Sunday, June 12, 2016

Note to an Old Friend Regarding Orlando, FL

Michael L.

{This is a note that I sent today to a non-Jewish friend of mine of the Gay persuasion from San Francisco. - ML}

I have been debating with myself on whether or not to write you this note.

I saw your facebook post today and very much feel how difficult this must be for the GBLTQ community.

And, I am happy to say, that I was very pleased to see the West Hollywood Pride Parade go on today with a vital spirit.

This is, nonetheless, a hard moment and so I am wary about being too forward, but I do want to address some of what you wrote.

"One group will be demonized, another victim shamed and between all the finger pointing the real villains will continue to sell more guns."

The concern that Muslims, in general, will get demonized is a legitimate concern. The problem is that we often fail - on both the Left and the Right - to make the necessary distinction between regular Muslims and those promoting political Islam.

A highly significant aspect of political Islam is the violent promotion of Sharia (Jihad), which is what we just saw in Orlando.

It must be understood, however, that opposing political Islam (or "radical Islam" or "Islamism" or whatever term anyone might choose to use) is not the same as bigotry toward Muslims. This is true in the same way that opposing Nazism was not the same as bigotry toward Germans.

That is, there is nothing "racist" or bigoted about opposing political movements, particularly ones that would, y'know, see you dead.

Peace to you, please, my friend.

Michael

Oh, and as for US gun laws, I favor reform. There is no reason for any American to own a semi-automatic assault rifle. Hand guns for personal defense? Sure.

Rifles for deer hunting?

OK.

But let's not let the 2nd Amendment issues that are going to shoot through the roof in the coming days and weeks detract from the main problem... the rise of a theocratic-political movement throughout the world that has taken over huge swaths of land and that has millions of devotees who would gladly see both you and I gone from the planet.


10 comments:

  1. To blame or link US gun laws to this atrocity, as Obama has done, is bloody disgraceful. It is irrational.

    Worse than that. It is the latest twist to the "this is our fault" meme.

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    1. This may represent a fundamental battle-line between the American Left and Right drawing towards the election.

      Who do you honestly oppose, the NRA or ISIS?

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    2. exactly. Not to mention, if the terrorist couldn't get a gun, he'd have gotten a suicide vest. Oh wait, he also had one!

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    3. In France only the police and the terrorists have guns. I'm for some strict gun control (background checks, waiting periods, etc.), but I think that making this mainly about gun control is a deflection and distraction from the issue at hand, i.e., jihad.

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  2. I think it is irrelevant.

    Terrorists will use what weapons are to hand. These atrocities occur almost daily somewhere in the world and the more usual tool is a suicide vest or vehicle stuffed full of explosives even where military firearms as lethal as that used in Orlando are in every household.
    A pump action shotgun can kill as many people in confined space in the hands of a determined killer especially if the victims are unarmed which as I understand was the case in Orlando where venues like Pulses are "gun free zones " under state laws. Something that this killer would have known.

    Australia's worst massacre by a lone killer some 20 years ago was carried out with a semi automatic weapon which would have been available to any farmer even under tight gun laws.

    I also understand that the killer was a licensed security guard and therefore would have had access to automatic weapons anyway.

    Then there is the black market and smuggling especially from Mexico which is awash with military guns.

    What kind of gun laws you want is your business and I can easily understand the desire of many to have these tightened.
    But that has nothing to do with the threat of Jihadists including lone Jihadists and it is disingenuous to suggest it has. It is worse than that and you should not let them get away with it.
    Again I say what laws you have to restict the acquisition or carrying of guns and what type is none of business.

    But that has nothing to do with what just happened in Orlando.

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    1. As the recent terror wave in Israel shows, where fire weapons are hard to come by, people hell bent on causing mayhem will resort to stones, knives and their vehicles...

      In fact, as the latest terror attack in Israel (Sarona Market) shows, if fire weapons can't be bought they'll be manufactured... Every semi accomplished machinist can EASILY manufacture a fire arm like the Sten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sten or the Carlo (basically a home made version of the Carl Gustav http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustav_m/45)...

      As you'll notice, both of these are fully automatic submachine guns...

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  3. Liberals and progressives seem to not fathom what the nature of soft targets is. If you can't get a gun, get a bomb. If you can't get a bomb, set the building on fire. If you can't do that, drive through a throng at 80mph.

    It's really only a matter of time before you start seeing IED attacks in the US. It's not that impossible to smuggle in artillery shells abandoned by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. Barring that, steal them from a military base. All branches of the armed forces are riddled with gangs or worse, looking for materiel to pilfer and sell.

    We all worry about dirty bombs and so forth but the risk of a few hundred howitzer shells turned into IED is at least as worrisome.

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    1. It took only some bolt cutters to carry out the worst of these attacks.

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  4. Again, I don't think you are recognizing the real problem. ISIS is a criminal gang, but so are the gangs of LA, Chicago, and El Salvador. So was, and is, the Mafia. Why do people join these gangs? The answer is in the book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Rrankl. Terrorism is a tactic, and until we figure out what to do with the primarily, young men, who see meaning in joining the groups affiliated with that tactic I don't know how we are going to stop it.

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  5. Omar was a gay Muslim registered democrat federal sub contractor. It's amazing he didn't already have a Presidential award of some kind.

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