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The Bertrand Russell of Islam
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Submitted by Jerzy Kaltenberg, Dec 22, 2007 05:14

To quote: "...question of how one avoids ethnocentrism without also collapsing into a toothless cultural relativism that remains mute to the persecution of women, homosexuals, and others, is a very serious one. Claiming, as Mr. Warraq does, that it is Said who paved the way for the Arab world to cry victim and hide cruel persecutions behind those tears is both reductive and historically inaccurate." Indeed, the notion of logic is an inimical one for the apologists. You make mr. Warraq's point for him re: "...The argument is reductive insofar as it denies the long and continuing history of Western involvement...." ---- thus whining is considered to be a valid proof of not whining? This is a gloss, of course, but other flagrant inanities aside ( viz. toothless cultural relativism - please read Orwell's Politics and the English language ) , the persistent whining of the apologists for the inherent and inexcusable cruelty of the Arab world towards its own denizens reminds one of similar behaviour practiced by the western apologists of Stalinist purges and the American & Brit supporters of the nazi regime.

mr Warraq's work merely touches on the excuse used by the apologists of said behaviour and THAT alone is enough up the dander of some, even if in the process they validate mr. Warraq's thesis....

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Comment	By	Date
Let me respond first by noting that Said's influential book is indeed deeply flawed, and in Terry Eagleton's apt phrasing,... [MORE]	Shashi Thandra	Dec 19, 2007 02:50
To quote: "...question of how one avoids ethnocentrism without also collapsing into a toothless cultural relativism that remains mute to...	Jerzy Kaltenberg	Dec 22, 2007 05:14
To argue against you, Mr. Kaltenberg, I hope you won't mind that I quote you quoting me. "...The argument... [MORE]	Shashi Thandra	Dec 22, 2007 14:48
heheh -- first you admit that Said is deeply flawed. But then you claim that post-colonial theory which was invented... [MORE]	Mohsen	Dec 22, 2007 22:59
How is thinking about violence, both epistemic and bodily, a utopian project? And what is the teleology of this project,... [MORE]	Shashi Thandra	Dec 23, 2007 13:48
You say, "Producing a false picture is precisely "how" the imperial project was accomplished." I thought it was, rather, because,... [MORE]	georgesdelatour	Dec 23, 2007 18:28
There are several important arguments you bring forward and I would like to address them in the order you make... [MORE]	Shashi Thandra	Dec 24, 2007 18:59
There are several important arguments you bring forward and I would like to address them in the order you make... [MORE]	Shashi Thandra	Dec 24, 2007 22:17
personally i've always had difficulty with the distinction, east and west. where does west become east exactly? when did this... [MORE]	rob windsor	Dec 18, 2007 18:30
Minor quibble, but please note that Asoka was not a Mughal emperor. I doubt if Warraq could have made such... [MORE]	omar ali	Dec 18, 2007 14:41
The review does not say that Ashoka was a Mughal emperor. Strictly speaking he was not Indian. He was Mauryan. [MORE]	Jim Bonner	Dec 18, 2007 23:13
""'Orientalism,'" Mr. Warraq writes, "taught an entire generation of Arabs the art of self-pity … encouraged the Islamic fundamentalist generation... [MORE]	Michael Manion	Dec 18, 2007 12:17
If you knew anything about the Islamic 'Bertrand Russel' by the name of Ibn Warraq, he traces Muslim self-defeatism and... [MORE]	Hamid	Dec 21, 2007 08:31
Edward Said's comments of course need critiques, so I enjoyed reading this article. Leaving aside my personal opinions, which were... [MORE]	Luther Obrock	Dec 18, 2007 11:06
I congratulate Mr Weiss for bringing Mr Warraq's writing to our atention. It would have been stunning if Mr Warraq... [MORE]	Anthony Steyning	Dec 18, 2007 09:24
The mention of Ashoka as a Mughal emperor gave me a small heart attack. He was a Mauryan emperor, who... [MORE]	Arun Vasudev	Dec 18, 2007 08:32
Mr. Warraq is correct in many ways. He reveals the truth that Edward Said was an intellectually dishonest analyst of... [MORE]	Roberta E. Dzubow	Dec 13, 2007 13:10
In my own work I both critique and make use of Said and his thoughts about colonialism. I cheer at the... [MORE]	Suzanne Oliver	Dec 18, 2007 10:57
Aren't there non-Western, that is, Asian, victims of Islam? How are Muslims who convert to other religions treated by the... [MORE]	Tony	Feb 18, 2008 19:12
Nicely written article by someone who knows something (Weiss) reviewing a book by one of the bravest intellectuals alive (Ibn... [MORE]	mhw	Dec 13, 2007 08:52
Not accurate or focused! More later. [MORE]	Allen Tobias	Dec 12, 2007 21:41

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Reader comment on:
The Bertrand Russell of Islam
in response to reader comment: Criticisms