Read your history, please...

Submitted by Neshobe (United States), Feb 24, 2009 at 14:25

This is amazing. I stumbled across this "discussion" while looking for information about booksellers. Americans have no sense of their own history when it comes to desecration of holy symbols or even, for heavens sake, a piece of cloth that is a secular symbol : the American flag-- remember the wholesale uproar over even potential minor infractions like (gasp) touching the ground. And the ever-recurring (and embarrassingly silly) proposal for a constitutional amendment that would jail anyone "defacing" the flag?

Nor do Americans have a sense of their own history when it comes to Christian to Christian intolerance and burning of churches. Or-- oh, yes-- the burning of people. Not to speak of the outlawing of the practice of indigenous religions, to the point of corporal punishment and removal of children from their parents. This kind of disrespect is still going on. And Americans are oblivious to it. But will rage with indignation if someone else expresses offense . One shall not question (white) American integrity, after all, even if it is the truth. And let's not forget the ugly wars in Europe for hundreds of years-- over religion. And no, it was not for religious freedom that settlers left for America-- it was to get rich, and it was to have their very own controlled theocracy-- the very thing so many people here are accusing Muslims of. Do some reading of your own history, people.

It was actually refreshing to read the occasional letter from someone brave enough to point out the truth. The person who was offended had a right to be offended, but it's a personal problem, and an issue that should have been left to be worked out between buyer and seller. People do overreact, and people do work things out. But in this case, Amazon itself overreacted, and made a rash decision that foreclosed on that possiblity.

And then, of course, all these people who do not know the history of their own culture had to jump in, not on the merits of the situation, but with all kinds of comments based not only on ignorance of Islam, but of European culture, and of the reality of American history. Bang, a histrionic situation made out of something best left alone to be worked out. Congratulations to you all, and to Amazon: mountains and molehills, and all that.

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