A Musical Interlude

Apparently I am late in jumping onto the McKee YouTube bandwagon, but better late than never. Use the menu in the YouTube viewer to see a lot of other cool songs. Presenting finger-picking virtuoso Andy McKee.

The Phobia Fallacy

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is outspoken against abuses in the Islamic world. The most obvious of these are abuse against women, adulterers, and of course, homosexuals. So she often comes to their defense. This is good. We cannot consent to the killing of homosexuals for being homosexual. But this should also not preclude vigorous debate about homosexuality.

In the interview discussed earlier, Hirsi Ali rejects the term Islamophobia because Islam is not an inherent trait, as race and sex are, for instance. Critiquing an idea or practice is not necessarily an act of phobia. (Even hatred of an idea or practice is not de facto phobia.) This is a sound argument. The term Islamophobia is very new, created and used deliberately to shut down critical debate about Islam by putting it on the same level as racism. Redefining the debate is a favourite tactic for those who don't have the facts on their side.

Those who created the term Islamophobia were merely copying those who created the term homophobia. This term, while older, is still a relatively young term, created for the very same reasons, with great success. It makes the assumption that homosexuality is an inherent trait, and therefore is off-limits for critical debate. Homosexual activists have been quick to label detractors racists. The problem is that they do so with impunity, even though it is absurd to equate inclinations or behaviour with race.

So we hear Hirsi Ali making the same error with regard to homophobia as she is refuting in regard to Islamophobia. To her credit, the error is not due to obviously faulty logic, but to a false premise. Her logic is sound; if homosexuality is an innate trait, determined by one's genes, then sexual orientation could legitimately be considered to be on the same plane as sex and race. It is her premise regarding sexual orientation - "It's something you can't do anything about" - that is fallacious. Homosexuals are not born that way. There is no gay gene. Thus homophobia joins Islamophobia in the dictionary of deceptive nonentities, and we should strive for vigorous debate about the health and effects of both Islamic society and homosexual behaviour.

The Qur'an

One of the main themes in Infidel is Hirsi Ali's struggle to distinguish between Islamic practice and what it actually says in the Qur'an (or Koran), the holy book of Islam. Her conclusion is that some of the worst abuses she witnessed and underwent had legitimate basis in the Qur'an.

I've been following a series on Hot Air called Blogging the Qur'an, by Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. It details what is actually written in the Qur'an, as well as how certain passages are interpreted and practiced. Well worth the read.

Infidel

I'm currently reading Infidel, a book by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In a nutshell, she was born a Somali Muslim, fled to the Netherlands, and became an MP in Dutch parliament. Currently, she is living under guard in the US due to death threats. All this because she dares to tackle the tough issues of Muslim assimilation (or lack thereof) and the plight of Muslim women.

I hope to interact with several parts of this book in the near future. As a primer, check out this video I first saw at Little Green Footballs, one of my favourite blogs.


The video gives an idea of Hirsi Ali's quiet, confident disposition. It's easier to be that way when you have the facts on your side. A lesson in contrast is Avi Lewis, who needs to be loud and obnoxious to get his point across. To be clear, Lewis is Canadian, as I am. This interview - if it can be called that - is from the CBC, the Canadian equivalent of the BBC. Lewis more directly states his views than most CBC journalists - and Canadian journalists, for that matter - but he says what most of them are thinking.

It's worth hearing twice, and it's too easy to demolish Lewis's objections, especially since Hirsi Ali does it first. But here's a good analysis from Dennis Prager: Part 1 | Part 2




As with Infidel, I take issue with some of things she says, and I'll tackle those later.

Worldviews

Worldviews? They're all the rage - everyone's got one. But many people won't admit it.

I will: I have a worldview. My life - how I think about things, what I do, what I say - is guided by this worldview. I am biased. I will not - I can not - claim to be neutral. Often, people or organizations (especially news organizations) claim to be unbiased and neutral. No one is; I am not, you are not. Every person acts from some conviction, from some impetus.

The common statement "I am not religious" really is a false statement. Allow me to demonstrate. I do not believe in chance. Don't let the negative construction of this sentence fool you - this is a statement of what I do believe: I believe that there is no such thing as pure chance. So when an atheist says "I don't believe in God", he is making a statement of belief: "I believe that God does not exist; I believe that life originates from _____." What he believes on this matter will affect how he thinks and inevitably, what he says and does. In this sense he is religious.

Yes, I have a worldview. I believe that the Judeo-Christian heritage from which Canada and America were established are immensely important and should be protected. I believe that government should be small and accountable. I believe that individual citizens have and must use freedom and civic duty. I can be categorized as a social conservative. This is not because I like other people who are also social conservatives; this is because I think the values of social conservatism largely mesh with my worldview. I am not tied to this label and category. I diverge from from any system of thought where its value or outworking diverges from my worldview.

I think, talk, act - and yes, write - from my worldview. It is important to acknowledge this fact right up front.

Aloud in the Street

Welcome to Aloud in the Street. The name of this blog is taken from Proverbs 1:20:

Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the public squares. (NIV)

While this is blog is my humble attempt at calling aloud in the street, I make no claims to my own wisdom. There is one true wisdom:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7 NIV)

Alas, I am that fool often. That is why I do not claim that the words and thoughts I express in this blog are wisdom. That is why I need a lens through which to evaluate my ideas and others' ideas. That lens is the Truth: the Word of God, the Holy Bible.