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Our Media Is Anti-islamic
Topic Started: Aug 31 2004, 11:36 AM (125 Views)
cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
Everyone talks about how our media is biased. Typically it is Reps complaining about the Dem media, or vice versa, or the Christian Rights complaining about media wrongs. What about the anti-Islamic bent of our media? A lot of the imflammatory rhetoric against Muslims comes from the media's portrayal of them as all religious fanatics, strangers to democracy, and medeival barbarians. What a crock! The following op-ed from Germany about the French hostages situation paints such a stark difference some of you may have trouble believing it.

Reclaiming Islam from the Radicals
Quote:
 
...It is not only the government in Paris and numerous colleagues who demand the release of the two kidnapped French journalists in Iraq who have been threatened with death: There are also many voices from the Islamic world....

...this latest case of westerners being held captive under a death threat in Iraq has little to do with the contentious conflict in that land.

It is claimed that their detention and possible execution in fact has its roots in a situation within France, their own country. The kidnappers from the so-called "Islamic Army of Iraq" are not concerned with France's political involvement in the Iraq war but with the headscarf ban in French schools which comes into effect at the beginning of September.

...The protest is against the kidnapping itself and it is coming from a large contingent of French Muslims.

Those who have joined to protest are angry about the use of the word "Islamic" in the title of the group responsible and in the justification of its actions. They see this as an insult to Muslims all around the world, and reject the claim made by the group that the actions are dictated by the Koran, Islam's holy teachings.

The French Muslims say that the use of terror tactics, the taking of hostages and so-called "executions" of the innocent have nothing to do with the teachings of the Koran and represent the actions and beliefs of individual radical groups. They believe that there is no religious basis for the kidnapper's actions, which are simply abominable.

Prejudices about a "basic radicalism" in Islam continue to spread in the West -- an untruth not only based on a lack of knowledge or superficial reports in the media. Prejudices also spread because few Islamic voices speak out against actions such as the kidnappings, leaving the extremists to comment in the name of Islam -- extremists who consciously want to stoke the fires of the conflict of cultures.

But the example of France shows that things can go differently as well. Not only organizations who promote integration but also regular Muslims and even extremely conservative Islamic groups are opposing the attempt to prevent the headscarf ban by threatening to kill people.

Islamic organizations are committed to reversing the headscarf ban but will not advocate the taking of hostages to achieve it. Their belief that the ban must be reversed in a lawful way points to the fact that even conservative Islamic federations in Europe are becoming more and more integrated into the democratic system and that actions such as the kidnappings only  damage their own position.
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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Banandangees
Member
The media doesn't like anybody very much....except maybe themselves and of course...the libs, by default.
Banan
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cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
Yes, somehow the libs and big business teamed up against the poor whining persecuted soc cons, wonder how that happened, or why.

But let's hear from a well-know lib: " We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war." (source)
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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karmasasha
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Banandangees
Aug 31 2004, 04:54 PM
The media doesn't like anybody very much....except maybe themselves and of course...the libs, by default.

That seems to be such a blanket statement. Don't you consider Fox news to be part of the media?

The political arena is bad enough the way it is without generalizations of this sort.
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Banandangees
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Sorry! :)
Banan
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karmasasha
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Banandangees
Sep 1 2004, 08:57 AM
Sorry! :)

Bless you.


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