Monday, September 17, 2012

A Letter From A Scared Actress


An actress who is in Innocence Of Muslims writes a letter to explain everything. Her name is Anna Gurji. You can read about how the letter came to be and her background here.


Everyone who wishes to find out the truth about the movie now known as the Innocence of Muslims, please read the letter below. I, Anna Gurji, as one of the supporting actresses in the film will share with you what really happened.

A year ago, in the summer of 2011, I submitted my materials to various projects on the Explore Talent web-site. I received a call from the casting director of the movie “Desert Warrior”, and my audition date was scheduled. I auditioned for the role of Hilary. Several days later, I was informed that I got a callback. I did the callback. Several days later, I was informed that I landed the role of Hilary in the movie called “Desert Warrior”.

The filming of the movie was done in August of 2011. We were filming the movie in a studio warehouse with a green screen in Duarte, CA. The project was a low budget, independent feature movie.

The filming of the movie was beginning soon after the day I was told I got a role. The script was not sent to me. When I got to the set, I was merely provided with the scenes my character was in.

I did not consider this to be an unusual thing, seeing as I have had an experience with something like this before. I did a movie once where the script was written in a foreign language and only my parts were translated into English and accordingly, I was provided with my scenes only. Having experienced that, I thought the same thing was happening with “Desert Warrior”. Aware of the fact that the supposed producer and the script-writer of the movie (known as Sam Bassil) was a foreigner (thanks to his accent), I thought that the original script was written in his native tongue and that not all scenes were translated into English. Also, the filming dates of the movie had to be rescheduled last minute to fit my schedule (I had other films to do right after the “Desert Warrior” outside CA). Because of this rushed rearrangements, I thought that the production first forgot and then did not consider it necessary to send me the script, and again - I did not find this unusual, since I knew what role I had, I knew about my character and I knew about the story of the film.

My character Hilary was a young girl who is sold (against her own free will) by her parents to a tribe leader known as GEORGE. She is one of his (most likely, the youngest) brides in the movie.

The film was about a comet falling into a desert and different tribes in ancient Egypt fighting to acquire it for they deemed that the comet possessed some supernatural powers.

The movie that we were doing in Duarte was called “Desert Warrior” and it was a fictional adventure drama. The character GEORGE was a leader of one of those tribes fighting for the comet.

There was no mention EVER by anyone of MUHAMMAD and no mention of religion during the entire time I was on the set. I am hundred percent certain nobody in the cast and nobody in the US artistic side of the crew knew what was really planned for this “Desert Warrior”.

The atmosphere at the set was as friendly as possible. We all knew that we were doing an adventure drama for a very low budget financing. The director Alan Roberts even had plans that with this low budget product he would be able to get some more money to make a good quality version (by shooting it in the real desert and having better product in every category) of the “Desert Warrior”.

I had interactions with the man known as Sam Bassil on the set. He was very amiable, respectful, soft-spoken, always making sure that the filming was running smoothly and everyone was satisfied. He even told me the premiere of the movie was going to happen sometime soon and I would get a good amount of tickets to invite my friends and family.

I have never been informed about the premiere after that (if it ever happened) and have not seen the final product (if there is any, except for the short one that is uploaded online).

People ask what’s my reaction after seeing that.

Shock.

Two hours after I found out everything that had happened I gave Inside Edition an interview, the duration of which I could not stop crying.

I feel shattered.

People who were tricked into believing that we were making an adventure drama about a comet falling into a desert did nothing but take part in a low budget indie feature film called the “Desert Warrior” that WAS about a comet falling into a desert and tribes in ancient Egypt fighting to acquire it.

It’s painful to see how our faces were used to create something so atrocious without us knowing anything about it at all. It’s painful to see people being offended with the movie that used our faces to deliver lines (it’s obvious the movie was dubbed) that we were never informed of, it is painful to see people getting killed for this same movie, it is painful to hear people blame us when we did nothing but perform our art in the fictional adventure movie that was about a comet falling into a desert and tribes in ancient Egypt fighting to acquire it, it’s painful to be thought to be someone else when you are a completely different person.

Like I explained to Inside Edition, I feel awful.. I did not do anything but I feel awful.

I feel awful that a human being is capable of such evil. I feel awful about the lies, about the injustice, about the cruelty, about the violence, about the death of innocent people, about the pain of offended people, about the false accusations.

I don’t know what else to do but speak the truth. I will not go into hiding (since I have nothing to hide), because if we don’t speak the truth, there is no world worth living for.

I grew up in Georgia Republic (ex-Soviet Union), I have witnessed the strikes, protests, demonstrations, injustice, cruelty, violence in my life. I was there during the war between Russia and Georgia, sleeping in outdoor clothes and packed backpacks waiting to be bombed. And I left my country, knowing that there was no future for a film actress there (seeing as the film industry is still in the process of recovery after the collapse of the Soviet Union).

Why did I want to pursue acting? I had a role in a short film when I was thirteen. There was a scene in the movie, where my beggar character and my character’s blind father were thrown off the bridge by police officers. During the filming of the scene, I was attacked by a huge lump in my throat, witnessing what the police were doing to my blind father. I wanted to cry, but knowing that my blind father would worry about me if he heard me cry, I swallowed the lump and stayed strong and did my best to defend him against the injustice. Experiencing the magic of acting (losing yourself into the character) was what had me fall in love with the craft. After a long journey and fighting to somehow get to the States, I managed to come here with my mother.

