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Rage Boy Is Actually A Nice Boy

MONDAY NOVEMBER 12 2007 9:00 AM

Submitted by FearTheReaper. Edited By erin_broadley.

I don�t know if you�ve ever heard of Rage Boy, but you should have. He is very popular and has become the poster boy for radical Islam after having been photographed at many demonstrations. Over the years, Rage Boy has been photographed at protests against Salman Rushdie, the Kashmir government, Pope Benedict XVI, Danish anti-Muslim cartoons, Kashmir state elections and to stop the execution of a Muslim man. He always has the same crazy, bursting with anger look on his face and it makes for one hell of a photo.

Conservatives have jumped on Rage Boy as an example of what we are up against. It�s the face of crazy, belligerent rage! Eternal idiot Christopher Hitchens explained.

It's impossible to satisfy "Rage Boy" and his ilk. It's stupid to try.

The amazingly retarded Michelle Malkin jumped on board the Rage Boy train and used his picture for her policital message. They love him over at Jihad Watch. (What idiot goes to a sight called "Jihad Watch?") Rage Boy became the visual for everything they hate and fear about Muslims.

And now you can buy Rage Boy T-shirts, mugs, clocks, shorts and bumper stickers. He�s the perfect symbol of everything those Islamofascists are and what we should fear. The comments on the right wing message boards show the lemmings eat it up.

On June 29th, 2007 at 1:58 pm, Kendrick said:

When I wonder what kind of person could murder a humanitarian like Gandhi, this face clears that all up.

I�m sure it does. Too bad Rage Boy�s real story doesn�t match the right wing created monster.

A reporter for the Daily Mail went to the city of Srinagar in Kashmir and found Rage Boy, whose name is Shakeel Ahmad Bhat. Bhat has not had the best life in the world. He was raised in a religious family who followed a tolerant form of Islam called Sufi. His father taught him to spread Islam by peaceful means.

He dropped out of school at 10. When he was 13, Indian soldiers broke into his home looking for militants and threw his 18-year-old sister out a window. She died four years later from her injuries, which included a broken spine. Bhat decided to join the rebels fighting India.

He went to a training camp and fought, but never killed anyone. He even tried to talk his fellow militants out of killing people, which is bad if your profession is killing people.

I thought I would set an example. Forgiveness is better than killing.

At 16, he was arrested and tortured. Ever since, he has been unable to lift anything with his right arm, which means he relies on his family to survive. Today he is 29, not married, unemployed and does not know how to read or write, but he does love a good protest.

If something upsets him, he organizes a demonstration.

He has demonstrated against the Pope's comments about Islam, against the sexual exploitation of Kashmiri girls, against police violence and 'encounter' killings and against the honoring of Rushdie.

Dude loves to get a bunch of people together and shout, who the fuck doesn't? He didn�t think Rushdie should be knighted because he is a �Muslim basher,� big deal. Sounds like something Christians here in America would say -- after their �War on Christmas� ends. He hates to hear about terrorist attacks.

Then I asked if he had heard about the 7/7 bombings in London. "I heard that an Underground train was bombed. It pains me when innocents are killed. It pains me."

After his face became the poster boy for the right wing, he began apprearing appearing on T-shirts and mugs, the local cops asked him to stop going to demonstrations. That is pretty harsh. What the fuck else is Rage Boy supposed to do? Did I mention he doesn�t have a job, a wife, or know how to read or write? And now you want him to stop screaming in the street? Fuck off.

Although, one officer did offer Bhat a government job with a wife tossed in and he turned it down. (Now I�m worried about him.)

I want to marry a non-Muslim woman and convert her to Islam. I have been told that if I can convince a non-Muslim woman to marry me � but not convert her by force � then there will be a place for me in heaven.

Bhat is aware of his fame because friends have shown him the pictures, many of which have been photoshopped in some not so flattering ways. And it kind of bums him out.

I surely get hurt when I see these pictures. This is terrorism for me. The people who do this are showing their own culture, so why do they tell us that we are uncivilized?

