Posted on 09/10/2010 2:10:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
I remember growing up in a conservative movement that, reacting to the rampant permissiveness of the 1960s and '70s, stressed the virtue of civility. Sure, you have the right to flagrantly offend your neighbors and your community. But should you? Conservatism used to answer "no."
It was one of the cultural demarcations between the right and the left. If you were on the right, you generally thought it unacceptable to excuse boorish behavior with the utterance, "but it's my constitutional right!" Conservatives understood that self-restraint reduced the pressure for government-imposed restraint. We understood that with our civil rights came civic responsibilities. We understood that the United States of America was a land of tremendous religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity and that the peaceful coexistence of all of these people of such varying backgrounds and beliefs required tolerance, and tolerance meant treating others as you would have them treat you. In short, the republic itself relied upon civility.
Most conservatives still get this, I think. But sometimes I wonder how much the self-indulgence of the left has seduced our side. In the last few days, we've seen many on the right come out in defense of a proposal that once would have been almost universally considered indefensible, at least on the right -- the burning of hundreds of Korans in a deliberate attempt to anger and provoke Muslims around the world.
How can we condemn the constant and never-ending anti-Christian provocations of the radical, secular left and then rise to Terry Jones' defense on the lame excuse that he has the right to free expression? Or worse, that not going through with his planned incitement amounts to somehow giving in to the terrorists? No, it doesn't. It amounts to a belated display of common decency.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Please elaborate with examples and suggestions of such areas to make a stand.
If “being civil” means slowly losing my rights and freedoms, FUGETABOUTIT!!!
What’s next? No bacon in the stores next week? The week after, no beer on the shelves?
They sound like exaggerations now. Will they tomorrow?
Good post. When I was in college, there was this one particular vile nasty muslim Middle Easterner who told me all american women were a not so nice word. He was creepy. He just got in my space KWIM? I just ignored him and found a new place on campus to study. I’m sure he found some dumb twit who fell for the “charm” and $$$$. He was probably kin to Sheikh Khaled Mohammed from his looks. :::SHUDDERS::::
Then there was the Muslim owner of a convenient store who stuffed the flag in a trash can after 9/11 that got the ever loving crap beat out of him by one of the rednecks who frequented the store. The flag was proudly displayed after that.
I have some friends who are Pakistani Christians and some of the stuff they told me they had to deal with was just unbelievable. They had to flee for their lives.
“George Washington’s rules of civility.”
Very good. Something we need in our society.
The Left has abused the conservative view of civility, and made conservatives live by rules that the left does not.
But adandoning those rules is no way to win the culture wars.
The GZ Mosque is a provocation.
So is flag-burning.
So is book-burning.
Just because you have the right to do something, does not make it the right thing to do.
Media stunts of foolish things, like this Koran burning is/was, should be shunned.
You got it. It’s called creeping Sharia.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/about-2/
“Creeping Sharia” is a phenomenon scourge occurring across the free world. We’ll define it as “the slow, deliberate, and methodical advance of Islamic law (sharia) in non-Muslim countries” (literal definitions below). Another frequently used term is ‘stealth jihad’.
To the general public, justifiably pre-occupied with work, family, pleasure, dreams, hopes, goals, and the stresses of each, “creeping sharia” goes mostly unnoticed. Until, that is, a particular event generates enough concern from those who focus on the “creep” that the general public takes notice. These singular events are sometimes less worrisome, but taken in whole, the uncoordinated yet explicit goal of the ummah and worldwide caliphate become obvious and alarming.
“but he would look at a preacher lighting up someone else’s holy book in the same way he’d look at a Muslim burning Bibles.”
And that’s what the people gung-ho to do this need to ponder ... do you WANT to give people an excuse to put you on the same level as the crazy hateful Jihadists?!?!
They are already burning and slaughtering Christians in other countries. They don’t need an excuse to act, they are already committing horrible acts against humanity based on the teachings of that “holy” book.
“Yeah, and the conservative movement also used to believe in having some guts and standing up for God and the US of A. Where is that now? We’re supposed to let that go by the wayside, but remain civil?”
YES!
Of course we can defend American exceptionalism, our liberty, our Constitution, our Christian heritage and values, and the great people that are the American people ... without burning a Koran.
“The thing about the burning of the Koran was that it would have done nothing, NOTHING, to reduce the availability of the Koran to whoever wanted to read it”
So does burning an American flag. Does that make it meaningless and OK?
“It was just a political, symbolic statement, and all of these hand-wringing, whining p*ssies are screaming “No, don’t do it! It will make everyone so angry!””
Who *cares* about making people angry. The question is:
- Is it the right thing to do?
Answer: No.
“So, no free speech for Americans anymore, just for Islamic nutjobs, leftists America-haters”
Um no... let’s agree that Koran burning is a stupid stunt and then the next leftist stunt that is pulled, protest that too..
“ll of you taxpayers can go to hell,” ...
No, no,no. ... all you taxpayers GO TO VOTE ON NOVEMBER 2ND.
“No, it doesn’t. It amounts to a belated display of common decency.”
“Something islam knows nothing about nor cares about.”
Surely Christians are able to show concern and decency for those who don’t show it back ...
“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” Luke 6: 32 (NKJV)
Isn’t it odd that they are in lock-step with every media talking head, every politician, every commentator?”
All prominent conservatives believe a nutty provocation that solves nothing, but gives “Christians” a black eye, is a bad thing to do.
Go figure.
“one can defend the First Amendment and still say this pastor is snake-mean and turkey-stupid.”
I’d go with “media hound with a screw loose” ...
Yeah, and the MEDIA IS PLAYING THIS UP TO GET THE “HATEFUL RIGHT-WINGER” MEME revived. Sad that some hot-head freepers want to play into that stupidity. Smart conservatives dont fall for it.
Of course... but this is not about what they do or dont do.
The civility point is about the fact that it’s wrong to do, so don’t do it.... even if horrible things are done in the name of Islam.
There is a time and place for civility. We spent 9 years being civil all the while the radicals have been busy undercutting our freedoms.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/dawah-the-duty-to-conquer-video/
Do you know that 2 separate instances of Christian pastors being arrested for sharing the gospel here in the US? Not Canada or Pakistan but Kansas and Dearborn.
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2010/09/gospelophobia-spreads-from-dearborn-to.html
I don’t think it’s so much this particular person’s burning the Koran people are responding to so much as it’s realizing that we better stop this now or it will be too late.
Again, civility cost us the WH, House, Senate, and two of the most radicals are now sitting on the USSC, all because the R’s were not willing to fight back when they had the ability. They were rolled by the D’s time and time again.
Radical Islam is not civil. They don’t respect civility. They see it as weakness. That has been one of our biggest mistakes in fighting the war on terror. Fighting this WOT in a civil manner hasn’t really worked now has it?
You missed it. Here is what I said:
It is in the DNA of the rightwing.
We don't like to bring attention to ourselves, we don't like activism or too much symbolism, no inflamed passions, no wave making, logical, mathematical, unemotional....you get my drift.
And our candidates and their families have to be pretty close to robots too, leaving no chance that one might suddenly act like a human being and YIKES....mess up.
Is it any wonder why the commie libs have the WH (an anti-American President no less), Congress, the entire media apparatus, Hollywood, Academia, and the Judiciary.
They run our culture, and our very lives. And just a few months ago they stole generations of our family's earnings and private healthcare.
It could be time to look in the mirror, just a bit.
Sounds like a mentally subnormal moral midget.
That’s not so terribly hard to do. :o/
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