It’s so difficult for an actor (especially the one from a foreign country) to begin a career. People think that once you are in the States, you have all the doors opened before you. It’s not so. It’s very difficult to join the union, to get an agent, to lose your accent and to land roles if you don’t have connections. For four years I have been struggling to slowly move ahead and not give up. A year ago, when I got the supporting role in this indie feature film “Desert Warrior”, I was so excited.

I don’t understand why was this happened to me, when all I wanted to do was pursue my acting career.

I have to admit I wanted to pursue my acting career because I loved the process of transformation into a different character – a selfish reason.

A few months ago, I just finished writing a script with my father about world peace, which helped me understand something – forgive and care for your enemy. Then, I understood that there is a bigger reason for acting. When we act, we help people see all different characters that exist. When people see about all these different characters, they start to understand them. When they understand all these different characters, they come close to accepting them. When they come close to accepting them, they come close to being united. And when they come close to being united, they come close to loving and helping each other.

I was thinking about something a week ago. We are like cells in the body of Earth. Why won’t we work together and support each other instead of killing and destroying each other. If cells kill each other, eventually the body will die. By always speaking the truth and supporting the world peace, I hope we will be able to save the Earth from dying.. someday.

Growing up in a family that was extremely open-minded and respectful to all the differences in the world (all the religions) and growing up peacefully with people with so many different religions around me, it is devastating for me to have my face put into something that is completely opposite of what I believe in.

I want to send my condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives. Everything happens for a reason, they say. I believe this is a trap of evil to separate us from our humanity. We must stray strong and not forget that violence has not been able to get us anywhere spiritually and has not been able to make the world a better place. Understanding and love will.

91 comments:

califblondy said...

Beautifully written.

Laura said...

I can't imagine how she must feel.

Anonymous said...

I love the way that she expressed herself, what she wrote about us all being like cells in the body of the earth. what an amazingly well spoken young woman and I can't wait to hear more from her.

Alicia said...

Really powerful writing.. If this girl doesn't make it as an actress , she should consider penning a book or two.
This actually moved me to tears .. Then again aunt flo is here so I'm always a little emo around this time..

Amber said...

I'm glad that she's chosen to speak out. I only hope that she is able to stay safe, as some people may ignore/not understand that she did not know what she had gotten into when she became involved with the film. Such a horrible situation all around.

LadyLagerfeld said...

Gorgeous letter. TMZ just posted a production pic of her with Nikoula.

katsm0711 said...

Its horrible. My Libyan friend keeps apologizing and politely answering my questions. I hate the asshole who did this. How big are his balls that he could tell such a huge, dangerous lie to so many people? I'd love to buy him a one way ticket to whatever country has the most extremists (Afghanistan?) and not let him hide in our beautiful USA.

The Dude said...

The violence thaqt has happened was not truly about this movie! It was just an excuse, this very articulate lady definitely deserves kudos for her expressive writing and her sentiments!

SusanB said...

agree with The Dude. Although if I were one of the actors, you wouldn't know where I was until things settled down. You have to know that some of these crazies are here in this country looking for anyone associated with the movie.

supapimp said...

I hope she wasn't on the casting couch for the role.

Patty said...

I hope she can stay safe. The people who are outraged about his don't care if anyone was tricked into making this or had their images used against their will/knowledge. They only care about their own adgenda and will do the unthinkable to support their cause, as we have already seen.

drusillaluna said...

The fact that this Nikoula guy felt the need to lie about the final product to the cast and crew shows he knew the fall out would be bad and that they would not agree to doing something that would endanger their lives and cause them death threats/deaths of people in other countries and possibly but hopefully not on this side of the pond. I hope they take him to task for that. Sounds like a rather self serving guy who wanted to get his message out by any means possible. Even if it meant dragging unwitting people who were just trying to follow their chosen career paths down.

shakey said...

It was very big of her to step forward and tell the truth. Hopefully her next acting experience will be so much better. She must feel violated.

drusillaluna said...

And this lady sounds great. I hope she gets to live out her dream of acting, she at least has a palette of life experience to draw from that she can share/express through the dramatic arts.

hunter said...

I don't appreciate how this movie is making us question our First Amendment rights. What a dick.

As for the actress, I feel sorry for her.

Anonymous said...

Fascinating. Especially the bit where she mentions Desert Warrior allegedly being about "a comet falling into a desert" and people fighting over it because it possesses supernatural powers. First off, comets don't fall. But meteors and meteorites do. And the "Black Stone" within the Kaaba at Mecca is said to be a fallen meteorite. Very interesting...

Amber said...

@ Thomas - Out of curiosity, what are you insinuating?

Chris said...

It's been a week and people are still claiming the violence was a result of the movie. Read the news. It wasn't.

Ice Angel said...

Don't fall for the great lie that the terrorist attacks on Ameicans and our interests abroad have anything at all to do with this film.

These were long planned and coordinated attacks developed by Al Queda and the Muslim Brotherhood-groups of Muslim extremists hell bent on taking over (and are pretty much in charge of already) many of these "newly liberated" regimes.

Señior Seamhead said...

Amen Sister!

