This blog began as a description of our life in Al Ain, UAE (United Arab Emirates). Brn worked at the UAE University Libraries Deanship for three years and Bss homeschooled our four children, D, B, P, and O. After returning to the the USA for five years, we are living in Abu Dhabi now.
2006/12/16
My response to Hesham's Response
Another week, another comment caught in Hesham's spam filter. Hesham graciously approved the comments that I wrote about before. He then replied by ignoring my points, attacking statements that I didn't make and insulting my intelligence, education and reading habits. I have to say that it almost seems as if he is determined to commit every possible logical fallacy during the course of this debate. My reply was again blocked by his spam filter. In the highly unlikely event that you care about this, it is here. Of course, it is also there if you don't want to read it.
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6 comments:
That was a pretty disgusting thread to read through. Blood boiling! Yeurkhh. Best not to get involved with these nitwits eh?!
Actually, it didn't make me mad at all, but then I like to argue. The only thing about this whole "debate" is that Hesham has yet to respond to any point that I have raised. It is almost as if he learned to debate by watching American politicians.
I don't mind if you disagree with me. In fact, I am by nature a contrarian, so the more people that disagree with me, the happier I am. I always loved that quote from Huckleberry Finn "Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?" If you really want to convince me that I'm wrong, agree with me. But if not, then at least present some evidence for your argument.
Well, if you saw the lovely thread on me, I think you'll realise why someone like Hesham isn't worth bothering with.
Uneducated and ignorant I can take - up to a point.
Wilfully stupid, spiteful and mendacious I cannot.
It's funny, I came to this region so open minded, so tolerant, so open to learning about stuff here. For the first couple of years I was genuinely impressed by a lot of things. Since then the hatred, the resentment, the loathing, the fear, the misinformation about the West is all just too much. I cannot believe how brainwashed people are here. Even though I know it has been done deliberately by their governments and authorities, their minds have been quite literally maimed by their rulers and their imams, I still have no sympathy left. If there was some kindness deep down, it might strike a chord with me. But I feel only hatred and resentment among them. No humanity at all, except when it concerns their own, and even then it's more about point-scoring than genuine compassion.
Comment moderation was the best thing I ever did on my blog. Now bleating little abayas whingeing how happy they are that they are not living in the West where we are all disease ridden prostitutes don't even get the light of my day.
I should also admit that not only do I like to argue, if I'm not careful then I turn into that guy who follows you as you walk away, arguing with your back. I think that as long as I realize this, I still have not completely turned into him.
SD, you sound like the results of a poll I saw recently. It showed that Americans knew more about Islam and yet had a worse view of Muslims now than they did immediately after 9/11.
I actually am still very hopeful about the Emirates. I'm very influenced in this by my exposure to my Emirati co-workers who are some of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet.
"SD, you sound like the results of a poll I saw recently. It showed that Americans knew more about Islam and yet had a worse view of Muslims now than they did immediately after 9/11."
Sad isn't it? What terrifies me most is that much of my view has been gleaned from english-speakin muslims in the UAE blogosphere. And they should surely be the most open-minded, the most tolerant, the most educated, the most progressive.
Yet as we have all witnessed with the argument that so quickly erupt in our blogs, they are not this at all. Even those that have lived/studied or are living/studying in the west.
It gets to the stage where I wonder where in the world I can live that my human rights and my right to secularism and personal freedom of morality will actually be respected. Because all I see is those freedoms being eroded throughout Europe and even the US.
SD,
You may be right about that, but I think that what is going on is that the people who are blogging and debating on blogs are not normal.
There are no shortage of people who are willing to write insulting things about expats and the West, but I hope that most of them are more sensible. Sort of like the vast majority of Muslims who saw the cartoons from Denmark. Sure, there were plenty of people who got violent and crazy, but most people seemed to be much more like "Man, those cartoons are really offensive and mean spirited. Why would someone insult my religion like that? I wonder what is for dinner tonight?"
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