# I Pit Islam **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932 "2016-11-07T03:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/81 "2016-11-08T22:23:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > First, it’s a mistake to equate the actions of some extremist minority with the presumed mindset of a broad ideology or political philosophy. Second, there’s no direct comparison that I’ve ever seen that can be used to substantiate the kind of allegation the stupid article was making. Third, there is also the problem of what I will call proximate impact. If something bad happens to a hated boss, a hated neighbor, an ex-spouse that was a party to a bitter divorce, a mayor that caused you personal grief over property taxes – a person of nasty disposition might take pleasure in the misfortune of such a personally hated enemy, and consider it a more worthy case of _Schadenfreude_ than justice prevailing over a far more evil person whose impact was much more remote and cerebral rather than visceral. Margaret Thatcher was indeed widely disliked, and for many people, one way or another, it was personal. except that many of those most vociferously celebrating her death had little personal experience of life under her leadership. And I find it amusing that your paragraph above is exactly in line with the article itself. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/82 "2016-11-08T22:52:41Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > Plus, given that many moderate Republicans do genuinely support LGB/womens rights and advancement, it does make the hard-left’s embrace of Islam even crazier. I assume our OP is completely cool with Islam’s approach to the T part of that spectrum, though. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/83 "2016-11-08T22:58:00Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > While from many religious conservatives, it is indeed ironic, the majority of Republicans and conservatives who point them out DO differ with the Islamists in that even they don’t want to enact laws which would put them in long prison terms for being gay, or force women to wear things that look like garbage bags. Plus, given that many moderate Republicans do genuinely support LGB/womens rights and advancement, it does make the hard-left’s embrace of Islam even crazier. I wish I had a dollar for every areligious “moderate” Republican I’ve known in real life who claims they are all for women’s and gay rights but ALWAYS vote for the candidate who is against women’s and gay rights. Republican women do it, Log Cabin gay Republicans do it. I’ve never known a self-described Republican who didn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/84 "2016-11-08T22:59:31Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s always convincing. What can I say? I personally experienced UK students celebrating the death of Thatcher and saw no equivalent celebration when Obama got killed. It may have happened but it certainly wasn’t reported widely. My anecdote was in response to someone saying something to effect that liberals vilifying Thatcher over Bin Laden was unlikely. I can only say that my own personal experience and the media reporting in the UK suggests that whatever their inner thoughts may be they certainly made a bigger fuss over one than the other. Which is exactly the sort of curious value judgement that the article speaks to. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/85 "2016-11-08T23:04:30Z")
Well, UK citizens can judge their own more harshly or vocally I suppose. I’m American and while I certainly didn’t celebrate, I can say I was in no way in the slightest saddened by Reagan’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/86 "2016-11-08T23:33:46Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > What can I say? I personally experienced UK students celebrating the death of Thatcher and saw no equivalent celebration when Obama got killed. It may have happened but it certainly wasn’t reported widely. Last I checked, Obama is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/87 "2016-11-08T23:35:15Z")
> [@mycinmc](#): > > I don’t find the contents of your post as unreasonable as the reactions to it might suggest. I do wish some of the more peaceful Muslims would be willing to be more outspoken when condemning the dark parts of their faith, which most other religions have been able to accomplish successfully. 🙂 You need to expand your pool of news sources. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/88 "2016-11-08T23:55:08Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > What can I say? I personally experienced UK students celebrating the death of Thatcher and saw no equivalent celebration when Obama got killed. It may have happened but it certainly wasn’t reported widely. . . . What you may have seen might not be statistically meaningful. How many celebrations? How many participants? How long did the celebrations last? If it “wasn’t reported widely,” how can you know if it happened widely? Anecdotal evidence is really weak sauce, and extrapolating from it is fallacious. Also, people in the UK were harmed by what Margaret Thatcher did…but not (so much) by what Osama Bin Laden did. It would be like me celebrating the death of the dictator of Liberia: why would I bother? But when Justice Scalia died, I celebrated. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/89 "2016-11-09T00:06:58Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What you may have seen might not be statistically meaningful. How many celebrations? How many participants? How long did the celebrations last? If it “wasn’t reported widely,” how can you know if it happened widely? Do you know who _else_ falsely reported celebrations with no equivalent anti-Islamic protests? ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/90 "2016-11-09T01:05:38Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s always convincing. After Thatcher died, the song ‘Ding-Dong The Witch is Dead’ from The Wizard of Oz rocketed to number 2 in the single’s charts. Thatcher was hated. Hated, hated, _hated_, in huge swathes of the UK; and not without good reason. Take it from me and **Novelty Bobble** , the people who actually _live_ here, that while everyone was obviously happy when Bin Laden died, there were significant numbers of people who were _ecstatic_ when Thatcher died. It’s hardly scientific, but you might find [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmmomV-ax-s) clip gives some insight into the strength of anti-Thatcher sentiment. And, of course, there were the [street parties](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E02SswGxeSM). Note how many people turned up despite the rain. And note how many people interviewed couldn’t _possibly_ have been alive while she was in power. None of that for Bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/91 "2016-11-09T01:29:04Z")
Well, okay: now you’ve brought something more like real statistics to the table, and have transcended **Novelty Bobble** ’s measly “anecdotal evidence.” That’s all I wanted. As for why Thatcher’s death was celebrated, that’s been covered. She hurt people, pretty damn badly. (Saved the Falklands, tho’.) Anyway, I don’t see it as a thing. A lot of us were very happy when OBL got cacked. We didn’t see any reason to dance in the streets, but we passed around a lot of high fives. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932/92 "2016-11-09T07:06:22Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Last I checked, Obama is still alive. ooooooo…shit, that’s not a helpful typo is it? I bet he doesn’t feel too much like living after tonight though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-islam/770932.md?page=4)