--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], MDixon6569@ wrote: > > > > In a message dated 9/25/07 9:46:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time, > > jstein@ writes: > > > > In [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (mailto:[email protected]) , > > MDixon6569@, MDi > > <snip> > > > Actually Lurk I thought the little boy was quite cute and > > > sang beautifully, but for somebody to say "they were almost > > > converted to Islam on the spot", based on a cute child, sweet > > > voice and luring melody was pretty emotional and lacked > > > reason. > > > > What lacks reason, MDixon, is that you took my > > obviously wildly hyperbolic comment literally. > > > > Unbelievable. > > > > Judy, didn't you tell me once that you almost converted to > > Judaism? For me to say your comment was based on emotion and > > lacked reason would make your statement obviously hyperbolic > > in nature to me and that is why I called him a *cute little > > devil*. I was mimicking your hyperbole. > > Exactly. Even I got that. And you *know* how I > loathe some of your political ideas, right? :-) > So if I could get it, and get the point you were > making, why couldn't...uh...others?
No, sorry, this is all crapola. MDixon, I didn't think seriously about converting to Judaism on the basis of listening to a little kid chanting during his bar mitzvah on a two-and- a-half-minute video. Apples and oranges. I don't even know why you'd bring it up unless it was to suggest that my remark about converting to Islam was serious. My comment about the kid Koran singer *was supposed to be humorous*. Humor frequently "lacks reason." Silliness--including in the form of obvious hyperbole--is one good way to tell a remark is meant, you know, humorously. Humor also, however, frequently reflects something real. In making this obviously humorous comment, I was acknowledging that I had been moved by the beauty of the kid's singing--by the *music*. Even if the words were the most hateful imaginable, the music and the kid's voice would still be beautiful. So there's zero basis for you to mock me for appreciating the music on the grounds that I didn't know what the words meant. Barry characterized my remark as a "knee-jerk reaction." If he considers responding to beauty as nothing but a knee jerk, I feel very sorry for him. And if he doesn't think emotion can be reflected in humor, he deserves everyone's pity. > Could it possibly be...uh...taking themselves a > bit too *seriously*? Yes, Barry and MDixon were both taking *me* more than a bit too seriously, MDixon because of his bigoted view of Muslims, Barry because he saw a chance to demonize me. They were the guys afflicted with jerky knees, and as a result, they both now have their mouths crammed with feet and are having great difficulty saying anything even remotely sensible.