Anonymous said...

@Amber- Are you kidding? I'm not insinuating anything. I stated a fact: that I find it interesting that this really low-budget movie was represented (to the actors, as least) as being at least partly about a very arcane aspect of the founding of Islam. Just as I found it interesting, while watching the 13 minute YouTube video of it, that there is a scene which appears to be of Muhammad seeing (hallucinating?) Djinns (astral spirits or demons), which is factual (or "factual") as well. For a low-budget, shitty and practically "shot on video" production, it ridicules some very scholarly aspects of Islam. I can very well imagine Muslim clerics watching this pseudo-flick and getting pretty jacked up over it...

Del Riser said...

I applaud this young lady for coming forward with what happened to her and her other castmates. A massive con job from beginning to end.
I hope she gets better roles with more honest moviemakers. I hope she doesn't have to go through the gauntlet of pervs to pursue her career.

ForSure said...

This is beautifully written, but the murders in Libya had nothing to do with this film. That attack had been planned for months, it was not spontaneous. As for the other protests, to blame it on this film is simplification, but it does help to understand that many other countries simply do not understand or truly believe in our first amendment. This was explained on MSNBC last week, when you grow up in a country where every form of communication is either owned or approved by the government, then you believe it is like that everywhere else. So many believe, or have been encouraged to believe, that the video clip was uploaded to Youtube because our government wanted it to be.

I'm one person removed from Tim Dax, another actor who was in that film. He was interviewed on the local news. He is pretty angry about the whole situation, but he is not going into hiding either.

Amber said...

@ Thomas - Whhoooooooa hold your horses. Apparently I should've put 10 smiley faces after my question, and maybe some hearts. It read, to me, like you were placing emphasis on the discrepancy between comet vs. meteor/meteorite, and possibly that she was lying. No need to be up in arms, kind sir.

Barton Fink said...

Ah, Fox rhetoric at CDAN. I never expected it.

Amartel said...

This silly movie is a convenient excuse for the governments involved, including our own, to abrogate responsibility for the recent rioting, mayhem, and deaths. How convenient that it can all be blamed on a movie. It's like the Danish cartoons. It's just an excuse, and a very lame and obvious one at that. Obviously the guy who made the movie is no prince but that doesn't exempt him from the First Amendment and these actors can go after him for misrepresentation, if they've actually been damaged. Seems to me, though, that if you want to keep a low profile you don't write up an essay for TMZ and go on Inside Edition, Maybe that's just me. The big fatality here is the first amendment. Arresting someone for making a bad movie. Not good!

smash said...

Thomas- while reading her story that was one of the first things to come into my mind. Is this not some of beginning stories of Islam? Thank you for putting that out there.

These people want us dead one way or the other. A film pissing them off is just a drop of rain in the tsunami they want to insue.

smash said...

Barton- what fox rhetoric? It is very true they have been planning the attacks on the embassy for a few weeks even months.

To me this is just a religious fight that will end in blood if people don't realize what they are fighting over is nonsense.

Barton Fink said...

Oh, the whole "them mooslims is worshippin' a rock an' not Jeebus" crap. That's the way people in the Fox bubble tend to talk, God bless 'em.

Del Riser said...

@Thomas, I don't think the young actress understood that this movie was to be "partly about an arcane
aspect of the founding of Islam."

It didn't sound to me like Islam was ever mentioned to the actors.

She is ashamed through no fault of her own.

DewieTheBear said...

The movie is an excuse for Islamist violence. Period. Christians and Jews are routinely portrayed negatively in all corners of entertainment. Last time I checked, they managed not to riot and kill others in the name of protecting the integrity of their respective faiths.

Muslims can suck it up and kiss my peppermint ass. I'm tired of their whiny intolerance and demands we all respect their religion or else be threatened with death. When they begin demonstrating respect for others, they will receive some in turn.

Sherry said...

Well this explains it all. Sad that the propaganda machine may put these people at risk. I said before I believe people are inherently good but there are still evil people in the world.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amartel said...

Guy who keeps talking about "Fox rhetoric": A credible response to speech you disagree with would be to address the substance of the speech.

But you're not doing that.

Interesting.

Del Riser said...

@Thomas, sigh, I didn't accuse you of an attack on the actress or of saying that she lied.

I quoted you. I don't think a young Russian actress picked up on the fact that... a movie about a comet or meteorite falling in the desert and having supernatural properties is a big clue that it's about Islam.

You were pointing out what you noticed in the story, and I was pointing out what I noticed in the story.

Have a really nice rest of the day.

Del Riser said...

And I'm replying to *comment deleted.

NYCGirl said...

Good luck to her.

Anonymous said...

Yes Del. But you're pointing out something obvious, something that everyone here already acknowledges as being almost certainly true: that the young actress didn't know what the movie was about. I never disagreed with that. But by pointing out (to me) something as obvious as that, it is as if you think (and are implying to others) that I didn't already know it. Which. I. Did. Can you not see how that makes it seem as if you did not understand what I meant by my original point? Good grief. Don't feel too bad, though: at least one other person here did the exact same thing...

MadLyb said...

This movie has been out for awhile, though the hate-infested Terry Jones heavily promoted it on 9/11, and I think we can guess why. The attacks benefit the causes of all the sabre rattlers like BiBi and even some of our own politicians.

