Religion wank
On the Amazon review board for Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiography, Prince of Carthage has this to say:

Bashing Islam is the Best Selling Plat du Jour

It never stops amazing me how in the greatest country on earth where we're leading the world in the fields of academia, technology, economy, innovation, arts, etc. some mediocre (and that's an overstatement) books and authors manage to become instant bestsellers... the formula is obviously clear... Bash Islam and Muslims, these evil people... medicore writers like hannity, o'reilly, coulter and countless more figured out the best way to make a quick buck... attack a religion and a civilization that has given so much to the world.. one that achieved the unprecedented fate of 900 years of world domination... helping to advance maths, science, arts, philosophy, medicine, etc. a religion that from the time it was revealed set itself apart from previous ones by giving women many rights that were at the time unheard of in the rest of the world (women were still treated like sub-humans in the Christian world)... a religion with a prophet who worked for his wife, a leading noble businesswoman in Mecca... it goes without saying that Muslims have mismanaged their fall from grace... some did blame women... but should this be seen as illustrative of a culture where women were religious scholars, poets, writers, etc... or should we listen to Ayaan Hirsi Ali... [...] That she felt stranger at home is ok, it happens... many teenagers go through that process... sometimes, they are right, sometimes they are wrong... but for her to jump on this Muslim bashing train is unethical... more and more Muslims will be unfairly profiled, mistreated and abused...

Ad hominem remarks, accusations of closemindedness and McCarthyism, "Your religion sucks!" arguments, and Very Special Logic ensues.

Other highlights include:

James H. Hill: Yes,Islam has given us alot. It has given us honor killing, stoning and forced marriage of women, church burning, rioting in response to a few cartoons, indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians all over then world, gross intolerance of other religions.

A. Hajric: And christianity gives us inquisitions, crusades, Pope tyranny, drugs, crime, violence, women abuse, beatings, illegitimate children, colonization, gangs, prostitution, AIDS, sexual abuse, transgenders, alcoholism, slavery and adultery. Peace!

and

All the fuss over female circumcision shows just how random the whole debate is. Of course it is a horrible practice, but the world is full of horrors and injustices that require urgent attention, so why are we so keen to single out this particular, pretty farfetched one, that seems limited mainly to one tribal culture in one African country? How about the routine genital mutilation of jewish boys?

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 02:57 am UTC (link)

*lucked out*

I have a bit of a southern twinge in my voice, given I'm right by Kentucky and it seems to have infected my otherwise very Midwestern/flat accent voice.

Usually when I say six or nine. All in the "i" sounds.

My mom, who was born and raised in northern Indiana, snickers at me once in a while.

It only gets worse after I visit my grandparents, in Biloxi Beach, MS.

But, yeah, there is a lot of people who look down on certain accents in the US.

*hates shoes with a passion and will regularly walk around without them* Hah! Giving in to the stereotype. Go me.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 03:07 am UTC (link)
	I have discovered that a lot of people in Aus don't bother with shoes when they're not at work - or even some when they are at work. My friends regularly wander around without footwear. It's... so strange to me.... But then, I'm used to more snow. And by "more" I mean "any". (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 03:36 am UTC (link)

I just really hate shoes. I've walked around campus carrying my sandals around, and will go out to check the mail barefooted, no matter what season. And it's fun to walk around in three foot of snow without shoes. Wet, too.

I'll wear socks around the house, but if I'm in a situation where it might make my socks icky, I'm just as likely to take them off and go out barefoot as to find shoes.

Course, I pay for it with a lot of scar tissue in my feet. Comes from walking on gravel and blacktop and picking up nails and glass in my feet. Doesn't happen often enough to stop me, but it does happen on occasion.

