Category Archives: Moral relativism

apparently we’re all robert spencer now, according to the weasels at “spinwatch”

By bananabrain | Published: August 24, 2011

we at the spittoon have for some time been a target for the not-very-impressive “spinwatch” site, which appears to be the hobby-horse of strathclyde university’s answer to bob pitt, dr david miller. dr miller, we hardly need remind you, appears to think that spittoon authors are without exception rabid “neo-cons”, by which he appears to mean some sort of catch-all imperialism of liberal democracy imposed by force of arms on the bucolic, picaresque and entirely pacifist natives of the middle-east and south asia. as if this wasn’t bad (or inaccurate) enough, we are also supposed to be apostles of islamophobia; apparently it isn’t clear enough to someone who is supposed to be an academic that what we oppose is the virulent political ideology known as islamism – as well as other forms of religious and political extremism; jewish, christian, atheist, muslim, ethnicity-based – we are equal-opportunity anti-extremists, or we certainly try to be.

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Also posted in Activism, Anti Muslim bigotry, Blogosphere, Dodgy Policy Wonks, Education, European Fascism, Far Right Extremism, Homophobia, Identity Politics, Islamism, Nutters, Racism, The Far Left, The Left, The Regressive Left | 20 Comments

the big society, riots and “spiral dynamics”

By bananabrain | Published: August 15, 2011

obviously, a great deal has been written about the riots to date and a great deal of predictable outpouring has also taken place. what i wanted to offer to this debate is, however, along more behavioural lines.

i have for some time been aware of the powerful analytical frameworks for bio-psycho-social systems developed by the american psychologist dr clare graves and systematised for practical application by don beck and chris cowan in the excellent book “spiral dynamics” (i’m not affiliated with anyone concerned, incidentally). at the risk of sounding like somewhat of a “fanboy”, as i believe it is called on teh interwebs, i am convinced it constitutes an important piece of intellectual real estate for the understanding of complex socio-political systems, particularly in behavioural terms.

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Also posted in Activism, Blogosphere, Civil Rights, Communalism, Crime, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Exegesis, Human Rights, Identity Politics, Media, Misc, Multiculturalism, Political Correctnes gone mad!, Politics, The Far Left, The Left, The Regressive Left, UK Politics | Leave a comment

more precision needed – and include me out!

By bananabrain | Published: July 13, 2011

from the excellent-but-ferocious ophelia benson at butterflies and wheels:

“More precision needed. There should be a stamp for that. MPN should be like LOL or TMI.”

i agree. what narks me somewhat (and no doubt there are all sorts of reasons why i am wrong about this) is that this is *precisely* what bothers me about statements about a) religious people and b) the tendentious-as-feck word “judeo-christian”.

“But there again – that’s a matter of fact, not something that can just be declared from the armchair as if it were self-evident. Are Muslims as “diverse” as any other group of people living in the UK? Are all groups living in the UK exactly as diverse as each other, neither more nor less? I don’t see why that would be the case. It’s certainly not impossible that there is something about Islam and/or the history of people who emigrate from majority-Muslim countries that makes Muslims as a group tend to be different from other people as groups, including being less “diverse.” That’s something to find out, not just to announce as a necessary truth. Or a sacred cow…”

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Also posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Antisemitism, Blogosphere, Freedom of Religion, Homophobia, Human Rights, Islamism, Jewish Extremism, Multiculturalism | Leave a comment

The Appeasers of Ratko Mladic

By Cross Post | Published: May 31, 2011

This article by Ben Cohen is cross-posted for the benefit of the “liberal” left, the inveterate Chomkyists and the self-loathing Islamists who opposed the bombing of Serbia by Nato forces in 1999, because they regarded then and still do now, that adopting an anti-American stance was more important than the humanitarian intervention which stopped the genocide of Bosnian Muslims.

As it turns out, this has been a stand-out month in the battle against evil. First, there was the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now, finally, the capture of the fugitive Serb war criminal, Ratko Mladic.

The far-left's favourite genocidaire

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Also posted in War Crimes | 4 Comments

The Heretics

By avicenna | Published: May 25, 2011

It is related that Imam al-Ghazali was invited one day to an assembly of jurists, whose chief said to him:

‘You are a learned man, as we are also from among the learned. Therefore humbler folk come to you to seek interpretations of the Sharia, the Holy Law. It has been reported to us that you have advised some these people not to observe the fast during the month of Ramadan. You are also said to have stated that certain people should not make the pilgramage to Mecca. Others have averred that you have reprimanded people for saying, “There is no God but Allah”. Such mischevious words, if true, are proof to us of infidelity. Only your reputation has so far proteced you from death for apostasy. The people have a right to be protected from such as you.

