I am critical of Middle East Islamic culture, not to be confused with "people who are of middle eastern descent." Not everyone follows their culture, and so I don't criticize individuals before knowing where they stand. I am very much against blaming Americans of Middle Eastern origin for problems that originate in the Middle East. My complaint is restricted to problems that originate in the Middle East.
I didn't say Middle East Muslims can never be civilized. But like Ayn Rand and numerous others, I find their culture to be primitive. Americans of the late 18th century had a culture adequate for liberty and democracy. I see no evidence that Middle East Islamic cultures have yet reached that level of cultural advancement. So I would say they are uncivilized now, but it is not necessarily permanent. The Christian world went through a Reformation and Enlightenment centuries ago. The Middle East is capable of that, too. I have plenty of neighbors, friends, and colleagues from the Middle East, and they are quite nice. They seem to assimilate well and achieve success as well as any others. I've been out drinking with some of them, which is evidence that perhaps "moderate Muslims" aren't really Muslims at all. You say you don't know much about Islam. I am still learning, and I recommend you do so, too. From: Wendie Slovak Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 12:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Libertarian] Re: Stop the War FOR Terror No you have criticized the people who are of middle eastern decent.That much is apparent. Maybe you need to meet more people? eh? Well in case you didn't know...maybe you have been living under a rock? But pretty much every culture has there own foods and spices. Like the Germans,French,Mexicans,Persians and many other groups...food is and will always be apart of culture.If you look at every culture has some kinda rice dish mainly becuase for the poor that is a staple.If its one thing I'm always willing to learn more about is other cultures and food is very much apart of that.Like recently I tried Persian food.And it was good. I dont know much about Islam.But I do remember/know some people who are either middle eastern decent or Muslim non of which are bad or evil people.The news really has given them a bad rap.It really is quite sad. Also you make it sound like that people that are middle eastern cant be civilized,ever. For the record I'm only going by what you post and what you have said.And I'm now done with this conversation. Wendie __________________________________________________________ --- In [email protected], "Bob Giramma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I was responding to your comment, "Also the fact you make sweeping generalizations about a race or races of people is just a bit irritating." > > I have attempted to criticize Islam as an ideology, particularly the Islamist type of it. Muslims follow what I believe to be an inferior ideology, but I do not intend to criticize Muslim people individually. Absent the Islamist goals, Muslims not meaningfully different politically than anyone else in my book. And keep in mind I am speaking politically when I mention Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. This is not a theological debate. > > So, I have also correlated liberty with culture. I'm talking political attitudes, not food spices. One libertarian within a society of cultural fascists will not be free. A tolerant culture is a prerequisite to liberty. You can't analyze this without some consideration of cultural collectivism. The degree of liberty within a society appears to be highly correlated with the culture of that society. Do you agree or disagree? > > Furthermore, cultures (not individuals) based on Islam tend to be much more authoritarian and less tolerant than Western cultures. Agree or disagree? > > Rather than label me a racist or bigot, I'd prefer answers to those two questions. Thanks. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
