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Stupid old fart
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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Edited Feb 11, 2008, 14:50
Re: Stupid old fart
Feb 11, 2008, 14:41
shanshee_allures wrote:
If someone can tell me what he said other than a heap of buzz-phraseology, then I take it all back.

Well, I've posted a link to the actual speech.

It concerns me that people are willing to judge his position based upon a few decontextualised media snippets ("what has he said other than a few phrases"). I've said before, he's too thoughtful and subtle a man to come across well in soundbites. Anyone who has ever seen Chomsky's position elucidated in media soundbite would also consider him woolly and unclear. This is why he no longer does short interviews.

Williams doesn't have that luxury, as his official position means he is obliged to be available to the media.

But the intellectual debate you called for ("bring it on") cannot occur in a few short media appearances, and to judge the man's position without first actually reading it is profoundly unfair in my view (I mean, that Radio 4 interview makes several references to his lecture... I'm surprised anyone could have listened to it without realising that it was merely an interview "about his position" and not an elucidation "of it").

EDIT: Even the link you provided way back at the start of this thread includes the lines:
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it was grateful for the archbishop's "thoughtful intervention". The organisation added that it was saddened by the "hysterical misrepresentations" of his speech, which would only "drive a wedge between British people".

How can anyone who genuinely seeks a fair and balanced debate of the subject, not follow that up and examine the speech itself rather than rely upon the "hysterical misrepresentations" that appeared in the media?

EDIT 2: In fact, the BBC article you initially linked to has a direct link to the PDF of his speech! How can you possibly describe his position as "a few phrases" and then simply ignore the opportunity (assuming you read the article you asked others to read) to find out more?
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