1 post tagged “population”

It's not surprising that some people believe almost everything they see on the Internet.  Some of us are innocently trusting, and some have never learned the art of picking apart an argument.  But sometimes it gets too much, and this is one of those occasions.  There is a particularly sensationalistic and alarmist video about Muslim population growth currently making the rounds on the 'net.  Although its message is easily debunked (see here and here) and even more easily recognized for prejudiced drivel, people keep recommending it to each other, and it has become remarkably popular on YouTube.

I think we owe it to ourselves to know better.  I think we are more enlightened than that.  I hope we're not a community of people who will blindly propagate this odious fare out of inertia.

But perhaps we're propagating it not out of inertia but out of belief.  Perhaps we are genuinely duped by those flimsy arguments and take up the holy cause of alerting our righteous and exalted tribe to the onslaught of the unclean hordes.  Some are honestly afraid of this imagined danger, grabbing onto any sorry graphics or article, no matter how amateurish.

To such people I have this to say: it is very important that you please sober up.  One of these days, you may end up in charge.  You may have responsibility beyond what you can currently imagine.  Once you have responsibility, you will discover that you cannot accomplish anything good, anything big, anything noble without tolerance and objectivity.  You may as well start practicing them now.  Do you honestly need to be reminded that history is littered with calamities caused by kooky despots leading their people to infamy?  And what does it tell you that the only difference between you and them is that you're not currently despots?