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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Professor Mia M. Bloom boasts that Robert Spencer would lose debate, then refuses to debate

Oct 9, 2014 12:15 pm By Robert Spencer

MiaBloomI had never heard of Mia M. Bloom until yesterday. It turns out that she is a Professor of Security Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and the author of Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror; Living Together After Ethnic Killing; and Bombshell: Women and Terror. I don’t know her work, but from her careful avoidance here of identifying as predominantly Islamic the cultures in which “women will be killed by a family member for bringing shame to the family,” it is likely that she is just another academic of the type that American universities today hire by the pound: intent on downplaying and denying the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat and abjectly incapable of defending her views in a free and open debate.

Anyway, I had an unpleasant encounter with Professor Bloom yesterday, getting a noxious dose of her arrogance, ignorance, and utterly unwarranted hostility, when Jihad Watch reader Ken forwarded me part of an email exchange he was having with her. Here are salient excerpts — all grammar, spelling and punctuation as in the originals:

1. Ken to Mia Bloom:

Thank you so much for your prompt and intelligent email. I have a son at UCLA and I imagine that many of his professors have similar thoughts.

I will look into the publishers you suggested. Certainly there are a lot of differing opinions. My position is that Islamic Law teaches that if a person or group is captured, they are to be offered 3 choices- Conversion to Islam, Dhimmi-hood, or Death. These are specifically the choices given by Isis and Boko Haram. This is not a misreading of the Koran, but rather, a literal reading. Islamists are the “reformers”, taking the “religion” back to it’s roots.

I would ask you to read “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by the aforementioned Robert Spencer. Additionally I would ask you to visit www.jihadwatch.com for a quick dose of what is going on in the world. You might have seen Spencer on Fox News Hannity this week. Spencer interviewed a man who had attended the same mosque in Oklahoma as the man who begged a coworker to convert to Islam. When she refused, he beheaded her.

2. Mia Bloom to Ken:

The categories you mentioned are not for ahl al kitab (I.e. Not for Jews, Christians, or Zoroastrianism which technically the yazidis fall under) what you have seen is only a partial truth, the Triadbof options was with regard to pagans during the time of the prophet
It is absolutely against Islamic law to forcibly convert anyone,the Quran does not quibble about this: ”
Here’s even Wikipedia on this subject

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Baqara_256

I have been circumspect of watching My Hannity after he had Mr Phil Roberts of duck dynasty come onto his show to comment about isis
As an aside Mr Roberts solution to the problem was Convert ‘me or kill ‘me
strikingly similar to what isis advocates

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/09/03/‘duck-dynasty’s’-phil-robertson-isis-convert-them-or-kill-them

I genuinely hope you continue to read more on this subject, there is an ex nun, Karen Armstrong who has written several books on the subject and in an extremely readable way. I would highly recommend her work but I fear that Mr Spencer may not have done the faith justice if he used such generalizations that have given you a very incomplete picture.

V/r
Mia Bloom

That’s an embarrassing factual error on Professor Bloom’s part — as revealing of her academic incompetence as her invoking Wikipedia. She claims that the three options of conversion, subjugation, or death are “not for ahl al kitab” — that is, the People of the Book (Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians) — but for “pagans during the time of the prophet.” But she seems to be introducing a Qur’an quote that she ends up not quoting, and that is probably because the Qur’an says exactly the opposite of what she claims it says: “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” (9:29). The Arabic is alladhina utul kitaba, those who were given the book — a clear and unmistakeable reference to the People of the Book, so understood universally among Islamic scholars. Everyone accepts that this is a command to Muslims to fight the People of the Book and make them submit, even if they disagree on its applicability to the modern day. No one thinks it refers to pagans — except, apparently, Mia M. Bloom.

3. Ken to Mia Bloom:

As I am sure you can tell, I am no scholar, but I have read extensively and I believe I see clearly what is happening.
The process of Abrogation is puzzling to many but is rather simple to explain. Later verses supersede earlier verses if  2 verses seem to conflict. The difference between the revelations made in Mecca, and those in Medina and afterwards explain volumes. When Islam was having a rough time  (Mecca), the verses are peaceful and “there shall be no compulsion in Islam ” is one of those verses.  Yet when the strength and numbers of followers were sufficient, (Medina) the verses became more violent (ie, “And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief) and the religion will all be for Allah alone” The later verses “abrogate” the earlier verses.

I noticed University Press is made up of Professors from colleges with large Islamic Studies departments. Funding for these Departments largely comes from Saudi Arabia. Do you suppose there is a subtle attempt to whitewash the religion until the strength an numbers of followers is sufficient?

4. Mia Bloom to Ken:

I think that varies
My Islamic studies program was funded by the son of Rita Hayworth
And university presses are independent units, with boards of directors
Feel free to keep reading some made up stuff by a dude with a degree In Christian studies who pretends to know about Islam, but then don’t feel especially satisfied that the result is questionable.
My training started at the best code yeshiva in Canada and co it used to a degree in Islamic studies, Arab studies, I speak all the languages and have the materials in the original text.

I am certain in any debate your MrSpencer would be left without anything to say if he were ever in a room with someone educated in this field instead of pandering to a public that thinks just cause it’s published it must be true

Good luck.
Best wishes
Mia Bloom

Ps Did you watch that moron from duck dynasty…? That’s why I bother doing the media, they don’t pay and it is a huge pain in the @&$ but if the people who are actually knowledgeable don’t do media, the only people left are the likes of Mr Robertson and his hate filled diatribe. He’d be very comfortable in raqqa with his views…

Sent from my iPad

That was when Ken wrote to me:

5. Ken to Robert Spencer:

Well it would seem she would be a great debater for you or David Wood.

6. Robert Spencer to Mia Bloom and Ken:

Sure, I’ll debate her. We can set it up for early November on ABN. They’re very strict about equal time for both sides, etc.

Suggested topic: The Qur’an Teaches Warfare Against And Subjugation of Unbelievers.

I argue yes.
Mia Bloom argues no.

This will be great. I look forward to it.

7. Mia Bloom to Robert Spencer:

Dear Mr Spencer,

I’m  afraid that Mr [redacted] may have led you to believe that I would waste my time on such an endeavor..,which I would not
I am currently  writing my fourth book based on  field research in Pakistan and other countries.
Btw That’s what real academics do; they  don’t spend their time sitting at the computer distorting texts they could neither read in the original nor are they trained to understand.

Enjoy duping the masses.

