot of Muslims tend to play the “blame game.” A conversation with my parents def. reinforces the point. But, most of my American born Muslim friends don’t do that. But, I could have some exceptionally awesome friends.

In terms of nutcases, why do I have to take responsibility for not condemning OBL just because he calls himself a Muslim? Muslims are required to stand up to injustice, so, yes, the obligation to condemn him exists because people like him are, in their own way, perpetrators of oppression and social chaos. Taking responsibility for his actions based upon the fact that he’s Muslim implies that I believe his actions are grounded in faith.

I don’t believe that’s entirely the case. People like Osama use faith as propaganda, as do many other haters in other religions. (If he’s even alive, hello, renal failure??) There’s a great deal of academic literature which suggests that “Islamic radicals” are more of a manifestation of post-colonial politics (blame game alert!!). You can read about people like Sayyid Qutb to get a general idea of that concept. (This is a wiki article, go to the library if you want more – but, be prepared to be put on an extra special DoHS “list”).

Manji and Sultan have had support from the Muslim community, albeit their critics are far more numerous and far louder. It’s hard to be heard over the explosion of a suicide bomber. My uncle, a Muslim, is a publisher who worked very hard to get Manji’s book published in both Pakistan and India. He worked with her and book distributors (some of them also Muslim) in those countries to ensure that her voice was heard. I suppose since nobody issues death threats against people like him, there’s no “story” there.

Zainab, I don’t mean to pontificate (oops, too late) or be rude, but you have some reading to do. Read up on abortion in Islam, I think you’ll be (pleasantly?) surprised. Prayer in schools? I don’t recall any American Muslims demanding everyone say salat in school, but that their kids be allowed to perform prayers privately (a 10 minute thing) and that they be exempted from participation in non-Islamic prayers. Gay marriage? Well, you got me on that. Work needs to be done on gaying up the Ummah (uh, oh, here come the fatwas!! bring it on.). I’m sure some young enterprising gay Muslim academic will one day make the effort to immerse themselves in the texts and prove that God loves them, too. Which I’m sure He does. That is, if he or she is invested deep enough in the religion to even care.

I know my posts have been long on these comments, but some of you asked for it. I’m speaking up, ok? Read a few books, talk to a couple of scholars. Or, if you don’t have the time, ahem, keep the generalizations to yourself and just be an undercover bigot. I’d prefer that people stop blaming those of us who are trying to affect change within our faith for the actions of terrorist organizations just because all of us happen to pray in the same direction. (Muslims don’t kill people, terrorists do. No? Yeah, I didn’t think that was very clever either.)

In terms of the DVD (oooh, yeah, that). It sucks. But, I don’t recall Taz writing that legislation should be passed banning the DVD? She has a right to hate it and think it’s garbage if she wants to.

So, I’ve made my point. SM Intern, you don’t have to tell me to stop posting. I’d love to continue this dialogue with anyone via e-mail, provided they don’t act like a jerk.

@More Weather: I just read your last comment. Again, with respect, I think you’re being very one sided in your approach as well as your criticisms. In the interest of communal harmony here at Sepia Mutiny, I’m going to defer and let you have the last word. Peace.

Oh, wait, unless you say something, I’ll have the last word. Sweet. Fingers crossed.

really? Most Muslims? In all of America? Please, don’t let ridiculous generalizations and hyperbole stop you from making asinine statements.

Eid Mubarak, everyone.