2008 Woodie Awards
Letters To The Editor
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Commentary
Violence Of A Few Not Indicative Of Muslims As A Whole
I agree with some of Greg Pivarnik's column "Islamic Reaction To Dutch Video Will Be Telling," April 1) that Muslim societies, like all human societies, have their own problems and shortcomings. But I have a serious issue with his notion of "Islamic Reaction." In a world with one Muslim out of every five people, how much violence is enough to conclude that the "Islamic Reaction" is violent? Can you imagine that if one out of every million Muslims snaps and commits an act of violence, we will end up with well over a thousand incidences worldwide? Would it be fair to ignore the 99.9999 percent of Muslims who will express their outrage peacefully, or even choose to ignore this provocation? Can we label the reaction of the extremely few Muslims as the "Islamic Reaction?" Why do we ignore the fact that the vast majority of Muslims reacted to the Danish cartoon controversy in a peaceful manner and condemned violent reactions?
Racist bigots like Geert Wilders are fooling the public into irrational conclusions. They know that regardless of the cause, a tiny minority of any population is expected, if not guaranteed, to resort to violence. Just consider how many Americans might react violently if they or someone they love are personally insulted. Islam is more valuable to Muslims than their own selves, parents and children, and in the burst of rage caused by the insult of the person of the Prophet Muhammad or the Holy Quran, a tiny minority of Muslims are guaranteed to snap. It is not Islam that should be blamed, but this minority as Muslims who fail to understand the plots of those evil bigots and then lack the required discipline to control their reactions.
-Saleh Ibrahim,
graduate student,
computer science.
Student Announcements Shouldn't Be Used
For Political Purposes
As usual, I received about 10 e-mails Tuesday from UConn's various student announcement systems. I had the misfortune of reading Deanne Kopp's announcement for a presentation occuring April 2 in the Student Union - Norma McCorvey, former "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade is going to tell her story of being "won by love" and changing her mind about the legality issues surrounding abortions. Kopp described McCorvey as a "former abortion advocate." Are blanket e-mail announcements the place for political name-calling? I certainly hope that my university does not sanction political persuasion via their announcement systems, particularly arguments against my reproductive freedom.
-Elke Johnson,
6th-semester,
anthropology and
history double major.
I agree with some of Greg Pivarnik's column "Islamic Reaction To Dutch Video Will Be Telling," April 1) that Muslim societies, like all human societies, have their own problems and shortcomings. But I have a serious issue with his notion of "Islamic Reaction." In a world with one Muslim out of every five people, how much violence is enough to conclude that the "Islamic Reaction" is violent? Can you imagine that if one out of every million Muslims snaps and commits an act of violence, we will end up with well over a thousand incidences worldwide? Would it be fair to ignore the 99.9999 percent of Muslims who will express their outrage peacefully, or even choose to ignore this provocation? Can we label the reaction of the extremely few Muslims as the "Islamic Reaction?" Why do we ignore the fact that the vast majority of Muslims reacted to the Danish cartoon controversy in a peaceful manner and condemned violent reactions?
Racist bigots like Geert Wilders are fooling the public into irrational conclusions. They know that regardless of the cause, a tiny minority of any population is expected, if not guaranteed, to resort to violence. Just consider how many Americans might react violently if they or someone they love are personally insulted. Islam is more valuable to Muslims than their own selves, parents and children, and in the burst of rage caused by the insult of the person of the Prophet Muhammad or the Holy Quran, a tiny minority of Muslims are guaranteed to snap. It is not Islam that should be blamed, but this minority as Muslims who fail to understand the plots of those evil bigots and then lack the required discipline to control their reactions.
-Saleh Ibrahim,
graduate student,
computer science.
Student Announcements Shouldn't Be Used
For Political Purposes
As usual, I received about 10 e-mails Tuesday from UConn's various student announcement systems. I had the misfortune of reading Deanne Kopp's announcement for a presentation occuring April 2 in the Student Union - Norma McCorvey, former "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade is going to tell her story of being "won by love" and changing her mind about the legality issues surrounding abortions. Kopp described McCorvey as a "former abortion advocate." Are blanket e-mail announcements the place for political name-calling? I certainly hope that my university does not sanction political persuasion via their announcement systems, particularly arguments against my reproductive freedom.
-Elke Johnson,
6th-semester,
anthropology and
history double major.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Independent Conservative
posted 4/03/08 @ 9:27 AM EST
Elke - Your "reproductive freedom?" So, you have the right to intentionally kill an innocent human being? You satanic whore.
Saleh
posted 4/03/08 @ 11:20 AM EST
Just to correct a typo in the last sentence of my letter: "It is not Islam that should be blamed, but this minority *of* Muslims who fail to understand the plots of those evil bigots and then lack the required discipline to control their reaction. (Continued…)
Roey
posted 4/03/08 @ 11:47 AM EST
the real issue behind the dutch video that insults islam is not what will the reaction be. it is being done to show defiance to the ever growing fear of islam in europe. (Continued…)
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