5-23-15 Hodgepodge

Note: Due to family obligations during the holiday, posting may be light until Thursday May 28. Likewise, I may be slower than usual moderating comments and answering email.  

Jihadists -- or Islamic Totalitarians?

Peter Schwartz, writing about an "argument ...I'm ... pleased to engage in", makes the following point regarding the source of a disagreement over what to call the enemy in our current war:

The disagreement arises, I believe, out of a difference in purpose. If one's purpose is to demonstrate the true nature of Islam -- if one's purpose is to refute the widespread view that Islam is a "religion of peace" that has been hijacked and misinterpreted by some radical gangs -- then one will stress the inherent connection between Islam and jihadism, and will reject the notion that the jihadists are practicing some special or illegitimate form of Islam. This, I believe, is Mr. Fawstin's perspective -- and it is perfectly valid. The source of Islamic totalitarianism or militant Islam or Islamic jihadism is indeed Islam.

Read the whole thing. Since I have neither the time nor the inclination for much social media, this is the first I've heard about an active debate, if I am even drawing the right conclusion regarding one. I was aware of the different terms favored by Schwartz and Fawstin, but had not given much consideration to which might be better in which context,

Weekend Reading

"Avoid unearned guilt by questioning your assumptions." -- Michael Hurd, in "Unearned Guilt: A Leading Cause of Depression" at The Delaware Wave

"From a psychological point-of-view, it makes the most sense to see yourself as self-employed whether or not you work for somebody else." -- Michael Hurd, in "Who's the Boss?" at The Delaware Coast Press

"Although I don't agree with all of Pamela Geller's views on how to deal with the Islamist threat, she was 100% correct in sponsoring this event." -- Peter Schwartz, in "Defying the Islamic Totalitarians" at The Huffington Post

"In a free country, soldiers who fight against an actual threat to America are not sacrificing what is most important to them -- they are upholding it." -- Peter Schwartz, in "Memorial Day -- But Don't Call It a Sacrifice" at The Huffington Post

Why They Kowtow

Secular conservative Robert Tracinski on why leftists seem so eager to stand up for freedom of speech -- as long as what is said is unlikely to offend Moslems:

The left is fundamentally reactionary. It is a reaction against capitalism and against America. The left are defined by what they are against, or more accurately who they hate. So they are drawn to sympathy toward Islam because it is not-us: non-Western, non-American, neither Christian nor a product of the Enlightenment. And I guess that's what the two ideologies have in common: they are both reactions against the supposed evils of the West. Which explains why leftists tend to find themselves uncomfortable and look for excuses to retreat when they are called upon to defend the West against this rival group of reactionaries.

I'd add as further evidence some of this antipathy towards Western civilization a consideration of some of the things leftists do take a strong stand for, and at whose expense.

-- CAV