Violence And Islam

Is Islam violent? Per Nick Kristof, the proof of the pudding is in the comparison of thousand year old recipes.

As a bonus Times readers get a sanctimonious lecture on not being haters.

I encourage Times readers to approach reality very slowly. For example, this Pew Research polling is presented with just the right spin:

In nations with significant Muslim populations, much disdain for ISIS

"Much" disdain? Put that in the "Mostly dead is partly alive" file:

One exception was Pakistan, where a majority offered no definite opinion of ISIS. The nationally representative surveys were conducted as part of the Pew Research Center’s annual global poll in April and May this year.

In no country surveyed did more than 15% of the population show favorable attitudes toward Islamic State.

Oh, so no more than 15% have a positive view of YouTubed beheadings, burning, execution of Christians, executions of Muslims... good to know.

To hold the percentages down they aggregate Christian and Musliim responses in countries like Nigeria in the main chart. Later on the data get more grim:

In Nigeria, there was somewhat more support for ISIS (14% favorable) compared with other countries, but attitudes differed sharply by religious affiliation. An overwhelming number of Nigerian Christians (71%) had an unfavorable view of ISIS, as did 61% of Nigerian Muslims. However, 20% of Nigerian Muslims had a favorable view of ISIS when the poll was conducted in the spring of this year.

From a different perspective, we might note that Muslims have been battling Hindus in Kashmir for my entire life. That have been battling Jews in Israel my entire life. Muslims have been hijacking Western airliners, arguably Christian, and engaging in other anti-Christian hostility since the 1970's. Is there a common theme?

And Muslim attitudes towards the separation of church and state? Not quite up to contemporary Western norms:

Overwhelming percentages of Muslims in many countries want Islamic law (sharia) to be the official law of the land, according to a worldwide survey by the Pew Research Center. But many supporters of sharia say it should apply only to their country’s Muslim population.

Moreover, Muslims are not equally comfortable with all aspects of sharia: While most favor using religious law in family and property disputes, fewer support the application of severe punishments – such as whippings or cutting off hands – in criminal cases. The survey also shows that Muslims differ widely in how they interpret certain aspects of sharia, including whether divorce and family planning are morally acceptable.

Obviously, polls and averages can't identify what is in any one person's heart, so generalizations and stereotyping from this is problematic. However, it might give one pause before blithely insisting that there are no issues whatsoever with integrating Muslims into a modern Western society and anyone who thinks otherwise is a hater.

Whatever. Can't let tedious data interrupt Mr. Kristof's sermon.

 

Comments

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Golden State's streak is over unsurprisingly on the second night of back to back games on the road. Plus they're a bit banged up. Still a remarkable achievement and a lot more interesting than more ignorant crap from the NYT.

[Sandy Daze]

YCSTA: "... more ignorant cap from the NYC..."

[jimmyk on iPad]

Did the NYT get taken over by Salon? It's hard to tell the difference any more.

[peter]

and of course the Slimes lead week in review story is how much hate their is on the internet on the basis of google search terms. No mention of how many searches for child porn in Mohammedan countries. I wish the New York Sun were still selling print edition.

[James D.]

Via insty...fundraising for cancer patients is now a microaggression:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428400/student-protesters-cancer-fundraiser-microaggression-kansas

The only appropriate response to the BLM idiots is a simple two word phrase and then a call to the police to have them removed from wherever they're trespassing at the moment.

[jimmyk]

There's also this from their editorial page:

Could there be anything less controversial than denying gun purchases to people on the terrorist watch list? Yet Republicans prefer to express concern about “due process” for gun purchasers even as they propose blanket bans on Islamic refugees.

Putting due process in scare quotes. Such a quaint concept.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

From a thread or two back;

"The Not So Secret Plan to Nominate Mitt."