Yeah sorry I won’t waste my time on the Aramaic broadcasting  network
Too busy doing cnn and fox
Feel free to throw away my e mail
I’ll be deleting anything from you in the future automatically
Sent from my iPhone

Even after all these years of doing this and dealing with the obnoxiousness, condescension and arrogance of Islamic supremacists such as Reza Aslan and Qasim Rashid, it still amazes me that people like Mia Bloom feel free to speak so rudely to someone they don’t know and have never met. But it’s yet another amusing Joseph Lumbard-like turnaround: an academic boasts that I’d be beaten soundly in a debate, but then refuses actually to debate. Meanwhile her vicious rudeness bespeaks a deep insecurity, probably born of having to spend so much time shoring up the fantasies about Islam that her chosen resource Karen Armstrong purveys. I suspect that Bloom knows that she is flacking for falsehoods and fantasies, and that’s why she reacts so venomously when challenged.

Anyway, she’s at mia_bloom@uml.edu and on Twitter at @MiaMBloom. You may wish to drop her a polite and courteous note, asking her to accept my debate challenge, and inquiring as to how she can maintain such rude arrogance when she clearly lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Qur’an. In all communications, please maintain politeness and courtesy at all times. Do not stoop to her level.

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Filed Under: academia, Useful idiots, willful ignorance Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Don McKellar says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:27 pm

    Mia M. Bloom is, based upon what everyone can see from her in her own words and acts, a worthless deluded fool of the worst kind: a poseur worthless deluded fool who is a coward. Such “academics” never look in the mirror and never face themselves. They will never admit that they’ve built a career on a pile of poop that they are in danger of sliding off of or sinking into at any moment. So instead, they bark are anybody and have no bite, like the cowardly little lapdogs of Islam that they are.

    • Jerry says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:26 pm

      This is what I call a highly certificated academic fool who is eminently qualified to be an expert in her chosen field: being a fool.

    • Maria says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 8:57 pm

      She is so stupid about Islam she has never heard of “abrogation” in Islam?

      The verse she choose, the “no compulsion in religion” has been abrogated by later, more violent verses.

      Also that verse is talking about the Jewish people, not the Muslims.

      • Tradewinds says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 8:21 am

        My guess is she’s deliberately ignoring the abrogation part to make Islam look good (if that’s at all possible). Curious – is Bloom Jewish or a Mohammedan?

    • Ariel says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 5:28 am

      I agree with your comments. She may be or may not be a fool, but she certainly is an apologist for the Islamists of the IS kind. People like her are paid agents to propagate a falsehood that Islam is peaceful, when it is certainly not. At least the ones who propagate and follow this religion are a threat to civilized society and the world at large. If the College where she teaches has any responsibility towards society, then it must sack her.

      • Tradewinds says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 8:23 am

        You have to pity the poor undergraduates being brainwashed about Islam by Bloom.

  2. Tim says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    She must be home schooled… doesn’t sound or write very intelligent or educated at all.

    • Soloview says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 1:03 pm

      I would say her manner of expressing herself is rather a sad comment on the divorce of speech and thought in today’s academia.

    • Victoria says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 2:06 pm

      There is no need for gratuitous insults.

    • somehistory says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:04 pm

      My son was homeschooled, graduated with honors from Penn State and enrolled on scholarship at UF. Two daughters homeschooled, one currently manager of a bank, the other with nearly perfect 4.0 in college.
      You must not know many who were homeschooled.
      This woman might have benefited from homeschooling if she didn’t have such a large and arrogant ego.

      • Tim says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 10:23 am

        Where exactly was your son mentioned in my comment?

    • Zimriel says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 9:09 pm

      re, Tim: Can’t figure out if sarcastic… or troll. [insert dinosaur gif meme here]

      Dr Bloom got a PhD and hired by a university, so is clearly not *entirely* homeschooled.

      • Tim says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 10:36 am

        The only troll is you. You don’t seem to have grasped that my comment was in jest in reference to the poor communication skills she presents.
        Not all home schooling is five star. Let’s not kid ourselves with that.

    • Tim says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 10:21 am

      I speak 6 languages. How many do you speak?

      Besides, why is everyone so up in arms about the comment? Did it contain a reference to any of you?? Obviously I referred to sloppy home schooling in jest. I hardly think all home schooling is done by professors or retired teachers…

  3. Jay Boo says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    It is rather sad that a Professor of Security Studies would have to use a reference Wikipedia as evidence to support a PC opinion.

  4. Beagle says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    Odd, when searching “New York Times bestselling author” I get hits for Robert Spencer but not Mia Bloom. That must be wrong.

    Her 2007 book can be trumped in terms of important knowledge by quoting Quran ayat 9.111:
    Sahih International
    Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.
    — —
    There, I saved you the $3.95 it would cost for a used copy of the no doubt boring and misleading “Dying to Kill” by Bloom.

    Quote from Amazon blurb:
    Bloom explores how suicide terror is used to achieve the goals of terrorist groups: to instill public fear, attract international news coverage, gain support for their cause, and create solidarity or competition between disparate terrorist organizations. She contends that it is often social and political motivations rather than inherently religious ones that inspire suicide bombers.
    — —

    Only academics can be this intentionally dense. The jihadi literature on becoming a shahid and news stories invoking gaining paradise by struggling and dying in Allah’s cause, in volume on printed pages, could probably come close to the federal regulations released by the US government in one year. Maybe more!

    • occupant 9 says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:39 pm

      Mia Bloom obviously must not consider full-fledged muslims in full-fledge islamic mode as credible sources about the kind of islam she wants to promote.

  5. Sam says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Liberal mind is such that there is no debate about his belief system. Liberals are superior to others so why debate. I can not talk to my liberal family members about Islam, politics, evolution, well almost all aspects of human life. It is really a sad set of afffairs. So has anyone conveyed the message to a liberal that Islam is evil and all religions are not the same, and made him see the truth? I have not been able to thus far?

  6. voegelinian says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Debbie Schlussel would rip her a new one.

  7. Tim says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    I’m a little bit perplexed of this “Professor” of Security Studies and her extensive track record naming Columbia University, Georgetown University, McGill University just to mention a few.

    She writes on her Uni profile:

    “My research investigate the deliberate use of rape during war as well as how terrorist organizations use rape to transform ordinary women into suicide bombers by raping them.”

    Is this an educated sentence??

    I’d be curious to know who exactly did her background check. Something is not right here.

    • Jen says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 9:39 pm

      The sentence is talking about rape being used as a tool during war.

      • Tim says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 10:33 am

        I think you missed the point. It’s a repeat of a repeat.
        She probably refuses to debate Spencer is because she doesn’t know her subject well enough as she claims.

  8. Tony says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    In an earlier job she was associate professor of “women’s studies”:

    http://mappingideas.sdsu.edu/old_Mappingideas/SummerWorkshop/2011/Papers/Bloom_Bio.pdf

    It is truly asinine that someone who wallows in identify politics should qualify to teach about national security.

    • umbra says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 2:54 pm

      These days, just about anything is possible in universities. Even fools can be professors in non-technical disciplines. All they have to do is spew dung that their audience are prepared to buy. Supply and demand.

