(09-13-2012, 09:25 PM)kandrathe Wrote: You might not realize how it comes across...
If I say, "There was a gang shooting on the south side between two 17 year olds." as opposed to "There was a gang shooting on the south side between two black 17 year olds."
Why did I need to add the word black? Is it definitive to the crime? Nope, it reinforces the stereotype that gang crime is black crime.
You chose two adjectives to label the filmmaker, whereas there are many others that might describe him; Convicted criminal, Male, Egyptian, Californian, maybe even radical extremist -- we don't even really know if he is a Coptic Christian, or if he was just the guy who made an anti-Islam film as part of a scam. It seems possible based on the hearsay that he intended (as Sam Basile) to make it appear that it was Israeli Jews who funded the film. Maybe he hates both, and wanted to start a feud in the middle east. If this were someone like Pat Robertson, then yes, we'd be safe in describing the actions of a known political Christian.
What role did the "conservative anti-Islam activist" Steve Klein play in making and distributing this film? It seems to be quite alot, and this guy is a *real* right-wing nut job -- much more on the order of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront, paramilitary crap.
Uh. I think you missed out on the reason why him being identified as a Coptic Christian (In layman's terms: Egyptian Christian) is different than your example.
As a religious minority, the Copts are often subject to discrimination in modern Egypt, and are the target of attacks by militant Islamic extremist groups.
I chose those two, because they are the two adjectives that would shed light on WHY he did what he did, and WHY he would then conceal his identity, and try to pass on the blame on someone else.
I could almost understand you thinking I'm an anti-christian bigot if you looked really hard at the negative stuff I post about it, without reading everything else that I've posted about it. But just based on that? You missed the point man.
nobody ever slaughtered an entire school with a smart phone and a twitter account – they have, however, toppled governments. - Jim Wright