Even though some of the attacks against our embassies were planned weeks in advance, most of the riots have been as a direct reaction to this film. I hope all involved in this are exposed - they knew EXACTLY what they were doing. It was their aim to conflate the ME, and I doubt Terry Jones or his ilk really care about an esteemed ambassador and other diplomats being murdered, as long as it furthers their agenda. They kicked a known hornets nest and have blood on their hands as well.

L said...

@Del Riser - Georgian, not Russian!!!
je kid, je kid :)

Lalaay said...

Some of you (Barton) are the reason I keep coming back to this site! Thank you...for the ones grouping the one billion Muslims around the world as being obsessed with the downfall of the United States get over yourselves! Islam is a religion one that promotes peace. The people of Libya came out in protest against the attacks, not every Muslims is an aggressive vandalizing individual. But I will say this, you don't get to dictate how people react to your actions, I don't understand why that's not understood! If you offend someone and they burn you car you might think that is an overreaction but you don't get to dictate their actions! This concept of free speech is a right we have in USA outside our borders it doesn't mean shit so stop invoking it as if it protects you elsewhere. Other countries have their own rights and laws. And lastly, I'm proud of the actress! I hope no harm comes to her and more importantly she achieves her dreams, se'll definitely be a good role model!

Unknown said...



This is the most gorgeous letter I've read since Letter to Birmingham- I'm not comparing them in terms of impact or anything- it was just so raw, yet lyrical; poignant, yet calculated. English lit analysis stuff. It was dramatic, but never went beyond Truth. I wanna read her script!!

Sadie Goes Electric said...

i never knew that about the kaaba...

Amartel said...

"for the ones grouping the one billion Muslims around the world as being obsessed with the downfall of the United States get over yourselves"

Who's doing that?
Nobody here.
Another strawman argument, another failure to address the substance of free speech that makes you uncomfortable. "Shut up" is not an argument.

Sadie Goes Electric said...

thinking for yourself and noticing syncronicity around you is the mark of enlightenment. certain individuals will always look for drama. its all they know i guess... this site has major hen pecking.

__-__=__ said...

Wow, what a letter. I feel bad for her. She is brave to speak up after being scammed like that. So comet falling in US = science fiction adventure (Night of the Comet). Comet falling in Africa = religious documentary. The things I learn at CDAN!

Coriander Shea said...

This all makes me very, very sad.

Krokus De Boer said...

Lalaay, we used to have free speech here in the Netherlands too. Now we have Islamic immigration, we have young girls being sexually harassed, gays and jews being assaulted and a raise in violent crime. This was an otherwise peaceful country. Our freedom has been violated here too. Their beliefs are not in line with Western Society. I am not a conservative American. I am a liberal, atheist, feminist that has had enough of Islam in Europe. I certainly wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia and demand them to accept my way of life. If I tried I would go to jail. So why do they come to our countries and demand to take away our freedoms and reject our lifestyle? We can't coexist. It's utopia.

katsm0711 said...

Yes her letter is absolutely beautiful. I wouldn't call her brave for writing it, she HAD to write it to save her life unless she went Ito hiding! I believe it's heartfelt and all true but she had no choice but to distance herself from the movie!

Are any of you aware that at least in Egypt some of the protestors were paid by the Muslim Brotherhood? Some were real (uneducated) extremists but some were also paid to do the dirty work. I'm sure the other countries did the same but I only read about Egypt bc I love Egypt.

Since the beginning of time all the major religions have been fighting yet all religions claim to be about peace and love. Doesn't that tell you that we are all being told lies about the other religions by the people in power with agendas? After being raised in a church with a priest for a dad who always told me Muslims are evil, I'm making friends with them so we can discuss our differences but really all we ever discover is that we all want the same thing. My ancestor (and Seth Macfarlane's) ancestor William Brewster fled England bc he didn't feel it was fair for the Queen to make everyone practice her religion. He fled to the Netherlands to hold secret meetings and organized colonizing America by coming on the Mayflower. My namesake Saint Catherine was tortured by pagans for not giving up her love of Christianity. Throughout time, each side has had the upper hand for a while and then they lose I and the other side gets power. It's funny bc we all want peace.

Chilie said...

The riots over materials "offensive" to Islam are conducted by uneducated peasants. They're the uneducated, redneck hillbillies of the Middle East.

This was explained to me by educated Muslim friends. They are embarrassed & horrified as well when riots break out over a disrespectful cartoon etc.

That said, current riots have nothing to do with this stupid film.

Barton Fink said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barton Fink said...

Amartel, do I know you? Am I supposed to be obeying you for some reason that has been established already? You're on a gossip sight because you ... love talking about gossip? Perhaps you could discuss some gossip, girlfriend. That picture of Nicole, for instance, looking wrecked.

All about Eve said...

I love when people put religion and peace together! What a joke! Specially about Islam...not saying all religious people are violent but a lot of evil and wrong had been done in this world in the name of God or Allah or whatever you want to call it.

And Krokus, I so agree with you! It seems we all have to sacrifice some of our freedoms because it offends others nowadays.

Amartel said...

Greetings Fink,

Yeah, that's the thing about free speech; other people get to talk. I get to say my opinion, then you get to respond. If you respond with baseless insults, strawman arguments, misdirection, etc., I get to point that out. Gasp!
Dang, girlfriend. This really is not a difficult concept.

