Yesterday, a blogger styling himself as the Field Negro dubbed me the "House Negro of the Day":
(JULIETTE OCHIENG) I SWEAR SOME OF YOU NEGROES MUST GET PAID BY THE WORD TO SAY DUMB STUFF. THIS CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER CALLS THE MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO A "SECURITY RISK". SAYING DUMB S#*T JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN IS ALWAYS HNB
[Link added by me; don't worry--it leads to my post, "Beacon."]
Field Negro--may I call you Negro?--would it actually hurt you to expound on why you think my opinion is "dumb?"
Show your lack of "dumbness" by explaining to your readers how building such a mosque--set to be funded and "pastored" by a person who has continually called for the the implementation of Sharia law in the United States--is not a security risk. Take it step by step.
I can further defend my position. Are you capable of defending yours? I'd sure like to read it. You never know--if you're premises are sound and your conclusion follows logically from them, I would be compelled to change my opinion. In case you have never heard of this concept, it's called 'intellectual honesty.' Try it, you'll like it--eventually.Otherwise, I'll merely write you off as one of the conditioned.
UPDATE:
Field Negro is “gracious” enough to respond:
Ms. House Negro, you may call me whatever you like, just as long as you don't call me collect. Now let me "expound" -just a little-on why I think your opinion is dumb:
You argue that putting this Mosque two blocks from Ground Zero would put Americans at risk because the leader of the Mosque believes in a strict form of Islamic law. (Sharia) That, in of itself, is ludicrous. Iam not connecting the dots between an interpretation of an ancient religious philosophy and bombs dropping on suburbia.
And, just for argument sake, let's assume that Faisal Abdul Rauf does believe in the most negative and regressive form of Sharia law as you allege; what difference would it make if he built his Mosque a block from Ground Zero or in Jersey City?
Just because you are unable to connect the dots, it does not follow that my opinion is ludicrous. You may have a shortcoming or two. However, I will assist you.
Islam’s raison d’être is to convert the world to Islam, by force if necessary. One of the tools of force is fear. And inducing fear is the goal of terrorism.
Of course, we know that many Muslims consider the Islamist attacks of September 11, 2001 to be one of Islam’s greatest victories against the United States/Great Satan. Building a mosque adjacent to what used to be the Twin Towers would be like planting a flag of victory for Allah. This is not an unprecedented concept; armies of Islam and many other armies use this sort of symbolism to say to observers the equivalent of “we won; you lost.” In the eyes of others wishing to spread Islam by the “sword,” such a statement would be a…Beacon, one drawing those of like desire; this beacon would encourage other Soldiers for Allah to perpetrate further attacks in America in order to win more victories for Allah, in order to win his blessings and in order to gain glory for themselves.
Does that help?
But my rebuttal above assumes that you were right about Rauf and his position when it comes Sharia Law. You were not. Only a person whose mind has been poisoned by right wing ideology -A poison that was inflicted by the likes of Newt Gingrich- could view a man who has published writings such as this in such spurious and mendacious manner. Parroting right wing talking points to score "brownie points" with your ideological soul mates does not make you a critical thinker, or, for that matter, someone capable of "intellectual honesty". It makes you a fraud, and a fraud of the worse kind: one whose sole purpose in life is to remain in the comfort of a poorly constructed house.
So many assumptions in one short paragraph! I haven’t listened to or read anything by Newt Gingrich since he appeared in that Global Warming TV ad with Nancy Pelosi. However, here is some of what I have read about Ra’uf:
Feisal Abdul Rauf is the imam behind the “Cordoba Initiative” that is spearheading plans to build a $100 million Islamic center at Ground Zero, the site where nearly 3,000 Americans were killed by jihadists on 9/11. He is also the author of a book called What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America. But the book hasn’t always been called that. It was called quite something else for non-English-speaking audiences. In Malaysia, it was published as A Call to Prayer from the World Trade Center Rubble: Islamic Dawa in the Heart of America Post-9/11.
Now it emerges that a “special, non-commercial edition” of this book was later produced, with Feisal’s cooperation, by two American tentacles of the Muslim Brotherhood: the Islamic Society of North America and the International Institute of Islamic Thought.
(…)
Both ISNA and IIIT have been up to their necks in the promotion of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s ruthless Palestinian branch, which is pledged by charter to the destruction of Israel. In fact, both ISNA and IIIT were cited by the Justice Department as unindicted co-conspirators in a crucial terrorism-financing case involving the channeling of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas through an outfit called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. For the last 15 years, Hamas has been a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law.
(…)
The purpose of dawa, like the purpose of jihad, is to implement, spread, and defend sharia.
(…)
In considering Imam Rauf and his Ground Zero project, [Yusuf] Qaradawi [spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood] and the Muslim Brotherhood are extremely important. Like most Muslims, Rauf regards Qaradawi as a guide, and referred to him in 2001 as “the most well-known legal authority in the whole Muslim world today.”
(…)
Qaradawi regards the United States as the enemy of Islam. He has urged that Muslims “fight the American military if we can, and if we cannot, we should fight the U.S. economically and politically.”
And why do you assume that my goal in saying the things I say is the accrual of “brownie points.” Brownie points from whom, consisting of what? I know the history of Islamic conquest in Africa, how it weakened that continent, making it ripe for further conquest by Europeans and how its adherents continue to rape, murder and pillage on my father’s fragmented continent. And I know what non-black Muslims think about black people—even those in the latter number who are foolish enough to convert. Which one of us is the "House Negro" and the "fraud" again?
A rapidly weakening USA is quickly becoming a target for those who would like to remake it in their own image, whatever that image may be. Right now, this country is just a financial target, but that could change. The giant is ailing and the wolves—like Russia, China, and Islam—are waiting for it to fall. So you might say that the “brownie point” I wish to accrue is survival.
I hope you didn't trip over my steps.
Darling, I’m starting to get the feeling that you don’t like me. My heart is broken to be disliked by such a charming gentleman! :-}
However, I hope that you awaken and decide that you want to survive also. Really. And I hope you save a little bit of that snarl for your real enemy.
