Saturday, December 08, 2012
Eyes Wide Open
I thought this was an interesting video. I've always enjoyed Ms. Gabriel on Fox, but this is the first time I've heard her speak free of the question-answer-comment constraints. For balance here is an article about her from the NY Times.
Interestingly, here's an article published yesterday on the same topic from another prominent American writer of Lebanese-Christian heritage, Joseph Farah, of WorldNetDaily: What Muslim-Americans really believe.
Recently The Blaze TV covered the subject in a documentary called "The Project" (use the free trial to watch if you are not a subscriber).
As American products of the great "Melting Pot" we must not allow ourselves to become xenophobic -- but we cannot afford to be be naive, either... The stakes are too high.
7 comments:
And here it is, the weekly crazy that offsets the usually good points that this site writes about on actual policies.
I assume you think it makes it sound better because she has a darker hue to her skin and you link to a "Lebanese" man's article. It doesn't. It actually looks worse.
What is your point Anonymous? My point in indicating that both Gabriel and Farah have Lebanese-Christian connections is that their perspective may be different from the average commentator. I do not know much about Lebanon other than generally available information. It is unique in that it is the only country in the Arab world with a sizeable Christian minority --- that was once a majority. I'm sure the families of these individuals have passed down stories that color the beliefs positions that they have. What's your take?
I'm a Christian/Catholic/Lebanese/American. I think Anonymous' "crazy" comment is a little too harsh. This site has been a wealth of information. I don't agree with everything, but then again, I don't agree with myself all of the time.
With that said, I do think these opinions are VERY slanted by people that know very little about the reality on the ground over there. And if they do know, they're ignoring it simply to make a name for themselves.
I was not born in Lebanon, but my family definitely made sure we knew the history of the situation there and how we ended up here. I wouldn't be here today if we weren't Catholic. But it was not all Muslims that were fighting this "war". Half of my grandfather's family is still in Lebanon. That's because one side was Muslim and couldn't leave. Neither side was part of the radical attempt to eradicate Christians. But they were caught up in the middle of it all. Such is the case in most of these Middle East religious wars. You can't generalize.
Right now, there isn't a war between Israelis and Palestinians, but rather their governments. Both sides are to blame. But most of the average Israelis and Palestinians know that they wish for peace. But the two governments continue to exploit the propaganda for their own self interests. You would be surprised at how many "secret" friendships and even romantic relationships there are between the two sides, especially in the younger generations. But the media on the left and right love exploiting it for profit. No one ever gets the real truth. It's a bunch of talking heads that have read a bunch of either left or right wing literature, but have never given it real thought.
It's all a perpetuation of hate - on BOTH sides. And it must end if we ever want real peace. They're playing us and poisoning our minds.
Thanks for the comment, Larry. I've heard similar stories from other Lebanese Americans that the average person regardless of religious persuasion just wants peace ... and I believe them... to an extent.
But what may have been true even 10 years ago may be becoming less true as time goes on (1) because the "average" person is not running things and (2) the population of "average" people is changing.
MEMRI has done a great job translating a lot of arabic TV directed at the "average" person, including cartoons for children. A lot of it is hate-filled. If a population is exposed to a constant diet of hatred for certain groups it has to have an effect on the views of the general population.
Gabriel's presentation got my attention not because it is about the Arab-Israeli conflict, but because it is about EDUCATION. I'll get called a "crackpot" for sure here but I have long felt that changes to our education system were setting us up for something, but it was not clear what it was. When subject matter is withheld, group-think activities become common-place, dependency on machines, "experts" and the internet encouraged, and politically-correct agendas advanced, it become easy to change society from within.
You may disagree with Gabriel's view of the middle-east conflict, and she may be making a lot of money off of right-wingers on the lecture circuit, but can you honestly deny that what she claims is happening in at least some schools and in our society?
Then you come to Farah's polling information on what american muslims believe. You may disagree with Farah's political positions but can you deny that the polling information, which he claims is consistent with other polls, suggests that a significant portion of the sampled population holds views that would be a threat to our way of life?
Then you get to the Beck organization's "The Project" expose that claims, based on certain documents recovered, the existence of a plan for infiltrating our government. Again you may disagree with Beck's political beliefs but can you deny that the plan exists? If it is made up, it should be debunked. One thing that you cannot deny is that our government has been infiltrated in the past by agents who would be happy to do away with it, and there is no reason to believe otherwise now.
All I am saying in the post is to be vigilant.
A couple of years ago I purchased a book written by Brigitte Gabriel titled "THEY MUST BE STOPPED, Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It" She is a brilliant writer, and has "lived" what she writes. The book was very informative and is worth putting on your reading list.
It was an eye opener for sure for anyone who is not familiar with the contents of the Koran, and with Islam in general. It is not your Muslim neighbor that you must fear, simply because they are Muslims. It is the radical Islamist and the Jihadist that we need to be aware of and fear.
I have no fear of Islam in general. I simply agree with you Strikeslip that we need not be paranoid, but that it is simply very prudent to be aware and to be vigilant.
I found Mr. Farah's article interesting also.
Glen Beck? Uhh, not so much. I think Old Glen has gone over the edge myself. I can't stand listening to him anymore. I had been a fox fan for years, and I watched him spiral downward from interesting and charismatic to downright weird and outlandish in a period of a couple of years.
D Naegele
Dick, we need to be "vigilant" about ANY radicals. There have been more terrorist attacks on U.S. soil by Christians than any other religion. But you don't see people making millions off of this cottage industry because it's easier to drum up fear of Muslims. You say you don't fear Islam but then support these radical opportunists. You realize how backward that sounds, right?
Back to the topic. Strike, I agree 100% about the education aspect. I don't agree that it has anything to do with this even crazier theory of Sharia Law. But I do agree with your theory that our education system has been used for at least a generation to try retooling us. But the problem is that BOTH sides of the political spectrum think it's being done against them. That can't be true. So I ask, what are they doing? My generation isn't quite sure, but we are certain that we hate the right/left divide. We simply want to see education be, well, EDUCATION. No more ideologues and politically correct garbage that has turned out a couple generations of lazy, worthless, entitled punks (most, not all). Mainly my own generation.
Now where's the LIKE button on this thing?
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