It's strange, cause none of the rest of my family is like that.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 03:39 am UTC (link)
	I had a boyfriend like that - he joked that he should have had his feet copywritten or something before the LotR movies came out because his feet are very hobbit-like and... Didn't this conversation start out about Muslims? I love JF. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 05:55 am UTC (link)
	When I dressed up as a hobbit during the LotR movie period, I'd just put hair prosthetics on my feet, cause my feet are so big and unweildy that they look like hobbit feet anyway. I like shoes cause they hide that shit. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! icedark_elf 2007-05-05 04:23 pm UTC (link)
	It's like those cafeteria talks you would have in high school. Start on strange things you find in food, and end up discussing wedding dresses. You have no idea how you managed the transitions, but it's always funny to look back on. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 05:53 am UTC (link)
	Aus - as in Austin or Australia? Cause I was thinking, "Wow, now that you mention it, when I was at college I'd often take off my shoes in the rehearsal building cause I like singing bare foot..." And then I realised this was a discussion about America. LOL! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 06:23 am UTC (link)
	Australia. I just moved here in February. It's very big, and has many many things in it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 06:27 am UTC (link)
	Oh. Awesome! Yeah, if people can get away with being barefoot here, they generally will go with it. I love how laid back my country is. happy love Where are you staying? Then I know what kind of awesome things you might be seeing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 06:29 am UTC (link)
	I'm in Perth! Last week I went up to Monkey Mia on one of those four day trips - I saw dolphins! And camels! FRIENDLY CAMELS! omg dies I'm here on a Working Holiday Visa until January. YAYES!!! Sorry, I am loving Aus. LOVING. Want to live here forever! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

napalmnacey
2007-05-05 06:36 am UTC (link)

Oh hey! I'm in Perth! Have you seen London Court yet? I love showing that to people coming here. I call it Diagon Alley. :D

Yeah, we have friendly camels here. Very pampered and well loved :D. I loooove camels. I want to go camel riding at Whitman Park one of these days.

Ooh ooh! Have you gone to AQWA yet? Absolutely AWESOME place! The sea dragons are sooo pretty!

What do you think of the beaches here? I freakin' *love* our beaches. There's a saying, that someone from Perth doesn't go to holiday in other places for the beaches. :D

Oh - our zoo is pretty good, too! I've been to San Diego and I can honestly say that other than being smaller and having different animals, there's not too much of a difference between the two zoos. Though we have a really awesome Sahara walk-through. Awesome going there in the summer!

I'm glad you like it here. People usually go to the East Coast and completely ignore Perth.

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

notjo
2007-05-05 06:39 am UTC (link)

But.... Perth is where all the cool people live!

I have a zoo pass!

I may attack you later on JF and ask for travel ideas in the area - I'm saving my money for a two week long trip to Broome but don't want to not travel at all between now and then (I'm going in mid-June, because I'm out of the country the entire month of July).

I have not been to AQWA, but obviously now I must go....

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

napalmnacey
2007-05-05 06:45 am UTC (link)

Oh - attack me any time! I'm also connected to a rather awesome sci-fi community (unisfa) so if you're ever in wanting of a party with people that know their geek shit, let me know. I'll hook you up :D.

Have you noticed how friendly people are here yet? It was one thing I kinda realised was different when I went to LA. I was talking to the people behind the counters and they were all, "Geez, get out of my face, you weirdo." LOL!

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 06:45 am UTC (link)
	The Pinnacles! Ooh, you have to go to the Pinnacles! And Wave Rock! Augusta is pretty awesome too - stingrays swimming around! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! rimrunner 2007-05-05 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	I don't like shoes, either, and I was born in Washington D.C. Heh. My dad lost his Louisiana accent through years of living in Maryland, but my uncle still has his. I love listening to him talk; the accent combined with his dry humor is just awesome. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 04:26 pm UTC (link)

Shoes are of evil. *nods* I remember in acting class once, they had just finally gotten the floors fitted with this really nice hardwood, and the teacher was all "This is a no shoes zone" and would throw a tennis ball at people if they wore their shoes in.

In one of my many classes in that room, a girl almost had crying fits, cause she hated feet, as here she was, surrounded by bared feet. Especially in the summer when everyone wore sandals.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! visp 2007-05-06 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Meh, I have an international accent, which is considered very intellectual, and I hate wearing shoes as well. Well, actually, I prefer not to wear clothes either when the temperature permits, so it just goes to show. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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