Was it "Obsession"? Hate crime at an Ohio mosque
Was it "Obsession"? Hate crime at an Ohio mosque
There's been a huge debate within the newspaper world -- and beyond -- about a fiery DVD targeting Islamic extremism called "Obsession" that over the last couple of weeks has been packaged in newspaper ads and distributed to hundreds of thousands of readers, especially in swing states. (The Philadelphia Inquirer was one of those papers.) Proponents say its an honest portrayal of anti-American jihadism, while critics said the video would stir up hatred toward decent God-fearing Muslims, not just those involved in or supporting terrorism. Some wonder if it's all just a big ploy to help John McCain and the GOP, who want to focus the campaign on the threat of Islamic extremists. Here's a review from the Orlando Sentinel, for example:
It's a complicated mess, but if you invoke Neville Chamberlain's "appeasement" of Hitler (not sure what anybody could have done, other than force a confrontation years before Germany or the Depression ridden, war-weary West were really "ready" for WWII ) often enough, show enough snippets of Michael Moore (yeah, I want HIM making Middle East policy about as much as the accident prone GOP) and reduce things to "the culture of hatred," you can certainly stir folks up. I stopped counting the historic Mein Kampf/Hitler comparisons at about the 50 minute mark.
This inflammatory video -- funded by a new and, I think it's fair to say, shadowy group called the Clarion Fund -- "Obsession" is the kind of controversial thing that newspapers tend to stay away from, but only a couple have turned the insert down so far. Understandably, without hard proof that the documentary contains major factual errors, many are concerned about the First Amendment issues and, let's be candid, given the battered state of the newspaper economy, some publishers NEED the money.
There's no more key battleground state in America than Ohio -- and sure enough thousands were delivered there on Monday in a number of newspapers, including the Dayton Daily News, which is in a hotly contested corner of the Buckeye State.
Four days later, this happened as Muslims in Dayton attempted to worship:
DAYTON — Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton coughing. Soon, Njie himself was overcome with fits of coughing and, like the rest of those in the building, headed for the doors.
"I would stay outside for a minute, then go back in, there were a lot of kids," Njie said. "My throat is still itchy, I need to get some milk."
Njie was one of several affected when a suspected chemical irritant was sprayed into the mosque at 26 Josie St., bringing Dayton police, fire and hazardous material personnel to the building at 9:48 p.m.
Someone "sprayed an irritant into the mosque," Dayton fire District Chief Vince Wiley said, noting that fire investigators believe it was a hand-held spray can.
Many in Dayton are wondering if the mass distribution of "Obsession" has anything to do with this. It's unclear whether or not this was in the works before or after the attack on the mosque, but religious leaders were meeting in Dayton yesterday to talk about the DVD:
The Rev. Gary Percesepe, executive director of Greater Dayton Christian Connections, characterized the DVD as "fanning the flames of fear and prejudice against Muslims, with the potential to inspire hate crimes."
It should be noted that right now, until the police make more progress in investigating this, that the link is circumstantial based on the timing -- and sadly there've been many anti-Islamic hate crimes in this country before "Obsession" was so widely released. That said, I think that while the case is under investigation, any newspapers that were planning to distribute the DVD but haven't done so yet should call a time out, and wait until we know more about what happened in Dayton.
Is distributing "Obsession" a matter of pure free speech? Or is it yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre?
People need to make that call before someone gets killed.
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CP=6. Amazing that this was written, let alone at 1252am.— shoeshineboy
Last week a news anchor in Maine who happens to resemble Sarah Palin has been receiving hate mail and nasty phone calls. Could it be the liberal press' constant negative attacks, not only on Palin's record, but on her intelligence, looks, and family that lead to the harassment of that news anchor? I think the media's role should be examined here, along with an examination of the extent of misogynistic attitudes in the media. This is a political hate crime fueled by the media. We need to get this kind of thing under control before innocent people get hurt. Now, I wonder what Will "free speech for me but not for you" Bunch's reaction to the above would be if it appeared in print.— jmc- Anyone who distributes a film that is, specifically, intended to offend mainstream Muslims and incite hatred against them, is scum, but within their rights. And Islamophobic scum don't need a movie to incite their hatred. Scum, like Jimmy Madson above, (who thinks that Muslim kids getting sprayed with an irritant funny), don't need to watch a film to hate. It's in their blood. Of course, no doubt, Jimmy is a loyal Republican voter.— Talking point sleuth
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- Its funny Will, I bet you think movies like "Lions For Lambs" and "Stop Loss" are deep feeling movies that describe serious issues of our time, while a movie like Obsession is irresposible and dangerous.— shock89
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- My question for the Orland Sentinel: "How many Jews and others died because the West wasn't 'ready' for Hitler?" And how dare you, Mr Bunch, speak about hate? One of the biggest apologists around, you vilify those who raise legitimate questions about Mislim extremism here in the U.S.— Paul B
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- Another example how dangerous a threat militant Christianists are to the fabric of this country. We should have learned our lesson when the terrorist Timothy McVeigh murdered all those people in Oklahoma. Mr. Bunch, thank you for bringing this incident to light, hopefully it will wake people up the terrible evil in our midst.— ElBlot
- LJL do you actually knopw anyone on the "Christian right" personally?— sleepy
- "Tell you what; when you ........ blah, blah, blah..... I'll consider taking you seriously." How many times does batboy post on Will's blog daily? Strange, isn't it? Day after day, post after post, batboy comments on Will's blog, yet he doesn't take Will seriously. CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?— Talking point sleuth
- Yesterday morning I heard from a woman who was at the mosque when this happened. She was taking care of the babies, toddlers, and young children while other adults prayed. The spray was sent through the window of the room where the children were. Do you think this behavior should be tolerated? 'Obsession' is a dangerous film and the distribution practices were highly questionable. You know this was done for political reasons, and those behind it don't care about children being harmed. This goes far beyond free speech. I'm a white American Muslim who converted when I was in my 20s. Like most Muslims throughout the world, my primary goal is to raise my children. You may see me in the supermarket or the mall, but you will think I'm strange because of my scarf. But I'm as much an American as you are.— LKJ
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It's amazing that we still fail to comprehend the purpose of the First Amendment. "Obsession" would be far more dangerous as a banned document.