  9. Emilie Green says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    “she [Bloom] is just another academic of the type that American universities today hire by the pound”

    LOL,

    By that measure UMass got what they paid for with this one, and then some,

    http://news.psu.edu/sites/default/files/styles/topic_related_multimedia/public/MiaBloom-web.jpg

    • Franny Burwick says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 2:01 pm

      Since she is, by the evidence of her own words, not very knowledgeable or competent at her present no-heavy-lifting-required job, perhaps she’d find more satisfaction returning to her first profession – haunting houses.

  10. awake says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    Ahhh, that was enjoyable. Mia ran for the hills so fast, you’d have thought she was being targeted by a drone.

  11. Jovial Joe says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    Struck just about the right tone I hope:

    Hi Mia, such a shame you won’t debate Robert Spencer especially as you are an expert in the field and have the right training and language skills to best him and wipe that smug grin off his face. Go on Mia, it’ll be a breeze and I can’t see it looking like any thing else but abject cowardice if you back out now especially as your correspondence with him has been published on line for the whole world to see.

    Regards

  12. Wellington says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    The very last liberals to “get” Islam will be the academic liberals. As insufferably arrogant and snobbish as the liberal media and liberal politicians are, the most insufferable and snobbish, speaking in the aggregate, are the academic liberals. Mia Bloom is a case in point.

    I spent almost a third of a century in academia and my overwhelming experience with academic liberals was that what they can’t effectivley debate they demonize and minimize and then claim that the demonized, minimized individual is not worthy of debate. This is exactly what Mia Bloom did to Robert Spencer.

    • mariam rove says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 1:23 pm

      And god knows how many of these PC liberals Jews are living in northern NJ where I live. Countless to be exact. M

    • occupant 9 says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:45 pm

      That’s effectively what Ben Affleck tried to do to Sam Harris; demonize and minimalize the individual as liberally unwashed thus, unworthy of opinion.

  13. Jon says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    In essence the argument of her email to Robert Spencer is ‘I am an academic, you are not, and therefore I have automatically proven my superiority to you, making any debate pointless and degrading on my part’.

    Yes, liberal and left wing academia (is there any other sort?) are utterly doomed and their inability to think outside their own narrow little box is distressing. But C.S. Lewis saw it all coming long ago, and that is why he called himself ‘Old Western Man’. He was the last of his kind, and knew that the ones who came after him would be unable to use reason, had been cut off from the western tradition, and would be at the forefront of the great push towards humanity’s destruction (of which it turns out Islam will be the instrument).

    • Boston Tea Party says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 3:02 pm

      Yes, the “men without chests, ” as Lewis accurately foresaw.

  14. Beagle says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    Let’s test the Bloom thesis with a quick Internet search. I will not go past page one results because I’m lazy.

    My thesis is my query: “IS recruits based on Quran”. Lousy Boolean but I suspect that will not matter.

    Question:

    What “social and political motivations” drive jihadis to fight and die in Allah’s cause?

    You know, if merely stating what they consider themselves as doing in their own terms (fighting in Allah’s cause) does not clue you in.

    Belgium

    Belgium is a first world country not ordinarily prone to religious extremism. There must be social and political motivations driving jihadis there, right?

    http://www.voanews.com/content/belgium-proves-fertile-recruiting-ground-for-jihadists-sharia4belgium/2472015.html

    Quote:
    “Belkacem’s words can only be interpreted as a call to violence and jihad,” said public prosecutor Ann Fransen on Monday, listing a long line of speeches and videos in which he equaled military jihad to praying and fasting.
    — —
    Hmmm? Jihad is like “praying and fasting”. Well, that can’t be right. No social or political motivations there.

    Former IS Member

    What about a former member of IS? What were his social and political motivations?

    http://counterjihadreport.com/2014/09/21/exclusive-qa-with-former-islamic-state-member/

    (Q and A added for clarity)

    Q: What about the promise of virgin angles in heaven, is there any truths to this?

    A: Yes, of course. We were told that as martyrs we would have 72 eternal virgins in heaven and we can save dozens of our close relatives from hell too.

    Q: So, IS promises its’ recruits 72 virgin angels and you are saying this is not “anti-Islamic propaganda” as some people may otherwise claim?

    A: We were promised women in heaven and on earth too based on IS jihadist teaching of the verses of some Suras of the holy book of Quran and hadiths by prophet Muhammad, all of which were explained through the Tafsir (explanation) by Islamic scholars like Ibn Majah, Bukhari and Ibn Kathir. We were told all non-Muslim women prisoners will be our wives and God wills it.

    In Islamic holy war you cannot kill enemy women and children under any circumstances, they can only be taken as prisoners. It is permissible to have sexual intercourse with the captive women even if jihadists are married…
    — —
    “…sexual intercourse with captive women…”

    Hmmm? Sounds like we’ve stumbled on a motivation nobody could have foreseen, unless one had a working knowledge of Islam and Islamic history. That one does not sound very political, but it sure is “social” *wink wink*.

    Prison

    What about prison converts? They must have a really mixed up view of Islam totally apart from those outside the pen.

    http://www.investigativeproject.org/1041/radicals-in-our-prisons#

    Quotes:

    “Brothers, be prepared to fight, be prepared to die, be prepared to kill. It’s a part of the deen, and this ain’t your brother just saying this, this is history, this is Quran, nobody can deny it. and we need to let the enemies know.”

    “Rise up and fight. And fight them until turmoil is no more and strike terror into their hearts. You think there is no terror in Quran? It’s called [word unclear] read it in the 56th surah of the Quran. There’s no lack of translation, there’s no mistranslation There’s not one Sheikh says one thing, no, it’s very clear. “When you fight, you strike terror into the heart of the disbeliever.'”
    — —
    Bloom is right that terror is often used to scare people, but it seems that too is based in the Islamic religion. Who knew? 😉

    I am beginning to sense that Bloom might be ignoring a great deal of the information out there which is available to anyone in seconds. Well, not beginning. That’s not true.

  15. TVC15 says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    Funny that she recommends the books of Karen Armstrong, Islam’s hagiographer (apparently you can take the girl out of the convent but you can’t take the convent out of the girl). As far as I’m aware, Armstrong does not know Arabic. Mr. Spencer does. In addition, her college degree is in English, though Oxford rejected her doctoral thesis and denied her a doctorate. Of the two, the one with more academic credentials to comment on Islam is clearly Mr. Spencer, though, alas, his conclusions don’t jibe with the academic zeitgeist and so he and his books must be condemned and ignored while Armstrong and her books must be praised recommended. What absolute twaddle. One more thing: Rita Hayworth didn’t have a son, only a daughter, Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan, a Shi’ite playboy.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 11:54 pm

      Yes—as soon as she cited the egregious Karen Armstrong, I got a pretty clear idea of Professor Bloom’s academic caliber…

  16. Anushirvan says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    “there is an ex nun, Karen Armstrong who has written several books on the subject and in an extremely readable way.”

