Islamofascist Nonsense
Now something for those who are weary of all the political back-and-forth. Rightwing bloggers and neocons are up in arms over a story first reported by Washington Times reporter, Bill Gertz:
Stephen Coughlin, the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, has been fired from his position on the military’s Joint Staff. . . . Mr. Coughlin was notified this week that his contract with the Joint Staff will end in March, effectively halting the career of one of the U.S. government’s most important figures in analyzing the nature of extremism and ultimately preparing to wage ideological war against it. . . .
Mr. Coughlin was accused directly by Mr. Islam of being a Christian zealot or extremist “with a pen,” according to defense officials. Mr. Coughlin appears to have become one of the first casualties in the war of ideas with Islamism. The officials said Mr. Coughlin was let go because he had become “too hot” or controversial within the Pentagon.Misguided Pentagon officials, including Mr. Islam and Mr. England, have initiated an aggressive “outreach” program to U.S. Muslim groups that critics say is lending credibility to what has been identified as a budding support network for Islamist extremists, including front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
Well, being the “Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism” may be akin to being the Oral Roberts University expert on fellatio and anal sex. A terrific title for one with no genuine expertise. Meet Mr. Stephen Coughlin:
An attorney, decorated intelligence officer and noted specialist on Islamic law, ideology and related strategic information programs, Stephen C. Coughlin is a Visiting Fellow of IASC’s National Security Law Project. Mr. Coughlin integrates experience in international law, intelligence, strategic communications and high-level project management in both the national defense and private sectors to develop unique perspectives, assessments and training packages relating to the intersection of national security and law.
Does he speak Arabic? No. How about Urdu? Nope. He studied Islam where? No clue. But he graduated from an ABA sanctioned second-tier law school. A good school, but it is not known as a center of Islamic study. Unfortunately, Coughlin’s broad brush approach to Islam is more polemics than scholarship. And it appears he has been involved with unfair attacks on genuine experts. Consider the case of Jim Guirard, whom Coughlin reportedly claimed was in sympathy with members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Guirard writes:
It has come to my attention that a Joint Staff memorandum by Information Operations analyst Stephen Coughlin describing the nefarious aspirations of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Salafi-Wahhabi-al Qaeda look-alikes has been circulated in the anti-Terrorism community — and includes patently false inferences that I am somehow in collaboration with these self-proclaimed “Death to America” killers and hate-mongers.
Coughlin and others of his ilk have been pushing the hysteria that there is only one Islam and all of Islam is intent on conquering the West. (Yes there are some Muslims who believe this, but Islam is not a monolith). Pandering to peoples’ fears is an effective propaganda ploy but it does little to help our soldiers understand the cultural roots and political/religious dynamics they find in the field. You would expect that in a war inside an Arab nation, that is predominantly Muslim, the Pentagon would hire renowned experts on the topics of Islam. Nope. We have Stephen Coughlin. We have a situation in which folks with no real expertise or command of Arabic are making fanciful claims about a religion and cultures they do not know intimately.
Think I am making this up? Take a look for yourselves. This is a powerpoint presentation that is being circulated within the military community. I think it is polemical and outstanding propaganda. Just enough truth to be believable. My point is that this kind of mindset, based more in ignorance rather than scholarship, is designed to foster war between the West and Islam. That is in no one’s interest who cares about humanity and decency.
Military Islamic Terrorism Presentation (warning, this is a 172 slide monster of a presentation). UPDATE: Just posted a flash player version that makes it easier for folks to view. You do not have to have Power Point. Enjoy.
Finally, one further piece of anecdotal evidence about the Pentagon’s failure to take the war in Iraq seriously. A old friend of my just deployed to Iraq. His unit will be carrying out a mission that involves psychological operations. Guess how many Arabic speakers are in the unit? None. Guess how many weeks of training they received on Iraq, Islam, and Arabic cultural sensitivities? NONE!! But we want these soldiers to go into a foreign combat theater and help shape the hearts and minds of a foreign people. This, in a nutshell, highlights why we are making so little progress in Iraq.
Comments (59)
That's not a bad post. Kudos
January 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Apply this quote to American Evangelicals: "Coughlin and others of his ilk have been pushing the hysteria that there is only one Islam and all of Islam is intent on conquering the West. (Yes there are some Muslims who believe this, but Islam is not a monolith)."
