JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
Confrontation
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3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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SezWho2
I'm not surprised. Just disheartened.
I did not talk about other nations hating Americans. I talked about people in other nations hating Americans and I also said that for the most part people suspend their judgment on individual Americans until they get to know them. Where there are notable exceptions I think you will find the greatest extent of American meddling.
However, it strikes me that there is a notable difference between hating Americans for the actions of their democratically elected government and hating Muslims for the actions of extremists. Inasmuch as hate can ever make sense, the former kind of does. The latter is more like hating the Catholic church because Sister Mary Joseph banged your knuckles with a ruler.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Almost. I believe that some Muslims have blood on their hands. And I believe that Muslims in America know that this is a contributing factor to how people may treat them. I also believe that the American government has blood on its hands and that a substantial portion of Americans either do not know the facts or choose to ignore them. I don't think that should have been too difficult to suss out.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
You can certainly believe that if you want to. But you would be talking about Americans demonstrating their sensitivity by not building something on land they do not own on Japanese soil and you would be comparing that to the alleged insensitivity of other Americans who are exercising their right to build on land they own on American soil. In that case, I believe what would demonstrate American awareness would be an American apology.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
That's a comment that doesn't inspire me to believe you understood it. We are all responsible for how we choose to define ourselves and for what we choose to be.
I think those that wish to build the community center are quite aware that they are Muslims and that they are quite aware that they are colored with the same brush as the terrorists who attacked the Towers. I'm not sure that a similar thing can be said of American awarenesses.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
Regardless of how far back Middle East problems go, al-Qaeda does not go that far back and obviously Middle Easterners didn't hate us before we were us. We, ourselves, go at least as far back in their affairs as the shores of Tripoli and we have been quite active in our economic favoritism, military deployments and governmental interference.
I don't think it is at all puzzling that people can hate Americans based on what their government does. I think if you look at what is happening in regard to the mosque you find any number of Americans who are quite willing to hate Muslims based on what a few fanatics have done. However, regardless of any prior apprehensions, I think most people are willing to reserve judgment on individual Americans until they get to know them.
I don't at all think the issue of the community center is a matter of taste or appropriateness. If it is, then taste or appropriateness works both ways. And it is in bad taste to vilify the innocent for the actions of the guilty. It is in bad taste to attribute evil purpose based on remarks taken out of context and it is in extra bad taste to distort people's words for that purpose. It is also in bad taste for people to cling to grief and to expect others to continually treat them with kid gloves. And it is in bad taste for people to use their grief to seek to deny others their rights.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Did you? I doubt that many people blamed America for the attack on the Towers. However, I think that quite a few observed that Americans (though not necessarily those in the Towers) had blood on their hands in american affairs in the Middle East and that they bore some (unmeasured) responsibility for the attack.
I think the same holds true here. Muslims (although not necessarily those promoting the cultural center nor the cab driver) have blood on their hands and that, at the very least, they bear the responsibility of being Muslims.
So, sure, blame the Muslims if you want. But don't try to whitewash America's interference in the Middle East, not even with sarcasm.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
WilliB, I think you are promoting hysteria.
In the first place, not everyone blames the anti-mosque crowd. That would be almost as ludicrous as blaming American Muslims for 9/11.
In the second place, I'm not sure that we know he was a leftist. I'm not even sure that we know what "a leftist" is. In your hands it sounds distinctly pejorative. Be that as it may, studying visual arts does not make one a leftist. Belonging to an interfaith group does not make one a leftist. Traveling to Afghanistan does not make one a leftist--unless our troops over there a predominantly leftist, too. And being embedded with troops certainly does not make one a lefist. Initially, I would tend to label his political inclinations as "confused".