Has anybody, besides the Will Bunch clone at the Orlando Sentinel actually watched this thing? I know I got the thing out of the paper but never watched it. Look at the bright side at least you get "right wing" propaganda for free you have to pay $8.50 for a Michael Moore "documentary".— bird11- "The Obama brown-shirts are marching..." . . . . . Come on batty, you can be more creative, can't you? Your mimicking "Obsession" is just too predictable.
- R.French - that is just wrong. Why does everything get personal here. Seems as we get closer to the election the comments are more insults and less intellectual discussion.— bird11
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- "Seems as we get closer to the election the comments are more insults and less intellectual discussion...." Lol! Apparently you haven't read many of Ricky's comments before, bird11. Actually, that was Ricky's most "intellectual" post ever. At least in his most recent comment, Ricky left out the references to excrement. If he also left out the fantasies about sex between men, he wouldn't have anything left to write about (and also, legatus and sloboat and other Republican lackeys would be greatly disappointed).— Talking point sleuth
- "legatus and sloboat and other Republican lackeys would be greatly disappointed" TPS thanks for proving my point. Everybody have a nice 5 weeks.— bird11
- To R. French: I was born in America, as were my parents. I'm the only Muslim in my birth family. I have no other country. Where do you suggest I should go?— LKJ
- Will, do you feel the same way about Bill Maher's new movie "Religulous"? Is distributing "Religulous" a matter of pure free speech? Or is it yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre? Clearly, Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion. The movie adocates the position that religion is a destructive force that has brought great pain and suffering into the world...he calls it a neurological disorder. Do you think that the fact that it is being released just prior to the election is just a ploy to marginalize the evangelicals and help Barack Obama and the Dems?— legatus
- Bird11, don't worry about Tps. He has some sort of pathological need for approval, even if only from anonymous posters on this blog. When you disagree with him, as I have, he becomes obsessed. He was preoccupied with French to the point that he continually and repeatedly reposted all of French's witticisms...while simultaneously railing against the posting of profanity. Most posters here realized the ridiculousness and irony of his "objections". Now, he's obviously fixated on me, as he has tried to goad me four times in the past week or two...on threads in which I was not even involved or commenting. Here, he does it again.— legatus
- I don't have major problems with atheists, agnostics, or other people who poke fun at religion. They're not my best friends, but I can tune them out. And I'm sure they do the same to me. My problem is with people who use violence either for or against religion. And don't start with "Islam is violent" because I wrote a book, literally, about Islamic Jihad. You can look it up--the title is "Islamic Jihad" (1990). Jihad isn't violence, it's rule of engagement for armed conflict. And there are types of jihad that are peaceful, such as writing. Conclusion: Making movies, writing books, etc., making fun of religion is free speech (though I do believe in observing limits of what's proper). Harming children because you don't like the religion of their parents is not free speech, and anything that promulgates violence in the name of religion is not free speech either. P.S.--If you really believe all that garbage in "Obsession," I've got a bridge to sell you.— LKJ
- All of this just proves how dangerous religion can be. God has no exact definition. Everyone says that their religion is the right one. How do you know? What if you are wrong? What most people don't get is the fact that there is only one God. One of his basic rules is that you aren't allowed to kill other people. Why in the world would anyone think it is ok to hate other people or do violence in His name? It's quite pathetic really. Richard French is an idiot. As far as I know he has never said anything intelligent on this blog. Love thy neighbor and treat all others as you would want yourself to be treated. That's all you need to know.— James TL
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"Is distributing "Obsession" a matter of pure free speech? Or is it yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre?....People need to make that call before someone gets killed." Better make sure that we limit the availability of 9/11 footage as well. The cover of the DVD even says "RADICAL Islam's War Against the West".- UPDATE: Police: No Evidence of Hate Crime http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/29/ddn092908mosquefoloweb.html Will, have you seen Obsession yet? You kinda jumped to the conclusion that Obsession triggered a "hate crime," which presumes something that was not factually evident from your sources. If there were any ethics in journalism, I'd call this post malfeasance. But like I said... By the way, if Obsession doesn't have "major factual errors," then why are there first amendment issues with it? If it's UNTRUE, why not pull it? If it's TRUE, is it too true for Americans to see? You seem to suggest this. Do newspapers have a responsibility to protect Americans FROM TRUTH? I thought the film was pretty clear that it's an interpretation of Islam (as written) that is attacking western culture. If you look at the cover, it refers directly to "radical Islam".
- whenever i hear hate speech against muslims i think "what if they were talking about jews?" c'mon, it's not ok just because they are the devil du jour.— wendymae
- No, it wasn't a hate crime. It was domestic terrorism.— WDRussell
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