Blowing up travellers and such

But I thought that Bush started the Cedar Revolution and Lebanon was all shiny and happy now. At least, that's what that Right Brothers song said. o__O

Also, why is hardly anyone talking about the train bombings in India?

In media news, Andrew Cash has this patronizing article in NOW about On Our Own Terms: Muslim Youth Speak Out at UofT. Now, I didn't go to it or anything, being neither a Muslim youth or a UofT student, but it sounds like it was an interesting event that featured a broad degree of opinions. What is cringe-worthy are Cash's assertions that "progressive" Muslims like Irshad Manji are being silenced by the rest of the community, just Cash's father rejected progressive Catholics* back in the day, expressed in passages like this:

It left me wondering if some of these youth see themselves as Muslims who happen to also be Canadian or Canadians who happen to be Muslim.

"We don't see a contradiction between our Canadian identity and our Muslim identity. We are both," says Malik. "But it is jarring when that identity is called into question. You know, like: Which are you more, Muslim or Canadian? People don't think about it. This is home."

When I ask Malik who should speak for the Muslim community in the media, the soft-spoken poli-sci student chooses her words carefully.

"Well, we are a community with a diversity of voices, and maybe it's about time we accept and deal with that," she says. "There's no way that one voice can represent the whole community."

I don't see anything reactionary or crypto-reactionary in Malik's words. Is it possible that she just, I don't know, thinks that it's perfectly fine that different voices represent the Muslim community?

This is a lefty rag, by the way, and this is a presumably lefty writer. At least he makes the point that there's no way our Toronto Turrists can get a fair trial. Oy.

* Additionally, I wonder at his definition of what constitutes a progressive Catholic. Cash isn't talking about Liberation Theologists, I don't think; he's talking about people who wanted Mass in languages other than Latin.

Blowing up travellers and such

But I thought that Bush started the Cedar Revolution and Lebanon was all shiny and happy now. At least, that's what that Right Brothers song said. o__O

Also, why is hardly anyone talking about the train bombings in India?

In media news, Andrew Cash has this patronizing article in NOW about On Our Own Terms: Muslim Youth Speak Out at UofT. Now, I didn't go to it or anything, being neither a Muslim youth or a UofT student, but it sounds like it was an interesting event that featured a broad degree of opinions. What is cringe-worthy are Cash's assertions that "progressive" Muslims like Irshad Manji are being silenced by the rest of the community, just Cash's father rejected progressive Catholics* back in the day, expressed in passages like this:

It left me wondering if some of these youth see themselves as Muslims who happen to also be Canadian or Canadians who happen to be Muslim.

"We don't see a contradiction between our Canadian identity and our Muslim identity. We are both," says Malik. "But it is jarring when that identity is called into question. You know, like: Which are you more, Muslim or Canadian? People don't think about it. This is home."

When I ask Malik who should speak for the Muslim community in the media, the soft-spoken poli-sci student chooses her words carefully.

"Well, we are a community with a diversity of voices, and maybe it's about time we accept and deal with that," she says. "There's no way that one voice can represent the whole community."

I don't see anything reactionary or crypto-reactionary in Malik's words. Is it possible that she just, I don't know, thinks that it's perfectly fine that different voices represent the Muslim community?

This is a lefty rag, by the way, and this is a presumably lefty writer. At least he makes the point that there's no way our Toronto Turrists can get a fair trial. Oy.

* Additionally, I wonder at his definition of what constitutes a progressive Catholic. Cash isn't talking about Liberation Theologists, I don't think; he's talking about people who wanted Mass in languages other than Latin.