Also, ditto MistWizard. Being a member of a group which supports the building of the mosque, has very little to do with approval of the group's official positions. If it does, this will come as a shock to a lot of Tea Partiers out there unless they're willing to take the next step from taking their country back (whatever that means) to declaring themselves sovereign individuals.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
Dimes to doughnuts most Muslims living in the U.S. know the meaning of the phrase better than you. I bet they even know that nothing even need go around for something fairly nasty to come around.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
kokorocloud--I think that in most cases it would be entirely inappropriate to tell families and friends of victims to "suck it up". However, under the assumption that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, I have used that term in all its bluntness to describe a need to assertively come to terms with grief and to vigilantly refuse to allow vestiges of grief to obtrude on the rights of others.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
More obviously the temptation seems to have been to use his affiliation with a group that supports Cordoba House to stick pins in "the left" for being intolerant. Never mind about finding out what this guy actually thinks or believes.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
I don't think that moods get tired. However, I don't think anyone is ignoring the mood of the country. People may not be kowtowing to the country's mood, but I think the country is making its mood fairly difficult to ignore.
I'm sure that some people's grief over their loss is far from healed. However, I don't think that American Muslims should have to wait to come out of the shadows until the last grief is assuaged. In life, there is grief. People have to suck it up and go on.
Posted in: New York mayor tries to ease tensions after Muslim cabbie knifed
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SezWho2
I take your point, but one can also say that licentiousness and pederasty didn't bring down Sodom and Gomorrah. I find it disheartening that Americans still content themselves with easy answers 9 years after the little girl asked her mother, "Why do they hate us so?"
I don't think it is really very relevant what will or will not happen to the clubs and OTBs if the community center is built. It strikes me that New Yorkers have a fairly high tolerance for incongruity. Be that as it may, however, I'm fairly sure that if problems develop New Yorkers can work them out.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
The point that I am arguing is whether or not the imam of the proposed mosque has really been uttering anti-American statements. A certain portion of those opposing the cultural center have sought to smear Rauf in their attempt to stop the building of the mosque. The statement that you have questioned in my post relates to Geller's contention that Rauf preaches or at least promotes anti-Americanism. You say nothing about how any of this applies to the mosque. However, if the veracity of Rauf's contention depends on context, you can read the context here:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2005events/Imam_transcript.asp
I think you are quite wrong, though, about terrorism having no logic. I think it has the same logic as sanctions: if you cause enough pain, people will change their evil ways. It even has the same logic of those who protest the building of the cultural center and mosque: if you make the cost unacceptable, people will choose a way more to your liking.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Molenir, although a different URL, that is the same video that I--having done the research that you failed to do--posted to you. It is simply astonishing that any thoughtful person would put this forward as evidence of anti-Americanism or as an example of hate speech.
In this video, Rauf does 4 things. First he criticizes (and this word is used in its widest sense) the US for failing to adequately consider its own responsibility in the matter of Muslim extremism, particularly as directed toward the US. He does not fulminate. He merely dares to point out that the US bears some responsibility for deaths of innocent Muslims.
Secondly, he addresses the rather silly question of whether female suicide bombers are awarded 72 virgins. In response to this he indicates that the phrase 72 virgins should be construed to mean what the Koran indicates in a broader sense: "whatever the heart desires". That would be a teaching moment: nothing critical, nothing hateful.
Thirdly, he talks about the London and Madrid bombings--among others. His point is the same that is made by those who have rather more objectively studied terrorism. He says that terrorism has its roots in political grievances, not in religious frenzy. Contrary to what Geller says on her puerile title cards, he casts no doubt on the Madrid bombing. He simply says that we do not know who is responsible for those bombings. And, in fact, and contrary to popular belief, no al-Qaeda link has ever been established. It would be accurate to say that we do not know who was behind it. I don't remember off-hand the details surrounding the London bombing, but if Geller could be wrong once she could be wrong twice.
Finally, he delineates how prejudice is strengthened. In doing this he uses an example of how women who describe men as nasty and brutish create and perpetuate an image that serves no constructive purpose. He also uses examples of how using derogatory racial terms tends to separate races rather than promote understanding between them. We can be very clear what he is talking about because he actually uses the words that he finds objectionable. Yes, he uses the "N-word", but not in any hateful way.