Ghazali sighed and answered:

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Also posted in Sharia, Sufism | 2 Comments

Extra! Extra! Mullah Omar arrested in Pakistan

By Cross Post | Published: May 17, 2011

Nadeem Paracha does satire so well, we would like to see him do more.  This is a cross-post by Nadeem from the Dawn

ISLAMABAD: In a daring raid, Saudi Special Forces arrested renegade Afghan leader, Mullah Omar, from a famous five-star hotel located in one of Pakistan’s most popular vacation spots – Bhurban.

The news spread like wildfire and people were seen cursing the Pakistani government for allowing the Americans to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty – again.

However, when it became clear that the raid was not conducted by the Americans but the Saudis, the frowns turned into smiles and many were heard saying, ‘Jazzakallah!’

Only minutes after the raid, Pakistan’s prime minister and Army Chief appeared on state-owned television and congratulated the nation and thanked the Saudi regime for helping Pakistan in its war against terror.

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Also posted in International Affairs, Terrorism | Leave a comment

Liberal Hangup?

By Effendi | Published: April 6, 2011

Jonathan Friedland on the Goldstone Report furore which ultimately is a obsession which occludes other issues which are as worthy of the world’s attention as Israel/Palestine. If this a notion that is worth repeating it is most certainly worth repeating on the Guardian.

Many respectable folks have spent decades insisting that the “core issue” in the Middle East, if not the world, is the Israel-Palestine conflict – that it is the “running sore” whose eventual healing will heal the wider region and beyond.

That was always gold-plated nonsense, but now the Arab spring has come along to prove it. Now the world can see that the peoples of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain have troubles aplenty that have nothing to do with Israel. There could be peace between Israelis and Palestinians tomorrow, but it wouldn’t relieve those in Damascus or Manama or Sana’a from the yoke of tyranny. For them, Israel is not “the heart of the matter”, as the cliche always insisted it was. The heart of the matter are the regimes who have oppressed them day in, day out, for 40 years or more.

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Also posted in International Affairs, The Left, War Crimes | 4 Comments

Lambert: So Wrong On So Many Levels

By Effendi | Published: February 9, 2011

Bob Lambert came out fighting with a desperate piece in defence of his disastrous thesis, which is unconvincing from the start:

As a result of Cameron’s new policy, several Muslims who al-Qaida strategists regard as serious and credible opponents in the battle for young hearts and minds will be hampered in their important counter-terrorism work. Fortunately, Cameron’s decision to deny effective Muslim community initiatives legitimacy and funding will not entirely halt effective grassroots work against al-Qaida influence but it will reduce its scale and impact. It will also make life difficult for local partnerships where Muslim community groups are branded extremist and subversive by the government. As a consequence, trust and mutual respect between police and Muslim community projects will be replaced by relationships of control and distrust, or no relationships at all – both outcomes serving al-Qaida better than counter-terrorism.

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Also posted in Islamism, Nutters | 7 Comments

Tony Blair: Save Hosni Mubarak!

By Effendi | Published: February 3, 2011

"You're not like those other ragheads, Hosni. You're alright!"

Tony Blair, who convinced the world to oust Saddam Hussain, an autocratic dictator of a totalitarian state, said this of Hosni Mubarak, another autocratic dictator of a totalitarian state:

“I’ve worked with him on the Middle East peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians so this is somebody I’m constantly in contact with and working with and on that issue, I have to say, he’s been immensely courageous and a force for good,”

You mean this kind of “immensely courageous force for good“, Tony?

And this is what he had this to say of holding democratic elections in Egypt that could result in the election of the Muslim Brotherhood:

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Also posted in Democracy, War Crimes | Leave a comment

Paedophilia and First Cousin Marriage: Correlation as Cause

By avicenna | Published: February 2, 2011

Labour Peer, Lord Ahmed said that Asian men target and groom underage white girls for sex because the men are the unfortunate victims of unhappy and forced first-cousin marriage:

“They are forced into marriages and they are not happy.

“They are married to girls from overseas who they don’t have anything in common with, and they have children and a family.
“But they are looking for fun in their sexual activities and seek out vulnerable girls.

“I get a lot of criticism from Asian people who ask, ‘How can you say this about Asian men?’ But they must wake up and realise there is a problem.”

He added: “While I respect individual choice, I think the community needs to look at marriages in the UK rather than cousin marriages or economic marriages from abroad.

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Also posted in Crime | 1 Comment

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