A Familiar Theme

Submitted by Dean VanDruff (United States), Sep 17, 2002 at 12:36

Beyond physical meetings, I see a corollary to the points made here to the tactics of debate as well. Militant Islamic apologists have this predictable pathology of taking things out of context, fabricating atrocities, concocting conspiracy theories to shift blame, and showing little allegiance to the truth in general. From the opposite side, we see occasional slips, but in general restraint and carefulness.

Dr. Pipes and CAIR make an interesting case. CAIR plays the verbal terrorist, while Daniel makes the reasoned, factual, and patient response. No doubt there is a substantial disagreement, but the means of arguing is instructive in itself. If Daniel were caught in a misstatement, would he not feel embarrassed and quickly correct the error? Do you really think CAIR would even care?

The thrown chairs are just the physical extension to the chucking of logic, truth, and history in the lust of irrational religious hatred and propaganda-infused ethnic rage.

Going the other direction from street riots--away from debate and to the means of war--we see the same familiar theme playing out. Militant Islamics kill innocents by design, while we take care to avoid such. We send people into harm's way to insure guided missiles only hit what is needed, they have suicide bombers sneaking into public places to create wanton carnage. The consistency of approach runs from the epistemological all the way to the "battlefield".

One side is obviously cheating here, on every level.

The question is, who will win... in any of these spheres?

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