Posted on 07/27/2005 6:36:47 AM PDT by Andy from Beaverton
07/26/2005
A Portland Muslim leader is asking a pesticide industry lobbyist to retract a statement in which she warned that Senate Democrats had declared "jihad" against Republicans over an environmental dispute.
Shahriar Ahmed, president of the Bilal Mosque in Beaverton, said use of the term in an e-mail dealing with a controversy over a pesticide use reporting program perpetuates negative stereotypes about Muslims.
"The term 'jihad' here was used intentionally to aggravate the situation," Ahmed said during a news conference Tuesday.
The word has been used by Muslim extremists to describe holy war, but Ahmed said mainstream Muslims use the Arabic word to describe a person's internal struggle to do good.
Ahmed came to the Capitol to criticize an e-mail sent by lobbyist Paulette Pyle of the pesticide-user group known as Oregonians for Food and Shelter.
In a July 15 e-mail to about 500 farmers and foresters, Pyle warned that "the Senate Democrats have declared 'JIHAD' against the Republicans because they are opposed to (Pesticide Use Reporting System) funding."
Pyle said she meant nothing derogatory about Muslims and only used the term in an e-mail to members and supporters of the pesticide group as a way to highlight the issue.
"When I wrote that e-mail, it was like 'Damn it, I've got to say something to get your attention,'" she said, referring to farmers who she said were busy with harvest.
Courtney Campbell, chair of the philosophy department at Oregon State University, said many Muslims would be offended by how the word is used in Pyle's e-mail because it has a deep religious meaning in their religion.
"It really is using a pretty central term in the religion in a completely inappropriate context," Courtney said. He compared it to the significance of the word "Israel," which he said has a similar meaning to the Jewish faith.
Ahmed was joined at Tuesday's news conference by Sen. Frank Shields, D-Portland, who said it appeared that the word was used in the e-mail in a "racist and religionist" way.
"We're supposed to be debating the issues," Shields said, adding that it was inappropriate to use the word "in a very negative and derogatory way."
But Pyle said Shields is blowing the statement out of proportion.
"Good grief. Are you kidding? I never even thought about it in that context," she said.
Pyle's e-mail asked farmers and foresters to visit the Capitol and lobby against the reporting system, originally established in 1999, that is supposed to give Oregonians information about where and in what quantities pesticides are used.
The program has never been fully implemented because groups opposed to the program successfully lobbied to cut its funding during tight budget years.
This year, Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature disagreed about how specific the geographic reporting should be.
Pyle's group and Republicans argued that large reporting areas are necessary to protect pesticide users from environmental sabotage.
But environmental groups and many Democrats said pesticide use should be reported according to township, range and section coordinates so that the information could be useful for researchers.
Legislative leaders announced yesterday that, as part of their budget deal, funding for the reporting system would be provided, but the reporting area would be by river basin, which is significantly larger than what environmental groups wanted.
Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, declined to comment on Pyle's e-mail.
___
On the Net:
Senate Bill 290
http://www.leg.state.or.us
From now on no one can use the word "whitey" except whites :)
Pyle should tell him: "It's a free country and I can say what I want. What are you going to do, behead me?"
Okay. You stop using the "C" word.
this controversy isn't what is causing the negative stereotypes about mooslims. It's when they fly hijacked airplanes into our buildings that I start thinking negative.
We need to pick up all who belong to CAIR and these Mooslims who are offended at the drop of a hat and ship them back to where they came from where they wont be so offended.
Boy howdy does that free speech thing turn people on their heads. If you don't like the use of words with meaning, go back to where ever it is that you came from and conform to their laws!
All your English language are belong to us.
STFU
Have a great day
Muslims perpetuate the negative stereotype of muslims.
So I say let's get rid of them all.
Works for me!
If you say jihad, I guess you have to kill them...then it would be ok.
Muslims are offended by EVERYTHING. It's like dealing with a bunch of paranoid children. Lighten up or LEAVE!
This is just a subtle way of shouting someone down by calling them a racist. I seriously doubt this woman was offended, she just wants to cry wolf. Even if she was offended, too bad. Whenever someone takes offense where none was obviously intended it's their problem not the speakers.
"Shahriar Ahmed, president of the Bilal Mosque in Beaverton, said use of the term in an e-mail dealing with a controversy over a pesticide use reporting program perpetuates negative stereotypes about Muslims. The term 'jihad' here was used intentionally to aggravate the situation, Ahmed sai
--- Is there something in the koran that forbids use of pesticides? Or about reporting / not reporting their use?
Sorry, I don't see the problem then.
After all, haven't we in the West been told for the past several years that Jihad doesn't really mean rape, murder & pillage it simply means struggle for improvement?
Sounds to me like the pesticide industry is struggling for improvement & is using the (revised) definition.
Or is Amed using the (original) definition and saying that the pesticide industry is using code to encourage the murder of Republicans? If so, is he upset over encouragement of murder, or just filing a jurisdictional grievance since he wants first dibs?
Jihad for me, but not for thee.
Pronunciation: ( ji-häd'), [key]
-n.
1. a holy war undertaken as a sacred duty by Muslims.
2. any vigorous, emotional crusade for an idea or principle.
Jihad is in the English dictionary. Who put it there? Muslims. Who defined it? Muslims.
As to the negative stereotyping of Muslims. Stereotyping is the scientific process of observation and deduction. If we observe that most trees have leaves, then we stereotype trees as having leaves. This does not mean that all trees have leaves, but that most do. Stereotypes are based on fact through observation and reason.
So if there are negative stereotypes of Muslims, they have no one to blame but their fellow Muslims.
Are there any positive stereotypes of Muslims?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.