Swamppundit

Dear Salam

The New York Times recently declined to publish the Danish Mohammed Cartoons out of, it says, respect for Islam. Do you believe that Salam? Neither do I. Where I come from, lying to someone is a sign of disrespect. The New York Times is showing disrespect.

Salam, please permit me to show my respect for you by being bluntly honest about what Americans do, and do not, respect.

Americans do not disrespect Islam. To disrespect a religion is impolite, and our mothers raised us to be polite. However, Americans also do not particularly respect Islam either. We Americans believe religion is a matter of personal choice, not a matter of respect.

Americans respect people, not religions; and we respect them for their actions, not for their religion.

Americans respect education. We respect societies that value education. We don’t respect societies who intentionally hinder some in their midst from getting an education. We respect women. We don’t respect those who do not respect women. We respect self-reliance. We don’t respect those that fail to achieve and then blame others for their failures. We respect Free Speech. We don’t respect those that attempt to limit, block, or intimidate Free Speech.

We respect strength, but only if used to help others. We respect warriors, but only those that defend others, or who defend freedom. Warriors that kill to limit freedom, or warriors that kill those that are not a threat, are warriors we do not respect.

We don’t respect those that demand respect by threats, as opposed to those who earn respect by deeds. We know the difference between respect and fear. We don’t respect thugs and others who confuse respect with fear.

We respect Israel, but not because it is Jewish. We respect Israel because it is democratic; because it is self-reliant; because it values education; because it respects women; because its warriors fight to defend; because it values free speech; and because it doesn’t threaten us with harm if we chose not to respect it.

We don’t respect those countries surrounding Israel, but not because they are Muslim. We don’t respect them because they are not democratic; because they are not self-reliant; because they do not value education; because they do not respect women; because their warriors kill the innocent; because they don’t value free speech; and because they threaten us with harm if we disrespect them.

We respect truth, and those that speak the truth. We do not respect those that lie, or those that keep silent due to fear. Which is why, at the moment at least, we Americans do not respect the New York Times.

Whew, that was a mouthful. I think I should add something important. We Americans actually prefer to think well of people. Our memory is actually shorter than it should be probably. We love stories of sinners who repent and then start doing acts worthy of respect. You know who we respect a lot right now? Your fellow Muslims in Iraq who risk death to go to the polls, vote, and proudly display their ink-stained finger. American respect, Salam, does not take a generation to earn. It can be earned quickly. Above I said we respect actions, not necessarily completed acts. While we respect acts and accomplishments, it would be even more accurate to say that we respect the effort to do the acts, the attempt to do the acts. We respect winners, but we also respect the honorable failure.

What I am saying, Salam, is that while your country does not have our respect right now, you would be amazed at how quickly that could change.

Like all these letters, Salam, this letter is written …

With love,
Clarence