Yo, Kalt!

[MEBuckner]

Amazingly enough, no one seems to have started a Pit thread on Kalt yet.

Really, I was just going to respond to this one post of Kalt’s in the thread and forum it originally came from. But I tried and I tried, and I just couldn’t bring myself to come up with a reply that wasn’t sarcastic and snide and rude and probably unsuited for Great Debates. So, fuck it. Here goes:

From the thread A small minority who blaspheme a great religion… in Great Debates:

*Originally posted by Kalt *
…Pakistan is a moderate Arab country…

*Originally posted by MEBuckner *
Pakistan is not a moderate Arab country. Pakistan is not a conservative Arab country. Pakistan is not an extremist Arab country. Pakistan is not a bleeding-heart liberal Arab country.

Pakistan is not an Arab country.

Originally posted by Kalt
I guess it depends on what you mean by “Arab.” Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is 97% Muslim. That’s “Arab” enough for me.

Dark-skinned, Islamic people who hate the US and Israel are my pragmatic definition of “Arab.”

By Arab I mean “Arab” and not “non-Arab”, you worse-than-ignorant aggressively stupid lazy jackass. I mean, there’s no point in us trying to keep all these wogs straight, now is there? I suppose Ireland is a “moderate Hispanic country”? I suppose strychnine is vitamin C? Do us all a favor, and persuade yourself that computers can be “pragmatically defined” as nails, and pound yours with a hammer. I know this will come as a shock to you, but words actually mean things, and intelligent people actually make some fucking effort to use them correctly.

My “pragmatic definition” of “utterly contemptible hate-filled proud-to-be-stupid asshole” is rapidly coming to be “Kalt”.

Oh, wait, I see Kalt has made another post while I’ve been composing this:

I think you are arguing semantics here. But, if you would like to explain what an arab is, and why Pakistan is not an arab country, my ears are wide open.

Yes, it’s just a little niggling hair-splitting point, isn’t it? Like arguing whether or not Kalt is an imbecile or a cretin.

NO, I’m not going to sit down and try to explain the difference between Arabs and Muslims to you, you lazy asswipe. If you don’t grasp as basic a distinction as that, what fucking right do you have to spout off about the Middle East or our policies with respect to the broader Muslim world? Why are you shooting off your mouth in Great Debates, if you know that little about anything? This shit’s only been in the fucking news for over a month now. No, I take that back–this shit’s only been in the news for our entire fucking lives! Gulf Wars, hostage crises, oil embargoes, Palestinians, Israelis, Ayatollahs, Shi’ites, Sunnis, Pakistanis, Arabs–Lord, it must be confusing to you, huh? Get thee to a library, you cretinous imbecile. Ask the librarian to please direct you to the books with the big type and lots of pretty pictures–those should be about your speed.

Moving on, I don’t think anyone has yet adequately raked you over the coals about this thread. No, you bloodthirsty bigot, threatening to bomb Mecca is not a good idea. It’s not some example of “hard-headed Realpolitik”. It’s both evil and breathtakingly stupid!

He’s a bigot! He’s a fool! He’s a floor wax! He’s a dessert topping! He’s a floor wax and a dessert topping!

And then there’s this thread. You aren’t a Christian? Fine, I’m not either. But freedom of religion and freedom of speech are bedrock principles of the American political system and are universally recognized as basic human rights by civilized countries everywhere, jackass. If you are to be free to critique Christianity, then you must understand that Christians must be free to critique atheism, which includes telling other people that they need to Get Saved and convert to Christianity.

Please, please, please convert to some fundamentalist religion at the earliest possible opportunity, so that I will no longer be any more closely associated with you and your mindless opinions beyond the fact that both of us are carbon-based lifeforms.

[Monty]

Gee, MEB, I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining to the cretin in question why the cretinous idea in question is a Bad Thing[sup]TM[/sup].

But, then, I made the same mistake there that you have here: thinking that Kalt ever thinks.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

My mind is still boggling at the revelation that every time I put money in the offering plate, I’m participating in a pyramid scheme. Mother!

