Chris Rodda tells us the horrible news that one of the victims of the attack on the US consulate in Libya was a member of the MRFF Advisory Board, former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty.
The Huffington Post has more.
Doherty himself had a history of opposing religious intolerance.
Doherty was an “extremely active” member of the advisory board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), an advocacy group that fights inappropriate religious proselytizing inside the armed forces, said founder Mikey Weinstein, a retired Air Force lawyer.
“He confirmed for me how deeply entrenched fundamentalist Christianity is in the DoD Spec Ops [Department of Defense Special Operations] world of the SEALs, Green Berets, Delta Force, Army Rangers USAF … and DoD security contractors like the former Blackwater,” Weinstein said in an email to The Huffington Post. Doherty “helped me on many MRFF client cases behind the scenes to facilitate assistance to armed forces members abused horribly by fundamentalist Christian proselytizing.”
So he gets killed by Islamists.
Dammit.
So he gets killed by Islamists.
And yet liberals would have us believe that Islamaphobia is a bad thing. Go figure!
It’s almost as if racism is bad, I know.
Please note that Verity Manumit was banned from Cuttlefish’s for spewing the most virulent anti-gay sentiments repeatedly in this thread.
Rutee: It’s almost as if racism is bad, I know.
Uhm, Islam is a religion, not a race of people. How could you confuse the two?
Ms. Daisy Cutter: Please note that Verity Manumit was banned from Cuttlefish’s for spewing the most virulent anti-gay sentiments repeatedly in this thread.
That’s because cuttlefish is a coward who can’t accept that people have a different world view than his own. Better to shut them down than let it get out that someone doesn’t agree with him.
Grievously misnamed bigot, there are certain points of view that I am proud to be intolerant of. Such as bigoted ones.
“Islam is a religion, not a race” ignores the fact that the majority of Muslims are brown and that the religion has been, in sociological terms, racialized in white-majority countries. That is to say, it is associated with brown people. When racist assholes rant about “sand n—-rs,” they’re not thinking about white Bosnian Muslims.
I don’t, that’s why I recognize the majority of muslims are Southeast Asians. Yet, when people talk about muslims, it’s always about terrerists and burqas and such. Funny, that.
People use the religion to talk about the race of some of its practitioners, since they know they can maybe get away with it; especially to atheists, but also elsewhere.
I’m pretty glad Cuttlefish doesn’t ‘accept people who have the world view’ that gays are wrong or evil, as people like you are unmitigated assholes.
@Verity
So your point is that a man’s death resulting from unthinking bigotry is evidence that we need more unthinking bigotry?
*facepalms*
Reverse stupidity is not intelligence.
Being opposed to Islamophobia does not mean condoning every act performed in the name of Islam or not being opposed to religion (including Islam). Reflexively hating Muslims or believing that all people who identify as Muslims are horrible people with their heads stuck in the Middle Ages does not qualify as critical thinking.
Yeah, there’s a lot of horrible stuff in the Quran, but there are over a billion Muslims on the planet with differing opinions and the vast, vast majority do not go around killing people. It is possible to be a Muslim and be a decent person. It is also possible to be an antitheist and think of religious people as, well, actual people.
Ms. Daisy Cutter: “Islam is a religion, not a race” ignores the fact that the majority of Muslims are brown and that the religion has been, in sociological terms, racialized in white-majority countries. That is to say, it is associated with brown people. When racist assholes rant about “sand n—-rs,” they’re not thinking about white Bosnian Muslims.
Perhaps some people do that, but I don’t. Nothing I said implied that. You’re jumping to a conclusion that is not supported by my statement. If you want to know if I have racist feelings, just ask.
Rutee: I’m pretty glad Cuttlefish doesn’t ‘accept people who have the world view’ that gays are wrong or evil, as people like you are unmitigated assholes.
An asshole who’s entitled to my POV, whether you like it or not. Maybe you’ll get lucky and Benson will ban me too, then you won’t have to deal with anything outside of your comfort zone.
Vitreous: So your point is that a man’s death resulting from unthinking bigotry is evidence that we need more unthinking bigotry?
No, I’m asking people to look at cause and effect. I have no use for religion, but you don’t see too many Buddhists acting like this. Why is that I wonder?
Reflexively hating Muslims or believing that all people who identify as Muslims are horrible people with their heads stuck in the Middle Ages does not qualify as critical thinking.
I never made that statement.
It is possible to be a Muslim and be a decent person.
Yes, of course it is. A decent person who supports a bad idea.
You were called out on your bigotry at Cuttlefish’s, and you said, no, you aren’t bigoted, you just think that gay men are “anti-intellectual, emotionally effete, bereft of self-insight, and incapable of keep their word.” Why, then, should we trust you to self-report your racism or lack thereof accurately?
But not entitled to other people hosting it.
And not quickly enough, it seems. Uses the f-word, looks down on pride parades, etc. Made my stomach turn just skimming his comments.
No one here has any need to read your hateful comments. The sooner, the better.