We have a presidential candidate who believes America should become a real Christian State; who believes that a Palestinian State should be set up in Egypt or Saudi Arabia (Jordan is for slackers, I guess); and another who claims he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet. (Somewhat ironic for a Mormon.)
Good thing that Christianity is not monolithic. Welcome to the United Staes of Irony.
January 9, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
The rest of that quote should come as no surprise: "That is in no one’s interest who cares about humanity and decency." Unfortunately, this administration cares about neither.
January 11, 2008 8:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I can only echo Valdron's praise. Anyone who believes in shooting the messenger is probably gunning for you now!
January 9, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Coughlin's PowerPoint slide show linked in Larry's note is horrific. The title slide suggests it is an official PACOM JIOC document, but I hope that is not the case.
As someone who does speak Arabic, who does speak Urdu, and who has spent more than 20 years living/working in Muslim countries, I am left almost speechless by the combination of bigotry and ignorance displayed in Coughlin's PowerPoint presentation.
Professor John Stuart Blackton
January 9, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes, mere profanity is insufficient. After reading that presentation, I can merely say, "Oh goodness me."
By no means do I speak Arabic. I can utter a few politenesses, and, with help, order dinner. I do, however, have something more of a grasp of the development of Islam and Islamic culture -- and the branches that Islam has taken.
This is oddly appropriate, as I'm trying to advise a young friend, entering her senior year of high school but with the grades for early decision, on potential schools. She is very much interested in studying Arabic, although she is reluctant to taking a job where she will live in the Middle East. I believe she is, however, going on one of those sponsored trips to Israel.
Fully recognizing I didn't have a career plan in my senior year of high school -- well, actually, I did, but I went in somewhat different directions, any suggestions on schools she should be considering would be welcome. She doesn't want to go too far from Massachusetts. She becomes hysterical at the mere suggestion of going to California, but, I suppose, that in its way, it is stranger than Lebanon.
--
Howard
*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" [George Santayana]
January 9, 2008 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm, unless she's a junior now, she's too late for ED. Aren't regular decision aps due this month?
January 9, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
California stranger than Lebanon? Have you been to either?
January 10, 2008 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, at last something we can agree upon Larry.
January 9, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Feel the love. Next thing you know we'll link arms and start singing Kumbayah. See? I'm a uniter, not a divider.
Best
LJ
January 9, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyway, glad to have you back--to what you do best--from the land of political screeds.
January 9, 2008 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very interesting! I assume that in previous administrations this type of idiocy was not practiced? I hope that is the case. At least we only have one more year to pass this on to history. Assuming, that a Democratic President will be elected in November - a dangerous assumption, but one widely made.
Isn't it ironic that a contributer here, with obvious expertise in this field, has been most active lately as a flack for one of the presidential campaigns?
Hoppy in Sacramento
January 9, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's ironic is a person purporting to contribute to a conversation who supplies only ad hominem attacks.
January 9, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmmm . . . .
~OGD~
January 10, 2008 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Islam??? I'm sorry, but the names mentioned in this sound like some global version of "Clue". Instead of Col. Mustard, we have Mr. Islam and Mr. England...
And this:
is priceless. But given what we've learned about conservative Republicans in the last year, I think you're underestimating the experience of the Oral Roberts University expert on fellatio and anal sex. Really.
More seriously, the loss of Mr. Coughlin sounds like a gain, doesn't it?
January 9, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're only now getting into right wing names? Geez...
Chain-E, the sadist. Rumsfeld the reckless pirate. The Rapacious Wolfowitz. The faithless Feith. Kristol the second rate whore. Ahmanson - Ahriman's (Satan) Son. The martial Armitage. The sinister Perle. Frum the hollow man. Mannish Colt-er. Treacherous Linda Tripp. The fanatical Ashcroft.
It's like they all stepped out of a third rate James Bond novel, shoving aside or accompanying characters like Pussygalore and Fuckyouptheass Killquick.
It's the weirdest thing, it gives your whole country this surreal unreal quality.
January 9, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Best phrase of the day, by far.
Love the list.
January 10, 2008 10:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
The military PowerPoint presentation on militant Islam makes much of the apparent exclusivity/rigidity of passages of text in the Holy Koran.
I cannot help but think of how the “I believe” part of my own Episcopalian liturgy would sound to a classroom full of young Muslim children who were being taught about Christian militancy:
“I Believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made: Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.”
