[Reader-list] 'Going Muslim' - America after Fort Hood.

[Rahul Asthana]

Hi Shuddha,
Could you please elaborate how you reached this conclusion?

"I find this entire discussion on the relative proximity of particular 
religions to violence, utterly, utterly pointless. It neither helps 
us understand violence, nor does it help us understand religion."

Thanks

Rahul

--- On Wed, 11/18/09, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:

> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Going Muslim' - America after Fort Hood.
> To: "yasir ~يا سر" <yasir.media at gmail.com>
> Cc: "Sarai Reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 10:18 PM
> Dear all,
> 
> The last that I remember, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who openly
> supported  
> nationalist terrorism in British India, also wrote a
> commentary on  
> the Bhagavad Gita. You might find his thoughts on the cult
> of the  
> bomb, quite interesting. In his day, he was as reviled as
> Osama Bin  
> Laden by people writing editorials in London.
> 
> Many of those who opposed British Rule in India, did so
> with the  
> message of the holy war, ordained by their understanding of
> the Gita,  
> as their inspiration. Naturally, we should assume,
> following  
> Kshmendra;s logic, ( - 'the best (or worst) thing about
> stereotypes  
> (and cliches) is that they fit so often') that the image of
> the  
> fanatical Hindu terrorist with a bomb in one hand and the
> Gita in  
> another is an arresting and authentic way for us to
> understand Hinduism.
> 
> I don't think that this is the most intelligent way to talk
> about the  
> Hindu ways of life, but if you subscribe to an Islamophobic
> view of  
> the world, then, you might as well also subscribe to a
> Hindu-hating,  
> Christian-bashing, Jew-baiting view of the world as well.
> 
> And of course, if you take into account the well
> documented  
> complicity of Zen Buddhist orders in war crimes committed
> by the  
> Japanese military in the second world war, then you might
> even be a  
> Buddha-basher as well. Why leave anyone out?
> 
> I find this entire discussion on the relative proximity of
> particular  
> religions to violence, utterly, utterly pointless. It
> neither helps  
> us understand violence, nor does it help us understand
> religion.
> 
> regards,
> 
> Shuddha
> 
> 
> 
> On 15-Nov-09, at 5:00 PM, yasir ~يا سر wrote:
> 
> > Dear KK,
> >
> > Following your logic, I have al-qaeda connections,
> which i have.  
> > nice fit.
> > needless to say, I say allah ho akbar quite often.
> >
> > secondly it wasn't important what Mc Veigh was saying.
> It was  
> > announced on
> > the media channels that middle eastern folk had
> brought down the  FBI
> > building. whether McVeigh liked shish kabob or got
> trained by  
> > christian
> > militias in lebanon, i dont know. but certainly he was
> against the US
> > government, like the other christian militias in the
> US at the  
> > time, and FBI
> > and its operations against religious groups in
> particular, among  
> > which the
> > Waco, Texas massacre stood out.
> >
> > so certainly by pointing out that he was agnostic, one
> can overlook  
> > at why
> > the FBI got bombed in the first place. so US actions
> in Iraq should  
> > justify
> > al-qaeda and this killing spree in Fort Hodd, but no.
> >
> > there's also this very american rant:
> > http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/american_muslims_to_fort
> >
> > this is the wrong discussion to have. What is the US
> doing in  
> > Afghanistan
> > and Iraq is the right discussion.
> >
> > best
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 6:59 PM, Kshmendra Kaul 
> 
> > <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:
> >
> >>  Dear Yasir
> >>
> >> The best (or worst) thing about stereotypes (and
> cliches) is that  
> >> they fit
> >> so often.
> >>
> >> It is easy to dismiss with a "bs" (presumably
> Bullshit) without  
> >> pondering
> >> over possibilities. It shows being in a state of
> denial and not a  
> >> plausible
> >> one at that.
> >>
> >> It is early days and we now have reports of Hasan
> having been in  
> >> touch with
> >> Radical Islamists; of Hasan having financial
> transactions with  
> >> Pakistan; of
> >> Hasan  in his business card calling himself
> "SoA" (Soldier of  
> >> Allah). Media
> >> concoctions? Dont know. But certainly are bits and
> pieces that  
> >> might just be
> >> innocent coincidences but makes you wonder.
> >>
> >> Then of course, all this might be an
> American-Israeli-Indian  
> >> conspiracy.
> >>
> >> It is interesting that you should mention Tim
> McVeigh and the  
> >> Oklahoma
> >> Bombing. As far as I know, McVeigh did not claim
> it as a strike by a
> >> Christian (if McVeigh was one) against
> Non-Christians.
> >>
> >> As per one report McVeigh proclaimed himself an
> agnostic. See:
> >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jun/11/mcveigh.usa4
> >>
> >>
> >> Kshmendra
> >>
> >>
> >> --- On *Fri, 11/13/09, yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>* 
> 
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> From: yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
> >>
> >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Going Muslim' -
> America after Fort Hood.
> >> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> >> Date: Friday, November 13, 2009, 12:46 PM
> >>
> >> what a stinking piece of hate this article is.
> >> an exercise in how to make full use of the worst
> stereotypes.
> >>
> >> this is just postal. rest is bs. pc or no pc.
> >>
> >> the FBI building in Oklahoma wasnt bombed by
> postal workers
> >> I'll take it as a sorting mistake.
> >>
> >> best
> >>
> >>
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> 
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> Raqs Media Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
> 
> 
> _________________________________________
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> city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
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