Assistant Village Idiot
2008-04-21 09:10:07
Your use of “in any way associate with an organization or person…” near the head of the article is an inaccurate understanding of the original essay. Also, “engagement” is a slippery term, almost infinitely elastic. I see the point you are trying to make, and it is not unreasonable at one level – a competition between ideas does necessitate that the good ideas actually get to the table. You take this general and rather obvious premise to claim that what you are doing must be an effective – or even the best – way of doing that. That does not follow.
I would love for terrorists to encounter western ideas, but I am now convinced you and your organization should not be the ones doing it, due to lack of clarity of thought.
