Karen Selick needs to get out more
Which is not to say that I don’t get and agree with her point. I just think she’s reminding me a little too much of those nerdy boys we used to wedgie in school.
Instead, consider the fictitious aliens portrayed on the Star Trek television series, the Ferengi. If ever there were a group deserving of contempt, the Ferengi would be it. They are unrepentantly deceitful, scheming, cheating, money-grubbing, obsequious, obnoxious scoundrels. Their written code of conduct explicitly promotes dishonesty.
Are these hateful comments? If I wrote such things about any real group in Canada, no doubt there would be several human rights commissions breathing down my neck.
But suppose Ferengis really existed and immigrated to Canada. Nobody who had ever watched Star Trek would want them as employees, tenants or customers. But nobody would dare say why, fearing a hate speech charge.
Instead, people would surreptitiously avoid dealing with them in whatever subtle ways were possible without triggering a discrimination complaint.
There are three possibilities about the televised portrayal of Ferengis: it might be true for all Ferengis, it might be false for all Ferengis or it might be true for some Ferengis and false for others. In each case, allowing people to make disparaging comments like the ones I made above would offer benefits the Supreme Court apparently couldn’t imagine.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Muslims are not the new Jews. They are the new… Ferengi. (somewhere, Mr. Right is laughing at me for even discussing this)
Putting aside the uncomfortable geekiness of it all, she makes the point many of us have been making all along. Those who behave in a way that is not conducive to integrating into our communities should be shunned until they mend their ways. That goes for both violent immigrants and neo-Nazis. Back when we still had shame, we didn’t need commissions. But since we adopted this anything goes mentality, we need Nanny to tell us when we’re over-stepping. Shunning isn’t allowed, as it might hurt someone’s feelings. Theoretically, I couldn’t shun a neo-Nazi skinhead because his feeling would be hurt on account of me disagreeing with his belief. I can’t shun a Muslim whose religion teaches him to kill me, because I might offend his beliefs. And I’d have to hire a goddam Ferengi.
Where do we draw the line??
Study your cultural icons before you make stupid references to them.
What made Ferengi so contemptible on Star Trek was their total devotion to laissez faire capitalism - which included piracy, going back on their words, selling second rate shit without regulation, and even going as far as to sell their own cremated remains after they die. Perhaps you should study their religious tome - The Rules of Acquisition, which includes such insight such as:
10. Greed is eternal.
41. Profit is its own reward.
162. Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit.
181. Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
As for the extreme muslims, well these people are too devoted to their religion, see nothing wrong with basing their laws on this religious gibberish, they hate women’s rights, they love to carry guns around in the street and anything promoting equality between cultural or social differences they label as deviants of the “one true path” and use as target practice.
In short, extremist Muslims are merely a distilled version of the American Conservative. So what do you want for attacking them, a Medal? As far as I’m concerned all your battle of philosophical dead ends boils down to is Asshole vs Asshole.
[Looks like you need some time socializing with earthlings, too, buddy! - RG]
Comment by Zenrage — June 27, 2008 @ 2:27 am