Subject:
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Re: Holy crap! (was Re: The partisian trap in California)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 21 Oct 2003 12:39:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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968 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Richard Marchetti wrote:
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Did you know that Shrub once called the invasion and occupation of Iraq a
“Crusade”?
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As if on cue...
American Jihad
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=17002
Recently NBC News broadcast footage of Army Lt. General William Boykin, a deputy
undersecretary of defense, equating our campaigns in the Middle East to a
religious war. Among his arguments: that Islam is “a spiritual enemy. He’s
called the principality of darkness. The enemy is a guy called Satan,” out to
destroy America “because we’re a Christian nation.”
For bonus points, Boykin also pegged God (not the Supreme Court) as the deciding
factor in the 2000 elections. “Why is this man President Bush in the White
House?” he said. “The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he
there? And I tell you this morning that he’s in the White House because God put
him there for a time such as this.”
Who does it serve to antagonize not Islamic terrorists, who need no further
incentive for their deeds, but the rest of the members of the world’s fastest
growing religion? If any Islamic cleric or politician were to make similar
statements about Christianity in a public forum, you can bet our government
would decry their hate speech.
Therefore the most troubling aspect of the Boykin incident is not his words, but
the Bush administration’s reaction to his attacks. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld called Boykin “an officer that has an outstanding record in the United
States Armed Forces.” He then defended the Lt. General’s statements on free
speech grounds, saying, “We’re a free people.”
A free speech defense has great appeal. But this administration, which has
relentlessly criticized those who speak out against the Iraq war and occupation,
seems to have a very selective view of its uses. (Remember former White House
spokesman Ari Flesicher admonishing Bill Maher of ‘Politically Incorrect’ that
“All Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do”?)
Much has been made of the evangelical Christianity of President Bush. He has
tried to blend his courting of evangelical voters with attempts to extend an
olive branch to a growing political force, Arab-Americans. But the President and
his administration cannot have it both ways. They cannot restrict the meaning of
“true American” to “Christian-American,” and also purport to believe in a
pluralistic society. And they cannot allow the military to promote the idea of
an American Jihad -- a religious war -- while claiming to fight a
religion-neutral war on terrorism as well.
-- Hop-Frog
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