    Wow ! What a feeble attempt at attaching ultimate authority to an apologist of Islam ! An ex-nun, no less, someone with “real clout” !

    I suppose Bloom could never have imagined that anyone writing to her would ever have heard about Karen Armstrong and her reinvigorated flower-power wishy-washy take on things ! Sad beyond belief. Some of these academics really do lead secluded lives !

    I wonder who could be next in her line of defence ? Maybe Lesley Hazleton, aka Karen Armstrong Mk. 2.0 ?

    • Beagle says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 1:51 pm

      Omid Safi? Juan Cole? John Esposito?

      Who knows what wonders await in Bloom’s no doubt extensive library?

      • Anushirvan says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 3:56 pm

        Well said !

        Thumbs up !

    • Diane Harvey says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 1:56 pm

      Bloom: “Feel free to keep reading some made up stuff by a dude with a degree In Christian studies who pretends to know about Islam, but then don’t feel especially satisfied that the result is questionable.”

      Okay.

      Bloom: “there is an ex nun [you know, like a Christian dudette], Karen Armstrong who has written several books on the subject and in an extremely readable way.”

      People actually pay tuition to get stuff like this, plus Wiki references to boot!

      • Anushirvan says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 4:08 pm

        Very true. It’s all copy/paste education, these days. Easy-peasy tutoring for generation Y. Make them stop thinking for themselves. Pseudo-profundity rules over genuine academic expertise, these days.

        I’ve seen a lot of Armstrong’s writings translated in my native language, and I’ve never even felt the need to touch those with a barge pole !

  17. Jade says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    I know junior high aged children with superior grammar skills to this “professor”. I mean that literally. I wouldn’t send my daughter to any university who employs the likes of this “scholar”.
    Rather funny that she doesn’t dare debate you though.

  18. Victoria says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    Dear Prof. Bloom:

    Having spent years in academia, I cringed in embarrassment when I read the email exchange between you and Robert Spencer, a controversial but erudite blogger on Islam.

    As a member of a college or university, one must always be aware that one is representing not just oneself but one’s colleagues, even in private email exchanges. Your published communiques showed poor punctuation and garbled sentences (much like my students’ writing), and included intellectual arrogance and disdain toward Mr. Spencer. I am disappointed and hope this is an anomaly in your behavior and attitudes.

    You also showed little rigor when referring to reference material: Wikipedia and Karen Armstrong? Are you a bona fide academic or simply a member of the local book club? Shame on you.

    • Zimriel says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 9:15 pm

      I emailed her too.

      I didn’t go the “shame on you” route, just because a knock-off email in someone’s busy day cannot be expected to follow the same standard as a peer-reviewed journal essay. I did however explain that Armstrong isn’t nearly as powerful a source as are Andrew Rippin and David Cook. Heck, even that anti-Zionist *Fred Donner* would have been preferable.

  19. KrazyKafir says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    Another academic educated beyond her intelligence.

  20. Marken says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    Rita Hayworth’s son? She had quit her movie career to marry the son of Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III considered to be the founding father of Pakistan.

  21. Boston Tea Party says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    So Robert “hasn’t been trained to understand the texts.”

    Or to put it more succinctly, Mia Bloom is incapable of debating Robert because Robert hasn’t been properly trained to share her point of view.

    That’s the state of much of western academia today.

    But really, it’s quite obvious as to why these liberal academics refuse to debate Robert. It’s MUCH more useful for them to put forth and maintain a caricature of Robert Spencer as an angry, ignorant amateur who quotes the Quran out of context, who says that Islam is monolithic, who says that all Muslims are terrorists, and who advocates a police state. But if they were to actually debate Robert publicly, they’re giving a platform to a vastly different Robert Spencer—a sober, measured intellectual who quotes almost exclusively from mainstream, widely accepted Islamic sources, and shows that while Islam may not be monolithic, the approach of the “extremists” is well with the mainstream of historical Islamic jurisprudence. Quite contrary to their claims, Robert’s quotations from the Quran are placed accurately WITHIN historical context. And perhaps what the leftists hate most of all is that Robert’s understanding of Islam completely comports with the real-world example of the Muslim world today that the vast majority of people can see with their own eyes, while their “multicultural” view of Islam does NOT, to say the least.

  22. Wellington says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    I won’t be surprised if this Mia Bloom, assuming she gets numerous communications encouraging her to debate Robert Spencer, claims that she has been threatened. After all, victim-oriented thinking is not the exclusive domain of Muslims. Western liberals invoke victim-status too, for themselves or for some largely made-up aggrieved group, with regularity.

  23. Twostellas says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Lol, too funny. Brags how she would beat you in a debate and leave you speechless, no less, then says I wouldn’t debate you. So there! Nanny nanny boo boo! What a ridiculous woman with a seriously over-inflated sense of herself. I feel sorry for her students! They will come out of her class actually less informed!

    • twostellas says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 2:56 pm

      I also notice she says how thankless, yet oh so important, it is to get her view out in the media and to more people. Yet here is a chance to do just that, and she blows it off. Must be too much of “a pain in the ass”. Wow, our moral superior right here, folks. Smh. It’s obvious she knows she would be the one left speechless, though I’d wager more of an aimless babbling and finally saying “Well, you have to read it in Arabic!” As if Arabic is not translatable to other languages, then storming off stage declaring herself the winner.

      • Jovial Joe says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 3:03 pm

        I always say: well Muhammad was illiterate and if he could understand the Quran so can the rest of us!

        • Frans Groenendijk says

          Oct 9, 2014 at 5:21 pm

          So simple, so true, JJ.
          Love it.

  24. Theb Nyip says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    As others have pointed out – Rita Hayworth never had a son.

    Does Mia mean to say that her work is funded by Rita’s step-son? – Prince Karim Aga Khan IV – current world leader of the Ismaili muslims?

    I couldn’t find any mention of him as a funding source on the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies website at http://www.uml.edu/Research/CTSS/default.aspx (although they do mention funding from the Dept of Defence via the Minerva Initiative – US readers, feel free to write to your representatives to complain how your tax dollars are being spent).

    If Mia does mean Prince Karim is funding her work then it would be quite strange for her to describe him as Rita Hayworth’s son rather than as leader of the world’s Ismaili muslims.

    Especially since his father Prince Aly Khan and Rita were only married a couple of years before a very bitter divorce and that Rita’s very publicly rejected an Islamic upbringing for her daughter Yasmin (Prince Karim’s step-sister) in Rita’s bitter divorce in the early 1950’s from Prince Karim’s father, Prince Aly Khan:
    “At one point, Hayworth rejected a $1m offer to raise Yasmin in accordance with her ex-husband’s Muslim faith. She issued a statement expressing her clear preference for an American upbringings, saying ‘Nothing will make me give up Yasmin;s chance to live here in America among our precious freedoms and habits’.” – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070364/Rita-Hayworth-grandson-dead-Andrew-Ali-Aga-Khan-Embiricos-attempted-suicide-before.html#ixzz3FfjvpAms

    I don’t use twitter etc myself but if anyone is tweeting her, perhaps ask (politely of course), whether she meant that Prince Karim is funding her work?

