My academic background is in mathematics, computer science, and music. My hobbies include surfing, beach volleyball, Christian apologetics, and debating in general.
I’m as anti-Islamist as you, but point of fact, Sirhan Sirhan was Christian, of the Jerusalem dhimmi Christians.
Comment
by
Scott |
February 7, 2007
Dear Joseph Nadir,
Hi there, how are things going lately? I noticed had a post up on the Jihadwatch blog which I followed to your personal site and thus wanted to discuss some things with you after seeing your own informative, well written blog.
I was a former occasional poster at jihadwatch, under name maxwell46&2; as a grad student I’ve been far too busy to post regularly but still check it on a daily basis. I’ve gotten a great education about not only Islam, but also about Middle Eastern history as taught before what Hugh aptly calls the “Great Inhibition”, and about the cultures of the different racial groups in the Islamic World. Though I do not at all thing they;re correct on everything regarding the Muslim World, nonetheless I’ve learned a huge deal from Robert, Hugh and the other posters, including yourself.
Given that you are an occasional poster, there are some things I had always wanted to know but never did get around to asking you. First off, where did you find out about Jihadwatch and when did you start writing about Islam in the first place? I found it by accident; one day i was searching Iraq war stories, came across Jihadwatch from an article they posted randomly, clicked on it and have been visiting it daily since. Did you find out the same way, or from word of mouth?
Also, how has your general view of muslims as a people changed since you started your blog and since you’ve been following Jihadwatch, assuming you’ve been following it regularly? I know critics of Islam at Jihadwatch and elsewhere, including Spencer, often insist Muslims should not be seen as a monolith and Islam should not either, and that he does not hate Islam but rather finds it fascinating, hence his years of studying it. Many posters at JW feel otherwise obviously-what about you? If you comne across, say, a Pakistani, Muslim Arab, Bangladeshi, Bosnian, Albanian, Indian Muslim, Iranian Shia or someone else who identifies him/herself as Muslim, whatr is your first reaction? Is it, what the hell are you thinking, why are you following this asinine cult? You give support to Al Qaeda and other terrorists simply by following Islam? Or is it more of an interest, as in, what exactly benevolent do they see in Islam and if they are good people, are they genuinely Muslim? And if not, what happens if they become so?
It’s indeed interesting that out of the 1.2 billion Muslims-which we must face is a huge number, there are many very smart, upstanding people in this group who look at the Quran, Hadith and Sira and see genuine beauty, wisdom and tolerance in it. Do you think it’s due to mental defficiency, actual brainwashing or self denial? Sijmply a radically different interpretation that sadly not enough Muslims follow? Or simply being severely misguided by Imams who may not understand as much as they think about Islamic texts? The best case scenario is that the interpretations of the Quran, as outlined in the blogging the Quran series on JW, are not the sole interpretatrion by Muslims.
I’m Interested in and response you may have; my email is of course listed above and anything you have to say about these issues can be send there and would be highly appreciated.
My academic background is in mathematics, computer science, and music. My hobbies include surfing, beach volleyball, Christian apologetics, and debating in general.
I’m as anti-Islamist as you, but point of fact, Sirhan Sirhan was Christian, of the Jerusalem dhimmi Christians.
Dear Joseph Nadir,
Hi there, how are things going lately? I noticed had a post up on the Jihadwatch blog which I followed to your personal site and thus wanted to discuss some things with you after seeing your own informative, well written blog.
I was a former occasional poster at jihadwatch, under name maxwell46&2; as a grad student I’ve been far too busy to post regularly but still check it on a daily basis. I’ve gotten a great education about not only Islam, but also about Middle Eastern history as taught before what Hugh aptly calls the “Great Inhibition”, and about the cultures of the different racial groups in the Islamic World. Though I do not at all thing they;re correct on everything regarding the Muslim World, nonetheless I’ve learned a huge deal from Robert, Hugh and the other posters, including yourself.
Given that you are an occasional poster, there are some things I had always wanted to know but never did get around to asking you. First off, where did you find out about Jihadwatch and when did you start writing about Islam in the first place? I found it by accident; one day i was searching Iraq war stories, came across Jihadwatch from an article they posted randomly, clicked on it and have been visiting it daily since. Did you find out the same way, or from word of mouth?
Also, how has your general view of muslims as a people changed since you started your blog and since you’ve been following Jihadwatch, assuming you’ve been following it regularly? I know critics of Islam at Jihadwatch and elsewhere, including Spencer, often insist Muslims should not be seen as a monolith and Islam should not either, and that he does not hate Islam but rather finds it fascinating, hence his years of studying it. Many posters at JW feel otherwise obviously-what about you? If you comne across, say, a Pakistani, Muslim Arab, Bangladeshi, Bosnian, Albanian, Indian Muslim, Iranian Shia or someone else who identifies him/herself as Muslim, whatr is your first reaction? Is it, what the hell are you thinking, why are you following this asinine cult? You give support to Al Qaeda and other terrorists simply by following Islam? Or is it more of an interest, as in, what exactly benevolent do they see in Islam and if they are good people, are they genuinely Muslim? And if not, what happens if they become so?
It’s indeed interesting that out of the 1.2 billion Muslims-which we must face is a huge number, there are many very smart, upstanding people in this group who look at the Quran, Hadith and Sira and see genuine beauty, wisdom and tolerance in it. Do you think it’s due to mental defficiency, actual brainwashing or self denial? Sijmply a radically different interpretation that sadly not enough Muslims follow? Or simply being severely misguided by Imams who may not understand as much as they think about Islamic texts? The best case scenario is that the interpretations of the Quran, as outlined in the blogging the Quran series on JW, are not the sole interpretatrion by Muslims.
I’m Interested in and response you may have; my email is of course listed above and anything you have to say about these issues can be send there and would be highly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Maxwell1313