BTW, you're being paged. You're expertise is needed in the Mom Steals Money from Son Who's In Afghanistan thread.

Lalaay said...

Oh lord, this is about to be a long post so forgive me for the spelling, grammar mistakes!

Amartel, I used the phrase "for the ones" because it only applies to those who believe that but I guess a hit dog will holler. When I read phrases like "these people want us dead one way or another" or "this movie is an excuse for Islamist violence....Christians and Jews managed to not riot and kill other..." or the fact that Krokus assumes that an American Muslim should have an insight into the behavior of Muslims in Netherlands as a signal that people around this world like to group Muslims as one people and more ridiculously as the only religion that used violence for their religion, for that I say check out the history books and tune into the news! People have been killing in the name of their god since religion's inception. I do not condone violence so it bothers me that all Muslims are painted as one especially a violent group.

Krokus de Boer, I'm sorry to hear that your encounters with Muslims have not been pleasant, not all Muslims are aggressive and violent. I don't think all Muslims are good, that would be naive but for you to insinuate that young girls have never bee sexually harassed or gays and Jews have never been assisted I Netherlands before by other groups that are not Muslims is also absurd. Human being are capable of horrendous behavior regardless of their religion! Muslims are not the only ones committing crimes in Netherlands but more importantly they are not committing them because they are Muslims but because they are horrendous people!

As for the the comment "do why do they come to our country and demand to take away..." from a simple wiki search "from 1960 Dutch government recruited large numbers of immigrant workers from Turkey and Morroco." so Muslims are good enough for cheap labor but when they bring they religion, traditions, cultures it's too much? It sounds like they were brought over for cheap labor and when they did not assimilate well the Dutch people are annoyed. From what I've lived and seen people who are brought over for cheap labor (Africans, Mexicans) are treated as second class citizens and they do not get as much opportunities as natives of that country.

Barton Fink said...

Okay, I'm responding. Um, not a lot here. Um, okay. Um, thanks.

Lalaay said...

Ok it cut off before I can finish and I'm not about to write it over! Krokus I have a feeling that Muslims are treated as second class citizens because they are immigrants and the truth is your grovernment recruits them over so don't start with the whole why do they come here...you guys shipped them over for cheap labor! My whole issue was that people will do evil things regardless of their religion and more importantly any mofo who says they do this for Islam doesn't mean they speak for all Muslims or that they represent Islam. That's why fundamentalist exist in every religion, I sure don't blame every Jews or Christians or Other religions people for the actions of one of another because they share religions!

As for the free speech comment, the riots are happening in the middle east! What I was trying to say is that freedom of speech is only acknowledged in the US ( and I guess Netherland) expecting people to not riot in their country for your actions in your country be use of your right will not happen! They will do what they want to do! As I said before I hope that in the future Muslims handle the situation more diplomatically but it's not our reality right now.

katsm0711 said...

Agreed @lalaay

Do I need to bring up the catholic priest pedophile epidemic/coverup? Or do u want to hear the story about the highest paid Greek orthodox priest in America who was caught hanging out at a truck stop McDonald's on i95 in Connecticut where he would approach truck drivers and OFFER them free blow jobs and how after a parishioner caught him and hired a private investigator the bishop covered it up until they got the story published in a Greek language newspaper and how only then the bishop sent him off to retirement in Greece, not even defrocking the bastard? Yeah the bastard is married with 3 boys, 1 boy just got arrested for a bar fight and I can't imagine what they r put through. I know the details bc it was my best friends church that I would go with when I slept at her house and MY dad was the priest sent to replace the bastard. So every religion has it's fuckups, just different styles and tastes for our victims.

misspoppypants said...

Please let the rest of us know when we bear the mark of enlightenment---in the meanttime try to bear up under the crushing burden of darkness that comes with another poster requesting clarification for a vague comment. Sadie, you just projected all over Amber's question. Chill.

misspoppypants said...

@Thomas, many other readers surely did the same thing. You supposedly stated a fact and then said you found it interesting without explication. You presumed that once your thoughts were posted, however vague, people would intuit your meaning. That's due to the vague manner of your writing, point of fact. Why are you so defensive? Proof read your posts for clarity and lose the insecurity.

Lalaay said...

Exactly Katsm0711! It's absurd to hold Christians responsible for those actions! I honestly love this site because the people here are sensible and they do not generalize their hate for a group based on their religion!

Anonymous said...

@misspoppypants- "Any Excuse Will Serve a Tyrant." Have fun explicating THAT :)

katsm0711 said...

To anyone following this, if you're on twitter the #muslimrage hashtag is hysterical! It's Muslims making fun of the Newsweek cover showing that, yes they DO have a sense of humor because they are not all extremists! My fav is "lost nephew in airport and can't tell his name bc his name is Jihad". Actually that one I'm not sure of so I'm waiting for my Muslim friend to text me back if that's funny or offensive, but the rest r definitely funny!

misspoppypants said...

@Thomas 'A stitch in time saves nine.' 'Hunger is the best sauce.' 'All that glitters is not gold.' You have fun with it.

Lalaay said...

That one is hilarious! My fav so far is the "I'm having such a good hair day and no one even knows #muslimrage

DewieTheBear said...

