Re: [RC] "open mouth, insert foot" ( thanks to DB for idea for pithy headline phrase )

[David R. Block]

Title: If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed

Methinks that he will have a hard time bridging that gap. The man is in a double-bind: talk too sweet and he's not hard-line enough for the Jihadis, too much fire and brimstone and folks will think that he is a Jihadi. Silence may make both sides sweat, but you cannot be silent on EVERYTHING. He may follow Patterson's foot-in-mouth disease some day himself. David If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.--Mark Twain    On 8/30/2010 12:34 PM, Dr. Ernie Prabhakar wrote: Fascinating.  The irony is that Imam Rauf's Sufi Islam really is much less orthodox and much more friendly to Western values than the traditional Islam espoused by orthodox Shi'ites and Sunnis.  Imam Rauf doesn't want to admit, because he dreams of being a peace-maker and bridge-builder, but that very silence is what results in him being demonized by the Right. The deeper irony is that what Paterson really wants (though he doesn't know it) is something like the Ground Zero Declaration, to clarify which Muslims support Western values (regardless of their nominal ideology). E On Aug 30, 2010, at 10:28 AM, bil...@aol.com wrote:   NY gov slammed for 'westernized' Muslims comment (AP, August 27, 2010) Albany, USA - Muslim leaders in the United States are criticizing Gov. David Paterson for his description of the developers of an Islamic center and mosque planned near ground zero as peaceful, "almost westernized" Muslims. The Muslim Public Affairs Council said Paterson mischaracterized the sect known as Sufi and his comment suggests other Muslims are a problem, although he made no criticism of Islam or any branches of it. For weeks, the Democratic governor has defended Islam as a peaceful religion and has said the developers have a constitutional right to build an Islamic center and mosque a couple of blocks north of the World Trade Center site. He also has emphasized the Sept. 11 terrorists were extremists and weren't indicative of the religion. Opponents say the mosque should be moved farther away from where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people, while supporters say religious freedom should be protected. Paterson, who has offered the developers state resources if they decide they'd prefer another site farther from ground zero, said in radio and television interviews Thursday that he had researched Sufi Muslims and they are "not like the Shiites," the second-largest branch of Muslims and the majority in Iraq. "They're almost like a hybrid, almost westernized," he said. "They are not really what I would classify in the sort of mainland Muslim practice." Paterson's use of "mainland" apparently was intended to be "mainstream." Paterson didn't immediately respond to a Friday request for comment on criticism of his remarks. Islam contains several streams that vary according to their interpretation of the Quran and Islamic law and their approach to worship, among other differences. Sunnis and Shiites, the followers of Shia Islam, are the two major Muslim groups whose spirituality has had a wide-ranging influence in Islam over centuries. The Muslim Public Affairs Council, which calls itself a public service agency working for the civil rights of American Muslims, issued a press release about Paterson's comments that said "while his attempt appears to have been an effort to voice support" for the project's organizers, "his statement sent a very negative message." The group called Paterson's comments an "offensive mischaracterization." "Governor Paterson's remarks reveal his disappointing lack of understanding about Islam and Muslims," the group's Washington, D.C., office director, Haris Tarin, said in the statement. "By calling Sufi Muslims 'westernized' and unlike 'mainland Muslim practice,' is he suggesting that all other Muslims - and specifically Shia Muslims - are the problem?" Whether intended or not, Paterson's remarks implied that Sufis were the only peaceful Muslims, an affront to American Sunnis and Shiites who reject extremism. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org