(this is the 1661 version in our Book of Common Prayer)
None of us monotheists (Jews, Christians, or Muslims) sound very tolerant of other faiths when measured by our classic liturgy.
Most of us (Jews, Muslims, and Christians) are, in fact, hugely more tolerant than the literal reading of our scriptures might suggest.
Those who would assert their expertise about Muslims and their faith would do well to live amongst them for sufficient years to gain a close appreciation of the ways in which living their faith differs in meaningful and important ways from the literal reading of their texts.
Professor John Stuart Blackton
January 9, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I share your sentiment. A muslim bent on proving the imperialist objective of Christianity could do so by citing a few choice passages from the New Testament.
January 9, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
If our country (or any other) for that matter decides their policies (foreign, domestic, economic) are based on religion, we may as well cash it in.
If we don't stop the religious wars, the world will self-destruct because of the absurd idea that all true rewards are after death. As long as virginal muslim teenagers believe that they will get 70 virgins if they just blow up enough people; as long as self-righteous "christian" zealouts believe that 20-celled organisms are more valuable than 20 year-olds who have families and futures, but happen to be soldiers -- it is hopeless.
I disagree with this: "The root of all evil is the love of money."
I would substitute: "Religion and all other fake beliefs -- and their horrible jsutifications -- are the root of all evil."
Jan
January 9, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess after Jesus ascended the money-changers reentered the Temple and changed the security pass code. To paraphrase Peter Gabriel, we only worship a Big God.
January 10, 2008 6:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I would put the "love of money" within the broader category of "religion and all other fake beliefs". Those that worship money (or other material idols) can be as dangerously zealous as religious fanatics.
But I agree with your general sentiment, zealotry in whatever guise is the source of a heckuva a lot of ill.
January 10, 2008 7:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
-- Steven Weinberg
January 10, 2008 7:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
William Mitchell School of Law
That's not a second-tier law school. It's fourth-tier. Sometimes, it breaks into the third-tier. They specialize in street-level, no-nonsense, Minnesota state court law. They don't even teach Con-law to the first years because it is too hard. Sometimes it is refered to a law-trade school.
January 9, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I also find it stunning that we have presidential aspirants talking about staying in Iraq for 100 years, yet no one is even suggesting training our troops in Arabic, or even cross-training them in basic MP skills.
Imagine how outraged and combative we would be if every police officer in America patrolled the streets in full SWAT gear, and used SWAT tactics accordingly - your entire family ending up sitting in the dirt with one of those bags over their heads, hands zipped tied behind them, every time you so much as got a speeding ticket. Isn't that the approach we're practicing in Baghdad right now?
And yes, that PowerPoint presentation looked like a muddled mess. Still, this jihadist crap is coming from somewhere:
http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
I'd like to get your own, more nuanced analysis on where the root problem lies.
January 9, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just a few comments on that PPT slideshow.
Is this the level of presentation that gets circulated amongst the military community as information? I'm not going to comment on the design of it as such but is this thing seriously real or being taken as such? It looks like some conspiracy theorist hack project. Screenshots from the Matrix and the Kool-Aid guy clipart? Really? No this can't be real...
It's worded and slapped together like it was done by a very bored, very disturbed and completely talentless high school student pre rampage. And as such a part of me wants to think that this is some kind of crazy scam/low brow joke. But if what you're saying is true Larry, and this is being consumed within the military by serious people as serious information, then I'm really concerned about the quality of individuals within our military and government. Political leanings aside this thing just LOOKS fake. How can someone look at this and think it's real? I am looking at 3 spam emails right now that look more convincing and real than this thing - and these things are obvious spam.
Wow.
January 9, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I first came across this while working on a US military base last year. One of my colleagues flagged it to me because he believed it validated some of the things he thought we should be doing in Iraq. I was horrified and pointed out to him that this was base propaganda.
Unfortunately, this is viewed by many is some of our most highly skilled, highly classified units as an "accurate" summary of the threat.
January 9, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
You would be surprised at the skill level of supposedly smart people when it comes to this kind of thing. I see it all the time where I work because that's my job - turning third grade prose into something resembling professional communications.
January 10, 2008 7:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
US troops are getting their education re: Islam on the job in iraq. It doesn't matter what some Pentagon blowhard wants them to think. They're smarter than that.
January 9, 2008 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is stupidly akin to saying that the police are getting an education about African-Americans on the streets of Oakland.
