Am I a jihadist?
Context: On 3/30/2006 I plugged for TIA on Bidinotto's blog, then threw in a "Bravo!" to Bidinotto for having placed one of the anti-Islam cartoons on his magazine's cover. I did not know that he was even aware of Ayn Rand at that point, having arrived at his blog via memeorandum.com. Hours later, I learned that Bidinotto is actually one of the cornerstones of TOC, a very pathetic anti-Objectivism organization. I immediately regretted having commented on his blog. Today, I tried to read the article related to the cover in question (the article was only put up on the web today, as far as I know), and it is horrible.
So this morning, I held my nose, returned to Bidinotto's blog, and reluctantly posted a retraction of the "bravo" I had earlier offered:
In response, Bidinotto says I am a "fundamentalist jihadist," and I'll endorse an "idea" on Monday but then reject the idea as immoral on Wednesday for no good reason.
Wow. Maybe TOC should be renamed to TSTC: "The Sloppy-Thinking Center."
Two points about Bidinotto's response:
(1) A jihadist is someone who murders in the name of his faith. Even if the implication that I'm anti-reason could stick (and it doesn't) am I in any way a murderer, or even like a murderer -- or is his comment as intellectually irresponsible as it is preposterous?
(2) My "bravo" was not an endorsement of an idea, it was an endorsement of the act of putting the anti-Islam cartoon on the magazine's cover. And I do commend that act on the assumption that the actor is reasonably innocent -- but someone who is deeply involved with an anti-Objectivism organization is guilty to the bone marrow, and I will bend-over-backwards to not give a trifle of moral support to such a person.
In my defense for "accidentally" posting my support (albeit very delimited) on that blog: it has been a long time since I was so bored as to care who or what the anti-Objectivism losers are up to, so Bidinotto's name was not familiar to me.
So this morning, I held my nose, returned to Bidinotto's blog, and reluctantly posted a retraction of the "bravo" I had earlier offered:
I would like to retract my earlier "bravo" comment. I made that comment before I read the associated article, which is a cognitive disaster, and, more importantly, before I knew that you and the magazine are associated with that abomination of an institution, TOC. My mistake.
In response, Bidinotto says I am a "fundamentalist jihadist," and I'll endorse an "idea" on Monday but then reject the idea as immoral on Wednesday for no good reason.
Wow. Maybe TOC should be renamed to TSTC: "The Sloppy-Thinking Center."
Two points about Bidinotto's response:
(1) A jihadist is someone who murders in the name of his faith. Even if the implication that I'm anti-reason could stick (and it doesn't) am I in any way a murderer, or even like a murderer -- or is his comment as intellectually irresponsible as it is preposterous?
(2) My "bravo" was not an endorsement of an idea, it was an endorsement of the act of putting the anti-Islam cartoon on the magazine's cover. And I do commend that act on the assumption that the actor is reasonably innocent -- but someone who is deeply involved with an anti-Objectivism organization is guilty to the bone marrow, and I will bend-over-backwards to not give a trifle of moral support to such a person.
In my defense for "accidentally" posting my support (albeit very delimited) on that blog: it has been a long time since I was so bored as to care who or what the anti-Objectivism losers are up to, so Bidinotto's name was not familiar to me.
posted by Brad Williams @ 12:11 PM
