“The choice to use a Mac or to be Muslim in today’s world is not easily understood. In a world where the vast majority of computers are PC, where Islam is perceived as the enemy, why would someone choose to be a Mac user or a Muslim? Bias against both is rampant. Those who we rely on to educate us — the media — are themselves neither Muslim nor Mac users. Outright untruths are widely subscribed to. Muslims and Mac users are described as cult members, when, clearly, we are not. Both Islam and Macintosh are legitimate movements, with no spooky stuff in either of them. Obviously, the more than a billion people who follow Islam and the more than twenty-five million who use Macs cannot all be crazy,” Asma Gull Hasan writes for The San Francisco Chronicle.
Asma Gull Hasan writes, “At restaurants, when I place my order, I have to provide a blanket disclaimer: ‘Could you make sure my meal doesn’t have any pork products like bacon, sausage, bacon bits, lard, pepperoni, pancetta, or pork?’ ‘Oh, OK,’ the waiter will say. Is he annoyed, I ask myself? Are they wondering if I am Muslim? Should I say I’m allergic to calm him? I go through the same dilemma when looking at computer products. Should I tell the salesperson I need a Mac-compatible mouse? Will he laugh at me?”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews article:
I really wonder what some Windows users think about Macintosh – November 04, 2002
dumbest article ever
” Muslims and Mac users are described as cult members, when, clearly, we are not.”
Yes, you are. One dictionary definition of Cult: . A system of religious belief and worship. Perhaps they should start teaching Latin again…
I feel similarly about being vegetarian – people act like I’m from another planet.
Interesting perspective…. however, Mac users did not murder 3,000 men, women and children on one day – and consider it a God-given duty to do so… with 77 virgins waiting at the end of the slaughter.
So… here we are, two and a half years later… and I’m still waiting for one Muslim cleric to clearly, without equivication, declare that the September 11th actions were against Islam, and that the perpetrators are NOT martyrs… that they are burning in hell.
So… how about it, Muslims…. ? How about just ONE person declaring that the September 11th hijackers are NOT martyrs and that what they did was against Islam?
Hello?
Still waiting….
Hello?
Someone is writing an article about Macs being misunderstood in the media, and he’s talking about asking for a Mac-compatible mouse? I think he doesn’t quite understand them himself.
Muslims? Mac owners?
Where are the BMW owners? (Or Porsche Made in Finland?)
Another anal..lyst who does not know what is happening.
I know that with the Mac I can get (A) 380 virgins (every day) and re-incarnation to the top level (excellent karma).
If you do not believe check this out:
Microsoft is like George Bush. Paskaa I say.
glick . . .
would timothy mcveigh have to apologize for being raised christian? would any murderer have to apologize, or have someone from their faith, apologize for them?
i do not believe the cowards who attacked the US were religious in any way. i’m catholic, but from what i know, islam does not preach such violent acts.
in every religion, there will be fanatics who will misuse holy texts . . . ie, the KKK . . . don’t they feel like God is on their side? did anyone ever ask the german christian community to apologize for the millions killed in the holocaust?
to call on muslims to apologize is misguided.
i would like to think that as mac users, we are more intelligent than the masses, that we can see past superfical things . . .
i firmly believe that those fuckers who attacked us are burning in hell. as well they should be. but i’m not about to condemn a whole religion because of them.
I am truly embarrassed to be of the same species as Glick7. But, because he can’t do a simple internet search here’s a start…
* Organization of the Islamic Conference, Doha, Qatar. October 10th, 2001: (representing 56 Muslim nations) “These terrorist acts contradict the teaching of all religions and human and moral values.”
*”Terrorists are mass murderers, not martyrs”, states Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.
*”Bin Laden’s Violence is a heresy against Islam”, states Abdul Hakim Murad
*Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi denounced the attacks against civilians in the U.S.
*Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed al-Tantawi of Al-Azhar, the highest institution in Sunni Islam, warned that those who attack innocent people will be punished by Allah, in his weekly sermon to thousands of worshippers in Cairo. “Attacking innocent people is not courageous, it is stupid and will be punished on the Day of Judgment,” the moderate Sheikh Tantawi said at Al-Azhar mosque. “It’s not courageous to attack innocent children, women and civilians. It is courageous to protect freedom, it is courageous to defend oneself and not to attack,” he said.
* “Hijacking Planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood constitute a form of injustice that can not be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts.” Shaykh Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh (Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Senior Ulama, on September 15th, 2001)
*”It is wrong to kill innocent people. It is also wrong to Praise those who kill innocent people.” Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Pakistan. Cited in NY Times, Sept. 28, 2001.
*”What these people stand for is completely against all the principles that Arab Muslims believe in.” King Abdullah II, of Jordan; cited in Middle East Times, Sept. 28, 2001.
These, along with MANY MANY MORE, can be found at http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/response.htm along with their links and full text. This was just the FIRST of hundreds of hits from the search engine.
