Parveen, dear, let's have a talk.I understand how, as a privileged daughter of upper middle class Muslims, you find it very fashionable to be outraged every time someone throws a rhetorical flourish into the conversation. I'm sure you look very cute in your hijab (which is much more chic in countries like this one, where women aren't legally required to wear it), your brow furrowed with enlightened indignation every time someone criticizes one of the world's major religions (I bet you get really pissed off when people criticize Judaism and the Catholicism, too; you just didn't have time to get around to defending them in your most recent submission).
But dear, sweet, Parveen, in the wake of the USS Cole (no pun intended), the World Trade Center, and the London and Madrid Train bombings, is it really too much to use the phrase "shadow of Islamic terrorism?" For that matter, is the phrase "...thousands of Israelis were killed or seriously injured by Islamic terrorism" really an editorial? I mean, thousands of Israelis have died, and I'm pretty sure they weren't killed by Mormons. It truly is tragic that so many lives have been lost in the Israel-Palestine conflict, but quoting casualty ratios doesn't prove moral superiority; if that were the case, the Nazis would be considered the innocent martyrs and American G.I.s the cruel aggressors in World War II.
And really, Parvi, Walt Whitman? Is there no poetry in the Koran that advocates charity, tolerance, and rebellion against oppression, or is it that you've spent so much time at American prep schools and universities, drinking coffee and sneering at Western Culture, that you never bothered to crack open the holy text? ("All people are a single nation" strikes me as being suitable, but I'm not much of an expert).
At any rate, I much prefer Robert Burns:
Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him,
Lord, visit them wha did employ him,
And pass not in Thy mercy by them,
Nor hear their pray'r,
But for Thy people's sake destroy them,
An' dinna spare.
But, Lord, remember me an' mine
Wi' mercies temporal and divine,
That I for grace an' gear may shine,
Excell'd by nane,
And a' the glory shall be Thine,
Amen, Amen!
"Holy Willie's Prayer"
[*]
I have repeatedly read both 9/14 posts and for the life of me I cannot find the minimal trace of either the Islamophobia or the racism Parveen mentions. In fact, I cannot find a statement that even marginally refers to race. For the expression "Islamic terrorism," if it irks you... well, Christian rock is rock made by Christians, with a generally Christian intention. When a group composed entirely by Muslims do actions under allegedly Islamic reasons, we call these actions Islamic. If these actions are terrorist, so sorry, we do call them Islamic terrorism.
Parveen-honey, you would more honor the hijab you proudly wear if your statements had the minimal textual or factual basis. Throwing "racism" in someone's face because you don't like what she says makes your "female Muslim academic" sound kinda silly. I strongly encourage you to read one of them books, The Death of the Grown-Up, chapter 8. It is only 36 pages.
Go ahead, put a fatwa on me, see how much I care.
