As noted in a comment to a post below, Google removed the Spencer video the same day the Daily D published a letter by Spencer, in which he responded to Muslim students at Dartmouth’s characterization of his speech.
In that article, the student “was impressed by Spencer’s knowledge of Islamic theology, [but] she questioned the accuracy of his comments concerning the Koran in regards to women. ‘[Spencer’s assertion] that the Koran says it is okay to beat women is incorrect and offensive,’ she said.” Spencer said no such thing, he acknowledged full well that many Muslims believe the Koran does not endorse spousal battery. Spencer effectively said that some translate the Koran as justifying beating your wife, while others do not. Each individual has to choose which one he believes is true: it is clear what the jihadists think, and although Spencer hinted that he thinks their’s is probably a more accurate translation, he never made his opinion explicit.
Bret Vallacher ’10, over at the Dartmouth Independent, has another write up of the event in question. He makes several valid points about Spencer’s speech, as well as some which seem to me a stretch.
In the end, I think this is a case a misguided expectations. People expected it to be controversial. When it turned out not to be they needed to twist it to fit into their pre-formed conception of what it was supposed to be. My advice is this; take it for what it was, and please, no more awareness weeks.
UPDATE: Courtesy of Power Line, here is the video:
Be the first to comment on "Forced Conformity to Expectations"