RR, Traj, I'll apologize for the term "delight". I stand by my assertions that Robertson and Falwell chose the worst possible moment to advance their beliefs. I know many people agree with them, but most of these people display enough tact to keep their mouths shut in a time of tragedy. Actually, the whole thing reminds me of the season finale of 6' Under... where a few people not only decry homosexuality... they picket the funeral procession of a homosexual kid murdered by bigots. One point I believe bears mentioning... perhaps you guys know more about these characters than I do. It's in this moment of media frenzy then that certain things in or out of context take on different meanings. For example, Falwell and Robertson's words were obviously unpatriotic, but I don't know or respect either of these guys. I wonder if there are other things in the media that we take out of context... and only further the pain during this moment of crisis (sorry if I am overstating this a few weeks after the tragedy, I didn't deal w/ the magnitude of this when everyone else did).
again salman rushdie did something which in an islamic state would be punishable by death according to almost all the scholars of islam. we can't sugar coat it...no one else can sugar coat it...cat stevens didn't sugar coat it. however that is a death sentence that would only be carried out given he is in an islamic state. iran for example could not (islamically) send troops to england to kill him. that is one thing Israel has done time and time again to political opponents of its.