Thursday, October 9, 2014

Denying the jihadists, or why I don't want to know Ben Affleck

I apologize in advance for the intemperate language, dear reader. Ben Affleck is a pussy. There, I said it.
The worst thing about being from Boston is knowing that this bozo hails from the same stomping ground. In case you missed it, Mssr. Affleck appeared on a recent episode of Bill Maher's "Real Time" program. Maher and his guest Sam Harris, the New Athiest author of the book Waking Up, were discussing the threat posed by radical Islamists and the varying degrees to which Muslims worldwide support, at least in theory, ideas anathema to the liberal Western way of life. Affleck was incapable of distinguishing between the moderate Muslims which Mr. Harris correctly pointed out are the people in the Islamic world that we need to support and encourage with the hope that they, not the jihadists, Islamists or fundamentalists, become the face of Islam globally and the Islamofascists and those who agree with or remain silent on them.
Comparing Maher's and Harris's points to calling someone a "shifty Jew," Affleck threw a hissy fit. He spoke in a tone of voice that nearly reached the ultrasonic register. He addressed Mr. Harris with a combative, "So, are you the person who understands the officially codified doctrine of Islam?" (To which Harris replied, "I'm actually well-educated on this topic.") I wish Harris had shot back, "Are you, Ben?" 
At one point, while former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele spoke, Affleck can be seen rubbing his temples and running a finger across his stubbly upper lip. You would have a hard time arguing that he didn't look like a schoolboy who'd just been admonished by his teacher. Poor little mite was just so distressed. All this Islamophobia emanating from his fellow progressives! Oh me, oh my!
Bill Maher may be a punk—that will never change if his disparaging comments about the Boston bombing are any indication—but at least he gets it with regard to the threat posed by radical Islam. He is not like other Lefties in denying it. He does not think that Christians are the monsters. There are far worse liberals in the media than Bill Maher.
That said, you still have to be pretty damn far to the Left to disagree with him from a liberal point of view. Affleck doesn't want to hear that there are bad Muslims in the world—that, out of the four concentric circles of Islamic belief and practice that Mr. Harris explained, only one represents the reformers, the good Muslims. It's just so discriminatory!
Ben Affleck, you are a disgrace. But, though I disown you as a fellow Beantowner, the difference between a Westerner like me, who agrees with and will defend basic liberal values such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and the majority of the practitioners of "the doctrine of Islam" is this: I don't want to kill you. I'm happy for you to be alive, to wake up each morning to a brand new day (which is more than can be said for animals you shoot on some of these mornings).
However, this is a point I don't expect you to comprehend.
 

2 comments:

goddessdivine said...

Yeah, this was the one and only time I've agreed with Mahr. Normally I think he's a leftist jerk. I don't get why these numb-nuts like Affleck don't understand that there are quite a large number of jihadists/radical Muslims who completely devalue human life. Sorry if it's offensive; but there are bad Muslims in the world. Period.

Nightdragon said...

Maher could be worse. He supports Israeli-style profiling at airports, recognizes the Islamic terror threat, took 9/11 "inside job" conspiracy kooks to task, and supports capital punishment. But, yeah, he's still a jerk.

As for Affleck, if the Muslim world is all sweetness and light, why isn't he and his family living there? Money talks in any society, so he could easily move to Saudi Arabia or Pakistan if he wanted to.