To Sign or Nor To Sign - It"s Tempting to use a Disguise when there"s the Threat of Violence
To Sign or Not to Sign - that is the question.
You know the outcome - I have chosen to sign my name.
But when I first started to write about the rage of the "righteous" and did not stay with safe topics, like Nazi rage or KKK rage or rigid Christian fundamentalism (no danger in signing if one writes about these things), a colleague warned me, don't do it, don't use your own name.
Watch out if you dare to write about the rage of "righteous" Muslims.
You can whisper about it.
You can write under some other name.
My partner also thought it would be wiser if I didn't sign my name.
At first I went along, drew a covered woman, signed as ThisIsNotMe.
It didn't feel right - I am open about my other writing.
So why not this? I hate someone using the threat of violence to try to silence me.
"Don't dare speak - and better yet, don't dare think outside the box of thoughts we allow you.
" But it can be scary standing up to bullies.
**** I think of Luther excommunicated, Joan of Arc burned, Copernicus and Galileo silenced.
But Luther did very well for himself - started his own brand of Christianity.
Copernicus and Galileo have been vindicated, and are known when those who tried to silence them have been forgotten.
I'm happy to have my ideas challenged.
Good ideas and more good ideas.
Ever more fertile, creative thinking.
I don't like threats.
Eventually that was the deciding factor.
I believe we need to be able to discuss.
Also, I thought - wow, what massive terrorization, if even here in Canada where I am writing and where we have freedom of speech, all people (because of fear of Muslim retaliation) are supposed to be too afraid to talk about an important aspect of the Muslim religion as it is now practiced.
It is an aspect that calls for Muslims to do violence.
Muslims have not vehemently protested against this aspect of the Muslim religion, though they protested in huge outrage against a Danish cartoon that links the Muslim prophet with violence.
And from there I will go to the beginning of my wondering about using or not using my own name on a piece that may not be popular with some Muslims.
It all started when I was sitting down to write "The Rage of the'Righteous,'" which focuses on an instance of excessive, disproportionate Muslim rage.
**** February 10, 2006: Why not sign with my name, you may ask? First and foremost, what is important here is the idea, not the name.
Second, people ready to hold an entire nation responsible for a cartoon done by one citizen - those are not people to be trusted to respond reasonably.
They are not safe.
They have slaughtered other Muslims and put a price on the cartoonist's head.
They have murdered aid workers.
Such people are dangerous.
Let those people rage at these ideas.
Maybe some will actually hear the ideas.
That would be a major accomplishment.
In general, maybe many people will hear these ideas.
Ideas are powerful, for good and ill.
Maybe these healthy ideas will help break through the ideas of those who have turned part of the Muslim religion into a ticking time bomb.
signed, ThisIsNotMe, February 10 , 2006 **** February 25, 2006: Probably later this will be signed by Me, rather than ThisIsNotMe.
For now, I am signing as ThisIsNotMe for two reasons.
First, it's been suggested that that is safer.
I like safety.
Second, I am protesting.
By signing as ThisIsNotMe, I am highlighting - and protesting - the danger people have to run to speak out against Muslim fundamentalism.
Worldwide, Muslims protested the publication of Danish cartoons they deemed offensive.
Some removed all Danish products from the shelves of stores.
Some burned an embassy.
In country after country, Muslims were interviewed on television, denouncing the cartoons.
They knew they were taking no risks.
They knew they were in no danger of being murdered if they spoke out.
None even spoke of being afraid of being fired.
Well, two of the Danish cartoonists have a price on their head.
Any Muslim who protested the cartoons should think about that, and should realize that it is time they speak out about something much more important than the cartoons.
They should speak out about the violence encouraged by aspects of the Muslim religion.
Second, I am protesting.
By signing as ThisIsNotMe, I am highlighting - and protesting - the danger people have to run to speak out against Muslim fundamentalism.
Worldwide, Muslims protested the publication of Danish cartoons they deemed offensive.
Some removed all Danish products from the shelves of stores.
Some burned an embassy.
In country after country, Muslims were interviewed on television, denouncing the cartoons.
They knew they were taking no risks.
They knew they were in no danger of being murdered if they spoke out.
None even spoke of being afraid of being fired.
Well, two of the Danish cartoonists have a price on their head.
Any Muslim who protested the cartoons should think about that, and should realize that it is time they speak out about something much more important than the cartoons.
They should speak out about the violence encouraged by aspects of the Muslim religion.
signed, ThisIsNotMe, February 25 , 2006 **** August 24, 2006 You may note that I am not signing ThisIsNotMe I am used to signing my own name.
I recognize this can be dangerous.
The Nazis hunted people down.
Stalin hunted people down.
