The dirty little secret of Christianity is that we oppose blasphemy and idolatry, too. This is derived from three ancient and unpopular commandments not to have any gods before Him, not to make any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, and finally, not take the name of the LORD God in vain.
Look at that! We don't approve of people trashing God's name.
But Yahoo! doesn't have a rule prohibiting the use of that precious Name in Yahoo! email addresses.
They did for Allah's name, though.
The ban has been lifted, but if this story doesn’t leave you spinning from the company’s clear deference to Islam, then I have to wonder if you really understand the word bias.
H/T The Corner.
Look at that! We don't approve of people trashing God's name.
But Yahoo! doesn't have a rule prohibiting the use of that precious Name in Yahoo! email addresses.
They did for Allah's name, though.
The ban has been lifted, but if this story doesn’t leave you spinning from the company’s clear deference to Islam, then I have to wonder if you really understand the word bias.
H/T The Corner.
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3 Comments:
See, girlfriend, that's because WE are held to higher standards than THEY are. Christians are supposed to be tolerant, wonderful people who restrain our tempers when our religion is trashed and work to understand through "dialogue" with people who hate us. Non-Christians must have their sensibilities catered to because they are often minorities or people of color or come from some Third World cesspool that nonetheless has a proud heritage of..blah blah blah.
What it all works out to is this: WE are assumed to be able to take the harrassment and the insults because we rise above such things. THEY are assumed either to be consumed with rage or have significant cultural differences that makes their world view different from our own (but just as worthy of respect), so their angers, quirks and outrages must be placated.
Obviously, our "elites" are behaving like condescending, supercillious twits, not truly believing that those poor, benighted wogs will adopt a civilized and enlightened attitude about anything, really. And that sort of expectation inevitably leads to license for further outrages.
The more "the White Man's Burden" changes, the more it remains the same...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I'm struggling to understand how much of your first paragraph is tongue in cheek.
If I understand you, you're saying what's really going on is a subtle kind of racism, a nasty deference that says "We assume you're going to doing something naughty because you're ______ so we're going to lead by following." Like a parent who thinks placating and nagging are the way to win battles.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
gf, my first 'graph was not tongue in cheek at all. The simple truth is that it is not racism so much as it is elitism, and it is not subtle; it is a elitism of tiny expectations. Our "leaders" do not expect Muslims, for example, to behave as anything other than bloodthirsty, ignorant louts who must be watched and talked down from the ledge before they blow themselves (and everyone else in a nine mile radius) to shreds. Since that's what they're looking for, that's pretty much what they get. You have to be willing to hold people to high standards and not give them a mulligan because they were born in a tent or a ghetto. Understand their journey, yes; forgive their errors, yes; but rationalize their behavior? Do it, and you're installing paving blocks on that road to Hell.
It is precisely the same attitude that says that we must furnish our young chuckleheads with condoms because they are too ruled by their hormones to have any self control at all.
If you make a policy of forgiving anything,you find yourself condoning everything.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
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