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March 03, 2005
the mouse and the elephant
The problem with moral equivalency arguments is that they are not really designed to facilitate critical thinking but to stop it. It's as if in a debate on the unsuitability of having an elephant as a pet someone pipes up ...
"But what about a mouse? If an elephant is unsuitable you certainly can't have a mouse for a pet either. I mean, they are both mammals, with eyes, four legs, a tail, breathe air, have ears, eat plant materials...why you can't condemn the elephant and not condemn the mouse!"
Such is not meant to be helpful but meant to divert the discussion, if not shut it down. Usually because people of good will then go off on the tangent and focus on the mouse thereby dropping the ball on the examination of the elephant.
This argument is used often when ever the subject of Islamism and Islamic terrorism comes up. Get into a discussion of the ideology of radical Islam and start examining the phenomenom that while not all moslems are terrorists, almost all contemporary terrorism is Islamic in origin and soon someone will bring up Christian "terrorism." Point out 9/11/01 and someone will say "what about blowing up an abortion clinic?" Discuss the theocratic regimes of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Taliban, et al, and someone will counter, "But what about those that want a Christian theocracy?" And thus the thrust of the discussion will focus on Christian "terrorists" and wannabe "theocrats."
Let me be clear. I don't discount that there are people who have taken their beliefs into fanaticism, and that includes Christians. Heck, for any belief under the sun one can gather a group to follow. From Jim Jones to the group near San Diego that committed suicide in order to hitch a ride on the comet Hale-Bopp, "think it up, they will follow."
But there the equivalency of Christianity (or Judaism) to Islamism stops.
You either recognize the difference between an elephant and a mouse, or you get stuck rationalizing the mess the elephant left in the living room.
Posted by Darleen at March 3, 2005 06:51 PM
Comments
DARLEEN!!
LOL!!
You sum that up PERFECTLY!!
LOL!!
Posted by: Sherri Reese at March 3, 2005 08:48 PM
- Ok kids.... settle down now.... can you say "relativism" and use it in a sentence....No wrong....no right....everything just "is"....and when they come for me I can tell them the dog ate my responsibility and I lost my character on the way home from work.....
Posted by: Big Bang Hunter at March 4, 2005 12:43 AM
I'd definitely rather be ruled by mainstream Christians than Islamic fundamentalists. When you compare moderate Moslems to radical Christians, I'd probably for the moderate Moslems. (Consider, say, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal versus James Dobson.)
My point here isn't to push a bogus moral equivalency argument. It's to show that the "Islam vs. Christianity" categories are less useful than people think. The fanatic vs. non-fanatic distinction, which you allude to above, is a better one. If you see the issue as Islam vs. Christianity, you might think that the victory scenario involves converting all the Moslems. If you see it as fanatics vs. nonfanatics, you'll be content to steer potentially fanatical Moslems into more easygoing forms of Islam. (That's the way I'd do it.)
Posted by: Ethical Werewolf at March 10, 2005 04:23 AM
EW
Where has James Dobson said he wants a Christian theocracy where the country is ruled by the Bible?
The major difference between Islam and Christianity is the difference between Sharia and "Render unto Caesar ..."
Posted by: Darleen at March 10, 2005 05:31 AM
My claim doesn't depend on Dobson saying that.
One can find sharia-level viciousness in the Bible with little difficulty. Consider Deuteronomy 22:21, on what to do if you discover that your wife was not a virgin when she married you:
"Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. "
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