January 9, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
...or that one could get an education re: Judaism on the streets of Hebron.
January 9, 2008 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Several weeks ago, I went to see a nurse practitioner who had spent some years in the military before going to the medical practice I deal with. She was easy to talk with and we talked about many things. It surprised me to hear her say that we went to war for the wrong reasons. But then she said we need to win the war because Muslims want to take over our government. Good grief.
January 9, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well she's obviously listening to conservative talk radio to and from work.
My 79 year old father struggling with dementia says the same thing, and he gets all his information from Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Fox news. Just recently he told me that all muslims want to kill all Americans, take over our country, our government, and are willing to blow themselves up to do it. If my father's medicine starts to work, he might actually snap out of it. But it's disturbing to hear this from the likes of that nurse practitioner. However, I suspect that people who aren't broad minded, or are not really trained in liberal arts, to simply rely on stuff they hear on the radio.
He that hath a trade, hath an estate - from Poor Richards Almanac - Benjamin Franklin
January 9, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It doesn't make sense. A administration proud of its stubborn stupidity, firing an incompetent? Why after almost eight years of promoting lackeys, why would they care now?
I think we need a congressional inquiry.
January 9, 2008 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is one of the lasting, fetid, festering legacies of Cheney / Bush -- people hired as full-time or contract employees in government departments, almost solely because they were 'loyal Bushies' or evangelical small-c christians.
Like Alito and Roberts, we'll have to endure these people doing everything they can to act against the interests of the People of the United States, from the protecion of a paid civil-service position.
January 9, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this guy related to Father Coughlin?
January 9, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
THE BALLAD OF THE POWER POINT RANGER
(sung to the tune of "The Green Beret")
Requests are made from day to day;
Briefings held and changes made.
Graphic slides, a must they say,
Power Point is the only way.
Computers crash and printers stall,
Overloading protocol.
Network's down and soldiers cry
Briefing's late, so heads will fly.
Pin Power Point slides upon my chest,
Full color slides, they look the best
100 slides were made that day
but only 10 made the final display.
Smiles upon the General's face
Slides were done, looked really great
Was up all night really working late,
Just to hear the General say ....
My soldier son, your slides were great,
Briefing's done, staff's up to date,
One problem son, you took too long,
So put in one more change, then go on home.
So tell my Mom I done my best,
Pin Power Point slides upon my chest
100 slides were made that day,
but only 10 made the final display.
--anon
January 9, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wars are not won by depending on PowerPoint presentations. Wars are won by getting the other side to depend on PowerPoint presentations. A covert operation is underway to parachute laptops and video projectors into the rougher areas of Pakistan.
--
Howard
*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" [George Santayana]
January 9, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is that show purportedly done by professional military personnel, or by amateur propagandists? I looked at the first 20 or so slides, and while I didn't count the number of exclamation points or primary colors, it sure looked like amateur work to me.
January 9, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Larry
I read this to say that this guy is not civil service but a contractor. Is that correct?
January 9, 2008 6:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently so. He may have worked at the Joint Staff for a period while on active duty. He's now out of the Reserve and was working as a contractor of some sort.
January 9, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tell me that creepily juvenile PP doesn't remind you of David Horowitz's Oscar-ready masterpiece on Islamofascism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpDsEGJcfXE
If both weren't so pathetically, sadly funny, the cross pollination of such rank sociopathic ignorance would be even more disturbing. At least we know what a Christianist military looks like, on power point anyways. What happens when they refine their game, though, and learn to dog whistle effectively? I shudder to think.
January 9, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Larry, you may need to rethink your O.R. analogy
January 9, 2008 8:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we're being unfair. He quite clearly states that some of his best friends are Muslims.
EDIT: Actually, after reading most of that, I can't even stomach my own joke.
It is almost understandable that inbred hicks living out of contact with the rest of humanity for eleven months in the year (except when they come to town to trade their women folk for tobacco and whiskey) might have this view of Islam, but for someone in Couglin's position...a part of me is hoping this is some horribly bad fake.
January 9, 2008 9:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Between the foaming at the mouth Christian Evangelicals taking over the Air Force and Army and the foaming at the mouth Zionist crazies taking over the State Department, we're in for one helluva dangerous ride.
The Christian Evangelicals claim the New Testament, especially the Book of Revelation, is their guide to world conquest. Their favorite fantasy involves the world being consumed in a nuclear war, while they skate off to heaven.
