Thanks to Sherry at A Western Heart I now know about Masamune
What brought him to Sherry's attention was this two-part article:
bq. Have you ever read a post or an article and found yourself blown away by the sheer talent you have just been exposed too?
bq. For me such a writer exists in the form of Masamune who in my opinion happens to be one of the blogosphere's elite yet underexposed voices.
bq. In Part 1 of Foreign Devils: An Understanding of Arab Hate, Masa speaks about feeding the beast that drives the hatred towards Israel and America.
bq. In Part 2, he takes a look at the doctrine of hatred being taught in many of America's Muslim schools.Mr. Ajami believes that Anti-Americanism indulges France's fantasy of past greatness and splendor and gives France's unwanted Muslim children a claim on the political life of a country that knows not what to do with them. As to many in the Middle East, I tend to agree with his sentiments: "These are people who are envious. To them, life is an unbearable burden. Modernism is the only way out. But modernism is frightening. It means we have to compete. It means we can't explain everything away with conspiracy theories. In this, he quotes Bernard Shaw regarding the preface to 'St. Joan,' he said "Joan of Arc was burned not for any reason except that she was talented. Talent gives rise to jealousy in the hearts of the untalented." For those who cling to Anti-Americanism as a means of understanding this hate - I would simply ask you this, why do you use hate to understand hate? Perhaps its true - when reasoning with this ilk, I must use another scale.
bq. If you are familiar with Masa's work you already know what a gift he has. But if this is your first time experiencing him I promise you will find yourself adding him to your favorites and returning quite often. Indeed - a welcome addition to the Blogroll - to be visited frequently...The sun feels rather warm on this wintery day, with chimes of the thistle in the air, its sharp tongue haranguing the acute minds of innocence at the elite Islamic Saudi Academy just outside Washington, D.C. Where students are taught that "the Day of Judgment can't come until Jesus Christ returns to Earth, breaks the cross and converts everyone to Islam, and until Muslims start attacking Jews." While in an adjoining class, students are taught a similar tale where the young impressionable minds hear that "one sign of the Day of Judgment will be that Muslims will fight and kill Jews, who will hide behind trees that say: 'Oh Muslim, Oh servant of God, here is a Jew hiding behind me. Come here and kill him.'" Moreover, if you were to search the maps of the Middle East in the geography classes, you would be hard-pressed to find a map of Israel. Truly, because it is taught that Israel does not exist.