The world over, people have been hunted down for saying something someone else did not want to hear.
Sometimes the things are expressly forbidden - like Copernicus and Galileo were not allowed to mention that the sun did not revolve around the earth, but that instead the earth revolved around the sun.
Sometimes one does not know exactly what will arouse the rage, and when the rage will pass by, like a thunderstorm that lets go elsewhere and one can hear booms of thunder in the distance.
Most of all, I am signing my name because the rage at speech is unbelievable to me.
I am used to people sometimes agreeing with me and sometime disagreeing with me.
I may find the disagreement frustrating, especially when I see that the people disagreeing are not willing to think well - but I want to reach the people, not destroy them.
It boggles my mind that there are people who want, not to reach, but to destroy.
To reach another person - one has touched them, and one has often also listened to them.
But many people would rather destroy.
They fear, some may say, that listening is so dangerous that one must destroy.
I see that some ideas arouse the wall of rage around them - as people who wanted equality between blacks and whites aroused the wall of rage around millions of prejudiced whites.
One instance stands out in my mind: a ten-year-old black girl, when the local white school was racially integrated, need a wall of National Guardsmen to protect her from the rage of hundreds of whites turned out to yell obscenities at her and generally threaten her - one more example of the rage of the so-called righteous.
signed, Elsa, August 24 , 2006 **** August 28, 2006 (final thoughts) To be or not to be, that is the question - or at least that's what Shakespeare said.
Another question is: to be or not to be known.
There was a time when women writers often hid behind a man's name - because it was thought men were better writers.
At other times people hide because they don't want attention.
Film star Greta Garbo is now perhaps best known for her phrase, repeated for decades, "I vant to be alone.
" That isn't why I thought of writing as ThisIsNotMe.
Sometimes one takes a chance by speaking out.
One may be made fun of.
People may say nasty things.
I don't care about that.
But sometimes there are people who believe that others have no right to say what they don't want to hear.
Hitler is famous as a book burner - in addition to the other atrocities he committed.
All around the world, many countries use censorship to ban the publication of whatever the leaders don't want known or disagree with.
Some people go further than censorship.
For example, they put a price on the life of a Danish cartoonist.
In other words, no one, anywhere is the world, is to say anything they don't want said.
OR ELSE.
The message is clear.
The rage of the "righteous" is potentially quite dangerous, backed by the threat and sometimes reality of violence.
**** Nowadays there is little danger if one stays anonymous.
Anyone can post anything on the web, for instance, and with a little care, stay untraceable.
In other words, it is not currently possible to silence anonymous opposition.
But one can make others fear visibility.
When I came to write The Rage of the Righteous, a colleague liked what I had written, but warned me - don't let anyone know this is from you.
At first I went along.
I signed it, ThisIsNotMe.
When I passed the article to students, I did let them know I had written it - but that is a far cry from quite possibly reaching a wide public.
**** I have more than one hope.
Hope One.
That people - including a huge number of Muslims - both recognize the truth of what I am saying, and move against those who use the Muslim religion to justify violence, murder, slaughter.
Hope Two (which links with the first hope).
That I become one of masses of people with the same message.
I think of the image at the end of V For Vendetta, a currently popular film, - thousands of people wearing the same mask, the mask that V has worn all along, so that V cannot be distinguished from all the others.
If V had stood alone, he could have been destroyed.
But he is not alone.
So one thing I would like is that you add your signature to a simple declaration against the use of violence in the name of religion - right now, specifically against the Muslim use of violence (suicide bombers, death squads, etc) in the name of the Muslim religion, against the use of their prophet to incite Muslims to do violence, against their claims that their god will reward Muslims dying while committing such violence with seven virgins.
I want you to dare to add your name and a valid email address to this petition.
I don't know what good this may do, or if it will do any good.
But silence does not do good.
Here is the text of the petition.
It is very short and simple.
I am against the use of any religion to justify violence.
Right now, I am specifically against the Muslim use of the Muslim religion to justify violence and murder.
I am against the use of the name of the Muslim prophet to incite Muslims to do violence, against Muslim claims that their god will reward Muslims dying while committing such violence.
I call upon all people, and particularly all Muslims, to speak out against this.
This is an abuse of the Muslim religion.
I say, it must stop.
To add your name and email address to the petition, here is the address: http://www.
elsas-word-story-image-idea-music-emporium.
com/the-idea-emporium-me-not-me-sign.
html You are also welcome to add your own opinions, to add to the discussion.
Note: the names and email addresses will NOT be posted on the web.
Before using them in any way, I will recontact you to confirm that you are comfortable with my using them.
