The following is an OP/ED in response to one government official who spoke at a press conference after the sentence responding to his "apology".
Boston bomber victims spoke after his death sentence responding to his apology. One government official pulled that same nasty politically correct dodge in the press conference with "Islam is a religion of peace".......Meaning he didn't represent "true Islam"........ Now again, this is what I hate about my well intended liberal friends on the left.
This is what is called "The true Scotsman fallacy". How we wish others would behave does not change the positions they hold. This applies to ALL labels. A Mormon and Baptist and Catholic still believe in the same God of Abraham. A liberal southern black Baptist still believes in the same Jesus as a white GOP baptist.
The same can be said with the word "atheist" too. No it is not a religion, but you can have one atheist who supports the likes of Ayn Rand, and yet another who supports the likes of Che. You can have atheists who love guns, and others who hate guns. But even with those differences, the common position still remains "off" on god claims.
I do not disagree with someone saying "Most Muslims are peaceful", that isn't because they are Muslims, but because most humans have empathy. Having said that, it is still a false argument to make. It isn't a matter of "most dont", you are still talking about a big enough minority of that region of the world holding it hostage to prevent reform. It only takes just enough obstruction and old thinking to hinder progress and it does not have to be the majority doing it.
Liberals really do a disservice to humanity and progress by falling for this argument, all be it well intended, it is misguided. Political correctness is exactly what fundamentalists want, in every religion. We can see this even in the west with right wing Christianity. When they cant outright push their religious laws on others, they cry victim when the reality is they are the bullies.
It is extremely important for liberals, especially liberal theists, but PC atheists as well, to understand that both left and right are using the exact same books to come to different conclusions as to what constitutes morality. The books contain the same words and characters and heros. Without the ability to scrutinize religion we prevent progress. Humans have rights, ideas as claims should never get a blind pedestal. If we expect the east to become more modern and pluralistic, liberals cannot allow religion to hide behind political correctness.
And yes if someone wants to call me "obsessed" go ahead, but context matters, and you will not get away with falsely accusing me of "obsessed" to paint me as the same as say a Christian or Islamic fundamentalist. Yes I am "obsessed" with conveying the importance of scrutiny of claims. If our species never questioned social norms our species never would have left the caves. Humans have rights, ideas as claims do not deserve a blind pedestal.
Boston bomber victims spoke after his death sentence responding to his apology. One government official pulled that same nasty politically correct dodge in the press conference with "Islam is a religion of peace".......Meaning he didn't represent "true Islam"........ Now again, this is what I hate about my well intended liberal friends on the left.
This is what is called "The true Scotsman fallacy". How we wish others would behave does not change the positions they hold. This applies to ALL labels. A Mormon and Baptist and Catholic still believe in the same God of Abraham. A liberal southern black Baptist still believes in the same Jesus as a white GOP baptist.
The same can be said with the word "atheist" too. No it is not a religion, but you can have one atheist who supports the likes of Ayn Rand, and yet another who supports the likes of Che. You can have atheists who love guns, and others who hate guns. But even with those differences, the common position still remains "off" on god claims.
I do not disagree with someone saying "Most Muslims are peaceful", that isn't because they are Muslims, but because most humans have empathy. Having said that, it is still a false argument to make. It isn't a matter of "most dont", you are still talking about a big enough minority of that region of the world holding it hostage to prevent reform. It only takes just enough obstruction and old thinking to hinder progress and it does not have to be the majority doing it.
Liberals really do a disservice to humanity and progress by falling for this argument, all be it well intended, it is misguided. Political correctness is exactly what fundamentalists want, in every religion. We can see this even in the west with right wing Christianity. When they cant outright push their religious laws on others, they cry victim when the reality is they are the bullies.
It is extremely important for liberals, especially liberal theists, but PC atheists as well, to understand that both left and right are using the exact same books to come to different conclusions as to what constitutes morality. The books contain the same words and characters and heros. Without the ability to scrutinize religion we prevent progress. Humans have rights, ideas as claims should never get a blind pedestal. If we expect the east to become more modern and pluralistic, liberals cannot allow religion to hide behind political correctness.
And yes if someone wants to call me "obsessed" go ahead, but context matters, and you will not get away with falsely accusing me of "obsessed" to paint me as the same as say a Christian or Islamic fundamentalist. Yes I am "obsessed" with conveying the importance of scrutiny of claims. If our species never questioned social norms our species never would have left the caves. Humans have rights, ideas as claims do not deserve a blind pedestal.