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 11, 2014 at 12:04 am

      If Mia does mean Prince Karim is funding her work then it would be quite strange for her to describe him as Rita Hayworth’s son rather than as leader of the world’s Ismaili muslims.
      ………………………….

      Not really—since she was trying to imply that her work wasn’t funded by a place like Saudi Arabia. Saying “Rita Hayworth’s son” makes it sound as though the source of funding has nothing to do with Islam at all, but is just done in the name of philanthropic intellectual curiosity.

      Comparatively few people recall Rita Hayworth’s marriage to Aly Khan, and just remember her as a Hollywood movie star.

  25. Anonymous says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    I do not believe that her comments stem from ignorance. She just knows which side of her bread is buttered and knows what to spout to keep her current position and perhaps ascend in the workplace hierarchy.
    She knows she is spewing lies, preserving her job is her number 1 priority, truth be damned!
    Who knows what financial compulsions she is under… would I do the same in such a situation? I don’t know.

  26. Tradewinds says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    Prof Bloom’s Ph.D. – Worthless.

  27. Wolfenberry says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    I sent the following missive to “Prof” Bloom—

    Dear Prof Bloom,

    Good afternoon. I read of the email exchange between yourself and various individuals regarding Islam, specifically about the question of the treatment of unbelievers, by Muslims, as prescribed by the religion itself.

    I understand that you have refused to debate Mr Spencer, and though I do not understand why, you are of course under no obligation to do so.

    I would like to offer you an alternative– debate me. I very much agree with Mr Spencer’s position, but because I came to the same conclusion years before Mr Spencer was known to anyone. I grew up in Spain, a country which had been invaded and ravaged by Muslims for 700 years, and so I became quite familiar with the history. Furthermore, I spent a lot of time in mosques, speaking freely with fervent Muslims who did and would still agree with Mr Spencer 100% on this topic. Later, after serving years in the military, living all over the world, I also served in civilian law enforcement, where I had opportunity to become involved in the investigation of and even testify in Federal court against Islamist defendant(s). During the course of those years, I studied the Quran, the Hadiths, and other relevant writings and books, in addition to speaking with numerous Muslims, mainly overseas. I also am able to read and write Arabic (in addition to other languages).

    I would strongly recommend that you debate Mr Spencer, in order to put this question to rest– which one of you is truly master of his/her domain– the subject matter of Islam. However, if you cannot be persuaded, debate me instead. I think the results would be conclusive and interesting… as well educational to any witnesses.

    Thank you for your time,
    —————–

    • Frans Groenendijk says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:37 pm

      Very nice.

      • Zimriel says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 9:17 pm

        Yeah.

        This is the way to do it.

  28. TH says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    She is not only rude, arrogant and ignorant of the Quran, but also ignorant of basic English grammar.

  29. Joseph says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    I quite agree with Robert on the subject of arrogance and rudeness. Bloom’s insecurity and bad will are revealed by her unprovoked attack on Robert.

  30. Abe says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    “Btw That’s what real academics do”

    My God! Is she serious?! Clearly she’s out to advance her own career and not engage with the masses. Good professors always have time for debates. And even if she didn’t have any time, the least she could do is say it nicely. Utterly deplorable. Makes me feel disgusted about being an university student…

    • pumbar says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 1:07 am

      “An university student”; sorry, I had to chuckle…

      • Abe says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 1:04 pm

        Oops. 😀

        • pumbar says

          Oct 11, 2014 at 1:22 am

          🙂

  31. BlueRaven says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    I think she went to study Islam from the same Iamam as Reza Haslan. Robert has scared their pants off. Mohamedians are scared sh…less of the truth about their religion. She is no different. She is paid to defend Islam. My guess is our Tax dollar is getting used to spread lies by the likes of her.

    • Zimriel says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 9:20 pm

      Reza Aslan is a Shiite, so wouldn’t set foot in a masjid with an “imam” at its minbar. The very nerve of the man, claiming the right that belongeth to al-Mahdi . . .

      I don’t know exactly what would be preaching in his masjid / husayniya / majlis – a ‘mullah’? – but it wouldn’t be an imam.

  32. RodSerling says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    Bloom: “It is absolutely against Islamic law to forcibly convert anyone,the Quran does not quibble about this: ”

    Ibn Kathir, on 3:110: “(110. You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma`ruf (all that Islam has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (all that Islam has forbidden), and you believe in Allah. […] ﴾Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah commented on this Ayah, “(You, Muslims, are) the best nation of people for the people, you bring them tied in chains on their necks (capture them in war) and they later embrace Islam.” Similar was said by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Atiyah Al-`Awfi, `Ikrimah, `Ata’ and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas that,[…]”
    http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=503&Itemid=46

    Command the right and forbid the wrong? The Qur’an commands Muslims to do that. How can they do that without, ultimately, using force?

    There is no Islamic law against forcibly converting someone to Islam. If a Muslim forces someone to convert to Islam, there is no penalty. The Qur’an contains no such law. 2:256 (no compulsion in religion) is at best ambiguous on the question, but clearly contains no law and is not itself a law-giving verse. Sure, some Islamic scholars throughout the ages have used the verse to argue against the idea of forced conversion in the abstract, but this had no practical bearing on Islamic law, except that dhimmis were allowed to keep their religion (while still being pressured to convert to Islam). The idea that Islam truly forbids forced conversion exists only in Islamic apologetic spin and image management.

    Islamic law has the death penalty for apostasy: If you leave Islam and don’t convert back to it when given the ultimatum, you are to be killed. That’s forced conversion (i.e., conversion back into the faith). There is no law in Islam that contradicts this.

    Children of a Muslim father are required to be Muslims after the age of puberty, according to classical Islamic law. If they violate Islam or apostatize from their father’s religion after puberty, they are to be punished, including with death. That’s forced conversion.

    Islam has the multi-pronged “offer” to non-Muslims: (1) Embrace Islam; or else (2) accept the punishing, humiliating, and second-class status of dhimmi (or slave if you have no money), or else (3) be fought or put to death (or raped). At each stage, 1, 2, and 3, there is compulsion to convert to Islam in order to be safe. As Muhammad said to non-Muslims to whom he sent threats of conquest, “embrace Islam and you will be safe.” The “invitation” of (1) is always accompanied by the implicit or explicit threat of (2) or (3); and if you are in (2), your difficult conditions can be alleviated only by accepting the invitation in (1). And if you do become a Muslim, you are faced with other compulsion: you must remain in the religion, obey it, and not criticize it–or else it’s back to (3). Islam is based on compulsion. That is why so many Muslims scholars over the ages viewed 2:256 as either abrogated or at least highly circumscribed. Indeed, if 2:256 really meant there is no compulsion in religion in the broadest possible sense, then there would be no Islamic laws.

