Now the whole world is agog with abject fascination and horror at the Imus debacle - as if he never said a racist remark before - and yet I avoid the whole subject like a treatise on 1950's air conditioning unit repair. Why? Because Imus, his world, and the dimly lit dust contrail that followed his supposed demise, are all unimaginably boring and irrelevant. Because on the streets of Cairo, for example, at almost any given moment, a perfectly innocent Muslim is being arrested without cause, tortured or raped by government agents or police, and all for no reason whatsoever except the horrendous tyranny of a dictator gone ballistic in his "let's make this hell on earth for all!" policy.
Or perhaps the less-conspicuous streets of Jeddah, where amidst unimaginable self-indulgent hedonistic consumerism, a mother is forced into prostitution to keep her children from starving to death. Does this really happen? Yes! Are the oppressors and victims all Muslim? Yes! What does anyone seem to care, in the "West" or the "East"? Apparently, concern for this lies an impressive number of fathoms below Britney Spears' shaved head. We've got conservatives all busy revving up their paranoia of aliens - Mexican or Other Than, and liberals obsessed with the personal habits of Bush-related "public servants", Muslims obsessed with Barak Obama's heritage, Jews obsessed with checkpoints, and Christians obsessed with fetuses. Who's obsessed with hunger, who's obsessed with disease, who's obsessed with oppression and torture? Bill Gates?
I have signed untold numbers of petitions to stop this war and bring on that peace, and unkill this species and save those children, somehow knowing it's probably to no avail. Bush is already declaring victory over the oil reserves in Iraq. Debaucle, my eye. It's a real debaucle for the Iraqi people, especially the children. Children always get the bad end of things, and women come a close second. I never hear town hall meetings about how those children that are predicted to die in sub-Saharan Africa could be possibly saved. What kind of clout do chidlren have? The Saudi Royal family has no qualms about them dying. The Saudi Royal family has no conscience about anything.
People make so many assumptions about what Islam is or isn't. Muslims themselves are probably their own worst enemies, thanks to a near-abandonment of the Qur'an. Just a cursory read would throw terrorism out the window. Another cursory read would supposedly soften the stainless steel imitation hearts of "Muslims" in power who see the war on terror as a great business opportunity to further subjegate their subjects in more and more draconian de-humanization projects, upon which they flower and flourish with such lavish poison it would make Hitler swoon. (Dear Swami X, can you make him reincarnate as a poor taxi driver's wife in Cairo with a penchant for public demonstrations?)
The world needs a lot of heart, and there is so much to be passionately concerned about. Imus is not one of them, just another tiring distraction... yawn...
Muslims never bitch about the lack of democracy in Pakistan, the seemingly endless sectarian tensions that amount to ethnic genocide in Sudan, the senseless violence Muslims perpetuate against Muslims in Iraq, the misogyny and outdated notions tolerated from every minbar around the globe, etc.
But when it comes to issues like Imus, Muslims will even join in to have his head. I find this ironic, Muslim civil rights groups have fallen victim to the same plague which currently affects civil rights groups in the African American community or the queer community. Rather than tackle and take ownership for our communities' failures, we blame distant demons.
Muslims have mastered the art of self-victimization.
Muslims are poor because of colonialism. Muslims are weak because of the petroleum curse, which invites Western hegemony and interference in intermal matters, etc.
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