If you ever find any real evidence of Rauf's supposed anti-Americanism or of hate-mongering on his part, I'd like to see it. However, Geller's take on what Rauf is saying here is what is drivel. And the use of it as evidence is simply drivel repeated.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Quite right. On the other hand, insisting that they build the mosque elsewhere is. They've been asked. They have respectfully declined. Now they have protestors standing in front of the site--to say nothing of legions of bloggers--claiming that they are killers out to subvert American society and that they are spawn of the devil. And the protestors and bloggers have any number of radio talk show hosts to urge them on.
There is no current threat that Islamic doctrine will become law in the USA. I think education is a good thing, however, and I think any number of people would benefit from more education in a variety of areas. I distrust unique solutions, so I'll just say that, oddly enough, one measure that can be taken to get the American people to understand that American Islam poses no essential threat to the American legal system is to educate people about what American Islam teaches. Also, oddly enough, the planned cultural center could be one way of doing precisely that.
Right. It is also a confession. It is a confession that I have not seen any Muslims being triumphant. And it is also a call. It is a call to those who claim that Muslims are being triumphant to produce some kind of evidence of this supposed triumphalism.
So, who's pretending that? Hinduism is not like other religions. Buddhism is not like other religions. Christianity is not like other religions. Neither is Judaism. Might this not be one of the meanings of Rauf when he said there is no dialogue among religions? Ultimately it is their uniqueness that defines them.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
If it's easy, then kindly direct me to where Rauf advocates or condones death to homosexuals and apostates. It is easy, right?
No, it is not the same ideology. And your easy check of the four major branches of modern Islamic jurisprudence should have uncovered that. I have no "can't-happen-here" delusion. (In fact, I think a good many American non-Muslims would be happy to find a "permanent solution" to the "homosexual problem".) I just think it's highly unlikely that it will happen here and I don't think that we can employ extreme measures to guard against remote contingencies.
As for the "triumphalist megamosque", please try to stick to the facts. Show us anything that smacks of triumphalism in the plans of those who have conceived this project. Muslims are not being triumphant. You are volunteering to be defeated. And it's not a megamosque. It's a community center which will contain a mosque.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Been there. Done that. Asked you to respond. You don't feel like it. Or maybe, as I said, those who accuse Rauf of anti-Americanism and hate speech just can't find a sound-bite short enough to justify their claims.
A responsible part of any claim is the offering of evidence. You don't seem up to it and that's OK. I can google Rauf all night long and what I'm going to get is anti-Muslim bloggers repeating the same stories over and over and using evidence that just doesn't hold up. I'm going to get people like Pam Geller. If you have something better to offer, now would be a good time to do it.
If you ever feel like it, you can get more information about Rauf here:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201008240027
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
I think a better question would be why you are so sure. Why for example do you think that Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi and Ahmaddiya Islam are all the same? Why do you think that Islam in Saudi Arabia is the same as Islam in Iran or Islam in Malaysia or Islam in America? Why do you draw conclusions of inevitability?
Notice that lower Manhattan is not located in an Islamic country.
It's certainly reasonable to assume that the mainstays of the American Muslim faith as interpreted by its religious leaders will be promulgated there. It's not reasonable to assume that anything else will be.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Let me put this another way. Pam Geller has touted the following video as evidence of hate and as an example of hate speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awISCKJzVtE
Clearly she has not a clue as to what hate speech is. Particularly funny is her contention that Rauf might be using the "N-word" in a hateful manner.
In her concluding remarks she says, "It seems to me that it is because the media is rabid in its frenzy to destroy good, decent Americans who oppose a 15-story mega-mosque on Ground Zero." In so doing she entirely misrepresents the nature of the planned construction and invents a "rabid media frenzy" which simply does not exist. It is quite clear that the person who is filled with hate is Geller.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated
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SezWho2
Molenir, apparently you don't have anything at hand to support your statement.
Posted in: Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated