I’m fond of WhyDontYou.org.uk, by the way.

As for boycott “harming” people of a certain section of society, that’s the whole point to boycott — to apply financial pressure and thereby become the catalyst for social change.

So, in fact, you’ve verified and justified my criticisms. What you haven’t done is explain exactly how you justify harming people who’ve not committed any crime, other than the ‘crime’ of being Muslim.

You may continue to dislike what I print, but until you actually understand the conflict at hand, your opinion of what I print matters about as much as the whisper of the lawnmower I faintly hear outside my office — it’s slightly annoying but it will stop when it runs out of gas.

Brilliant Foe! “Until you agree with me I don’t have to listen to you.” Utterly, myopically, insanely, close-mindedly brilliant!

And Foe-hammer is a sword. There you have it. I am a weapon of war and of a righteous spirit, not of the worker.

And so, then, the spiel about the ’symbol of the worker’ was just crap? My guess about the hammer being a tool for smashing– i.e. a weapon of war– was in fact correct?

Very interesting string of confessions, Foe. It is almost like you are confessing to all the things you’ve objected to in previous comments.

As for boycott “harming” people of a certain section of society, that’s the whole point to boycott — to apply financial pressure and thereby become the catalyst for social change.

Let me answer two questions directed at me from above with one statement: I firmly believe we are in a war with Islam and my goal is to see that the non-Muslim world wins.

Now, we can continue down the road of appeasing Muslims and allowing that 7th century backwards, unreformed theocratic and political ideology to flourish in our midst out of a sense of guilt and fear because we don’t want to be labeled as “racists” (which in itself is of course inane), or we can open our eyes and take a stand for what is right. Men and women are dying overseas everyday to Islamic jihadists and the machinations of states like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. We’re probably on the verge of seeing another Islamic state win independence in the Balkans (Kosovo) because our politicians (especially George W.) are short-sighted fools and bent on appeasement of an enemy willing to do whatever it takes, for however LONG it takes to Islamize us. I am just part of a very small chunk of the blogosphere and the writing world that is not afraid to actually invest in the idea of confronting Islam without apology and showing others that it is worth doing.

You may continue to dislike what I print, but until you actually understand the conflict at hand, your opinion of what I print matters about as much as the whisper of the lawnmower I faintly hear outside my office — it’s slightly annoying but it will stop when it runs out of gas.

And Foe-hammer is a sword. There you have it. I am a weapon of war and of a righteous spirit, not of the worker. The hammer motiff represents MY labor and my incessant beating of a dead-horse, which is always what is required in order to get through thick skulls such as the ones you aim to please here, and of course your own.

You’re learning, like it or not, but whether you ever learn enough about what I am railing against, that’s entirely up to you.

You actually believe the tripe you type, don’t you?

This is a surprise to you? Why is that? Do you not believe the things you write?

Hmmm… “drawing conclusions for readers based on inference” is called ‘thinking’ or ‘reasoning’. It is virtually all ‘inference’, more formally called ‘induction’. Grab a logic book. Talk to a logician. Break the ice with Wikipedia. Did you, for that matter even read the link you provided to your readers? That link is chock full of “deriving the strict logical consequences of” and “possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises” and “the act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence” and “the act or process of inferring; specifically : the act of passing from one proposition, statement, or judgment considered as true to another whose truth is believed to follow logically from that of the former”. The only negative example is this: “something that is inferred: to make rash inferences.” If you pay attention, the negative bit “to make rash inferences” isn’t a definition it is a usage example, a sentence fragment meant to show a person how to stick the word in a sentence. If you think propaganda is based on inference you are way off the mark.

What you are looking for in regards to propaganda is ‘appeal to emotion’. That is the base of propaganda. Which brings us to…

Yes. Of course the hammer of a symbol of the worker. Any good communist will tell you that. It is funny that you deny any association yet give the same justifications. Why is the hammer chosen, Foe? Appeal to emotion. Appeal to the masses. Appeal to the downtrodden. And so on and so forth. In other words, it is a good propaganda move. And dressing it up with hyper-patriotism? Classic textbook propaganda. Thanks for running through that. You’ve got to wonder, as I said, why it is so popular in totalitarian propaganda, though, and why it is so unpopular with the British and the Americans. If it is such a happy neutral symbol of the worker, why is that? That is a fair question. More relevant, perhaps, is this: Why, after the brutality that has been committed under that banner, would anyone chose to use it? I mean, if I put a swastika up here and swore up and down that it was a Hindu religious icon while at the same time railing against the Jews, or the blacks, or the Catholics, or any number of other groups, how convincing would it be? I might have gotten away with it in 1900, but now? Not a chance. Symbols are associative. They gather connections and carry them around. Thats why they work. That is why they are symbols.

And no, the symbolism isn’t proof of anything in any hard sense. It is suggestive. It is a curiosity. The proof is what you write. That is why that part came first. I could quote you all day long and it would look far worse for you than any image. I’d have probably never commented on the symbolism had you not printed things like “prejudice in action? Of course” and “just refuse to patronize any establishment that is run or owned by Muslims“.

Now… I don’t think you are an ideological Nazi, certainly not a Communist, and also pretty likely not a Japanese Imperialist. I never said so. The reference I made was to ‘totalitarian’. Symbols aside, you’ve got some frightening symptoms, whether you think so or not. Intolerance? Classic tool of the totalitarian. Hyper-patriotism? Classic. Propagandistic appeals to ‘the people’? Absolutely classic. And using the same damned symbolism as the regimes of the recent past? Wow! Chasing out the ‘bad’ people? Also quite classic. Sorry. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck… You’d have me believe it is not a duck? No dice. The safe bet is that is a duck. Second runner up is that it is closely related.

Even if you are not ideologically totalitarian– and you are probably not– you are pushing policies that would push the country in that direction. Close enough, I say. You are pushing behavior that restricts the freedom in my country, and forces it toward your ideal. Where do you think that leads? “Happy Freedom Land”? Not in the least… unless you happen to be one of the chosen. The rest of us are screwed. That is the point. The point isn’t to injure you. It isn’t libel as you seem to think. It isn’t malice. It is “you are trying to push this country in a very frightening direction” and I don’t like it. The ideas, Foe… the ideas I care about. You I don’t. As I said earlier, I don’t even particularly dislike you on any personal level. I dislike what you print.

As for the two articles you cite, the first is a rant about a Muslim being sworn in on a Quran– “I view the inclusion of a Muslim into the United States Congress bad enough… etc. etc.”. In it you assert that “inference-does-not-equal-truth”, as in the title but in no way support the statement. The second is an assertion of racial superiority– that ‘race’ being Western civilization, of course. Racism is really very much cultural.

You’ve only got about 20 years of study and living life to go…

My but we think a lot of ourselves don’t we?

Why on earth would I call Gandhi a Nazi? As far as I remember Nazism was the government picking (extremely violently) on a specific part of the german people while Ghandi was the leader of the Indian people fighting (largely non-violently) the unjust and undemocratic British rulers. To me that seems to be pretty much exact opposites.

Could I ask one question (which is probably answered somewhere on your website, but I unfortunately don’t have time to read it all right now): What exactly is it that you want? I think I understand you reasons (Islam being a suppresive, bacwards and hateful religion) but I am not entirely sure what you want done about it, so if you could just sum it up briefly I would much appreciate it. Thank you

Themaiden: Yes I did see your post on us damned fools. Thought you’d have a field day with that one, though it was almost too easy

Please find where I have ever called for the ‘killing of a certain group of people’ anywhere in anything I have ever written. Again, you people here overstep the entire point of boycott and you do not even understand its roots.

Next you’ll be calling Ghandi and Thoreau ‘Nazis’, too. Hyperbole: the favorite tool of the regurgitating soap-box pundit.

You actually believe the tripe you type, don’t you? It doesn’t matter that you are drawing conclusions for readers based on inference, which is textbook propaganda. Let me fix this mischief finally.

Case-in-point: the true reason why hammers are used in those posters and why the hammer is used as symbolism on my Anvil is because the hammer is an age-old, millenia old symbol of the WORKER. The hand shooting upwards on my site is actually captured from an American WW II workers’ poster and the star-spangled cuff is from Uncle Sam from a separate but similar workers’ poster. I suppose it also escaped your notice the shadow that that hammer is casting is the arm of the Statue of Liberty.

There is NO similarity whatsoever between the ideologies of the “workers” in the posters you plastered here as propaganda and the ideologies of the “workers” represented by the symbolism on the Anvil. What you are doing here amounts to libel against me and I have warned you that I do not take kindly to it.

You and your friends here make the most classic mistakes that I have editorialized about on the Anvil too many times to remember: 1) inference does not equal truth and 2) equivalence-seeking is a disease of ignorant minds with a preordained agenda.

http://foehammer.net/2007/01/inference-does-not-equal-truth.html

http://foehammer.net/2007/06/there-is-no-equivalence-here.html

Not specific to the details of the propaganda and ignorance you are applying here, but still close enough to serve as lessons.

Lastly, I find it quite disgusting that atheists who aspire to be intellectually aware are so cowardly and unaware that you believe it better to ignore all religions equally than to defend against one grand cult that would destroy all our rights regardless of our personal spiritual beliefs or lack thereof. You had better start reading H. Fitzgerald and C. Hitchens if you want to actually come into the realm of atheists worth reading.