The Zionists claim that the Old Testament, is their guide to ME domination and anybody who gets in their god's way will be smote or smited big time. Using any and all means of death and destruction, 'cause their god says its OK to smack around us Goyim.
What in the hell has this country become? A nation of bordeline psychos who revel in dealing death and destruction to those the religious wackos deem "existential" enemies?
January 10, 2008 3:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
You would expect that in a war inside an Arab nation, that is predominantly Muslim, the Pentagon would hire renowned experts on the topics of Islam.
Under this administration, it seems more rational to expect the opposite, doesn't it? Heck of a job, Brownie . . .
January 10, 2008 3:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly.
If you hire people who understand Islam, they might get in the way of your irrational arguments for war.
And we can't have that, can we?
January 10, 2008 7:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
With experts, you learn facts. And in Bushworld, they create their own reality. Therefore, the facts get in the way of the reality. Don't you get it?
January 10, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
This was another memorable excerpt from Gertz piece:
"Blogs lit up with hundreds of postings, some suggesting that Mr. England's office is "penetrated" by the enemy in the war on terrorism."
The same blogs that find the name Sibel Edmonds unrepeatable? Anyhooooo, it surely can't be long before Fox pilots a new reality show, McCarthy Idol.
Also, being a regular pedant, note that Gertz refers to Coughlin as "the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism".
Not a specialist, but the specialist. Maybe it's wrong to read this much into the linguistic stylings of a Moonie Times journo, but it does jump off the page.
January 10, 2008 4:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bill Gertz is more of an administration stooge than Robert Novak. Not long before Kerry/Bush election day, Gertz wrote two front page stories in the Washington Times.
One story said that Saddam DID have WMD, but the Russians transported them to Syria before we invaded. On 10/28/04 Gertz reported;
The second story was the worst piece of bullshit who's purpose was political I may have ever read.
During the Kerry/Bush campaign for the Presidency, Chechnya and their war with Russian was constantly in the news.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Note the "wearing backpacks" reference.
Neither of these stories ever grew legs in any but the right wing noise machine.
January 10, 2008 8:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Enemies. Enemies everywhere, I say. Notice how in Wingnut land, the Russkies are helping our enemies and the their enemies, the Chechens, are also hurting us. The enemy of my enemy is also my enemy.
January 10, 2008 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Forces of Wingnuttery survive by living off the Enemy du jour supplied to them daily by the Republican party and the right wing noise machine of radio, blogs, FOX, and columnists.
Maybe I'm the only one who sees the irony of consevative radio, TV, internet, and print personalities ranting about the "liberal media."
So, Mr. and Mrs. America, the next time you tune in to the conservative media,
and Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Cal Thomas or George Will, etc. offer you your daily dose of bad news as they're rounding up the usual suspects; liberals, senior citizens, women, minorities, environmentalists, the lame, and the poor, as the 'enemy of the day', you can stand there like a ghost pointing an empty sleeve and smirking, or you can remember the words of Pogo:
"We has met the enemy and they is us."
January 10, 2008 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
What I love is that they are never wrong. Never. You just have too keep moving the goalposts. Iraq Disaster? Just wait 300 years and Bush will be proven right.
Limbaugh has been claiming that every positive economic indicator since 1981 is the result of the Reagan Tax Cuts.
January 10, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
heh heh heh, truly :-)
January 11, 2008 9:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's worded and slapped together like it was done by a very bored, very disturbed and completely talentless high school student pre rampage.
You better watch it, bub. Yer talkin' about United States Army Officers!
I wouldn't sell these guys short. Last week, one of them described his own death in retrospect! Let's see you do that: vigor mortis!
January 10, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. I have made myself read about half of the PP presentation. The level of ignorance is astonishing, but so is some unconscious irony.
Slides 177-180 are a series of questions about what Muhammad would do, and there are a few "judge not lest ye be judged" gems the Christan compiler included:
Have sex with a 9-year-old girl?
Advocate beheading?
Own slaves?
Approve of prostitution?
Extort money from other religions?
Force conversions to Islam?
Kill a woman?
Capture a woman and rape her?
Encourage the rape of women in front of their husbands?
Lie?
Enslave women and children?
Stone adulterers to death?
Steal?
Recommend wife beating?
Hit his own wife?
Kill prisoners of war?
Kill apostates?
