Sunday, July 27, 2008

An example of the clash of ignorance

Unbelievable. This is a great example of the clash of ignorance that the Aga Khan speaks of. See the article below my questions:
Questions that came to mind:
-Did the writer do any research on the Aga Khan and his countless examples of development work??? How about research on the Aga Khan's commitment to peace between Muslims and non-Muslims and his repeated emphasis on the values of tolerance and pluralism?
-does the writer understand anything about Islam or even Muslims? (or even when to use the world Islam versus Muslim?!) Does he understand the simple, basic fact that not all Muslims are terrorists (in fact, the overwhelming majority are peaceful and peace-loving)? Does he understand that Islam is not a monolith? (Just as Christianity or Judaism is not.)
-When has the Aga Khan ever preached America's destruction?
-I am not a believer in fear tactics but isn't this the wrong person to be fearful of? And doesn't using fear tactics in this way diminish the credibility of fear tactics overall? (The sky is falling approach - "What has this nation come to?") Maybe James needs to inform himself better on the subject and read a speech of the Aga Khan's as a minimum before writing such a piece. Or better yet, I hope James emails me so I can send him a copy of the film.

Sounds scary

Sounds scary

Most of the public understands that universities confer honorary degrees with somewhat selfish motives of fund raising or political posturing in mind.

Nevertheless, to use a major university’s name to make a questionable award certainly can raise eyebrows and possibly have the opposite of the desired effect.

Harvard University in its spring commencement, awarded five honorary doctorate degrees. Among the honorees, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and Aga Khan.

Aga Khan?

Possibly not a household name, but Khan is none other than the spiritual leader of millions of Shia Muslims in 25 countries.

Harvard’s published reasons for Khan’s award does not include anything noteworthy other than his political position — no pioneering research, certainly no contributions to world peace.

Here we are more than five years into fighting the Muslims in the war on terror, and almost seven years after Muslim fanatics attacked the World Trade Center.

We still see a steady stream of maimed GIs and bodybags from Iraq — again the handy work of Muslims.

Yet, America’s oldest, most prestigious university makes one of Muslim key leaders an “Honorary Doctor of Laws.”

What has this nation come to? It is scary enough for a handful of liberals to embrace Muslims and their lifestyle, but to push these beliefs on the rest of the country when they openly preach America’s destruction is unforgivable.

James W. Anderson

Talladega