Originally posted by MGibson:
Excuse me but can you please expalin to me how it is a pyramid scheme?

originally posted by Kalt:
Sure, but first you’ll have to recognize that organized religions are businesses. Imagine a preacher telling every member of his church (lets say he just has a few) that they have to bring more people to the church - and those people are then required to recruit others, and so on and so forth. Keep in mind, you gotta pay to pray - those preachers need cars n’ stuff. If anyone other than a religion tried to do this, the feds would break it up.

I had no idea.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

originally posted by Neurotik, in the same thread:
There was a thread on this about a year ago in which the person asserting the pyramid/extortion thing was pretty much shot down. Try running a search for religion = organized crime or something along those lines.

FTR:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=60784

[leander]

MEBuckener -

This guy is evil. (Kalt, not you.)

I find his entire “Arab” argument incredibly offensive, racist and despicable. If anyone ever said any of these types of comments about Jews or Christians, I imagine they would be shown the door immediately.

Is racism and bigotry allowed on this board??

[Zenster]

We may not always agree, MEBuckener, but we certainly agree here. Why, this guy makes my threads look downright sane and cogent (which they are most of the time).

[MEBuckner]

*Originally posted by Monty *
Gee, MEB, I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining to the cretin in question why the cretinous idea in question is a Bad Thing[sup]TM[/sup].

But, then, I made the same mistake there that you have here: thinking that Kalt ever thinks.

Well, sure, we’ve been explaining to him. But I don’t think he’s been adequately “raked over the coals” yet. There are things you just can’t do outside of the Pit.

[Kalt]

Hah!

leander, I’m sorry for not being politically correct, I realize there is no way to say “dark-skinned” without getting flamed for it. There are light-skinned people in the world too, and I am quite confident that skin color has nothing to do with anything other than appearance. What is my “Arab argument,” anyway?

MEBuckener, I can tell you are one of those liberals who loves PC euphemisms for everything. I don’t play that game. When I eat an enchilada I call it Mexican food, not a central-american indigenous entrée. If it turns out to be a really crappy enchilada that gives me flowing diarrhea, I don’t think I become a de facto hater of central america due to my food label.

It is quite common to refer to Muslims in the middle east as “Arabs” - regardless of their latitudinal and longitudinal point of origin. I’ve never considered “Arab” to be a nasty word, and I surely did not use it in a nasty context on the original thread in question. Maybe because my usage of the word combines both a race and a religion it makes you a little feisty. I don’t consider “Jew” to be an offensive or biggoted label, do you?

Now, you can call me whatever names you want, you can insult me until your heart’s content. I could care less. But try not to be such a politically-correct whiney-puss.

[leander]

Dark-skinned, Islamic people who hate the US and Israel are my pragmatic definition of “Arab.”

I wasn’t talking about the “dark-skinned” remark; I was referring to the entire statement. Do all Arabs hate Americans? Your “pragmatic definition” is absurd, rude and racist.

You also make some ridiculous sweeping statements about Islam, which, of course, are all wrong (see above plus link).

Not to mention you’re an offensive little person who spreads ignorant bullshit. I think you probably believe you are right. That’s sad, but I’m sure it’s not the saddest thing in your fucked-up little mind.

[MEBuckner]

Kalt, calling Pakistanis “Arabs” isn’t “Politically Incorrect” it’s just inaccurate and stupid. No, “Arab”, if used accurately, isn’t an insulting term or an ethnic slur. What’s racist is your blithely ignorant belief that it’s too much work keeping all those “dark-skinned America-hating” people straight. It is not “common” to refer to all Muslims as Arabs except by people who are simply too ignorant to know better–ignorance being a correctible condition which we all share to some degree–and by people who are too lazy, bigoted, and stupid to get their basic facts straight about a major region of the world which we are currently fighting a fucking war in.

Pakistanis are not Arabs. Not all Muslims are Arabs. These are not deep, arcane matters known only by specialists in Islamic or South Asian cultures. No one is asking you to write a fucking doctoral dissertation about the origins, traditional culture, and ethnolinguistic affiliation of the Hunzakuts of northwestern Kashmir. But you are aggressively, self-righteously, smugly ignorant of the most basic facts about a sixth of the human race.

