If I blogged about every stupid remark uttered by the ignorant, blogging would consume me, because dumbness is endless. For instance, Tavis Smiley, host of his own program on PBS, equated Christianity with Islamofaciscm. An excerpt of his interview with atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
Ali: Major Nidal Hasan, the military guy who in November shot 13 of his colleagues and injured 32, he’s going to be on trial pretty soon, I think this week, the young man, Faisal Shahzad, in Times Square who tried to blow innocent people that he doesn’t know up, these guys are acting on conviction. Somehow, the idea got into their minds that to kill other people is a great thing to do and that they would be rewarded in the hereafter.
Tavis: But Christians do that every single day in this country.
Ali: Do they blow people up (unintelligible)?
Tavis: Yes. Oh, Christians, every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, that’s what Columbine is – I could do this all day long. There are so many more examples of Christians – and I happen to be a Christian. That’s back to this notion of your idealizing Christianity in my mind, to my read. There are so many more examples, Ayaan, of Christians who do that than you could ever give me examples of Muslims who have done that inside this country, where you live and work.
Stunning, isn’t it? When was the last time you read about someone blowing up people in the name of Christ? And what does Columbine have to do with Christianity? Is Smiley saying the murderers mowed down their classmates in name of Christ, with heaven on their minds? What would make Smiley say something so obviously untrue? Even Ali the atheist is stunned:
Ali: Well, I think you and I disagree, not so much on is there extremism in Christianity – I fully acknowledge that. There are people who want to take the bible and use passages from the bible as justification for violent behavior. I’m not denying that in the least. But mainstream Christians in the 21st century are more like you.
I’m an atheist, I’m not a Christian, but they are more like you – accepting of other religions and tolerant. The latest example, “South Park,” where Jesus Christ was made fun of, watching pornography, people, Christians, maybe have been annoyed by it but the producers of “South Park” were not threatened by Christians.
PBS’s ombudsman posted Smiley’s explanation of his dumb remarks, in response to viewer backlash. As expected, his response is impotent and non-responsive. He doesn’t explain why he, a so-called Christian, said Christians kill people “every single day in this country.” The least he could is admit he was using hyperbole to make an ill-conceived point. But, no. Just the same old putrid, politically correct pabulum.
In 1977, 44-year-old movie director Roman Polanski pled guilty to raping a drunk and drugged 13-year-old girl. After plea-bargaining the drug/rape/sodomy charges down to unlawful sexual conduct with a child under 14 and serving 42 days for the evaluation period, Polanski fled to England, then France, to avoid extradition. He’d been on the run ever since. Until September 26. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland.
When infant killer George Tiller was gunned down on May 31, pro- and anti-abortion groups condemned the murder. Planned Parenthood