What kind of party, when faced with a boisterous primary process, looks deep within its soul and in order to tamp down the boisterousness seeks to nominate the last guy to LOSE an election for them?
The Stupid Party; that's what kind.
Why not draft the ghost of Harold Stassen?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Could there be anything less controversial than denying gun purchases to people on the terrorist watch list? Yet Republicans prefer to express concern about “due process” for gun purchasers even as they propose blanket bans on Islamic refugees.--

Occasionally a real gem defining the differences between the two countries we have become pops up for all to see.
The rule of law and the security of our nation are not just of no concern to them anymore, they are now actively ridiculed.
And whatever harebrained statist scheme a la mode they conjure up is presumed to be utterly uncontroversial even if the entire country is embroiled in a bitter controversy over it.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Somebody needs to inform the Slimes that immigrants have no right to come here and that citizens do have the right to own guns. Didn't any of those goofs take a Civics class?

[jimmyk]

Wondering when the last time someone who lost in the general election came back and won the next time. I think Nixon's the only one since at least 1900 who lost a general and was later elected, and that was 8 years later (and the one he lost was incredibly close and possibly stolen). On the other hand, there are lots of examples of repeat losers: Stevenson, Bryan, Thomas Dewey, etc.

[jimmyk]

In case it wasn't clear my 10:16 was referring to the boneheaded notion that Romney's the one.

[Old Lurker]

Nixon two runs were on either side of the impact of TV. He learned it matters.

Those others, and Romney...they learn nuthin.

[Janet]

concern about “due process” for gun purchasers even as they propose blanket bans on Islamic refugees.

Apparently they can't differentiate between Americans & citizens of other countries.

[buccaneer morgan]

There are no civics.

[Miss Marple 2]

I actually read Kristof's article with his carefully selected excerpts from the Bible and the Koran.

Missing from his little lecture are the following concepts:

1. Much of the violence in the Old Testament is an historical account, not a recommendation for current behavior.

2. Christians see the New Testament as a fulfillment of the Old Testament's promise.

3. Christians and Jews do not demand that the State enforce their doctrine.

4. Christians and Jews do not have a subset which advocates conversion at the point of a sword.

[buccaneer morgan]

Great pieces clarice.

[Thomas Collins]

Plan Mittster only works with a deadlock. It looks to me as if Cruz or Rubio will have this nomination locked up by the convention. Plus, if Trumpster wins neither Iowa nor NH, which I think is likely to be the case, fear among the RINO portion of the GOP of a Trumpster nomination will dissipate. If Trumpster does win Iowa and New Hampshire, however, RINO World would go Full Mittster.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--1. Much of the violence in the Old Testament is an historical account, not a recommendation for current behavior.--

The violence that was recommended by God was to prevent the Jews from being absorbed by the stronger surrounding tribes which would have led to their extinction. The Jews were also called to allow the stranger into their camp to become a Jew if they so chose.
There was never a call for forcible conversion.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Who do you think will win NH, if not Trump, TC?

[Miss Marple 2]

I think Trump has a good chance of coming in second in Iowa.

Since that evangelical leader (whose name I can't spell) endorsed Cruz, Trump will get all the non-evangelicals plus new voters who like Trump enough to go to the caucuses. In this case, his organization might get him to #2 after Cruz, since he has a pretty good guy in charge of that in Iowa.

New Hampshire is an open primary. I think Trump will win it using his base of support plus dem voters who elect to vote for Trump as opposed to endorsing Red Witch. (This is how McCain won it in 2000.)

[Thomas Collins]

CH, I enjoy watching Curry, but I think some of the sports commentators have gone irrationally exuberant over Steph. Before I start talking about a roundballer in the same breath as the likes of Wilt the Stilt, Russ, West, Big O, Kareem, LeBron, Bird, DrJ, Baylor, Shaq or Jordan, he had better be at the top for at least a decade.

[Thomas Collins]

I think Cruz wins Iowa and Rubio wins NH, Ignatz.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/forget-hitler-lets-compare-trump-to-hillary/

[Thomas Collins]

By the way, if Trumpster does cause a deadlocked convention, I think the GOP turning to Mittster, as opposed to Rubio or Cruz, would be a maximum mistake.

[rse]

TC-I just hope steph stays nice with all that fame and fortune. Red and I met him after an exhibition game just after he had gone pro when an alumni group arranged for tickets. He came after the game and said hello and shook the hand of anyone who turned out.

