The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Opinion

Opinion
Posted by pancho (Guest) - Saturday, February 23 2008, 20:03:31 (CET)
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Note: the word “ignorance” carries with it no necessary slander or insult. Everyone on earth is ignorant of lots of stuff. Ignorance can be easily fixed; the person can learn and therefore stop being ignorant. It doesn’t become objectionable until someone says there’s no need to learn because he “ already knows”.

The hallmark of the ignorant person, who borders on pathological ignorance and not just the garden-variety sort which can be quickly solved, is when he or she insists that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion about a subject and that therefore his or hers is as good as any scholar or academic or professional.

This is especially dear to the one who fears that real knowledge on a subject will deprive him of his cherished beliefs…cherished because they were handed to him by parents or other early authority figures, almost with his first breath, and which he’s learned to uphold and make his own from the earliest age because to fail to do so risked the loss of parental love and approval which, to a young child, is the very air, water and food of life itself; not lightly to be cast aside or questioned.

This is the sort of person who needs to revile someone like Dr Joseph because his “opinions” threaten the very core of said persons identity and sense of self. The tragic part is that in the single-minded defense of all that he’s been taught to believe he is forced to denigrate the person of Dr Joseph, his integrity, achievements and, of course, his sources and expertise. This is unfortunate for the one doing it because it forces him to become stupid…to make outrageous claims of espionage, treason, Jewish pay-offs and an increasingly bizarre array of accusations all meant to discredit what is merely a statement of fact…reached by advanced study among peers at levels way beyond an Aprim’s achievements.

While it is indeed Jumblat’s opinion that Muslims massacred Christians just for their religion, it is decidedly not a corresponding “opinion” of Dr Josseph’s that they did not. One is based on prejudice, the other on research and study. You can see this easily enough when both are asked to provide their sources. Jumblat has none, or maybe one or two of a very dubious nature, while Dr Joseph has almost all of Academia behind him. “I don’t care”, say thousands of Jumblats, “I know what I know”.

To Jumblats all opinions are relative and, he insists, are just as much based on prejudice as his own…unable to understand how serious people approach study and research, upon which they may then wish to thoughtfully base a guarded opinion or hypothesis…he maintains each person’s opinion is as good and solid as anyone else’s. Basing his opinions on prejudice and early childhood training he believes everyone else, no matter the “so-called” degrees and achievements, has come by his opinions the same way hence, all are equally as valid. This helps him feel less inadequate in the face of those whose opinions are based on study, research AND peer review and acclamation. While he would never dare say his opinion of brain surgery techniques is as good as that of any neurosurgeon, oddly enough he feels perfectly fine claiming his opinion of History is as good as that “so-called’ Princeton expert’s. Maggie works the same way.

Even Jumblat knows this casts him in a ridiculous light hence you have all the banning and deleting from Magpie’s forum and everyone else’s, because otherwise we would post there and quickly show just how foolish and shallow their opinions are…how little they are based on anything more solid than their own prejudice.

You only have to look at the contrast between this place and their forums…while they yelp for democracy and free speech in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, of all places, they’re busy making sure no such things exists on their forums in the democratic West. To ensure this they’ve had to create passwords or screening devices as well as station any number of nervous-nellie moderators ever on the prowl to remove “unacceptable” points of view, while still demanding the Kurds do nothing of the kind. Does that even make sense?

We, on the famous other hand, welcome all and have no need of banning or deleting, even when a fool like Minime graces our pages…because, as the wise person said, if you allow all points of view to be expressed freely and people agree to exchange in give and take, the truth of the matter will come out and those who are armed only with prejudice will leave of their own accord…which is exactly the case here.

We’re not allowed to post on the other forums that there is no evidence at all to back up ANY of the claims they’re making over there right now. That’s because, aside from stating their opinions once, they have not the capacity to go any deeper, to explore, to cite further sources, to argue rationally, to give example etc. None of it. They have been trained more or less like robots with tape machines where a brain should be, repeating and repeating their opinions…challenge them ever so slightly and after the second go-around you’ll soon plumb their shallows…which infuriates and “insults” them, so that only by getting rid of you, denying freedom of speech or respect for the minority opinion, which they DEMAND of the Kurds, can they continue “democratically”. They have no interest in and dread free speech…what they’re looking for is friendly speech, accommodating speech…as any tyrant would.

We work just the opposite. We implore them to come on here and write whatever they want…post whatever they want…we have no elaborate-sounding rules on etiquette or how you must debate or what you can post or how and we make no empty claims about how free this place is….nothing, not a damn rule. This looks exceedingly bad for them. While they don’t like what’s said here, they dare not challenge it. They know that the usual, “we know” won’t work…neither will they get away with defining English words any way they want to….neither are we so ignorant ourselves that we haven’t read more books than they have and can present counter-arguments and statements of fact they’d rather not hear or know anything of.

They’ve cast themselves, no one did it to them, in the role of the one who makes threats, says he can beat up anybody because he’s Assyrian and everyone knows the world TREMBLES at the thought…who nevertheless knows he looks rather cowardly for not coming out to fight and show us just how terrible he really is. Instead he stays locked behind his bedroom door, mortified that his bluff has been called so that the only way he can think to save a not very gallant face is by issuing ever more threats….or completely ignoring the challenge. Either way it sort of gives the lie to his assurance that he could knock anyone’s block off and has the facts to do it with.

Where are they?

It would be delightful if we could drag one of them before an audience and force him to fight…or talk. They will never accept such a challenge though, for obvious reasons. Sure, they’ll say it’s because they have no time to waste…or you refuse to learn from them….whatever.

We have managed to attract Jumblat though who thought to try. You have to give him credit for it at least. He too could solve his ignorance by the very simple expedient of reading some books his parents or priests might not have approved of. After all, we were all raised on the same flattering and self-serving myths…but as the poet said…when I was a child I acted and spake as a child but when I reached man’s estate I put away childish things…that’s Assyria’s problem…it’s still a juvenile delinquent.



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