Oh please @miss. You think a sex-related cover-up is the same as threatening, harassing and MURDERING anyone who has the balls to say "Muhammed sucks"?

You are ignorant and pathetic if you equivocate the Catholicism and Islamofascists.

We are in a war for survival against Islamists. And I will never, ever apologize for calling them out on their sad, oppressive need to control any little criticism of their woman-hating, gay-bashing religion. No one should ever apologize to them for anything they do; it's akin to kneeling down and saying "you win." And they do not win in my world.

Barton Fink said...

Reading Ms Gurji's letter again, I am struck by its noble and passionate tone, and by the anguish that the Islam-haters have caused in her life. Hate is a fire that burns up everything in its path. In this part, hate added to deception added to Fox rhetoric. It's deplorable.

Marie said...

Honestly, the problem is PEOPLE. If you're an asshole, you're going to be an asshole no matter what religion you are. If you're so narrow minded that you can't see tha everyone is different and has as much right as you do to choose what they believe, then it doesn't matter if you're Christian, Jewish or Muslim.

People are the problem, religion is just a group you can identify with and use to back up your arguments if you wish.

OneGirlRevolution said...

So I'm late to the party but...

Technically, only meteorites,not meteors, "fall" to earth (a meteor is the visible evidence of a meteoriod in the earth's atmosphere, i.e. a shooting star); comets "collide" with the earth(hopefully not anytime soon..I'm talkin' to you, 12/21/12), although I guess you could argue that since a meteorite is at least sometimes the result of the earth passing through the coma of a comet, that some meteorites can also be parts of comets.

And...

I guess if we're going to say that "Muslims" do *insert whatever* (implying there is no gradation in belief that ALL Muslims are on board) then, logically, ALL Christians should be to blame for everything ANY Christian does...including making/distributing this video.

Anonymous said...

@Bart- I'm digging the melodramatic purpleness of your prose, three floors up. But you laid it on just a little too thick, I think. Did you manage to type all that with a straight face (no pun intended)? Or did a few jocular titters succeed in exploding forth from the ruby petals of your lips?

DewieTheBear said...

I'm going to leave this here and leave this thread for the evening.

This week's SI features a story on Chancellor Lee Adams. If you don't know his name, he's the child that Rae Carruth decided to try to murder instead of facing the prospect of having to pay child support for the child in years to come.

Instead of killing his child, Carruth's actions took the life of the child's mother. Chancellor was left with cerebral palsy. His grandmother takes care of him.

Don't pooh-pooh to me any justification of a murderous rage on behalf of someone's b.s. prophet when there are women like Saundra Adams - and many, many more individuals like her - who have lost someone indescribably close in their lives and turned away from rage when, by all rights, they should be filled with it for the balance of their existence. If someone is so insecure - or so intolerant - that the slightest disrespect by a stranger to their chosen god turns them homicidal, they deserve not an iota of understanding from anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhnvB4KJbo4

Robin the Mad Photographer said...

Dewey: You have the right to believe whatever you wish, and, in America, the right to speak your mind about it; having said that, when you start slinging around terms like "Islamofascist," I reserve the right to shake my head with the knowledge that you've drunk way too much of Roger Ailes' Kool-Aid to listen to anyone who says anything different...but hey, it's not like I'm doing anything else meaningful tonight, so why not give it a shot...

Tarring all the practitioners of a particular religion with the same brush because a very noisy percentage are behaving badly isn't right--not all Catholics or Catholic priests are pedophiles, and not all Muslims are violent fanatics. Yes, there are some of the latter who would like nothing better than to take over and wipe out all of us "infidels," but these people are using their professed religious beliefs as a justification for their bad behavior so they can obtain temporal power, and also as a way to whip up popular support among those whose lives are somehow circumscribed, whose life options are severely limited, want desperately for their lives to get better, and who will support anyone they think might make that happen...they're not the first to go this route, historically speaking, and they won't be the last. There are members of pretty much every major world religion, and a whole lot of minor ones, who are either trying to do the same thing, or who would love to do it if they thought they could pull it off--based on my reading and understanding, there are plenty of Jewish settlers in Israel, Hindu nationalists in India, and Christian Dominionists right here in the good old USA who fit into one or both of those categories.

Again, Islam/Christianity/Judaism/Hinduism/Buddhism/what have you aren't the real problem here--ASSHOLES are the real problem! There are good, decent people in every belief system; hell, I've met at least one lovely Scientologist, and I'm sure he's not the only one. There are plenty of Muslims out there who are horrified at what's being done in their names, with many of them speaking out against it, including a number of imams in the Middle East whose basic message to their co-religionists is "Hey, guys, chill out! This isn't helping anything!" They don't support the violence any more than the Congregational Church down the street from me supports anything Fred Phelps and the WBC do, but in both cases, because their respective beliefs share a common root, they get blamed for someone else's bad behavior that they can't control; if they could, they would, but they can't.

