On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, Matt Grimaldi wrote: > This argument won't work, Marvin. If their request for someone to > refrain from endangering others isn't an attempt to protect the public, > I don't know what is. You are applying excessivly negative motives > to something that can be explained less ominously. Also, you seem to > imply that the Norwegian government has the ability to protect all > people within its borders from all dangers at all times. That just > isn't possible, and should not be expected. Finally, nobody has > presented any examples of how Norwegians normally treat foreign > visitors. For all we know, they could be giving Americans a hard > time as well.
They could be, but I was under the impression that the man in the article was a citizen of Norway. The key question is whether a man wearing a star of David in the Norweigian Parliament actually poses a credible threat to others. That claim I dispute. Second, I dispute the accuracy of saying it's the star-wearer who's posing a threat. He's not the threat; it's the bombers who pose the threat, assuming any are in Norway. By your reasoning it would be appropriate to ban pro-Jewish speech on the part of legislators, for fear of the risk it poses. It's hogwash. I'm not arguing Norway has to be able to defend everyone all the time. I'm not questioning their intent, really: maybe some Norweigians really think obscuring Jewish symbols increases safety and fulfills the state's obligation to protect the public. I'm just saying they're wrong, wrong in principle and in fact, if that's what they actually think such moves accomplish. > > The former, by Franklin! I reiterate a question from > > an earlier post: is there really sufficient threat to > > all of Europe to justify the fear that associating with > > anything Jewish will create a significant likelihood of > > attack for individuals and for non-Jewish sites? I rather > > doubt it. > > I would agree that they overreacted. I'm pretty sure > we all would. I doubt you'd get anybody on this list > to say that they acted properly. But you assume too > much. Too much of what? Marvin Long Austin, Texas