That genuine kindness is what Red remembers now that he has garnered so much press.

Happy belated birthday iggy. Not sure I have posted in several days.

Tis the season to be distracted. Plus, unlike at mm's house, I do make more and more of the food each year for holidays at my parents' house.

[Jane]

Every Sunday show that I've seen is talking about Trump non-stop.

Cruz is #1 in Iowa, but it's all about Trump.

Trump trump trump trump trump.

How boring.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I went to TK's excellent Cashill link and there's some dude using my exact Lemay photo as an avatar. I may have to do something about that.

[squaredance]

Oh they can well tell the difference between Americans and "citizens of other countries".

One is the enemy and the other is at the very least a tool--if they are lucky they are allies.

Guess which way that breaks.

I hope you are being ironic here because, honestly, if you have not figured it out by now that the Left and their Party hate the USA, and hate normal Americans, particularly the white one, then you do not understand what is going on.

The Left wants the destruction of the USA. Period. They mean it. They are playing for keeps. They are well on their way completing their project.

And remember, they have nothing to replace what they destroy. They may think they do, they may think that they can retain power, but what will follow the destruction of the Republic will be chaos that will quickly eclipse any tyranny they have planned. No matter what happens their agenda is doomed as it is nothing but insanity. But no matter: as the fall of America reverberates around the world we will see a sort of high tech dark age descend on us. We may even have (open) foreign rulers. We may have war on our soil.

These people are not really all that talented, or even that intelligent, not in the broader sense. They have just figured out how to game the system and manipulate the good will of the average American. They are merely clever in pursuing power and destruction. They are essentially immoral and deceitful parasites. It is they who run this country and control almost all of its crucial institutions.

We are facing the greatest existential threat we have ever faced, and it is almost entirely home grown. Yes in some measure, there are foreign actors, paymasters and puppeteers, but they would never get this fare without a corrupt, venial and irresponsible "ruling class".

The Democrats lead the charge but the Establishment GOP are in the van.

It races towards a conclusion.

People should not be grousing about people like Trump; they should be asking themselves what happens should the establishment silence those who respond to his message.

We are very close to the collapse of legitimate government in the USA. We are very close to the point of no return so far as retaining our culture and our civilization.

The fact that Obama is off pontificating in Paris about a wholly imaginary threat--and he knows that is it so, BTW--while at the same time threatening basic rights is response to attacks on US citizens on US soil should tell you every thing you need to know about our "rulers".

Quite literally, this cannot go on this way for very long. What happens where there is no longer a viable and legitimate political option?

[JMHanes]

jimmyk:

"Did the NYT get taken over by Salon? It's hard to tell the difference any more."

As a matter of fact, per Janet's link to the Times' Editorial Board, their Culture Editor does, in fact, hail from Salon, and their new SCOTUS/Legal guy, Jesse Wegman, has hit a veritable litany of lefty bases.

Love the faux outrage about No-Fly-List gun buying from the folks who want to make sure felons get to vote.

[rse]

Anyone have any insights on why PJ Media is running such a false puff propaganda piece on the new federal K-12 legislation? https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2015/12/12/congress-scraps-no-child-left-behind-meet-essa

Maybe Bill Straub hopes to get a job working for Lamar Alexander or something?

Heritage and the Manhattan Institute are also putting out comparable, let's just take Lamar's talking points at face value, approaches.

[rse]

SQ-just remember the pet phrase in the confiscatory legislation is always the alliterative "bicameral and bipartisan" although the order sometimes varies.

I thought it was horrible no one would even talk about WIOA. Now we have ESSA as one huge behavioral science on our youngest intrusion and so much of the supposedly conservative media has made no attempt to read what they are writing about.

[Cecil Turner]

If I had to point Kristof to an appropriate religious text, it'd probably be this one:

Ye shall know them by their fruits.

(And I'm really not interested in entertaining "no true Scotsman/Mohammedan" arguments.)

[jimmyk]

if you have not figured it out by now that the Left and their Party hate the USA

If you've been reading here regularly you would know that is the consensus view.

[clarice]

Let's drop Kristof into Malmo Sweden or Gaza or a French Banlieu wearing a yarmulka and let him tell us how it went.