There's a fine line between blindly assuming that everyone out there is wonderful and farts rainbows and puppies, and blindly assuming that everyone out there is eeeeevil and would just as soon cut your throat as look at you--realizing that there are some people willing to commit violent acts, keeping one's eyes open, and being cautious is one thing; automatically assuming that every member of a particular group is like that is quite another--be aware, but practice the Golden Rule as well. Much of what gets sneered at as "political correctness" is really just good manners, and treating others the way you'd like them to treat you can go a surprisingly long way towards making society more civil, and proving that not everyone is an asshole and that there are plenty of good people, too. It's a lot harder to demonize The Other when there's proof in front of you that hey, they're not really demons after all, but good people trying to live right--and that applies to all sides in this whole sorry mess.

OK, time to think about bed now... *climbs off soapbox*

katsm0711 said...

Scientology does not belong in a discussion about real religion.

OneGirlRevolution said...

A religion is nothing more than a cult which has gained mainstream acceptance. Scientology is a cult...it's more than fair to include it.

OneGirlRevolution said...

Very well put, Robin.

Popnursing said...

Yeah it's all fun & games until someone issues a fatwa.
I'll quit believe Islam teaches hate when it's followers quit blowing us up by fucking plane loads. Then again, we were disrespectful to their beliefs so we probably deserved it. Guess I'm still bitter.

yodelay said...

How is their "woman hating, gay-bashing religion" different than the so-called Christian flavor of fundamentalism? How is a Christian wanting to wipe out Muslims different from the murderous mob in Lybia? You are not.

Right now I'm watching footage of Muslims physically trying to save our Ambassador, so if you want to paint all people of a certain religion with one brush, please do not try to convince me of how your religion is the "true" religion of love, peace and righteousness.

MATA v2.0 said...

Wtf!

Krokus De Boer said...

Lalaay, I have no problem with immigrants, or their culture. There are loads of immigrants here in The Netherlands, I am one of them. However,I get upset when other people force their culture/beliefs down my throat. Believe what you want, just get a grip and act like a respectful human being. Here in The Netherlands WE ARE liberal, we need freedom, we debate everything, we say what we think yet we respect each other. This is a small country, we are possibly the size of a small US state, this is a country that had no such thing as violent crimes twenty years ago. There were riots in front of the US missions in Den Haag and Amsterdam. The truth is that I dont care what is your religion, but you must respect your neighbours and follow the rules. And to finalize, cheap labor my big fat white ass!!! Nowadays, our cheap labourers brought entire families to this country and are THE BIGGEST DRAG IN OUR WELFARE SYSTEM!!! The average Dutch family has two kids and two working parents. Muslim families often have seven, eight kids and ONE working parent. Different than the US, here the government complements your income, so the people that don’t earn enough get subsidised housing, money to bring up their children, free health care and such. I don’t disagree with that, I believe it is important to have a decent system to support people in need, however that is not cheap for the country so your cheap labour theory would fly in the Capitalist USA not here. And if you can't feed them, don’t keep having them, toch?
Respect my house and you are always welcome, spit on my floor and I'll ask you to leave. This is Europe, if you don't like it you can always go back home :)

Agent**it said...

Krokus. RE USA -we have a large section of our population that live generationally at the expense of the taxpayer, we can't afford more. Cheap labour in the USA is now what used to be the middle class. Field labour are day workers, mainly undocumented illegall immigrants. If caught, the businesses that use them face large fines.

Krokus De Boer said...

Agent, I have lived in the US for ten years. Can't compare the welfare system there to the one here. Here it is a priority of the government and it makes sure that no families go through hardship.Our taxes are much higher (42% is the normal bracket, but it can get as high as around 61% if you earn above a certain amount, 60k I think) and of course those immigrants that she mentions are all legal. We are famous for giving asylum to loads f people here. I believe in human rights and opportunities and so does my government. These people are not, or ever were, cheap labour as she/he said. They were needed labour but they cost my government thousands of Euros. They are given the opportunity to start a new life with decent work conditions, education and human rights here and they thank us by attacking our lifestyle and personal freedoms. Its not a phenomena of my country, it is happening in Sweden, Norway and many other Northern European countries. I can talk about here because I SEE it.

Agent**It said...

Thanks for the info, things are rapidly changing in the USA to mimic what you have. We are now experiencing attempts to enforce sharia law in certain communities that are attempting to cloister themselves. Of course, we are living with drones, so everything is tracked, but, nothing being done unless victims come forward.Enjoyed reading your comments.

nightowl said...

Just have to laugh at all of those who throw out Fox News when someone disagrees with them. Not everyone has to think the same way as you do and they don't need to watch cable news to form those opinions. This conservative reads WaPo, NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. I get my news from both sides of the aisle, as well as from the center. I also watch C-Span regularly and watch MSNBC when I need entertainment. I don't need anyone else to tell me how to think.

And sorry, but the movie didn't cause the protests no matter how much the WH and their supporters in the media are trying to spin it. The fact is these were coordinated attacks. The State Department failed to heed warnings and properly secure the consulate. Unfortunately, good people were killed. Instead of doing their jobs and questioning the State Dept and WH about why this happened and what they are doing to prevent future attacks, journalists are focusing instead on what the WH wants them to focus on. It is disgusting. The Middle East is burning. What is the WH response? Let's arrest that damn, dirty American who made a movie.

I believe in the First Amendment. We are free in the US to freely speak ill of others and of other religions. Would I make a movie like that? Absolutely not. But I also wouldn't make a movie like Religulous - you know, Bill Maher's movie that spends 20 minutes slamming Islam. But I would defend to the death both men's right to make those movies. Are we going to censor South Park? Those guys are great because they do point out the hypocrisy of all religions. You want to limit speech, you will be taking those guys off the air.