Ms. Daisy Cutter: You were called out on your bigotry at Cuttlefish’s, and you said, no, you aren’t bigoted, you just think that gay men are “anti-intellectual, emotionally effete, bereft of self-insight, and incapable of keep their word.”
The truth is never a form of bigotry.
But not entitled to other people hosting it.
No, not at all. He can ban me if he wants to. I still think he’s a coward for doing so. It must give him great satisfaction to wield such awesome and mighty power.
Aratina: Made my stomach turn just skimming his comments.
Don’t try to butter me up Aratina. I’m immune to flattery.
And yet, you complain about persecution when you’re called a bigotted asshat.
You said cuttlefish banned you, not that he sent black helicopters to your location to have you abducted to the secret liberal headquarters for reprogramming. Now that I’m aware of the situation, I’ve contacted my superiors in the conspiracy, of course.
@Verity, Islamophobia is bad because its a Phobia, its irrational. Like the homophobe, the Islamophobe is leaping to unwarranted conclusions. When people act irrationally, they are much more likely to do things without thinking through the consequences. Like the Islamophobes behind that stupid movie who thought it would be just dandy to kick a fucking hornets nest regardless of the innocent bystanders who might be harmed.
@Verity
What, so you think Anti-semitism, for instance, simply refers to nice, peaceful scholarly critiques of Judaism rather than a long historical tradition of assorted brutalities?
Islamophobia means bigotry towards Muslims. It is really that simple. I cite the case of Anders Bering Breivik as an example of just how violent it can be.
If you truly think Muslims can be decent people, then why the hell do you support Islamophobia?
If this is truth and whole truth, then please, citation. On your statements here or at Cuttlefish.
Especially the incapable of telling the truth bit, because I think that Josh should come in and blow your mind with paradox.
Rutee: And yet, you complain about persecution when you’re called a bigotted asshat.
I never said I was persecuted. Only misunderstood and mislabeled. A person can have intense dislike or hatred for others without being a bigot. Something none of you can wrap your minds around.
Lou: Like the Islamophobes behind that stupid movie who thought it would be just dandy to kick a fucking hornets nest regardless of the innocent bystanders who might be harmed.
Uhm, don’t you think you should include in that sentence the Imams who issue Fatwas against Americans, as well?
Vitreous: If you truly think Muslims can be decent people, then why the hell do you support Islamophobia?
Maybe Islamacaution is a better word. For those of us who are at the very least leery of Muslims.
When you use the f-word as a slur, you are being a bigot. When you turn the term “pride parades” into a slur, you are being a bigot.
Aratina: When you use the f-word as a slur, you are being a bigot. When you turn the term “pride parades” into a slur, you are being a bigot.
Haven’t you ever heard that you can kick your own dog? It’s like how black people can get away with saying nigger, but white people can’t. If you’re black, you can use the word if you want, or not if you don’t want. But white people can’t do that generally speaking.
So you’re saying then that you yourself are a gay man?
You people amaze me. All I have to do is express a single opinion and all of you are foaming at the mouth. You’re worse than evangelicals when someone suggests kids should learn about sex ed.
And you wear me out. I gotta get other things done. Have fun dissing me while I’m away. I know you all can’t wait to have a go. I mean, how dare I speak my mind? Where do I think I am, America?
Regarding Verity, who has apparently left:
“Uhm, don’t you think you should include in that sentence the Imams who issue Fatwas against Americans, as well?”
So, despite his pututative moral superiority to Muslims, it seems that the moral bar he has chosen for himself is set to ‘marginally less horrible than imams who issue fatwas against Americans’.
How terribly fitting.
*putative
Argh! Spelling failure.
Could everyone join me in ignoring Verity, please? I’m feeling really unseemly about how this thread is being turned away from the subject–Glen Doherty–who was murdered.
Franc, or whichever Slimepit troll you are, go jump in a lake.
It’s been amazing to see how these deaths become connected to one personally, especially thanks to the Internet. The lesser number of Bacons needed to be connected to someone across the world. Sean Smith and now Glen Doherty show how these things aren’t just something that happens far away to someone that we don’t know. Two men who made the world(s) a better place, along with Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the unnamed fourth.
That’s enough of Verity M.
I’ve followed MRFF for a while, found ’em through FTB (unsurprisingly), and this just really fucking sucks. Every time I read about it, I just go, well, to echo Ophelia…. dammit.
I offer Doherty’s family, friends, and colleagues my condolences, and note that this was a great man doing great things. I know it’s no consolation in the time of their loss, but Doherty did fantastic things, and people will continue his work.
I’d also like to pass on my condolences to Doherty’s family and loved ones. And for anyone else who reads here and has lost a loved one in the latest senseless violence.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of media organizations are not mentioning Doherty’s role in the MRFF. If you search just his name on Google News, you get copious hits. Add the phrase “Religious Freedom” and you get many fewer.
Sheesh! I just got another dose of education. Can anyone remember what this thread was supposed to be about?
On Islam/race; please read some of Irshad Manji’s accounts of growing up Muslim. Because her family were South Asian (India/Pakistan) in origin, she encountered Arab-supremacist racism on a daily basis. The elevation of Arab culture uber alles is a regular meme among Muslim apologists.