[MD] Contrarians Will Save the World

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

According to CNN, an Amr Khaled is emerging as a voice of reason among the
right-wing pissers on the Islamic side of the contest.

"In the process, Khaled is sometimes telling the faithful what they're not used
to hearing from clerics -- that Muslims aren't blameless in tensions, that the
West is not always bad and that dialogue is better than confrontation."

Now, only, if someone on this side of the pond would pick up the
contrarian-hippy mantle so that CNN could report...

"In the process, Hippy X is sometimes telling the faithful what they're not used
to hearing from right-wing politicians -- that Americans aren't blameless in
tensions, that Islam is not always bad and that dialogue is better than
confrontation."

The report goes on to add (with some idealistic Hippy X revisions in parens)...

"For Khaled (Hippy X), the controversy underlined what he has seen as a need for
a new approach by Muslims (Americans), one of reform and dialogue with the rest
of the world.

"For the past three years, with youth across the Islamic (Western) world, we've
been working for a faith-based (political-based) renaissance in this region,
which will not take place by clashes but by coexistence," he said in an
interview with The Associated Press in Cairo.

He said he had expected the criticism over his new campaign. "An initiative by
definition is something new, and I represent a school that has opposing schools
of thought," he said."

As I said, this type of rationale dialogue is the only way out. But so long as
right-wing zealots are more interested in winning their righteous pissing
contest, and not listening to the voice of contrarians, whether Amr Khaled
there or ??? here, we are headed for Armageddon-Outta-Here.

Bring on the Contrarians, where are the hippies? Why must the Peacemakers fall?

Arlo

"A newspaper burns in the sand, and the headlines say 'Man destroys Man!'
Extra! Extra! Read all the bad news 
    on the war for peace that everybody would lose
The rise and fall, the last great empire, 
    the sound of the whole world caught on fire
The ruthless struggle, the desperate gamble
The game that left the whole world in shambles"

- Grandmaster Flash, Beat Street