    Islam forbids any non-Muslim to attempt to convert a Muslim out of Islam. It is a death penalty offense in classical Islamic law. On the other hand, Muslims are obligated to try to convert non-Muslims to Islam. This again is compulsion in the direction of conversion to Islam.

    Ditto for Islam’s blasphemy laws: Restrictions and threats of harsh punishments are compulsions in the direction of converting people to Islam or keeping them in Islam.

  33. nacazo says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    Debating Mr. Spencer is “a huge pain in the @&$ “.

    Robert Spencer is telling the unvarnished truth, while Prof Bloom is defending a pile of smelly lies. Not easy indeed!!!!

  34. UneasyOne says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 5:07 pm

    I will never contact Ms Bloom, politely or otherwise.

    Just watch: She is going to claim that she is getting threats and turn over every one who asks her to take up the challenge she actually made to the FBI. It’s hard to imagine why Mr Spenser would consider debating such a comparative midget, but much to his credit.

    I am on the political left, but she represents the two factions on the left that literally turn my stomach – islam apologists and man hating gender warriors that have hijacked the woman’s movement, made the term “feminist” so toxic that most women refuse to be identified as such, and is currently trying to turn the skeptical/atheist movement into a pity party for outraged “feminists.”

    I have debated them on comment threads. They mischaracterize your statements and refuse to discuss anything but the straw men they have themselves created. Those tactics don’t work in a debate format, so they always refuse and claim that they have been threatened, one way or another.

    So I won’t be sending that email. Good luck to those of you who do.

    PS: Watch for her media claim that she is in fear for her life from the likes of us. She has gotten many threats, which scared her so much she deleted them immediately and won’t show them anyway. It’s standard.

  35. RCCA says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    I wrote to her but frankly I don’t think she is qualified to debate about Islam. Her expertise is political science and her subject matter. She’s just a typical academic snob. That kind of rudeness and bluster is surprising in a woman but typical of someone who is afraid of a confrontation and losing face. She is truly ignorant if she compares Jihadwatch with Duck Dynasty. Come on!

  36. Frans Groenendijk says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    Is this polite enough?

    “.@MiaMBloom If you want to battle ‘islamophobia’ debate a strong opponent:@JihadwatchRS You know #Gramsci’s lessons on ideological struggle”

    (Antonio Gramsci was a communist theoretician. Most known for his writings he did while imprisoned by the Italian fascists. He taught that while in military battle you should aim at the weaker spots of your enemy, in ideological battle you should aim at the strongest points of your opponents. Of course there is a chance that she also never heard of him too.)

  37. Gail Griffin says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    I just got a message from Ms. Bloom that Roberts followers are threatening her with violence and sexual stuff So please cut it out and behave. Perhaps R. If you write her nicely she just might debate.

    • Jovial Joe says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:35 pm

      He did ask nicely, read his reply to her. As for the threats she’s receiving, no doubt from Islamists or CAIR attempting to give us a bad name. The FBI will find that out if they investigate.

      • UneasyOne says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 10:26 pm

        The threats she has allegedly been receiving.

        Until evidence of these alleged threats is produced and turned over to police, I doubt their existence.

    • Robert Spencer says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 5:35 pm

      “I just got a message from Ms. Bloom that Roberts followers are threatening her with violence and sexual stuff”

      Predictable that she would say that. Also highly unlikely.

      People have been ccing and bccing me on messages to her all day. All polite. No threats. I am calling BS on this.

      • UneasyOne says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 6:56 pm

        This is the standard feminist tactic these days – right out of their woman’s studies gender warrior playbook.

        IF SHE IS GETTING CREDIBLE THREATS, SHE SHOULD IMMEDIATELY TURN THEM OVER TO THE POLICE! But she can’t, because there aren’t any. So the next move is that she will claim a specific kind of threat that she will be very unspecific about.

        I would recommend that you withdraw your offer of a debate since she has expressed a clear desire not to debate you. Otherwise you are stalking her in a threatening manner. The only way to win that game is to refuse to play. You can do that publicly, since she has refused further contact.

        You can let her know that the offer is open (you’ll regret that) should she change her mind – if you can find the time.

        The accusations will get worse if anyone persists in contacting her, so I recommend you ask your readers to faggeddaboutit.

        I have some experience with this kind of people, Mr Spenser, but of course you are free to pursue it however you choose.

      • sidney penny says

        Nov 18, 2014 at 6:43 pm

        I am receiving hate mail from Robert followers.

        Yes someone else said that as well.

        http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/09/australia-muslim-prof-claims-she-got-hate-mail-after-her-deceptions-exposed.

        “and now there is an article in The West Australian about how poor Professor Aly has received…hate mail.”

    • Wellington says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      Please see my 2:34 P.M. post above, Gail Griffin. I fully expected this and Robert Spencer addresses this very point in his 5:35 P.M. post to you.

      In short, don’t allow yourself to be fooled by the likes of someone like Mia Bloom.

      • UneasyOne says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 9:56 pm

        Check out my comment at 5: 07. Not only was it predictable, but I predicted it.

        “Just watch: She is going to claim that she is getting threats and turn over every one who asks her to take up the challenge she actually made to the FBI” And later in the comment: I have debated them on comment threads. They mischaracterize your statements and refuse to discuss anything but the straw men they have themselves created. Those tactics don’t work in a debate format, so they always refuse and claim that they have been threatened, one way or another.

        And even a PS: “PS: Watch for her media claim that she is in fear for her life from the likes of us. She has gotten many threats, which scared her so much she deleted them immediately and won’t show them anyway. It’s standard.”

        So I beat ya, lol. But since you gave the first (of many) decent , conservative replies on JW to this old leftie, I can cut you some slack, 🙂

        • Wellington says

          Oct 9, 2014 at 10:31 pm

          Thanks for your comment, UneasyOne. Uh, just for the record, and for accuracy”s sake, how exactly did you beat me when your prediction about Bloom claiming she was threatened was posted at 5:07 P.M and mine on the very same matter was posted at 2:34 P.M.? Perhaps I missed something. Just wondering.

        • UneasyOne says

          Oct 10, 2014 at 2:13 am

          You missed the fact that I can’t read, lol. I misread your timestamp. In fact, you beat me, lol. Congrats.

        • UneasyOne says

          Oct 10, 2014 at 2:31 am

          Oh, and thank you for the courtesy of your reply – especially considering the fact that you would have been well justified in thinking I had just fallen out of my tree. Unfortunately, I doubt that this will be the last time I embarrass myself online.

