When dealing with issues that are based on intellectual interpretation and adherence to faith (something believed, but not proved scientifically), it is a fallacy to think there is only one true recognized tenet. The obvious problem is: who or what gets to decide what is fundamentally true, and who gives that entity the power / superiority to be said arbiter to dictate such to others.
This may very well be the time when historians look back and acknowledge that there is more than one Muslim world and set of beliefs and both worlds view themselves as “true,” and that there are actually two wars going on simultaneously - the war that terrorists are waging against the West, and an equally valid and important war between competing views of what is true Islam.
And this is why I believe the argument of a Muslim world is flawed on its merits, and thus the solution to terrorism cannot be found there because there is not just one such world within which a solution can be formed, agreed to, and implemented.
I think all religions have that schism, just to caring degrees. After all, Orthodox Jews think they “have it right” and the Reform Jews who allow patrilineal descent and cheeseburgers have it all wrong.
Well, there were plenty of people who said that real Christians wouldn’t bomb abortion clinics. I guess there are some people who think they would, just as there are some people who think that good Muslims can murder cartoonists. My point, though, is that more moderate people tend to disassociate themselves from these extreme acts by saying that they don’t really have anything to do with the religion. There was a well-meaning editorial yesterday by Kareem Abdul Jabbar that essentially said this about the Paris shootings.
We all do this. We notice it when other people do it, though.
What do they say about statistics and liars? For starters, everything boils down to the finest distinctions applied to acts of terrorism. We only have to look at our latest government to see how difficult is has been to classify terrorism, and especially use the term in the same sentence as Islam and Muslims.
Looking at Europe in its overall shape belies the fact of what the current threats are in areas that have a large Muslim participation. What do you think the largest threat for terrorism, violence, harassment, human rights violations, and all kinds of petty delinquency are in Belgium and France as we speak? Read a few local daily news on reported crimes, and you will get a bigger and clearer picture.
The acts of terror such as the killings in Brussels and Paris remain rare occurrence, but the rise of militant dialogue does not. Several hundred Belgians have joined Jihadists to learn the tricks of the trade and are now returning. The raid in Verviers remain an isolated incident, but that is probably the tip of the iceberg.
Do we really need statistics to make us feel better, or make a certain press feel better about their failed viewpoints?
Here’s a link to a piece that details the French media, politicians and even the government talking about “no-go zones” in French cities: [url=<a href=“http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5128/france-no-go-zones%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5128/france-no-go-zones]here[/url]. I wouldn’t link if it were just another arguing perspective but it’s filled with references and links to actual sources.
I find the Euro reaction to be:
Defensive Anti-Americanis. On a range from tweaking to hatred. If you read European press - or have access to media - there are many absurd descriptions of the US. I think they don't like that we ignore what they say about us. But they fixate on us. In France, in particular, much of that is Gaullist: we aren't under the thumb of the US and we will not kowtow to their culture!!!
A fear by some that pointing out the extent of the problem will make working together more difficult.
The hard left's alliance with Islamists means they need to minimize the role of Islam and Islamism. It needs to be West's fault.
On a weekend Fox talk show Steve Emerson who was a guest said Birmingham was 100-percent Muslim which it’s not but saying anything is 100-percent anything is never a good idea and he apologized on Sky News. I did not know he said anything about Paris, though.
It is a given that not all purported experts are beyond faux pas on the news channels. Just as it is a given that experts on European politics who know what they are talking about will agree to appear on a weekend show on CNN or Fox.
As far as the zones, the semantics --that word again-- used by the august person of Paris who wants to file a lawsuit only mask the abject reality of those “sensible” zones or “no-go zones” Anyone interested in the issue only needs a modicum of mastery of an European language and the patience to look at the many videos on YouTube to form an opinion. On the one hand, you have the mostly sensationalist “press” led by CNN and Fox that feeds the naïve Americans who feast on “political” soundbites, and on the other hand, you have a different press in Europe that does not hesitate to go look behind the surface.
Make the effort to watch until the minute 3 and 4. You might miss the narrative that describes how a young resident is the “boss” of his terrain. In the beginning, he describes the abandonment by the authorities that explains the war-like zone (which is within 10 miles of … Central Paris) until he is warned by an attempt by the police to seize 50 or so pounds of dope. The people you see armed with the rifle are the POLICE and they are forced to flee. The boss steals the drugs and is happy to report that “the police” has no business to enter “his” territory. This territory is mostly African but there are similar with mostly Muslim population.
Again, you can find many similar stories from Paris and its sea of HLM or from the streets of Cureghem and Molenbeek in Brussels.
Any opinion on this, Cobrat? Or any suggestion for a better name than a NO-GO zone? Obviously, there are no legal or administrative impediments for anyone to enter to zone, but that is simply obfuscating the reality that nobody who possesses an ounce of common sense should enter such zones unless protected by a local boss.
That sounds basically like what high crime areas in the US were described to be like in the 1980s and early 1990s (the peak of the crime wave in the US).
To promote diversity & religious tolerance in France, I think the French gov’t should broadcast the Islamic call to prayer from loudspeakers on church steeples every Friday at 1:00p.