How funny! I've heard of Leopold and Loeb, but I have no idea who they are. That condition will last either for the rest of my life or for about 37 seconds.
And today is Day 2 of the UC Berkeley Islamophobia Conference!
I need to check-in to see what is being said and then start outlining.
Yesterday the most interesting guy was Adnan Husain who is an associate professor of medieval Mediterranean and Islamic World History from Queen’s University in Canada.
He talked a lot about Crusader imagery in contemporary western anti-Muslim bigotry and I’ve noticed that, as well. The Gates of Vienna blog would undoubtedly be considered Islamophobic and that guy – whoever he is – features some Norse / Viking symbolism on his page. That is different from Crusader, but the same idea is featured, I think.
In a certain kind of way I suspect that these guys are reinventing the wheel because scholars of anti-Semitism have long ago covered much of this ground.
What I do not really understand, however, is how it is that these intelligent people give absolutely no credence to the rise of political Islam as a factor in the rise of anti-Muslim sentiments in the west? In fact, all day yesterday nobody used the words “Jihad” or “Islamism” or “political Islam.”
They simply did not discuss it, but what they need to understand – as one panelist seemed to during the Q & A – is that the problem here is not limited to the “hard right.” I need to look through my notes, but one of the panelists breathed the words “Sam Harris” under her breath as a reference to liberal objections .
But I have to say, my main thesis at this point is that the left is giving up on liberalism and the name of the conference is “Islamophobia & The End of Liberalism?”
Kerouac and friends had a very bad influence on me when I was a kid.
Y’know, I read On The Road and The Dharma Bums and then started reading the other Beats before moving on to the material concerned with the 60s counterculture, which not long thereafter led me to San Francisco in my late teens.
I was at UCONN in the 80s and most people that I knew were pretty level-headed normal people, studying practical subjects like Business Administration or Engineers. Meanwhile my close friends tended to be artists, intellectuals, and degenerates.
My guess is that is not Leopold and Loeb. :0)
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I've heard of Leopold and Loeb, but I have no idea who they are. That condition will last either for the rest of my life or for about 37 seconds.
DeleteAnd today is Day 2 of the UC Berkeley Islamophobia Conference!
I need to check-in to see what is being said and then start outlining.
Yesterday the most interesting guy was Adnan Husain who is an associate professor of medieval Mediterranean and Islamic World History from Queen’s University in Canada.
He talked a lot about Crusader imagery in contemporary western anti-Muslim bigotry and I’ve noticed that, as well. The Gates of Vienna blog would undoubtedly be considered Islamophobic and that guy – whoever he is – features some Norse / Viking symbolism on his page. That is different from Crusader, but the same idea is featured, I think.
In a certain kind of way I suspect that these guys are reinventing the wheel because scholars of anti-Semitism have long ago covered much of this ground.
What I do not really understand, however, is how it is that these intelligent people give absolutely no credence to the rise of political Islam as a factor in the rise of anti-Muslim sentiments in the west? In fact, all day yesterday nobody used the words “Jihad” or “Islamism” or “political Islam.”
They simply did not discuss it, but what they need to understand – as one panelist seemed to during the Q & A – is that the problem here is not limited to the “hard right.” I need to look through my notes, but one of the panelists breathed the words “Sam Harris” under her breath as a reference to liberal objections .
But I have to say, my main thesis at this point is that the left is giving up on liberalism and the name of the conference is “Islamophobia & The End of Liberalism?”
It’s an apt title.
Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac
ReplyDeleteShow off!
DeleteKerouac and friends had a very bad influence on me when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteY’know, I read On The Road and The Dharma Bums and then started reading the other Beats before moving on to the material concerned with the 60s counterculture, which not long thereafter led me to San Francisco in my late teens.
I was at UCONN in the 80s and most people that I knew were pretty level-headed normal people, studying practical subjects like Business Administration or Engineers. Meanwhile my close friends tended to be artists, intellectuals, and degenerates.
Ah, the good old days.