Shelgeyr wrote:
DE, pardon me for being rude, but ... your reaction seems highly illogical to me.
One of the primary arguments against allowing this community center/mosque to be built was the assumption that the radical militants will claim it as a moral victory. This, by the way, was
your argument. This argument was then rendered a moot point in 2 ways. #1 - the fact that the general consensus now is that no efforts should be made to block, prevent or interfere with the project. #2 - the assumption that the radical militants would claim a moral victory whether or not we allow the project to proceed as planned. Oh yeah, by the way ... this was
you changing your mind, and
your point that a moral victory could be claimed in the event that we refuse to let the community center/mosque be built.
So I enter the thread a bit late, and in the process of giving my 2¢ opinion, I make brief mention of the 2 primary objections that have been raised. I do this in the spirit of completeness, so as not to appear to have failed to take note of what's been said here in this discussion. I then make mention of the fact that due to the shifting nature of the conversation, one of those 2 objections is no longer conversation-worthy. It has been rendered a non-issue by points you yourself made. And then you decide to take me to task for not beating the dead horse.
Now, I ask again - why are you arguing with me? I have not disagreed with anything you've said.
As a matter of fact, I essentially repeated what you said damn near word-for-word.
Compare your statement to mine, tell me in what way I disagreed with what you said, then explain to me why you're arguing with me.
Diamondeye wrote:
Inevitably, there will be a propaganda victory for militants no matter what we do since they will spin it how they please.
Shelgeyr wrote:
"they" are going to claim some sort of victory no matter what we do, so we may as well give up trying to second-guess how they might spin things.
I've explained this at least 3 times now. The question of a moral victory for militants
is not a moot point in the question of whether the mosque-builders should or should not proceed of their own accord. If the mosque builders decide not to, then it becomes very hard for the militants to claim any victory.
My point that they will inevitably claim victory in this matter was in relation to the question of
whether or not the mosque should be legally permitted to be built.
So no, you cannot simply dismiss whether they will gain a victory out of it in regard to the question of what the mosque builders dreely choose to do.
I don't know why this distinction is so hard for you to grasp, since it is not a minor one. If we forbade the mosque, the militants could claim oppression. If we allow it and it is built they can claim a victory over our weakness. If we allow it but the builders choose to not proceed, what can they claim with any real credibility?
Now, that's 3 or 4 of the same explaination over again. Next time, I suggest you pay a little more attention to the context my comment you quoted was made in. No one is taking you to task for not beating a dead horse; I pointed out that I thought you misunderstood something and explaiend why, you said you didn't, I pointed out that I had no idea what you were talking about then, and then you decided to start wondering why I was arguing with you, after which I explained yet again, and then you come back and quote me and prove that no, you really didn't understand what I was talking about because you took my line about "inevitably they will claim..." and applied it to the question of what the mosque-builders ought to do rather than the question of should it be allowed legally, which was what that comment was addressing.