Re: [chchskeptics] draw muhammad day
| From: | Isaac Freeman |
| Sent on: | Saturday, May 15, 2010 11:26 PM |
Daniel, I feel I've just about said my piece, and don't want to engage in a long defence of Muhammad or Islam. I don't believe it's as bad as you portray it, but it's not my religion, and I don't think it's germane to a Skeptics mailing list. I'm happy to talk about it with you elsewhere, but I'll stick to just a few points here.
On 15/05/2010, at 5:35 PM, Daniel Neville wrote:
It's unrealistic to expect that only committed members of your own
religion have any weight in what they say about your religion.
That's not what I said, and not my point. I never said "only", my point was only that people are more likely to listen to people they trust. Other Muslims have an advantage in that respect. If you're not a Muslim, and you want to talk with Muslims about Islam, it'll help to give some attention to establishing that trust. I don't think drawing cartoons of Muhammad is a good way to achieve that.
The moderates have proven remarkably unreliable in condemning
acts of extremism on religious grounds. Sure they condemn
individual acts of senseless violence, but not on grounds of
scripture.
All I can say on this is that it's not my experience of moderate Muslims I know, nor of what I hear is discussed in mosques around the world. But this is second hand, and you may very well feel I only know a biased sample, so I don't know that there's much more to say.
How is one
to engage in a "reasonable" discussion with militant paedophiles
and their supporters anyway?
I would humbly suggest that this will be impossible if you start from the assumption that all Muslims are either militant paedophiles or supporters thereof.
Anyway, that's about enough from me. I'm pleased that the Draw Muhammad event will be distinguished in its presentation from Skeptics. I think it's a mistake to treat all Muslims as if they were terrorists or tacit supporters, and I believe most Muslims are working hard to contain and neutralise the small groups that are trying to corrupt their communities and brainwash their kids.
Thanks everyone for letting this discussion fill your inboxes, and thanks especially to Benjamin for responding to my concerns with respect.
Isaac Freeman
Web Design & Development
[address removed] ++64 21 1511209 AIM: isaacfreem