      • Gail Griffin says

        Oct 9, 2014 at 11:22 pm

        Wellington I always respect your posts. However I didn’t see it until after I posted as there were way too many to read so I just hopped down down to the place so I could comment. Still since she got right back to me with her complaint I thought I would post just in case there were some hotheads out there

        • Wellington says

          Oct 10, 2014 at 12:28 am

          I understand. I too, Gail Griffin, hope that no one who contacted her did so in any kind of rude or threatening a manner. Firm and tough, OK, but not rude or threatening, though I suspect the likes of someone like Mia Bloom would interpret firm and tough correspondence as rude and threatening.

          Folks like her are the kind that can dish it out but can’t take it and I have no doubt as well that if she received, say, 98 firm and tough contacts and 2 rude and threatening ones, she would focus only on those two and give the impression that many contacts were of such a nature. She is not a woman of substance (the way she writes the English language alone conveys this) and the way she dealt with Robert Spencer indicates a shabby personality, not an admirable one.

    • Transmaster says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 3:04 am

      This is the common fall back provision with Moonbats like Ms. Bloom charges of violence and sexual harassment is how women with her lack of real qualifications gets ahead. Because there is no recourse for men facing such false charges she can make any accusation she wants. In academia rather them deal with such threats they just surrender.

      Somebody should ask her is she is an expert because she stayed in a Holiday Inn.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 11, 2014 at 12:11 am

      Gail, I would not assume that Bloom is being honest with this claim. Others have suggested that she might claim this as a ploy. I would not be surprised.

  38. Christine Godinet says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    I think the very nature of her replies shows that she is indeed a Muslim.
    She starts off as polite, and then when she realises that she is wrong and cannot win, she becomes rude, arrogant and uneducated.
    Yip – Muslim alright.

    • Wellington says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 9:14 pm

      Also the modus operandi of the modern leftist, and so it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart. One thing’s for sure and that is they’re made for each other, though the Muslim is far more likely to use dire action to end debate.

  39. DogOnPorch says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 6:57 pm

    If I’m not mistaken, Rita Hayworth had two daughters. One might want to check her credentials a tad closer.

    • Transmaster says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 3:43 am

      Two daughters, Rebecca Welles, and Yasmin Aga Khan both where raised Roman Catholic. There was a nasty custody fight over daughter Yasmin, Prince Aly Khan wanted full custody of Yasmin so he could raise her a Shia Muslim, Rita won she recognized that Yasmin would have no freedom if she was raised a Muslim. Rebecca Welles live in Washington State, While Yasmin lives in New York City.

  40. DogOnPorch says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 7:03 pm

    If I’m not mistaken, Rita Hayworth had two daughters and no sons.

  41. DogOnPorch says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    Yes, the one daughter got caught-up in a nasty separation where the father wanted the girl brought up Muslim rather than Catholic as Hayworth wanted. At least that’s my recollection.

  42. voegelinian says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    She may have meant “son-in-law” (i.e., a wealthy Muslim of the Aga Khan dynasty).

    • DogOnPorch says

      Oct 9, 2014 at 8:17 pm

      I’d imagine. But, it is telling. You’d think she would know exactly who funded her education.

  43. Anon says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    Liberals generally do not communicate on an open or level playing-field that is one reason why it’s very important to have strict debate moderators. Liberals do not seem to relax emotionally. In order to remain a liberal one has to continually brainwash oneself. It’s interesting to observe a commonality in that Islamists (for lack of a better term) also do not communicate on a calm or level platform but rely on insults, exaggerations, and demeaning statements, continually brainwashing themselves.

  44. Champ says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    Mia Bloom is all bark and no bite …

  45. Joe in FLorida says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    For the record, she got a HUGE raise for 2014.
    Her salary in 2013 was:
    $55,384.80

    Her 2014 rate is:
    $120,000.14 !!!!

    Wowzers.
    http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/02/umass_staff_earn_the_highest_s.html?appSession=830476228766507&RecordID=&PageID=2&PrevPageID=2&CPIpage=1&CPIorderBy=Employee_Name_Last_First&CPISortType=desc&

  46. Richie says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    She comes off as a typical leftist liberal; obnoxious,. rude, profane and an idiot

  47. William says

    Oct 9, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    Mia Bloom has as much capability of contemplating the truth of Islam as fish contemplating a world outside the water in which it lives.

  48. Mike says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 5:15 am

    I just emailed her and asked her to debate Robert Spencer! Please all others reading this page do the same!

    • Huck Folder says

      Oct 11, 2014 at 11:32 pm

      You must see this. I hope they leave it up. Maybe Robert can capture it complete with picture:

      http://conversations.psu.edu/episodes/mia_bloom

      Mia Bloom
      http://conversations.psu.edu/images/bloom-profile.jpg
      The New Face of Terrorism
      Who do you picture when you think of a terrorist?

      Mia Bloom, Center for Terrorism and Security Studies, Criminal Justice, Security Studies
      Professor
      Phone: 978-934-4048
      Office: HSSB 439
      Email: mia_bloom@uml.edu

      I don’t know whether to call her a late bloomer, or comment on her bloomers – and no, I’m not referring to her ‘unmentionables’.

  49. Marbran says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 8:12 am

    Here are some reviews from her past students from Rate My Professors site. I literally went straight down the list, not cherry picking. You can definitely see a pattern here. She’s a bully and a coward, which go hand-in-hand.

    ————-

    “EXTREMELY full of herself. 1/2 of class is taken up by her telling you how many schools she attended, books she’s written and languages she knows. And when you end up not understanding the material because she’s wasted every class bragging instead of teaching, don’t waste your asking for help. She’ll just stare at you like you’re dumber than dirt.”

    “I had a great time taking her class. She is very opinionated yet does give you a chance to refute her if you present your argument in an intelligent manner. Learned more in her class than most during my entire undergraduate career. The paper did suck but judging from the grades everyone got when I took the class, she is an easy grader.”

    “Professor Bloom was clearly hired by UGA for “promotional” purposes & not because she is a good professor. She makes sure her students know how amazing she is, where she attended school, and where she has taught. Usually spends the class going off on diatribes. However, she ensures that you know about & understand Islam by the end of the semester.”

    (I’m afraid what her students “understand” about Islam as they move on from her…)

    “Very Great Professor! The class is very demanding but it is worth it in the end. I learned more in the two classes I took from her than all of my SPIA classes combined. If you are sensitive, do not take her because you will probably withdraw. However, if you really want to learn and be on a whole new level, take her and enjoy the ride.”

    “She’s brilliant, and she knows it. I had an incredible time in her class because, quite simply, I never learned more in a class than with her. If you get offended easily, don’t take her. Don’t take things personally. You HAVE to prove yourself to her through work and interest. Only take her if you’re willing to work – HARD! 20-25 page paper!”

