November 17, 2005

Infidel Followup

Recently the subject of Team Infidel has come up again in a crtical context. Specifically, it has made some people uncomfortable. They believe that the action was uncivil, disrespectful or even hateful... or at least it would likely be percieved as such, and thus should not have been done.

(NOTE: It is still the most visited page on my site, and I tend to get over 100 google searches or linked hits on it every day. The only other posts that are even close are some of my broadly linked gun posts.)

This opinion is held by several people who's friendship and good opinion I respect and value greatly.

...but I still disagree.

Oh I definitely understand the point about perception, but I did not act in hate.

Of course my actual motivations don’t neccessarily matter; in that perception of public acts is often, and by nature, more than equal to reality. Certainly these actions could, and have been percieved as hateful; though I think we made it clear in both the text and the videos we were performing a social protest.

I don’t hate Muslims, I hate murderers, and fanatics who wish to kill or enslave me, and all of the generally evil folks that “lead” them.

The fact is if you are taught fear, hatred, and murder you will practice it. If you are taught that all your problems are the fault of everyone else, and those others should be killed, you will believe it. If you are taught that god wants you to kill everyone who isn’t like you, you will believe it.

Unless you are given the opportunity to learn otherwise, and have the motivation to do so.

These people are taught vile, disgusting things; and are prevented by their corrupt totalitarian governments and religious leaders (frequently the same thing, or in league) from ever learning otherwise. This is why we must free them even if the process and it’s consequences are messy.

I hold no hatred for muslims, for Islam, or for the Koran.

I acted not in hate, but in outrage against the rioting and murders commited by muslims in the name of a koran being flushed down the toilet; against the outcry from muslims to kill those servicemen “responsible for the desecration”; and against the disciplinary action and press “outrage” against our servicemen; all for what turned out to be a false story.

My act was in effect a reductio ad absurdium acted out live.

It’s a book, and it is not sacred to me. It is my property and I do not follow religious law. I have the right to burn or destroy it. Thousands of Korans in this country are destroyed in book stores every year by having their covers ripped off, and then being shredded. The Koran is nothing more than a book to me, and to America; at least as regards our law.

Oh and I feel the same about the Torah, the Bible, and even the Constitution. By destroying a book, you do not destroy the ideas that are within it. You do not destroy the faith of those that believe in it. You do not destroy anything that matters. It is nothing more than paper, glue, and ink.

We as Americans are free to disagree, and even to hate if we want, without being convicted for apostasy or heresy or political unreliability. We have no thought police here, nor roving bands of religious enforcers.

This may enrage muslims, but muslims within our society must learn to live within our society and by OUR rules. They have no right to punish me or to demand my punishment or my censure for this action, and they must learn this. Muslims living in other free societies must learn to live within the rules of a free society.

Is that cultural imperialism? Perhaps, but I feel fully justified in it.

I would not burn your koran, or your bible, or your torah, in fact if I did I would expect to get my ass kicked and then thrown in jail; but mine I should be able to do anything I want with, including use it as toilet paper if I feel like.

If that causes outrage, personally I think some folks priorites need to be realigned. It’s not about hate, it’s about freedom, and property rights.

It’s the same for me with the flag. Do I dislike intensely the burning of the flag? Of course I do. Do the flag burners anger me? Of course they do; but it’s not because they are burning the flag, it’s WHY they are burning the flag, and what they are trying to say by doing so that angers me. I loathe what they are trying to say, but as far as I’m concerned they should and MUST be allowed to say those things, and to burn the flag if it is what they wish, so long as they paid for it; and they are doing it on their property.

Then again, I’m a bit more of a libertarian than most, and take a rather hard line view on property rights.

Posted by cbyrne at November 17, 2005 06:51 PM | TrackBack
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