[jimmyk]

And whatever harebrained statist scheme a la mode they conjure up is presumed to be utterly uncontroversial

I may have linked this already, but it's worth linking again. The LATimes, as lefty as it is, seems relatively grown-up compared to the increasingly ridiculous NYT.

[T]he vast majority [on the watch list] are noncitizens living overseas; the number of American citizens on the list is believed to be fewer than 10,000 people.

That's important because federal law already bars gun sales to most people who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents or holders of valid visas, which means the vast majority of the people on the suspected terror list would already be barred from buying a firearm in the U.S. even without Feinstein's law. That leaves us with about 10,000 American citizens (and some legal residents) who, under the proposed law, would be barred from exercising a constitutional right. That gives us pause....

[T]his page disagrees with the Supreme Court's 2008 ruling that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual the right to own a gun. But that is a recognized right, and we find it dangerous ground to let the government restrict the exercise of a right based on mere suspicion.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-terrorist-watch-list-20151207-story.html

[squaredance]

No, I do not know that--not at all. That is just my point. There are some here that think that it is a question of suasion and the usual ebb and flow of American politics. There are quite a few here that most manifestly do not understand. They think that the Nomenklatura are pampered fools who can be dealt with by an election or two.

This is not the case at all.

You need to ask yourself what happens if the democrats succeed in importing enough illegals to take the next election? What happens then?

[JMHanes]

squaredance:

What means are you suggesting to pull us back from the brink?

[boris]

"There are quite a few here that ..."

... expect in the not too distant future the ride is going to get very bumpy. When that happens there might not be enough like us here to make much of a difference.

To the extent that difference can eventuate it will likely require intelligence, guns, ammo, and lawyers.

On that score I think we're about as good as it makes sense to be.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--There are some here that think that it is a question of suasion and the usual ebb and flow of American politics. There are quite a few here that most manifestly do not understand. They think that the Nomenklatura are pampered fools who can be dealt with by an election or two.--

There may or may not be one or two here who believe that. And there are a few who believe as you seem to that we are definitely beyond the tipping point, although at times you seem to hold out the possibility of a political solution.

I think the vast majority here hold the seemingly sensible position that the trends are very bad, but also know that trends very seldom continue in a predictable manner. One would hardly have guessed the black vote would be 95+% Dem when just a few generations ago it was solidly Republican.

None of us know what the future holds and when things look worst I am ready to conclude an insurrection/civil war/chaos or a fascist state of some sort is inevitable. But the nation's capital was burnt in 1814 and the entire country torn in two in 1860 and it flourished after both, so a little perspective and circumspection about the inevitability of the trends we see doesn't hurt.

[Janet]

then you do not understand what is going on.

That's me...gullible & doesn't know what is going on.

[Jojo]

it will require leadership, that's been the missing ingredient

[glasater]

As Monica Crowley points out, Islam is a political philosophy with religious overtones. It's control of the individual just as progressivism is. No freedom of choice.

In other news.. ISIS isn't as smart as we believe it to be.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

It will require grassroots leadership not top down. That has been the missing ingredient and that is why the left and the GOPe hate the Tea Party and the NRA and guys like Trump and Cruz.

[daddy]

Kristof left off a few Questions on his Religion Quiz:

1) Which Newspaper makes their Religion Editor whoever sleeps with Ben Bradley?

2) Which Network has to interrupt and remind the President that he's a Christian when the President says he's a Muslim?

3) Which Religion's Sacred Text tells it's adherents that it's enemies are Jews, Christians, Pagan's, Infidels, and unBelievers?

4) Which Religion's Sacred Text tells its adherents that they will go to Paradise if they die while fighting against Jews, Christians, Pagan's, Infidels, and unBelievers?

5) Which Network told us that the San Bernadino Islamic Terrorist might have murdered innocent non-Mulims because of PostPartum Pregnancy Depression?

6) Which Newspaper told us that one of the victims murdered by the Islamic Terrorist was a "hate filled bigot", who because of that "bigotry" was equivalent in guilt to the Islamic Terrorist who murdered him?