See, now I want to hug Rage Boy. This dude is just uneducated, poverty stricken and handicapped. I guess the right wing will have to find another poster boy for Islamic rage. Or, maybe they won't.

It's the standard lengthy exploration of the life and times of Rage Boy, parts of which are surely true, and some of which is likely fabrication. The basic idea is the same: He is the poor, noble Muslim who is parading against the evil and decadent West.

Right, you totally got the gist of it, you right wing asshole. A reporter went to a dangerous place and actually did his job and you call him a liar. At the same time you totally miss the point of the article: He�s just a fucking human being who has had a shit life and is a threat to nobody. He is a political activist who actually goes out and starts protests against shit that pisses him off, like police brutality and people talking shit about his religion. And because he takes a great action photo, he has become the symbol of something he is not. I kinda like Rage Boy, myself, and I'd like to extend an invitation to Thanksgiving.

55 Comments

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ardour

Ottawa, ON

March 2006

NOV 12, 2007 02:01 PM

herbancowboy said:

wink84 said:
Take that story and apply it to an American and you have a hero.

Not really. Anybody who dares to passionately express an opinion which falls outside the mainstream is mocked as a lunatic in this country. Never mind that we have a rich tradition of civil disobedience dating back at least to the Boston Tea Party (which would be smeared as "property damage" these days).

Anybody heard of the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 yet? Take that story and apply it to an American and you have a dangerous radical, a domestic terrorist.

I was thinking along the same lines. We have "professional protesters" like this guy in the west as well. They tend to be mentally ill, poor, disabled, homeless... etc. They are often used as examples by the right or the left to paint the other side as total radicals. Even before I knew rage boy's story I just figured he was a guy who likes to go to protests because he had nothing else to do.

Very good example of miscommunication. People see protesters like this one on TV and think everyone "over there" is like that. Works both ways.

Jennifer_

Venezuela

November 2006

NOV 12, 2007 03:00 PM

Chriztian said:

Chainlink
It's his dad I'm really worried about. Arse kicking your children is very un-Sufi.

Maybe, but your kid going to a terrorist training camp to become what you've been stereotyped as is enough to bend anyone outside of their morals, I'd think.

Exactly.

His dad was a complete and utter douchebag, in so many ways. But that was one of the few good things he did.

And yes, arse-kicking is very un-Sufi. So is learning how to fire a Kalashnikov. And yet, some of them still do it. It may make little sense when you look at their religion, but neither do Christians that support the death penalty, despite the fact the Bible is incredibly clear about 'thou shalt not kill'.

Assuming that all Sufi muslims are peaceful is like assuming that all followers of the Qu'ran hate the Jews, because of passages such as Surah IV, v. 160, 161:
"Because of the wrongdoing of the Jews.... And of their taking usury ... and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretenses. We have prepared for those of them who disbelieve a painful doom."

Or you might think that a follower of this religion would be unlikely to buy christmas presents for an agnostic lass:
[Surah IV, v. 56:]
"Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment."

But you'd be wrong. You just can't say that 'peaceful religion = peaceful person' and 'violent religion = violent person'.

herbancowboy said:

wink84 said:
Take that story and apply it to an American and you have a hero.

Its funny 'cause its true.

smithers_jones

Los Angeles, CA

November 2003

NOV 12, 2007 03:58 PM

When journalists actually do their job the results can sometimes be neat.

One can almost view this story as a microcosm of how racist and ignorant assumptions have utterly cloud the right wing's view of reality to produce utterly asinine and counterproductive policies in the Middle East.

Jennifer_

Venezuela

November 2006

NOV 12, 2007 04:33 PM

smithers_jones said:
When journalists actually do their job the results can sometimes be neat.

I'm utterly shocked it was the Daily Mail that had a piece of journalism where the core message wasn't 'fuck everyone who isn't English'.

Seriously, the Daily fucking Mail reporting this. It's like being in an alternate universe.

xazapdmytinu

Fort Collins, CO

July 2007

NOV 12, 2007 04:51 PM

King_Mob said:
I know I'm not helping matters here, but common this is kinda funny.

