Pseudobabble wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:33 am
lostitude wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:40 pm
It is pointless to accuse any community of embracing their historical heritage when their perception of said heritage doen't match your own. And it doen't matter which one is more accurate: the only one that matters is theirs, not yours.
Really?
You completely misunderstood me, I'm sorry if I was not clear.
So actual white racists in the American South - their perception of their heritage is the only one that matters?
It is the one that dictates their worldview, so if you want to criticize their attitude, it is their interpretation of their heritage that you should consider and analyze. Not other people's perception of this very same heritage.
Actual German neo-Nazis - their perception of their heritage is the only one that matters?
Yes, because they look at the same facts as you in order to come up with Aryan supremacy theories. The problem doesn't lie with the facts, but with the interpretation that's made of them.
It's pretty clear that all parties involved have a stake in the perception of heritage.
This is beside the point. I hope my point is clearer now. Of course perceptions may be influenced, but they cannot be disregarded 'because the facts say otherwise'. If some Islamic texts say that Muhammad did X, Y and Z, but Muslims don't believe he did for any number of reasons, then for all intents and purposes XYZ did not happen, since those Muslims are not going to integrate those facts into their worldview. This is why a non-Muslims interpretation of the islamic texts is completely irrelevant when critcizing the actions of Muslims,since their actions are determined by THEIR worldview, not yours.
This idea that the only opinion/perception/idea which matters is that which some faction has of itself is nonsense - there is nothing illogical per se about criticising the perceptions of others.
I fully agree with that. I never said you should not criticize people's perceptions. What I said is precisely that in order to criticize their perceptions, you need to understand them, instead of applying your own perceptions to them and assuming that they understand their religious texts exactly the same way that you do.