[Tamerlane]

Kalt calling all Muslim inhabitants of the Near East “Arabs”, is about the same, in fact it is almost EXACTLY the same, as calling all Christian inhabitants of Europe “Dutch”. It’s just fucking nonsensical. You try to call a Berber in Morocco an Arab, you will very likely live to regret it.

There’s no shame in saying you were wrong once in awhile. Maybe you should try practicing.

MEBuckner: Fine post in GD on this subject .

• Tamerlane

[MEBuckner]

Thanks, Tamerlane. I think maybe the Straight Dope needs to change its motto, though:

Fighting Ignorance Since 1973
Unfortunately, Ignorance Keeps Fighting Back

[leander]

*Originally posted by MEBuckner *
**
Fighting Ignorance Since 1973
Unfortunately, Ignorance Keeps Fighting Back **

Perfect. Love it.

Leander

[Gary_Kumquat]

OK, I think I see the problem now…

*Originally posted by Kalt *
leander, I’m sorry for not being politically correct…MEBuckener, I can tell you are one of those liberals who loves PC euphemisms for everything…I could care less. But try not to be such a politically-correct whiney-puss.

Kalt, the problem isn’t one of being politically correct. It’s one of being correct. Here’s a fairly standard meaning of the word “Arab”:

NOUN: 1. A member of a Semitic people inhabiting Arabia, whose language and Islamic religion spread widely throughout the Middle East and northern Africa from the seventh century. 2. A member of an Arabic-speaking people. 3. An Arabian horse. 4. Offensive Slang A waif.

So, either you think [list=1][li]Pakistan is in Arabia (clue, nope)[/li][li]Pakistanis speak Arabic (clue, nope)[/li][li]Pakistanis have 4 legs and a tendency for hay (clue, nope)[/li] or you’re trying to be offensive (you tell me).[/list=1]

[SPOOFE]

I think you guys need to use simpler terms. All these three- and four-syllable words are probably going over Kalt’s pointed head.

Here we go, Big K: “A-rab not same thing as Mus-Lim. They not mean same thing. They diff-er-ent.”

There… I hope I didn’t cause the monkey testicle that you use as a brain to rupture.

[Pathros_1983]

*Originally posted by SPOOFE *
Here we go, Big K: “A-rab not same thing as Mus-Lim. They not mean same thing. They diff-er-ent.”

Not to mention not all muslims are palestinians, not all palestinians are muslims, not all muslims are persians, not all persians are muslims…etc etc you get the point.

[London_Calling]

Kalt – Admitting you got something wrong doesn’t make you stupid it makes you smart. What does makes you stupid, in this instance, is trying to hang on to an untenable position…

FWIW, before I visited Egypt I thought Egyptians were, generally speaking, Arabs – they are, right ? Well, I still haven’t met one who considers themselves to be anything other than African (i.e. often more geo-politically aligned with Libyans, Algerians and Moroccans). None of that is remotely “political correctness”, it just relates to understanding their social and political perspectives. As it would for US or UK Muslims, or Asian Muslims for that matter.

Is that important ? Yes it is and it should inform your perspective of them if you want to make better judgements. Ditto Pakistani’s.

Until you grasp that, your views will be hopelessly flawed.

[pennylane]

Kalt, I have a question for you. Kerala is a province of India. Its population is 60% Hindu, 20% Muslim and 20% Christian. Everyone there is pretty dark-skinned. Are the Muslims in Kerala “Arabs” while their Hindu and Christian neighbours are not?

Another question. What if an African-American in California converts to Islam. Is he an “Arab”?

[Monty]

Kalt: just so’s you know; most Muslims are NOT Arab.

[Blackclaw]

*Originally posted by Kalt *
It is quite common to refer to Muslims in the middle east as “Arabs” - regardless of their latitudinal and longitudinal point of origin. I’ve never considered “Arab” to be a nasty word, and I surely did not use it in a nasty context on the original thread in question. Maybe because my usage of the word combines both a race and a religion it makes you a little feisty. I don’t consider “Jew” to be an offensive or biggoted label, do you?

Ah damn it! My clueless meter just broke.

It’s not a matter of being politically correct, but of being factually wrong. Find a map and then find Pakistan. Once you have realized that Pakistan is not in the Middle-East and read over Gary’s definition of Arab, we should have all the confusion cleaned up.