You’ve only got about 20 years of study and living life to go and you’ll begin to catch up to them. The sun is out. Hit the library or grab your laptop, find a tree and then get to work.

I have to add…

Much as JR said, preach your religion if you must but that is a complete red herring. I’m not complaining about you or anyone else preaching or practicing their religion. In fact, if someone tried to stop you from practicing your religion– nauseating as I may personally find it– I’d be on your side in the fight.

Its odd, 1389, you assert your right to religion but seem to be siding with someone who would restrict a person right to practice the religion of their choosing, in the manner of their choosing– note for example, Foe’s crying foul over a headscarf. If that headscarf were, say, a crucifix would the discrimination hit home a little more?

“Purple prose… ?”

Hmm… the ‘pot calling to kettle black’ factor is running pretty high here.

You might should also reflect upon the fact that most of the prose on this page isn’t mine. Its quoted from Foehammer.net. If there is “purple prose” well there is your source.

“Ad hominem… ?” You folks should look up the term. For example, Foe says “Prejudice in action? Of course”. I say, “Foehammer suggests we practice intolerance.” Foe says, “refuse to patronize any establishment that is run or owned by Muslims, from gas stations to convenience stores, dry cleaners to restaurants to specialty grocery stores and the like.” I say, “Foehammer suggests we practice intolerance.” Hmmm… personal attack? I think not. Flattering? Certainly not, but personal attack? No. Quoting someone doesn’t count. If he said something unpleasant it isn’t ad hominem attack to quote him as having said it.

I don’t, frankly, care what you are motivated by or what you are looking to do. It seems that you– well, Foe at least and you defend him– are willing to harm innocent, that is ‘law abiding’, citizens in the name of protecting yourselves. I find that objectionable. If that isn’t the case, then the rhetoric ought to change from “refuse to patronize any establishment that is run or owned by Muslims” to ‘refuse to patronize any establishment that is run or owned by someone who has been proven to have broken the law“. Then I’d be right there with you. Find some evidence that someone has in fact supported terrorists or is a terrorist then, sure, arrest that person. Put ‘em in jail. Kick ‘em out. But “All Muslims are dangerous. Kick out all Muslims is nonsense.”

I didn’t paint, or suggest, that anyone is a Stalinist or a Nazi. The connection I made explicitly was with ‘totalitarianism’. ‘Totalitarians’ can be any number of things besides Stalinists or Nazis, though those are the shining examples in recent history. Louis XIV was a totalitarian as well. The Roman ‘First Citizen’ August was a totalitarian in practice, but cleverly refused the title.

And as JR has already noted, I’m the art critic. I’m not the painter. Sorry. If the implications are unpleasant, change the rhetoric.

I won’t address your purple prose, your ad hominem attacks, or your misleading artwork (using the term loosely).

The fact is that we are not motivated by hate, nor are we looking to hurt Muslims or anybody else.

We simply intend to protect ourselves and others from being harmed in the name of Islam.

As an Orthodox Christian, my own religion compels me to proclaim what I believe to be the truth, and not to hide it, not to lie about it, and not to pretend that there is no such thing as truth.

That includes telling Muslims and everybody else that I believe my own faith to be true, and that I believe that it would also benefit them to join me in my faith. Yes, even if both I and they end up being assassinated by somebody because of my having talked someone into converting - it’s still worth it.

If you want to go ahead and paint us as Stalinists or Nazis, that says a lot more about you than it does about us.

Hi. Did you see the post I put up about the video you sent me? Damned Fools. Those Atheists.

Yes, I know. Pick a religion and you can find violence. Christianity’s violence is mostly in the past now, so that doesn’t count right? Or its in Africa or the far East or something, so that doesn’t count either? Or maybe the violence is more subtle? If you think trying to cripple a person’s ability to run a business– the house a family, clothe kids, feed mouths– isn’t violence your cracked.

And yes, history is full of “lets cleanse the country of this or that bad group” and it has always ended badly. I should make a list.

I think that Islam is a ‘Religion’– full stop. And that people have a right to it, whether I like (which I don’t, but then I don’t like your religion either) or whether you like it.

I am none too fond of the Democratic Party. It is a toss up really, whether I dislike the Democrats more than the Republicans, or the other way around.

Amazing what you imagine you know, isn’t it?

Again, this isn’t personal. I do happen to think that some in this country have lost sight of just why this country is worth protecting, and in losing sight of that those folk have set out to destroy exactly those things that are worth protecting, chief among which is that idea that people get to worship (dress, talk, etc.) anyway they like short of actually hurting other people.

Manufacture comparisons? Sorry. I didn’t manufacture anything. I put one picture next to another.

Again with the propaganda. You really ought to look into just what that means. Quoting you doesn’t count.