" Martin Amis has launched an attack on "miserable bastards" in the British Muslim community, accusing them of trying to destroy multicultural society by failing to "fit in" with other faiths."
You must admire the accuracy of his choice of words (apparently he consults a dictionary 20 times a day)! He's not condemning the "miserable" Muslims or the "bastards" among them. The first group needs our help and second is not suicidal. It's the "miserable bastards" who bug him. Now, that's a phrase I'd like to use more often.
10 comments:
Hi Amal,
The amazing thing is that he demands that they 'fit in'
in a multicultural society there is no center to fit into.
The ideal is that you can pick and choose which center of culture you fit into.
Yes, speaking of language betraying you, his "fit in" is a give a way. I guess he needs to use the dictionary more often.
did you see amis'short story in the new yorker a while back? "The last days of Mohamad atta"--it was a terribly written story regardless of its f/ed up politics.
Why am I suprised that the NYorker published it? I have been reading them for like two decades (revealing my age unless, oh yeah, I started reading nyer at 10). I am not always in love with the fiction selected but it is usually fiction. I am for all the genre-blurring/bending but what the hell was this? I could not even finish the trashy piece of crap. It was not a story. someone from the B admin could have written it. sorry for the rant, but M amis & the nyer really pissed me off w/ that story publication.
no, I haven't read it. And I don't think I will after the glowing review you give it : )
what a F----- he is. don't bother. seriously.
It seems to me that you (like many Muslims) are trying to enflame passions and promote hatred by taking Amis’s words and using them out of context. You recently blogged, “Although I'm the author of this blog, I still have limited control over what I say.” I say that’s a load of bollocks.
This is what he said, "In this country what's happening is that young men in late adolescence and early manhood have a period of self-hatred and disgust and thoughts of suicide. The idea you can turn this into world history is tremendously powerful."
The allure of a philosophy based on "the rejection of reason and embrace of death" is intense but shortlived, he said. "I think the absolutely critical thing is to see whether it mutates. Death cults do take on a terrible momentum. If individuals believe they can exert an influence on history, then al-Qa'idaism will mutate as we feared.
"To me, Britain looks like a multicultural society that's working, apart from a few of these miserable bastards."
I take these statements to mean that he is dismayed by the fact that this particular cross section of Muslims (typically young men) has shown little respect for their own lives and the lives of others. Are you saying that this doesn’t bother you as well? He’s not suggesting any solutions but I think he is saying that by integrating those Muslims into society we would see more tolerance for one another or vice versa if those Muslims would show more tolerance, then they would be seen as more integrated into society. Is that such a bad thing?
Anonymous,
I honestly don't see how you can be a reader of this blog then conclude that I'm "enflame passions and promote hatreds." But you see what you want to see. And you see a Muslim who like "many Muslims" is...Is there any chance that your assumptions about Muslims/Islam are informing your reading of my blog?
I did not take Amis words out of context. I actually linked to the whole article so the reader can always go and read the whole thing. As you did. I poked fun at Amis proverbial verbosity--for a writer who cares so much about words, he was careless with his words. I should have explained more, but as I always say these are improvisations and you should read each post in the context of other posts.
so let me elaborate a bit:
Amis also said (interesting you don't quote that part):
"When I come back to Britain I see a pretty good multicultural society," he said. "The only element that is not fitting in is Islam. Who else isn't fitting in?"
He is careless. This is the dangerous slippage I disagree with: he goes from condemning the extremists to condemning "Islam." The murderous activities of one group of criminals become a "cultural" issue of Islam not "fitting in". Just like the women who wear the Niqab: they are not fitting in and since they are Muslim too, just like the terrorists, then Islam must be the reason. The truth of the matter is that the majority of Muslims in Britian are not criminals; they have not broken the law. The woman who wears the niqab, who Jack Straw unveiled, is not breaking any law but some people want her to "fit in." In other words, the whole issue becomes a "cultural" issue.
Amis can condemn the extremists who are blowing themselves up and other people all he wants. I condemn them with him. I would disagree with him in that I dont' want those people "integrated"; I want them punished to the full extent of the law.
By only quoting a piece of his article without context you are doing exactly what I said you were doing – sensationalizing. Linking to the article doesn’t stop you from taking the quoted piece out of context.
Once again you, like many Muslims (yes, I said it again), prefer to see yourselves as the victim of some crime where there has been none. Amis is saying that Muslims are not integrating into society not that they are criminals. Where is it that he condemns entire Islam? He doesn’t. What he is saying is that when a segment of a group (here mostly young Muslim men) shows such disregard for life (their own and others), then it makes it difficult for the entire Muslim population to get along with other groups, i.e. to be trusted. This is what he means by “fit in”. He means getting along with others and showing tolerance for others not that Muslims need to act just like other groups. How is it possible for non-Muslims to trust Muslims as a whole if a part of that group is behaving so badly?
Does it necessarily condemn the whole Muslim population? No, it doesn’t. What it means is that Muslims like you who hate what these extremists are doing should stand up and yell at the top of your lungs how much you despise what they are doing. They are your brothers, your sisters, your sons, and your daughters. You’re closer to them than us non-Muslims. However, the reality is that you and most other non-violent Muslims are just feckless cowards who are afraid to speak out against extremism for fear of reprisals. You may think you’re brave for speaking out against extremism from the comfort of your home in your safe neighborhood in Washington, DC in the United States. However, you do it anonymously and under the protection of the very system you and many other Muslims like to deride ad nauseam. Why don’t you speak out openly while living in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Iran?
If you did, I would be the first to call you a saint as they carry your dead and lifeless body to be buried.
You are refusing to see Amis words in the context of what is being said in England these days. He said "ISLAM" doesn't fit in. And there is much talk about how Muslims are not "fitting in" because of their culture. There is a collapse here of two issues. I'm arguing that this is dangerous because it's going to confuse who the enemy is and is going to undermine multicultural society. The interpretation you give to his words "fit in" ignores this context.
I think it's legitimate to ask the Muslim community and leadership to speak louder against those amongst them who are blowing up subways or torching embassies. But Aims didn't make that point. And many Muslims say that no matter what they say, they don't get heard. There is some truth to that. My experiene with reactions like yours on this blog attest to that. Some of the most moving poetry written in response to September 11th was by Muslim writers, but I bet you you never read it.
As to blogging anonymously, I hardly do. I used to dispaly my full name but too many "extremists" started dropping by and saying scary things. None of them was Muslim.
Anyway, the last part of your post beocomes an ad hominum attack that I won't respond to. Again, it shows me how much you assume.
ps. to anoymous,
http://arabwomanprogressivevoice.blogspot.com/2006/09/here-we-go-again.html
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