US Culture: Man Already Knows Everything He Needs to Know About Muslims (The Onion)

The Onion reports:

SALINA, KANSAS — Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.

Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was "perfectly happy" to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world's second-largest religion.

"I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11," Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam's approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. "What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?"

"And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero," continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. "No, I won't examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people's universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell."

"Even though I am not one of those people," he added.

When told that the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, "I know all I'm going to let myself know."

Gentries explained that it "didn't take long" to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.

"All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts," said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country's armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. "Period."

Read full article....

Comments

[Catherine]

In the full article mr Gentries is quoted as saying, "For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps."

He actually knows more than The Onion is giving him credit for: http://www.womensenews.org/story/rape/000719/bosnian-rape-camp-survivors-testify-the-hague

[Mike]

Though I think in that case the Muslims are the victims of rape- I imagine Mr Gentries is probably supposed to think the Muslims in his rape camps are the rapists. Horrible story though.

[Dave]

We are also afraid to speak out against harmful cultural practices. The centuries old traditions continue despite the findings of modern medical science. Married cousins in the video blame modern medicine for making their children ill.

http://bankoran.com/?p=124

And we do nothing, all for the sake of cultural sensitivity. The children are the victims.

I'm sorry for the offensive wording in the link.

[Baz]

Dave

I think that I know where you are coming from -- often we (westerners) are our own worse enemies. I believe there there is a limit to everything in life - but there are some now in our society who think there is no limit to anything. There is an old saying about "too much of a good thing" . Icecream is good - but too much icecream is bad. Democracy is good - but too much Democracy is ?????. I am sure there are many here (mostly naive leftists :) ) who would say that there is and can be no such thing as "too much Democracy" . At my advanced age of life, I would argue otherwise - and believe that I am now seeing it in our western Democracies (especially in the US)

Barry

[Catherine]

Sorry, I don't get it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Waffen_Mountain_Division_of_the_SS_Skanderbeg_%281st_Albanian

[Catherine]

"I imagine Mr Gentries is probably supposed to think the Muslims in his rape camps are the rapists."

And I imagine you are quite right. ;-)

[Catherine]

Lots of thoughtful posts, Dave. Some of your points I agree with and others I don't, but I thought this comments section might be a good place for an aricle I read recently by Anne-Ruth Wertheim, a Dutch journalist and the author of various books including 'The Goose Snatches the Bread from the Ducks, My Childhood in a Japanese Prison Camp on Java'. Your opening remark "The vast majority of the world's cultures are intolerant of other cultures" was what initially reminded me of
Wertheim's dissection of what she calls modern day racism.

Modern-day Racism: A Mixture That Calls for Some Clarification

http://www.juancole.com/2010/08/wertheim-modern-day-racism-a-mixture-that-calls-for-some-clarification.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.juancole.com/2010/08/wertheim-modern-day-racism-a-mixture-that-calls-for-some-clarification.html

Regarding another point you discuss, I was shocked to see the article about the signs at the entrance to a Hassidic town (upstate New York?) requesting visitors to dress and behave as if they were part of the Hassidic community themselves!. They are reminiscent (although infinitely more polite) of the signs that greet all who enter the untra-orthodox Mea Sharim neighbourhood of Jerusalem with commands to dress modestly, etc..

[Catherine]

I was of course being ironic. See Mike's reply to me above (8/31/2010)