Right now, I want to see how many of the people who read this are willing to sign, want to be among those speaking out against Muslim violence in the name of the Muslim religion.
signed, Elsa, August 28, 2006 ****
You know the outcome - I have chosen to sign my name.
But when I first started to write about the rage of the "righteous" and did not stay with safe topics, like Nazi rage or KKK rage or rigid Christian fundamentalism (no danger in signing if one writes about these things), a colleague warned me, don't do it, don't use your own name.
Watch out if you dare to write about the rage of "righteous" Muslims.
You can whisper about it.
You can write under some other name.
My partner also thought it would be wiser if I didn't sign my name.
At first I went along, drew a covered woman, signed as ThisIsNotMe.
It didn't feel right - I am open about my other writing.
So why not this? I hate someone using the threat of violence to try to silence me.
"Don't dare speak - and better yet, don't dare think outside the box of thoughts we allow you.
" But it can be scary standing up to bullies.
**** I think of Luther excommunicated, Joan of Arc burned, Copernicus and Galileo silenced.
But Luther did very well for himself - started his own brand of Christianity.
Copernicus and Galileo have been vindicated, and are known when those who tried to silence them have been forgotten.
I'm happy to have my ideas challenged.
Good ideas and more good ideas.
Ever more fertile, creative thinking.
I don't like threats.
Eventually that was the deciding factor.
I believe we need to be able to discuss.
Also, I thought - wow, what massive terrorization, if even here in Canada where I am writing and where we have freedom of speech, all people (because of fear of Muslim retaliation) are supposed to be too afraid to talk about an important aspect of the Muslim religion as it is now practiced.
It is an aspect that calls for Muslims to do violence.
Muslims have not vehemently protested against this aspect of the Muslim religion, though they protested in huge outrage against a Danish cartoon that links the Muslim prophet with violence.
And from there I will go to the beginning of my wondering about using or not using my own name on a piece that may not be popular with some Muslims.
It all started when I was sitting down to write "The Rage of the'Righteous,'" which focuses on an instance of excessive, disproportionate Muslim rage.
**** February 10, 2006: Why not sign with my name, you may ask? First and foremost, what is important here is the idea, not the name.
Second, people ready to hold an entire nation responsible for a cartoon done by one citizen - those are not people to be trusted to respond reasonably.
They are not safe.
They have slaughtered other Muslims and put a price on the cartoonist's head.
They have murdered aid workers.
Such people are dangerous.
Let those people rage at these ideas.
Maybe some will actually hear the ideas.
That would be a major accomplishment.
In general, maybe many people will hear these ideas.
Ideas are powerful, for good and ill.
Maybe these healthy ideas will help break through the ideas of those who have turned part of the Muslim religion into a ticking time bomb.
signed, ThisIsNotMe, February 10 , 2006 **** February 25, 2006: Probably later this will be signed by Me, rather than ThisIsNotMe.
For now, I am signing as ThisIsNotMe for two reasons.
First, it's been suggested that that is safer.
I like safety.
Second, I am protesting.
By signing as ThisIsNotMe, I am highlighting - and protesting - the danger people have to run to speak out against Muslim fundamentalism.
Worldwide, Muslims protested the publication of Danish cartoons they deemed offensive.
Some removed all Danish products from the shelves of stores.
Some burned an embassy.
In country after country, Muslims were interviewed on television, denouncing the cartoons.
They knew they were taking no risks.
They knew they were in no danger of being murdered if they spoke out.
None even spoke of being afraid of being fired.
Well, two of the Danish cartoonists have a price on their head.
Any Muslim who protested the cartoons should think about that, and should realize that it is time they speak out about something much more important than the cartoons.
They should speak out about the violence encouraged by aspects of the Muslim religion.
Second, I am protesting.
By signing as ThisIsNotMe, I am highlighting - and protesting - the danger people have to run to speak out against Muslim fundamentalism.
Worldwide, Muslims protested the publication of Danish cartoons they deemed offensive.
Some removed all Danish products from the shelves of stores.
Some burned an embassy.
In country after country, Muslims were interviewed on television, denouncing the cartoons.
They knew they were taking no risks.
They knew they were in no danger of being murdered if they spoke out.
None even spoke of being afraid of being fired.
Well, two of the Danish cartoonists have a price on their head.
Any Muslim who protested the cartoons should think about that, and should realize that it is time they speak out about something much more important than the cartoons.
They should speak out about the violence encouraged by aspects of the Muslim religion.
signed, ThisIsNotMe, February 25 , 2006 **** August 24, 2006 You may note that I am not signing ThisIsNotMe I am used to signing my own name.
I recognize this can be dangerous.
The Nazis hunted people down.
Stalin hunted people down.
The world over, people have been hunted down for saying something someone else did not want to hear.
