etee's Blog

I have grown wary (and weary) of the trolls I run across online, especially (but not only) over at the Houston Chronicle. In fact, I tend to avoid even looking at the comments on the stories, as too much of that type of stuff tends to dirty one's soul (and why would one voluntarily go wading in an open sewer, anyway?) However, I do tend to read some of the blog comments (after all, blogs are supposed to be about a conversation, right?), though I try not to respond to the trolls and their inflammatory comments (I'll admit, I do not have a perfect record in this regard. Sometimes, the inner snark just demands to be let out to play.)

This past week, however, I came across a comment I couldn't let go unchallenged. In a post titled Islam or Culture? over at Houston Belief, someone who goes by the moniker of "carpenter" made the following comment:

Islam in the US is the "PG" version of Islam worldwide. I will kill and die before I will see Sharia law become a reality in the US.

To which I made a rather longish response, which you can read by clicking right here. Later, blogger Ruth Nasrullah devoted an entire post to this comment, giving her perspective and asking "carpenter" to explain why he felt such a comment was necessary, as well as answer the following questions:

Whom are you willing to kill? Why do you think you would have to die?

I thought I would provide my perspective to her questions over here, as I will have more room to explain. Also, because I can be as snarky as I wish.

This country was founded because of men and women who put their "lives and sacred honor" on the line, committing what was seen by some as an act of the highest treason, be declaring their intent to break away from England and form a new country. This did require a willingness to both kill and, if need be, to die. I suspect that "carpenter" was attempting to tap into that paradigm, seeing his opposition to "Sharia law" as a modern day counterpart to the Founding Fathers' opposition to the excesses of King George. This type of statement, as extreme as it sounds, fits perfectly in with the current level of political discourse in our country. It also appears to be a reference to the "culture war" taking place inside the heads of some kooks and loonies.

As to "whom he is willing to kill" - while that would appear to be aimed at those whom he thinks would attempt to impose "Sharia law" on him, in reality it probably refers to both everybody and nobody. "Everybody" who might threaten his way of life (or accidentally be in the wrong place at the wrong time): "nobody" because this type of bravado often masks an unwillingness to actually commit such an act (some might call that "cowardice".) It is certainly a cause for concern, because loonies and kooks folks in this state of mind sometimes act rashly, and as I noted innocent bystanders might get hurt when they do.

As to the "dying" bit: again, I suspect this is rhetoric and bravado speaking. Though, depending on where one were to commit the "killing" part, the "dying" part might be a consequence imposed by ones peers (in the form of a jury, or an armed bystander who decided to intervene and put a stop to all this "killing" nonsense.)

Now, for the other shoe (there's always the other shoe, isn't there?) As I read Ruth's post, I was struck by the incongruent nature of the position "carpenter" and those like him have taken, represented in his comment. Many "evangelical conservative Christians" are actively working to impose "God's Will" (as they see it) on the rest of society through political channels: you can see this at work in efforts to make abortion illegal (again), to prevent same-sex marriage (or the extension of civil rights to LGBT members of society) from ever becoming legal, in their opposition to any form of sex education other than "abstinence-only", even in their efforts to require that their Biblical beliefs (in the form of "Intelligent Design") be taught as "science".

In other words, one of their desired outcomes of the "Culture War" is the imposition of their version of "Sharia law" on the rest of US.

Can you say "rank hypocrisy"? I knew you could...

Hey, "carpenter" - care to comment?