Rage Boy should marry and convert Mosh Girl!

Okay, but seriously...it is sick how uninformed the right wing can be. I mean, yeah, the left wing is uninformed too, but their ignorance is a pathetic kind of basement ignorance. The Right wing has this dangerous wide range ignorance that seems to reach a lot of people.

Jennifer_

Venezuela

November 2006

NOV 12, 2007 05:21 PM

King_Mob said:
I know I'm not helping matters here, but common this is kinda funny.

+20 for the lolz

Although, it's amazing how incredibly surprised he looks in every photo taken of him. He doesn't look angry so much as completely shocked that the unbelievers haven't already been sent to the fires of hell.

This is the only photo where looks fairly laid-back, but that could be because of the lack of ultra-zoom.

DannyDMc

Fargo, ND

July 2003

NOV 12, 2007 06:20 PM

emotedcreations said:
Vote Rage Boy '08!

Also, it hasn't really been mentioned (I don't think), but Sufism is pretty much the mystical arm of Islam. They're the one's that do the whirling dervish dance to get in contact with the universe. They be cool if you ask me.

Ah, you mentioned it before I got a chance to

Yup, the Sufis are the mystics of Islam; many of the greatest arabic poets come of that school, and the Sufi's have been oppressed by their islamic brethen over the years as well (Orthodox religions very rarely get along well with Mystics).
I've actually got a good deal of respect for the Sufis of the world.

fountainofdreams

Mokena, IL

January 2005

NOV 12, 2007 07:15 PM

Jennifer_ said:

King_Mob said:
I know I'm not helping matters here, but common this is kinda funny.

Hmm. Maybe it's the ultra-zoom itself.

Normal:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Ultra-zoom:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Chainlink

Dickeyville, WI

August 2005

NOV 12, 2007 07:57 PM

fountainofdreams said:

Jennifer_ said:

King_Mob said:
I know I'm not helping matters here, but common this is kinda funny.

Hmm. Maybe it's the ultra-zoom itself.

Normal:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Ultra-zoom:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Win !

Tinyhobo

Boulder City, NV

December 2006

NOV 12, 2007 07:59 PM

fountainofdreams said:

Jennifer_ said:

King_Mob said:
I know I'm not helping matters here, but common this is kinda funny.

Hmm. Maybe it's the ultra-zoom itself.

Normal:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Ultra-zoom:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

You sir, make a very convincing point.

herbancowboy

San Francisco, CA

June 2004

NOV 12, 2007 08:40 PM

ardour said:

herbancowboy said:

wink84 said:
Take that story and apply it to an American and you have a hero.

I'm not sure those are the same lines that I was thinking along. From what I gather, I think I'd be one of those "mentally ill, poor" radicals in your estimation. I live by this song:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

ardour

Ottawa, ON

March 2006

NOV 12, 2007 11:03 PM

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

You're probably not.

I'm talking about the old lady who dresses up like a clown, and takes her shopping cart up and down the street telling everyone how Bill Gates is trying to read her mind. She also shows up at every protest though, because she thinks everyone is out to get her, especially those in power.

I don't mean to say that every protester is a crazy, or everyone who protests a lot or is crazy. Just that protests sure do attract the crazy rather well.

Taken out of context it can be made to paint a bad picture.

I mean, it's a popular event for right wing bloggers to go to a liberal protest gathering take pictures of all the "crazy" signs and then make some alarming reaction of "OMG TEH FONDING FAHTERS DIDNT MEEN 4 THIS @ HAPPNE!! TEHY HATE AMERICA!!!".

Which is why I agree that he wouldn't be considered a "hero" here. But maybe aside from that, we are thinking different things.

Tallboy66

USA

January 2005

NOV 12, 2007 11:19 PM

I'd like to see the pictures of me circulating. Alot are very unflattering I'm sure.

But he just seems like a guy who wants to know why we still insist on killing each other because we're all different.