Sometimes the things are expressly forbidden - like Copernicus and Galileo were not allowed to mention that the sun did not revolve around the earth, but that instead the earth revolved around the sun.
Sometimes one does not know exactly what will arouse the rage, and when the rage will pass by, like a thunderstorm that lets go elsewhere and one can hear booms of thunder in the distance.
Most of all, I am signing my name because the rage at speech is unbelievable to me.
I am used to people sometimes agreeing with me and sometime disagreeing with me.
I may find the disagreement frustrating, especially when I see that the people disagreeing are not willing to think well - but I want to reach the people, not destroy them.
It boggles my mind that there are people who want, not to reach, but to destroy.
To reach another person - one has touched them, and one has often also listened to them.
But many people would rather destroy.
They fear, some may say, that listening is so dangerous that one must destroy.
I see that some ideas arouse the wall of rage around them - as people who wanted equality between blacks and whites aroused the wall of rage around millions of prejudiced whites.
One instance stands out in my mind: a ten-year-old black girl, when the local white school was racially integrated, need a wall of National Guardsmen to protect her from the rage of hundreds of whites turned out to yell obscenities at her and generally threaten her - one more example of the rage of the so-called righteous.
signed, Elsa, August 24 , 2006 **** August 28, 2006 (final thoughts) To be or not to be, that is the question - or at least that's what Shakespeare said.
Another question is: to be or not to be known.
There was a time when women writers often hid behind a man's name - because it was thought men were better writers.
At other times people hide because they don't want attention.
Film star Greta Garbo is now perhaps best known for her phrase, repeated for decades, "I vant to be alone.
" That isn't why I thought of writing as ThisIsNotMe.
Sometimes one takes a chance by speaking out.
One may be made fun of.
People may say nasty things.
I don't care about that.
But sometimes there are people who believe that others have no right to say what they don't want to hear.
Hitler is famous as a book burner - in addition to the other atrocities he committed.
All around the world, many countries use censorship to ban the publication of whatever the leaders don't want known or disagree with.
Some people go further than censorship.
For example, they put a price on the life of a Danish cartoonist.
In other words, no one, anywhere is the world, is to say anything they don't want said.
OR ELSE.
The message is clear.
The rage of the "righteous" is potentially quite dangerous, backed by the threat and sometimes reality of violence.
**** Nowadays there is little danger if one stays anonymous.
Anyone can post anything on the web, for instance, and with a little care, stay untraceable.
In other words, it is not currently possible to silence anonymous opposition.
But one can make others fear visibility.
When I came to write The Rage of the Righteous, a colleague liked what I had written, but warned me - don't let anyone know this is from you.
At first I went along.
I signed it, ThisIsNotMe.
When I passed the article to students, I did let them know I had written it - but that is a far cry from quite possibly reaching a wide public.
**** I have more than one hope.
Hope One.
That people - including a huge number of Muslims - both recognize the truth of what I am saying, and move against those who use the Muslim religion to justify violence, murder, slaughter.
Hope Two (which links with the first hope).
That I become one of masses of people with the same message.
I think of the image at the end of V For Vendetta, a currently popular film, - thousands of people wearing the same mask, the mask that V has worn all along, so that V cannot be distinguished from all the others.
If V had stood alone, he could have been destroyed.
But he is not alone.
So one thing I would like is that you add your signature to a simple declaration against the use of violence in the name of religion - right now, specifically against the Muslim use of violence (suicide bombers, death squads, etc) in the name of the Muslim religion, against the use of their prophet to incite Muslims to do violence, against their claims that their god will reward Muslims dying while committing such violence with seven virgins.
I want you to dare to add your name and a valid email address to this petition.
I don't know what good this may do, or if it will do any good.
But silence does not do good.
Here is the text of the petition.
It is very short and simple.
I am against the use of any religion to justify violence.
Right now, I am specifically against the Muslim use of the Muslim religion to justify violence and murder.
I am against the use of the name of the Muslim prophet to incite Muslims to do violence, against Muslim claims that their god will reward Muslims dying while committing such violence.
I call upon all people, and particularly all Muslims, to speak out against this.
This is an abuse of the Muslim religion.
I say, it must stop.
To add your name and email address to the petition, here is the address: http://www.
elsas-word-story-image-idea-music-emporium.
com/the-idea-emporium-me-not-me-sign.
html You are also welcome to add your own opinions, to add to the discussion.
Note: the names and email addresses will NOT be posted on the web.
Before using them in any way, I will recontact you to confirm that you are comfortable with my using them.
Right now, I want to see how many of the people who read this are willing to sign, want to be among those speaking out against Muslim violence in the name of the Muslim religion.
signed, Elsa, August 28, 2006 ****
