*headdesk*

[rm]

Now I'm arguing with Gather!people about Islam.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Um.

That can't possibly end well.

[rm.livejournal.com]

No, no it can't.

Although the part where someone suggested Clinton should have bombed Oklahoma because of Timothy McVeigh was sort of funny.

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

...

This gather thing sounds exhausting. I hope you're finding some of this rewarding because really, it does sound like a lot of work and frustration.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hey, I just paid for my AHI judging class via it. So at the moment sure. I think the Islam thing might make me crazier than the gay thing, eventhough it's less person as people who write things like "I don't care if that makes me a racist,,,,,,,, what are you doing to protect AMERICA?" make me crazy as a rule.

No one wants me to have to explain elipses.

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

I can't see getting much traction discussing another religion with people who probably can't tell the difference between the Hasidim and the Amish.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Bwahahahaahah!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Why does this make me want to start an "Ask the Jew" column on Gather just to see what offensive insanity people would say to me?

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Well, there you go - if it's a source of income, then that's not half bad!

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

The mind boggles at the possibilities.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'm almost tempted to go and look at this, but I sadly can guess what is largely there. Watching the rapid worsening of a specific form of racism is far from pleasant.

[rm.livejournal.com]

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976950178

It doesn't get really bad until Tom L. brings Satanism into it.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I can only support the bombing of Oklahoma.

Hah!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Well, that went bad places quickly. Also, doesn't satanism actually not advocate violence?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yep. I'm waiting to see if someone is going to step in for the Satanists or if I'm going to have to do that. Which should be hillarious.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Dude, they're comparing Satanism and Islam. I have no hopes for someone actually coming up with accurate knowledge about either religion.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know what to do with that that would be effective.

"Muslims don't stone the Devil becausehe likes it"?

Oi.

How to make money on Gather: ASk a question that will make everyone else eat each other.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hahaha. Hey, I only need 31,242 more points to get a cruise. Almost there!

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Do Muslims even believe in the Devil?

in which I answer my own question

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Apparently, yes.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes. There's a Hajj ritual that focuses on stoning him.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

*blinks* Dear gods, I am impressively tired of right-wing fundy nutcases trying to refight the Crusades. Wow, I'm almost expecting mentions of red hot idols where Muslims sacrifice children to show up soon.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

I'm not gonna get into this. I'm not. I'm not! I've about reached my limit for online discourse for a bit.

I'm not. Really.

Re: in which I answer my own question

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ah, you beat me to answering. I was going to say yes, but the main reason I knew so was because a lot of the myths about djinn are tied up with Muslim theology about the devil, and I am fascinated with djinn and do research on them off and on, depending on how currently interested I am in writing the novel I have never even started.

Re: in which I answer my own question

[rm.livejournal.com]

The way I figured out who Kyser Soze was in The Usual Suspects is when one character is referred to as being "the man with the aim." This is the translation of one of the names of the devil in Arabic, which I know, oddly, from the liner notes of a King Crimson album.

Re: in which I answer my own question

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ha! I love how people pick up useful information in the strangest of places.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

Where is that?!

[rm.livejournal.com]

That's buried somewhere in the comments on the Reza Aslan article I think.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

I hadn't looked at that article yet, and now I kind of wish I hadn't. I mean, the article is fine, and I hope Reza might actually write more for Gather, but the comments are GAH!

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

There's a very tongue-in-cheek "Ask the Mexican" column that runs in a lot of papers now, including Utah's very own alternative City Weekly. It's kind of funny and very informative both about clueless white folks and curiously Latinas. Much more so than Borat, I think.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

How exactly does Satanism advocate violence? Not that I'm a fan of Satanism, but it's hardly a violent religion, given what the one Satanist I've ever met told me about it.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

... and there are the kooks. Yeesh.