Very sorry to turn this political again, or to have had tragic events force me to do so, but I must protest against anyone who thinks that the shootings in Orlando mean that we have to oust the Muslims in our midst.
I am not going to protest the Donald by posting any of his incendiary comments, but I do feel it's time to speak out in some form.
I thought I'd post, once again, a bit about the new Muslim Mayor of London. Latest thing I saw was that he's prohibiting ads on the public transit that might make people feel bad about their body image. He said that he has teenage daughters and doesn't want them to have to face unrealistic images of women when they're traveling. Admittedly, they probably aren't riding public transit at the moment, but on the other hand, their grandfather was a bus driver. In any case, yay, Sadiq Khan!
Do you get it? There are humane and principled convictions in every faith. As well as aberrant ones.
I am so far from being pro gun rights that I don't really get anyone who would want to use one even for recreation. However, since I count several among my friends, I understand that there must be an alternative point of view.
One of the posters who appears in my blog roll says that Orlando means that Trump will win. I can only hope that he is wrong.
Meanwhile, in the real world, please do whatever you can to refuse to stand idly by. Speak out. Be creative. Or, shoot, be uncreative. Whatever. This is important.
I am not going to protest the Donald by posting any of his incendiary comments, but I do feel it's time to speak out in some form.
I thought I'd post, once again, a bit about the new Muslim Mayor of London. Latest thing I saw was that he's prohibiting ads on the public transit that might make people feel bad about their body image. He said that he has teenage daughters and doesn't want them to have to face unrealistic images of women when they're traveling. Admittedly, they probably aren't riding public transit at the moment, but on the other hand, their grandfather was a bus driver. In any case, yay, Sadiq Khan!
Do you get it? There are humane and principled convictions in every faith. As well as aberrant ones.
I am so far from being pro gun rights that I don't really get anyone who would want to use one even for recreation. However, since I count several among my friends, I understand that there must be an alternative point of view.
One of the posters who appears in my blog roll says that Orlando means that Trump will win. I can only hope that he is wrong.
Meanwhile, in the real world, please do whatever you can to refuse to stand idly by. Speak out. Be creative. Or, shoot, be uncreative. Whatever. This is important.
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| Sadiq and Saadiya Khan |
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Posts
It's hard to know what to do about Trump (and, more important, what he represents and encourages) other than stand by in slack-jawed amazement.
ReplyDeleteLet me at him. I won't stand by in slack-jawed amazement. At the very least I'll throw a punch before I get taken down. He is appalling.
ReplyDeleteThis Muslim thing of his ... Some of the rare sensible comments I have read about the Orlando shooting have come one of the few Muslims I know.
ReplyDeleteMy beloved professor Donald Nicholl spoke a few times about how the people in Germany who resisted the Nazis came to their decisions. And he said that they found a touchstone, where they realized the guy was rotten apples. My phrase. As much as his put a wall up towards Mexicans or his various racist messages, I think that as soon as he said to Carli Fiorina, Look at that face, I knew there was nothing he could say that would ever convince me that any woman in America should ever vote for him. And I don't even particularly like Fiorina. But that was when I knew that I would have no further tolerance for him. And I'm sure he pushed a multitude of other buttons in this regard, whether Hispanic, Muslim, whatever. I am so disappointed that so many people can't see through this joker.
ReplyDeleteA massive repudiation, and not just in the form of a landslide election defeat, of Trump would make me feel a lot better about this country.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteIt would nice to be as sanguine as Adrian. I suspect he's right, and I like to think this country is strong to enough to survive Trump, but even the possibility of a November surprise is frightening.
ReplyDeleteI know Adrian knows what he's talking about, but it all falls through if people like me, which means everybody, don't turn out to vote.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, even if this country votes Trump in, he won't stay in forever. Whether we survive him is another thing entirely, but on the other hand, resistance forms strong bonds. And there will be a lot of resistance.
Hi Seana, I think it is very important to stand up against the uncontrolled proliferation if arms. I believe that the monopoly for violence should be with the governement. But I can understand people as a former colleague of mine who said: "Out there, there are a lot of bad guys who have arms. In order to defend myself I need a weapon, too, although I don't want one and don't want to use one." This is a difficult process, the more we are are willing to let governement and police hold the monopoly of violence, the safer we will be. But the opposite is also true. The more we fear the bad guys and arm ourselves the less safe we will be in the end.
ReplyDeleteConcerning Trump: I believe in the resilience if the USA: you survived Reagan and Bush and maybe you will have the first female POTUS.....
Hi Eva,
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping round here. Yes, I'm sure the situation with guns in this country must look incomprehensible to a European, since I think currently we're in some kind state of delusion about gun rights. The Constitutional right to bear arms, whatever that actually means, seems to take precedence even over the safety of our children. In the current moment, we actually seem to be unable to do anything about it. But I think we have to continue to oppose the gun lobby, and not be cynical about it all. My state of California has passed some good gun laws, as have others, and I think we will wear away at it over time.
Yes, we would survive Trump, probably, but we shouldn't have to. Putting up with Reagan and the Bushes was quite enough.
A few years ago I had a discussion about politics with a colleague from Texas. He was a staunch republican and talking about Obamacare we came quickly to the root cause of our differences. It was about how much government involvement we wanted. I assume that coming from the American history a standpoint that the government should not mingle more in peoples affairs than absolutely necessary feels natural. Whereas European tradition is more about the state organizing everything and sometimes caring excessively for the people. Probably the truth is somewhere between those poles.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Republicans and the Democrats tend to be pretty divided over this issue. The U.S. really seems to swing between two poles on this one. Although I can understand the philosophy behind the small government point of view, it seems a little disingenuous considering all the benefits these people actually reap from big government. Infrastructure at the very least.
ReplyDelete