Freedom of speech is the foundation of our nation. If we censor our speech because we are afraid of hurting the feelings of others, we need to shut the American experiment down. If you are in favor of arresting the movie maker ((I won't even get into it with those who want him killed for his opinion), you are no better than those who advocate book burning or those who would ban pornography. Censorship is censorship. Either you are for it or you are against it. This is an issue that transcends party and hits at the heart of the founding of our country.

Lalaay said...

Krokus, we also love to debate! Exchanging dialogue in a respectful manner is always appreciated! I welcome the opportunity to set some facts!

"This is a country that had no such thing as violent crimes twenty years ago."

That comment is preposterous and inaccurate! I Wikipedia-ed crimes in Netherlands so here we go!

"In the 1970s Dutch prisons operated at full capacity incarceration rates were kept ARTIFICALLY low in this era because the Dutch declined to construct the required number of prisons to suit the demands imposed by their criminal justice."

Here is the kicker! They started a waiting list!

"Prison sentences were voided if the convicted spent too long on the waitlist. Over 5,000 unsuspended prison sentences were voided in 1995.

The government increased the construction of prisons in the 1980s and 1990s (~20 years ago) so it wasn't that you did not have violent crimes or more of them, is seems that more jails were built to accommodate the crimes. Most crimes were undocumented 20+ years ago but it doesn't mean that they did not occur. What's more interesting is that the detaining of illegal immigrants increased from 2,000 to 9600 in the 1990s. Now I don't know if those illegal immigrants are Muslim but I'll bet a dollar that did not help the image of immigrants in Netherland.

Lalaay said...

As far as the "Respect my house and your always welcome...This is Europe, if you don't like it you can always go back home."

That comment is laughable and outrageous. Where was the respect when Europeans pillaged and colonized the MidEast and North Africa? When they depleted thru resources and forced their culture and customs on them? More importantly where was this respect when they preached their moral, cultural, and racial superiority? I'll wait for the answer...

The truth of the matter is that everything you list (they fon't have jobs, they have more children, etc...) is not a religious issue, that just highlights a simple difference but a socioeconomic issue that encompasses much more and one that lacks to address the lack of education, cultural and religious discrimination, overpopulation, unemployment and courrption. To sit and divide people with phrases like us and they doesn't not build a more enclusive environment! A study conducted by the Agentura Ru found that Russians witness an increase in terrosit activities when there is an unwillingness to integrate and lack of dialogue between BOTH parties.

Please understand that I don't think one society is better than an other so I annoys me whenever Western societies harp on eastern societies for being "backward" "uneducated" without addressing the historical events that led to that. It's lazy and disrespectful to blame deep rooted socioeconomic inequality on just religion. Usually there is more to the story than meets the eyes.

Lalaay said...

Sorry for the missing words, grammar, etc...it's hard typing on phones!

Anonymous said...

@nightowl- YOU ROCK!!!

misspoppypants said...

@miss? Surely you are not talking to me. If so you are having a one sides conversation.

Barton Fink said...

Nightowl, I "threw out" Fox because some fool was typing crap straight from Fox onto a discussion board that is generally filled with people talking about other things more authentically. Fox is laughable and ridiculous. That's incontestable. If you want rightwingers to be identified by some other propaganda channel, start another propaganda channel and I'll use that name, thank you very much.

nightowl said...

Thanks Thomas!

Barton - so it is okay for the left to have outlets like MSNBC, but those on the right aren't allowed to have a channel that caters to their viewpoint? And don't tell me MSNBC is any more balanced than Fox. Chris Matthews thinks that it is racist for ANYONE to run against Obama. There is nothing balanced about that.

And again you fail to discuss substance, just talk about "propaganda". If everyone who identified as conservative or right leaning watched Fox News, they would have tens of millions of viewers for every show. They don't - they get about 3 million viewers for their top shows. And you know what? The conservative movement started long before there was any such thing as Fox News.

I don't see you calling out those who type crap straight from leftist sites. There are people on both sides of the aisle that are not intellectually curious enough to search out the facts and make decisions for themselves. Don't be such a damn hypocrite. You don't like right wingers? Fine, but they have just as much of a right to freedom of beliefs as you do.

All I hear from the left is how we have to stop bullying, then I come to CDAN and find people from the left who are all too happy to bully. And yes, some of you do bully those who disagree with your beliefs. We all have different backgrounds and beliefs. That's the wonderful thing about this country - we are free to hold those different beliefs.

I come to this site for entertainment. And when you all are talking about celebrity gossip you are hilarious. But when politics come up you are ready to slam anyone who might have a different belief system. It becomes a bully fest against anyone who doesn't lean left. Think about that one the next time someone you disagree with posts. Debate is wonderful, bullying isn't.

katsm0711 said...

After witnessing this conservative verses liberal debate where BOTH sides are spewing out half truths while both obviously are so passionate about doing the "right" thing that makes our country better, can you now see the same principle applied to the Christian verses Muslim debate? In all cases both sides want the world to prosper and both have manipulators that don't even have to spread lies to make themselves look better, but they spread lies making the other side look bad.

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