Glick7, GET A LIFE!! The psychos through the ages, much like yourself, have perverted the texts of all religions to meet and support their own twisted goals. As my friend was being beaten, the batterer was screaming “God wants all fags dead!” I am quite sure there is more crime done in this country by Christians than by any other group.
ditto, except for the “I am quite sure there is more crime done in this country by Christians than by any other group.” so-called christians would be bette,r i think.
Well said Bleekr,
The same misunderstanding of western civilization and christianity exists in the minds of those in the Muslin world as well.
Exposure to other people and their ideas, habits, religions and beliefs all goes towards dispelling religious and political bias.
What we are fighting is ignorance and brainwashing.
For example:
1: The hardcore Israeli’s “Zionists” as they are called, actually believe the land where Israel used to be 2000 years ago is still their land and entitled to them by God. So since they believe they have his blessing, they go ahead and kill, steal land etc., which is a violation of their own 10 commandments of Noah which they believe doesn’t apply to non-jews.
2: The Muslims who lived there for the last 2000 years with Christians and Jews in peace are denied their land and holy sites in which they believe. So their children are raised to believe killing Israeli’s is good and they will go to heaven in a blast of a suicide bomb.
3: Then the Christians are raised to believe that anyone who objects to the actions of Israel is a enemy of God. Because according to the bible they are “God’s chosen people”. Well anyone can call themselves that!
Everyone is getting snowballed. Jews, Christians and Muslins alike. By their beliefs in religion. When they should just tell their religious leaders to fuck off and begin to live in peace with one another.
Religion is nothing more than a cult with more members.
nononono guys, the true intention of this article is to redirect the misguided angry american views of muslims to mac users … “don’t blame islam, blame macdom”…. of course, we’re going to have to find a word like thr equivalent of “jihad” that they can misinterpret as something entirely different than its true meaning..
When they should just tell their religious leaders to fuck off and begin to live in peace with one another
that’s a little hard to do since the first 18-21 years of a persons life they are dependent for substance and security from their parents. they have to go along with them or risk going without.
the parents are subjected by the norms of the community they live in, if they isolate themselves they get cut-off by their own kind.
man is a herd animal, he works in groups and lives by them. he gives up rights to his independence and free thinking for the security of the group mentality and it’s rewards structure.
people who see this are either very smart or something about them excludes them from being in a group, they walk alone, make their own decisions and are financially well off to be able to think anyway they want.
consider yourself one of the lucky few
good story
When someone else in the perpetual discussion group called Americans racist and anti-Muslim, Hassanain objected. “American people are very easy to make friends with. They will accept you no matter where you come from,” he said. “Only the government policies are terrible.”
Glick7,
As others have pointed out, you’re so full of shit the whites of your eyes are brown. If you had done a simple search, as Aryugaetu did, you would have discovered for yourself that the vast majority of Muslims were horrified and disgusted by the September 11th cataclysm, and distance themselves from the criminals who purport to act for Islam. Is it fair to judge Christianity by the actions of Jim Jones at Jonestown, or David Koresh at Waco? If your answer is no, then you need to get your head out of your ass and SHUT THE FUCK UP, you narrow-minded, knuckle-dragging flatworm, because that’s exactly what you’re doing, prejudging a group about which you know nada. You wear your ignorance like armor and have the nerve to display it in all its sordid glory. Stick to talking about what you know, not what you think you know, which appears to be not much.
Zoon politikon is an old and obsolete theory! .. and by the way, don’t mix up your social theories.. The “social contract” is a completely different thought than zoon politikon, as the social contract, by the views of any of the great social philosophers who discussed it, is formed out of pure reason and logic (man gives up his individual rights to form a society in the intention of a greater good) which are completely absent in animal behavior. Man is either a herd animal or forms a social contract, he can not do both. If your analysis is correct, “Dr. Shrink,” mankind would be nothing more than a herd of animals that thought they had more of a society than they really do…
Well I am a Christian ( that’s why Matthew24 ) and a happy Mac user, as such I don’t want to be associated with the muslim religion. On 9/11 we have seen the true source of the muslim faith. To read more about islam here is a very good site from somebody who left the muslim faith and wants to warn the world for the true nature of Islam. To take away any prejudice, this is a secular site:
http://www.faithfreedom.org/
Re: GroundZero
1: The hardcore Israeli’s “Zionists” as they are called, actually believe the land where Israel used to be 2000 years ago is still their land and entitled to them by God.
A reasonable enough thing to think if one believes the Bible to be true.
So since they believe they have his blessing, they go ahead and kill, steal land etc., which is a violation of their own 10 commandments of Noah which they believe doesn’t apply to non-jews.
1. The 10 commandments were received by Moses, not Noah.
2. The commandment is to not murder, which is distinctly different from killing.
3. Taking back something that is rightfully yours is not “stealing.” So, from the perspective of who you’re talking about about, taking their own land back doesn’t constitute a breaking of their commandment to not steal.
