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No, the author doesn't conflate anything. Yes, the people mentioned differ in many ways: gender, political views, popular image... But they do have something in
by cousin_it 18y ago
No, the author doesn't conflate anything. Yes, the people mentioned differ in many ways: gender, political views, popular image... But they do have something in common: they vocally attacked Islamic practices and were punished.
- lucumo 18y agoYes, because the idiotic actions of crazy individuals are totally the responsibility of all people in a society. Have you repented for the murder of JFK, Lincoln and some school personnel in San Diego (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer) yet?
- cousin_it 18y agoI don't know exactly why people downvoted you (I didn't), but guess it's because you attacked factual statements with emotional statements.
- lucumo 18y agoMy tone was a bit overly confrontational I think, for which I apologize. But I do think the analogy holds. Theo van Gogh was indeed killed for his anti-Islam statements, but by a disturbed individual who had hoped to solve the situation that way. It only made it worse, of course. The murder of Pim Fortuyn follows more or less the same pattern. Killed by a disturbed individual that figured that was the only way to stop him. Fortuyn especially had a relatively large following among the Dutch. I don't think "punished" is the right word for it, since it implies that there is any legitimacy to their murders, or even sanctioned by the populace, which is simply not the case.
- cousin_it 18y agoIf in a certain country vocal criticism of a certain ideology is frequently met with punishment, this fact seems informative to me regardless of whether the punishment was democratically sanctioned by the majority.