Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
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You know you're free?
[Read the article: Iranian man stoned to death for adultery]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are a lot of news items lately that suggest otherwise, but hey, you're 'free' to swallow the propaganda.
I am deeply disturbed by human rights abuses in Iran. Also in a lot of other places that the U.S. does NOT currently want to bomb. And I don't take to having my heartstrings pulled for propaganda purposes. It seems like every time we want to bomb someone we start hearing all these stories of what bad guys are running their countries. Saddam was a great ally until he became a strategic liability; then we started hearing all sorts of horrid stories about why he was the next Hitler. He isn't the one who changed in the interim. Memo to the country: a mainstream media that acts as propaganda machine is NOT A GOOD INDICATOR OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM.
No, I'm not being stoned to death for a relationship my government deems illegitimate. And for that I am very, very grateful. But that's the bare minimum, friend. When the founders of our country signed the constitution, the idea was to guarantee EVERY basic human freedom. Not to praise the lord every time it came to our attention that we weren't being killed by our government for making the wrong religious choices.
So I refuse to share your reaction to this news. I hold this country and these people in my thoughts, but this story doesn't hit the right spot to make my knee jerk and call my congressperson to unleash the army on Iran. It just makes me suspicious that I am being manipulated.
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No, you don't have it right.
[Read the article: Iranian man stoned to death for adultery]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"You don't want to hear about horrific cases of violence and inhumanity against people in countries we aren't friendly with?"
There's a difference between "not friendly with" and "chomping at the bit to bomb." I didn't say I didn't want to hear the story, either. I am pointing out that it's important to keep in mind who is in charge of what we hear and when we hear it. HINT: It isn't an idealistic fleet of objective investigative journalists.
You conveniently ignore the fact that I said I was deeply disturbed by human rights abuses EVERYWHERE - not just in countries Dick Cheney wants public support for carpet-bombing.
I don't watch al-Jazeera. Do you?
And did you really need to put that fucking horrible song in my head for the rest of the day? It makes me gag.
/end feeding of troll/
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I am just tired of hearing that
[Read the article: Iranian man stoned to death for adultery]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]because we still have a few of our freedoms left we are supposed to shut up about the ones we have lost. "Hey, look! We could be Iran!" As though that changes our real criticisms of our dying republic. It really shows us what we truly could become if we don't pay attention to the REAL erosion of our freedoms that we are living through right now. Instead of serving its function - to make me want to bomb the whole Middle East (as soon as we get all the oil out, anyway) - this piece of news makes me want to stay home and make a desperate attempt to save my own progressivly more corrupt government. But it is probably too late.
I am also not pleased that any sentiments that people like me express about these poor people and the gross injustices that destroyed their lives can and will be used as an excuse to bomb more innocent people. We unjustly kill civilians every day in Iraq and Afganistan just because they got in our way. When do we get to hear their stories?
That is why I view any recent news about the latest boogie-man country with more suspiscion than anything else. It's not that I doubt that it's a nasty regime. It's just that the general public only starts hearing how nasty it is when it serves the purposes of powerful people. It is manipulation and propaganda. And if you mistake that for freedom just because you're not being stoned to death, then something is wrong.
Not that my saying this makes a damn bit of difference to people who prefer waving flags to actual intellectual freedom and patriotism. I am NOT proud to be an American right now. But I hope someday I will be again.
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I felt obligated to watch the video
[Read the article: Female genital mutilation a growing problem in Britain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]just so I would know. Fortunately for me, it did not work in my browser. Not so fortunate for the person undergoing the surgery.
For those who think we aren't paying enough attention to male circumcision, there is a huge movement in natural parenting circles of people who do not circumcise baby boys. This is anecdotal, of course, but among most of the couples I know who have not circumcised, the mother is the one who is totally UNAMBIVALENT about this decision. The father is often ambivalent because most men of our generation are circumcised, and there is something uncomfortable about "condemning" your son to having a penis that looks different from your own.
I am so sick of hearing that women do not care sufficiently about the anti-circumcision movement. Shame on you for saying that. And shame on you for derailing this conversation, which is, believe it or not, NOT ABOUT YOU. If we're all supposed to be in this together, you're not doing a very good job of showing it.
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@Libtex
[Read the article: Female genital mutilation a growing problem in Britain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I personally would oppose the operation if it were done in a clean hospital by professional doctors with sterilized instruments and anethesia."
Me too. I oppose BOTH female genital mutilation AND male circumcision. Hence, my sons are not circumcised. I just don't think male circumcision is relevant every time we visit this issue on Broadsheet. Just like female-perpetrated domestic violence is not relevant every time we visit any issue at all on Broadsheet.
I would love to see Broadsheet become exclusively a serious gender and sexuality blog rather than being so pink, but I am willing to read it as is and skip the posts that aren't relevant to the things I care about - generally the ones about purses, shoes, make-up, and the sordid lives of female celebrities.