2: The Muslims who lived there for the last 2000 years with Christians and Jews in peace are denied their land and holy sites in which they believe.
Uh. In peace? Wasn’t it the Muslims that did a hostile takeover of Israel, killing people, etc.? You know? The original reason why the Crusades were started. At that time, Muslims were spreading so quickly, they threatened to conquer the West. Convert or die was their motto. The Crusades ended somewhat unfortunately, but let’s not forget the original cause of it. The Muslims wouldn’t have holy sites in Israel if they hadn’t taken that land by force initially.
3: Then the Christians are raised to believe that anyone who objects to the actions of Israel is a enemy of God.
Uh. This may be taught in some odd, cult off-shoot of Christianity, but is largely untrue and is not a Christian doctrine (that anything Israel does is right). In fact, quite the opposite at times.
Religion is nothing more than a cult with more members.
Unless it’s true. Which is what both Islam and Christianity claim. Furthermore, Atheism is a religion of sorts as well. So, in a way, everyone is a member of a religion. Some people religiously believe that there is a God(s) and some religiously believe that there aren’t.
Anyhow. Simply writing off “religious” people as wackos is probably not a very good idea since some of the smartest people I know happen to be Christians and there are many very intelligent people who are Muslims as well. This became rather long… Sorry about that.
Rememeber the Crusades? read up on it.
Actually I read the Quran, and there are a few bad tibits, just the same garbage the bible has. All secular people are going to hell too, remember? The bible has slaying of non-believers as well. In fact the bible has more hateful speech than the Quran, but you don’t beleive it right?
Actually Matt your full of hate, your supposed to love your enemies.
This site FaithFreedom.org is nothing but a hate site run by those wishing to radicalize people like you. It may be run by radical Israeli’s, ever think of that?
It’s people like you Matt, that hate and fever over a few little lines in a book that most of Islam ignores, and your protectionist nature of Christianty is what going to make you commit a hateful act and bring your very worst fears to bear fruit.
You are being played on and turned into a radical Christian, perhaps you may even go around bombing abortion clinics, like some radical christians do?
Religion clouds the mind, hate clouds the mind, keep your morals, treat others how you would be treated. Love one another. Leave the religion and it’s brainwashing on the side of the road of life.
Don’t let anyone turn you radical for any reason, you’ll just end up dead or in prison.
If your analysis is correct, “Dr. Shrink,” mankind would be nothing more than a herd of animals that thought they had more of a society than they really do..
Sounds about right.
I get really tired of this “Mac Religion” slant the media constantly put on us. We choose a different computer platform, that’s all. Hardly worth sending in the Spanish Inquisition is it?
Bigotry plain and simple.
Joel:
Killing a certain person (eg that of a certain faith) for possesion of something (eg land) is murder – you have intent. Lets just get that straight.
In light of the 2000+ year old claims to land – any chance the native American tribes (or Australian tribes) can get their land back? Would it be ok for them to kill to get their land back? Be careful with blanket claims to justify actions – be prepared to suffer the logical consequences. If you now claim the native American tribes (or Australian tribes) don’t have rightful claim due to a technicality, then the same can be said about the territory disputes in the middle east (or anywhere else for that matter).
Actually atheism is not a religion, by definition it is the lack of a religious belief system. Agnostics believe in something, just not in organised religions. If you are trying to suggest that ANY belief constitutes a religion of sorts then can I start a religion based on my belief that green is the best colour (sorry color for the Americans)? Athiests do not congregate and espouse rules for their lack of faith in anything – they are not a religious movement.
The facts do remain. Religions of ALL persuasions are not bad. However, BAD people do evil things, and then use religion (quite wrongly) as a justification. The also rely on the fact that people of other faiths are inherently fearful and prejudiced of others. So not only do they terrorise us with violent acts, but they terrorise our faith and trust in other perfectly decent human beings.
well, i don’t even think september 11 was done by muslims. We all know that american media isn’t too ‘reliable’, but the main reason that i don’t belive that muslims did it is because i’ve done some research on the internet, and many building field experts said that the twin towers colaspe was imposible without a bomb explosion.
and also some suspicion :
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/fiveisraelis.html
After reading this site i PROMISE you that you will change your mind.
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/schoolvideo.html
Some people religiously believe that there is a God(s) and some religiously believe that there aren’t.
You forgot the third bunch, Agnostics, those smart enough to realize we all really don’t know for sure.
Asma, apparently fails to understand that civilized people could not care less about keeping halal or what computer one chooses to purchase. However, civilized people do not approve of murder, maiming, and mayhem perpetuated under the guise of religious obligation.
Comparing Mac users to those who practice, encourage, or acquiesce to terrorism is absolutely stupid. The fact is the vast majority of Moslems who do not actively participate in terrorism lack the moral courage to fight against it. Civilized people are not willing to support or engage cowards and hypocrites.