He has Google alerts for his name and checks them compulsively. Kinda sad.

That’s the luxury of not having a real job, real obligations, students’ papers to grade, committee meetings, etc.

Actually, the job of a polemicist is looking really good to me now.

Why did I get the Ph.D. Again? Oh yeah. Self-respect.

Thanks again.

Thanks Travis. I don’t find it very useful or effective to debate him in comments threads because those tend to degenerate quickly. Thorough blog posts such as this are my element.

He has Google alerts for his name and checks them compulsively. Kinda sad.

Beetlejuice of the internet. Wish I had written it. How true.

Recently, over on hotair.com, when a forum about the incorrect alignment of medieval mosques in Mecca suddenly turned ugly, I – admittedly this was ill-conceived – decided to argue that Islam was not preternaturally violent. Someone invoked the typical generalities about abrogation and Muslim jurisprudence. They were merely mouthing Spencer’s talking points and I pointed that out, invoking the name of Spencer in the process.

The next post he appeared. I did not fair well. I wish I had your wit and grace.

Thanks again.
Travis

I have to say this about Ayaan, I’ve seen a video of her at edge (me thinks) where she’s speaking for a Sam Harris event and she is quite eloquent, add to that a pleasant demaeanor, at times timid, shy and the way she seems so flattered and modest by compliments. There really seems to be something likable about her – at least in those videos, I’ve also seen her in interviews where she comes accross as another type of militant. I’ve seen and read her making some statements where she presents herself as an authority on Islam and that she is not. Much of what she has to say is actually false in regards to what is Islam and the concept of shariah.

Here’s a statement from a reason interview:

“Reason: Don’t you mean defeating radical Islam?

Hirsi Ali: No. Islam, period. Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace.

Reason: We have to crush the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims under our boot? In concrete terms, what does that mean, “defeat Islam”?

Hirsi Ali: I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars. Islam can be defeated in many ways. For starters, you stop the spread of the ideology itself; at present, there are native Westerners converting to Islam, and they’re the most fanatical sometimes. There is infiltration of Islam in the schools and universities of the West. You stop that. You stop the symbol burning and the effigy burning, and you look them in the eye and flex your muscles and you say, “This is a warning. We won’t accept this anymore.” There comes a moment when you crush your enemy.

Reason: Militarily?

Hirsi Ali: In all forms, and if you don’t do that, then you have to live with the consequence of being crushed.”

Anyway, I didn’t mention before that no .. I don’t wish any of you any harm. Besides I actually enjoy the disagreeing and debating.

I just think that we all have to be more responsible in the way we disagree and debate (me included). I think there’s got to be something much more productive that can be done besides obsessing with the “Islamic threat” day in and day out and I’m not blaming you of this. I read much of the exchange between you and pastorious and I have a lot of repect for the way you’ve been handling the subject.

Point taken, at least in principle. I was not aware that she had painted all of Islam and Muslims with the same broad brush. To the best of my knowledge, she only emphasizes that there deffinitely is a violent, fundamentalist and dictatorial trend within Islam, and that it’s probably underestimated by the cultural relativists and their sympathizers, not that Islam as a whole or all of its adherents are monsters.

However, to tell you the truth, I have not paid her all that much attention lately and I am not familiar with all the intricacies of her views. Whenever I have heard her speak, on select occasions, I came out with a positive impression.

hey, I feel for Ayaan and understand that what she’s gone through was something unthinkable that I could never relate to. HOWEVER, I can not let my sympathy stand in the way of condemning statements that she has made in the past which say that Islam should be crushed militarily and I think that it’s pretty sad to stand in defense of her because of things that happened to her. Would you stand to my defense if I called for militarilly crushing the Serbian Orthodox religion just because I may have been raped and tortured by Serbs (and no I haven’t .. it’s a hypothetical). According to Ayaan .. there are no moderates and Islam has to be crushed – those statements need to be condemned by atheists and I RARELY see it done. I’m sorry but I do condemn many things that go on within my religion and I expect others not to make excuses for irrational behavior as well. And, yes, of course I do condemn the nutjobs that threaten her life and freedom of speech, I certainly didn’t mean to imply with my criticism of her that I don’t.

Pastorius, Islam has no central authority, no pope, no head of Mosques. This is a good thing because it allows for potential bottom-up experimentation. If a community of Muslims completely breaks of from the violent or misogenous tradition, they have no Muslim Pope to theologically face down. Just as there are Christians who don’t read the Bible (that would be most Christians in North America, probably) there are many Muslims who do not read the Qu’ran and hence save themselves from any confusion or craziness that could result from a literal interpretation of the book. I don’t think much can be inferred by just studying Muslim versus Christian charities since we barely have any exhaustive data on their practices anyway. Anecdotal evidence is not a great point to fall back on, and it can cut both ways.

Samaha,

Thanks for your comments. It seems rather clear that you are a genuine moderate of the kind we need to see more of among Muslims. However, I do not at all support your over-the-top rhetoric against Hirsi Ali. A parallel between her and Al Qaeda? That is demented and insulting to a) our intelligence and common sense b) victims of terrorist attacks and their families. If I had had my clitoris butchered off in the name of Islam, I’d be pissed as hell too. It is the sick fundamentalist psychos who are set out to kill her that you should direct your ire against, not her, however you may disagree with her opinions.

Of course I don’t agree with much of your attitude, but the thing that matters is that I am sure you mean me or Pastorius, or Robert Spencer, or anyone else, no physical harm. As an atheist, I have plenty to disagree and debate with religionists of all stripes. What matters is that they don’t try to kill me over my opinions.

Toni,

That’s all fine and well. Don’t assume Pastorius is from Greece though, and don’t assume it would have any relevance whether he was from Greece or not.