Pour me a drink too!

Submitted by Noah Wilk (United States), Jan 11, 2007 at 22:56

Michel, pour me a drink too! All this writing has me parched! :-)

You wrote:

"Noah - I can see where you come from and why you understand my challenge to the Muslims as weakness and begging. Your mindset could not draw any other conclusion. I accept that, inasmuch, as I regret it."

Actually, my point was that the Muslims would see it as weak and begging. They really don't understand peaceful resolution and win/win situations. Compromises to them are weakness. They are a tribal people, and so we must "speak their language". We must communicate to them as tribal people. Tribal mentality worships force, strength, non-compromising, and hardness. That's how we must act towards them if we ever expect meaningful communication. More on this in a moment.

"I wish to hear from them direct and first hand - ist that so bad?"

No, but I would also not get my hopes up.

"Will you accept that I sincerely ask anyone from within their culture to help me understand? I wanna hear from Muslims for a change. Get an unemotional, fresh discussion started.'

An unemotional response from their culture? That's like asking for hardcore raunch from an episode of Leave It To Beaver! :-D

"Is it so lamentable to ask a Muslim scholar to explain these evident paradoxa?"

No, but it's unlikely that you'll get that. There are websites out there where Islamic scholars (sometimes Muslims themselves) have explained why Islam is inherently violent, why it needs to change, etc. The average Muslim reading these pages are not likely to even acknowledge such brave men. They refer to them as traitors. Hence, it's extremely unlikely that you'll hear from one.

"Alas - not one single Muslim response! What a shame! I stand bruised amongst the voices calling for destruction, shred to pieces, belittled and patronized."

Par for the course when one expects a sane, well-reasoned, reality-based response from Muslims. It is always a let down, because they seem incapable of doing so.

"Noah - admit it, it would be refreshing to have a real dialogue here. Doesn't solely being confirmed in one's own opinion get quite boring after a while ? (except of course to the ones who have zero self-confidence or way too much time on their hands)."

Certainly! It would indeed be refreshing for a Muslim scholar who is willing to speak the truth about Islam to come and give us his thoughts on how Islam might reform itself and what he thinks we can do to force them to do so. But there are so few such people that we might as well play the lottery and expect to win, literally.

"Not being a masochist, the verbal beating I get here is quite a challenge and anything but boring., but -having said that, dear silent moderate readers, I'd welcome a tiny bit of support nevertheless, as my tolerance for pain is not limitless either, defending a position against an overwhelming force of eloquent, at times even brillant intellects."

Well thank you. :-)

Just don't expect a cavalry of moderate Muslims to come rallying to defend Islam. If you notice, virtually all the responses by Muslims here are either inflammatory nonsense, lies and propaganda, obfuscation and evasion, or simply non-answers. Look at all the various places I have challenged Muslims to prove or disprove a point, and months later not a single one has been able to step forward and do so. Tells you something, doesn't it?

"That's it for today, bloggers - I need a stiff drink now and go feel sorry for myself."

Pour me one too! This stuff can get heavy at times. :-)

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