I don't think that a lot of Christians of Muhammad's era would stack up very well to this checklist. The sixth century wasn't exactly an era of tolerance in the Christian world.
Altogether too many of these offenses have been approved of--if not codified--by "good" Christians over the centuries. There was probably not a lot of rank-and-file Christian approval for the Inquisitions, but that didn't keep the Christians in charge from burning so-called heretics, forcing conversions, and doing plenty of killing in the name of God.
Anyone with a decent grasp of Western history could come up with church-sanctioned instances of most of these checklist items.
This presentation's compiler has amply demonstrated a skewed and shaky grasp of history, but all he would need to do is read the newspaper to find current instances in our own society. Setting aside the deliberate blindness of the Catholic leadership regarding its priests' abuse of children, there are certainly too many "good" Christians today who would have to check "yes" about sex with children, supporting prostitution, supporting executions, lying, stealing, and wife-beating, if they were honest.
Thanks, Mr. Johnson, for giving readers access to this propaganda. I'm going to send the link to members of military.com*, which has a strong complement of intelligent, thoughtful, and reasonable contributors who will not only be appalled by this presentation but also might have connections in the military to do something about ending its propagation.
*I'm not a member, but I've been referred to some of its articles by a friend who is, and military.com exposes some pretty heavy waste and corruption issues, as well as some pervasive fundamentalist attitudes in contravention to established military codes.
I know a lot about art, but I don't know what I like.
January 10, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Facilitatrix,
You are wrong about this.
The difference is that when a Christian does these things he is violating his own theology and not imitating his savior, Jesus Christ.
When a devout Muslim does these things he is fulfilling his theology and imitating his prophet, Mohamed.
Read the Koran and the Hadith, it is all there.
One of the greatest mistakes that westerners make is imagining that everybody is just like them only different on the surface. This is chauvinist vanity. Muslims are not Christians who happen to follow Mohamed, there are substantial spiritual differences that lead to very different experiences of ethics and morality.
You can read it yourself if you care to.
Now some of the items are out of context or are discouraged by present day imams. The 9 year old girl thing refers to one of Mohammed's marriages, I doubt present day sharia condones it. The rest is not that controversial. We have seen it in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan and in Afghanistan. Egypt and North Africa are more genteel. Indonesian and Malaysia were the most 'tolerant' but the wahhabi puritans are changing that.
It's sad really.
January 10, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps true. Perhaps not. And either way of very questionable relevance.
With the greatest respect our factual knowledge about the practices of either Christ or Mohamed
is extraordinarly imperfect.And century long wars have been fought to try to resolve disputes about what they taught , or we now think they taught.
My reaction to the Pope's objection to stem cell research is completely unaffected by anything in the bible.
Ditto for the Koran and my reaction to Wahabi beheadings for adultry. And I've read that Shiism's position on doctrinal matters is that there is NO position on doctrinal matters which all must accept.So I have difficulty accepting any generalization about any particular Muslim behavior.
Period.
And even more so any generalization about particular behaviors that are the inevitable consequence of Mohamed's life or thought.
Certainly there are now and have always been
horrendous practices which are promoted ( and rejected) within each of these religions. And all others . And , ideas DO have consequences. Prior to Vatican II my sensible jesuit teachers were unambiguous that a Catholic State MUST not permit religious freedom: "Error can not be given equal standing with the truth".
Which didn't exactly aid in unifying Ireland.
And of course similar objectionable views are held today by Imans. And priests . and Rabbis. And will no doubt continue to be until the Second Coming occurs. Or doesn't.
To conclude with a more useful quote from my jesuit education the solution is to "hate the sin but not the sinner".
January 11, 2008 2:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
one of the points in the presentation that struck me was the repetative use of pictures. The visuals are emotive, scary, horrifying. But in the end the same pictures repeat in different orders and locations to make it look like a lot of bad guys. In reality there are just not that many, perhaps its just that ugly pictures of the bad guys are hard to come by, or more likely there are not enough of the nasty ones.
Give them the resources of the Pentagon photo library and media clips you would think that they could come up with more than one picture of Hamas masked gun men, or victim of shooting, or victim of bombing, or even more than one picture of the al quada leadership. perhaps i am just being pedantic but they could have done a better job on that, perhaps they just don't care or maybe those are all the really scary images that exist.
I was always told that a good presentation used either unique photos on each page or set them as a repeating background. just like the rest of the presentation its a bit second rate.
January 11, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink