It used to be that if you asked people to list places they'd like to travel, it was all but certain that a huge percentage of people would include Paris on the list. Well, France in general has a reputation for being one of the great bastions of culture, philosophy, art, literature, and heck, gastronomy for that matter. In days past, it was the hub for the likes of Sartre, Dali, Camus, Hemingway, Picasso, Beauvoir, and god knows who else. Maybe that's why it was targeted last week -- cultural beacons that aren't advancing some morally bankrupt vision of backwards disgrace unto humanity are the single greatest enemy of religion. For any religious fundamentalist, moral, intellectual, and social regression of mankind into a condition of universal detriment is the greatest possible good.
Aamir Khan recently met with backlash, as usual, for the crime of opening his mouth and saying things people didn't want to hear. He brought up a sense that there was an atmosphere of growing intolerance in India... Sure enough, he brought up a wide array of details and elaborated on the matter, but do you think a single person heard that? Everywhere it was about taking it personally as if Aamir was somehow making a blanket statement. How dare you spout an unpleasant truth, Aamir? The boycotts and such, just as he saw from the furor over PK and/or the threats around Satyamev Jayate before only betray an abject lack of self-awareness when people shout -- "We're so not intolerant that we won't tolerate you saying anything bad about us!" It was especially hilarious to see some other defenses like those who argued "If we're so intolerant, what about ISIS?" That is a pouting child defending his transgressions by saying "That other kid down the street is worse, so that makes me awesome by default."
Then of course, you've got the Republican talking heads who, as a rule, spread lies in the course of their discourse about Planned Parenthood and promote more guns as the answer to gun problems, and are suddenly shocked that a Planned Parenthood gets attacked. Naturally, they want to say "I didn't do anything"... Never mind the outright falsehoods we spouted... Never mind the propaganda of antipathy towards Planned Parenthood... Never mind the bending over backwards for gun lobbyists... People are responsible for how they're influenced by our rhetoric! It's so unfair to blame the political demagogues who didn't do anything other than double down on fallacious bullshit!
Aamir Khan recently met with backlash, as usual, for the crime of opening his mouth and saying things people didn't want to hear. He brought up a sense that there was an atmosphere of growing intolerance in India... Sure enough, he brought up a wide array of details and elaborated on the matter, but do you think a single person heard that? Everywhere it was about taking it personally as if Aamir was somehow making a blanket statement. How dare you spout an unpleasant truth, Aamir? The boycotts and such, just as he saw from the furor over PK and/or the threats around Satyamev Jayate before only betray an abject lack of self-awareness when people shout -- "We're so not intolerant that we won't tolerate you saying anything bad about us!" It was especially hilarious to see some other defenses like those who argued "If we're so intolerant, what about ISIS?" That is a pouting child defending his transgressions by saying "That other kid down the street is worse, so that makes me awesome by default."
Then of course, you've got the Republican talking heads who, as a rule, spread lies in the course of their discourse about Planned Parenthood and promote more guns as the answer to gun problems, and are suddenly shocked that a Planned Parenthood gets attacked. Naturally, they want to say "I didn't do anything"... Never mind the outright falsehoods we spouted... Never mind the propaganda of antipathy towards Planned Parenthood... Never mind the bending over backwards for gun lobbyists... People are responsible for how they're influenced by our rhetoric! It's so unfair to blame the political demagogues who didn't do anything other than double down on fallacious bullshit!