    “Class very enjoyable and entertaining. She’s very clever, but hard to follow at times and does expect you to know a lot. Overall though, I’m glad I took the class”

    “She has her own opinion about everyone and acts rudely towards the students whom she doesn’t like. You really have to be a teacher’s pet if you want her to notice you and in order to do that it seems you either have to be loud, or a guy.”

    • Tradewinds says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 8:18 am

      “However, she ensures that you know about & understand Islam by the end of the semester.”

      Wow. That’s scary. I can just hear the brainwashing and whitewashing going on about the religion of Hate and these left-leaning undergrads just gobbling up all the PC bullshit leftist Bloom spews. Curious – Is she Jewish or a Mohammedan?

      • Richard Landers says

        Oct 10, 2014 at 10:50 pm

        In the case of brainwashing her students, I suspect that only a very light rinse is required.

        • gravenimage says

          Oct 10, 2014 at 11:42 pm

          Brilliant comment—probably all too true in most cases.

  50. Jewel says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Has she written a book tited, “Why I am Not A Muslim”?

  51. Michael says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 9:30 am

    I just wrote her, too. Hopefully a debate will come of this, but I’m not holding my breath.

  52. Islam_Macht_Frei says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 9:45 am

    From Bloom’s email:

    “My Islamic studies program was funded by the son of Rita Hayworth”\\

    Rita Hayworth never had a son, per Ms. Bloom’s favorite academic source of information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Hayworth

    I think we know all we need to know about her academic rigor.

  53. Richard F. Miniter says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 11:14 am

    I am not an Islamic scholar pretentious or otherwise. But I’d like to know from Ms. Bloom if beheading Jews and Christians is contrary to the Koran why Moslem have been doing just that for 1300 years? And why Moslems don’t sing?

    • Wolfenberry says

      Oct 10, 2014 at 12:35 pm

      Are you THE Richard Miniter? If so, it’s nice to see, er, read you, around these parts.

  54. Coolio says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 12:09 pm

    Just emailed Professor Bloom, briefly quoting the salient points of this article and saying ‘I must say, I would be fascinated to see you win the a debate with Mr Spencer and urge you to face up to him, on whatever media channel you prefer.’

  55. Ralph says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 6:18 pm

    Muhammad posed as an apostle of God. Yet his life is filled with lustfulness (12 marriages and sex with a child, slaves and concubines), rapes, warfare, conquests, and unmerciful butcheries. The infinitely good, just and all holy God simply cannot tolerate anything in the least unjust or sinful. What Muhammad produced in the Qur’an is simply a book of gibberish consisting of later evil verses abrogating (superseding) earlier peaceful verses. These verses in Arabic poetically “tickle” the ears of Arab listeners. Islam is a caustic blend of paganism and twisted Bible stories. Muhammad, its lone “prophet”, who made no prophecies, conceived his religion to satiate his lust for power, sex, and money. He was a terrorist. And 70% of what is here is from Muslim and ex-Muslim historians – back to the 8th century and the Qur’an itself.

  56. eduardo odraude says

    Oct 10, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    What a dope, or a sellout. She’s both arrogant and ignorant.

  57. Rick Cohen says

    Oct 23, 2014 at 8:02 am

    This is extremely humorous to me…. as Mia hasn’t changed in 20+ years. You see I was once married to her.. ugh…. she started off kind of normal but quickly flip flopped on her views of Jews and Palestinians when terrorism became “popular”. The posts about her behaviors and attitudes are a personality defect and make her impossible to live with! Kind of away from the terrorism subject but I think her “facts” need to be looked at less carefully and more like opinions backed up by selective reasoning… but thats just me

  58. sidney penny says

    Nov 18, 2014 at 7:01 am

    Maybe Professor Mia M. Bloom was a student of Professor Professor Romila Thapar

    Note the “noxious dose of her arrogance, ignorance, and utterly unwarranted hostility” by Professor Romila Thapar.

    Should I add pose of superiority as well by Professor Mia M. Bloom

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/index.htm

    HINDU TEMPLES
    WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM
    Volume II
    The Islamic Evidence
    (Second Enlarged Edition)
    SITA RAM GOEL
    VOICE OF INDIA
    NEW DELHI

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/app4.htm

    Summary below but read the whole thing online.

    QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE MARXIST PROFESSORS

    I
    ………………….

    We stick to our position, namely, that it is the theology of Islam which offers the only straight-forward and satisfactory explanation of why Muslim conquerors and rulers did what they did to Hindu places of worship.

    We have provided full facts about that theology, as also about the history of how it took its final shape. It would be most welcome if the professors come out with their comments on the character and meaning of this theology. In fact, we look forward to a Marxist explanation of it. What were the concrete material conditions and objective historical forces which gave rise to this theology in Arabia at that time?
    ……………..

    There seems to be no other way. Sweeping generalizations based on slender or dubious evidence are no substitute for hard facts.

    We hope that the professors will not resort to the hackneyed swear-words such as Hindu communalism, reactionary revivalism, and the rest.

    Swear-words offer no solutions. In any case, the time when swear-words carried weight has passed. It is no use inviting the other side to hit back in a similar manner.

    If the professors fail to come out with answers to questions posed by us, and to present the evidence in support of their statements, we shall be forced to conclude that far from being serious academicians, they are cynical politicians hawking ad hoc or plausible explanations in the service of a party line.
    ……………..

    Such damage has already been done to the image of Hinduism, and much more damage is likely to result if this talk is not challenged and stopped. How loose and irresponsible this talk can be is illustrated by the following instance:

    I attended a seminar on the Mandal Commission Report held in the Gandhi Peace Foundation in October, 1990. One of the participants who spoke in support of the Report was Shri Hukam Dev Narain Singh Yadav, an MP of the Janata Dal at that time and a Minister in the Chandra Shekhar Government some time later. Speaking of Brahminical tyranny, he referred to the time when rivers of the blood of Buddhist monks were made to flow in the Buddhist monasteries (jab bauddha vihãroñ mêñ bauddha bhikSuoñ kê rakta kî nadiyãñ bahãî gayî thîñ).

    The following dialogue took place between myself and the speaker at the end of the latter’s talk:

    I: Could you kindly name the Buddhist monasteries where it happened, and also the time when it happened?
    Speaker: I will not pretend that I know. I must have heard it from someone, or read it somewhere.
    I: I give you six months for finding a single instance of Hindus murdering Buddhist monks. I am demanding only one instance, not two.
    Speaker: I will try.

    The speaker looked to me to be one of the finest men I had ever met. His voice had a ring of sincerity in whatever he said. His humility in presenting his point of view was more than exemplary. I expected him to remember my question and provide an answer.

    But two and a half years have passed and there is no word from the eminent politician occupying a high position in the public life of this country.

    I know that the evidence demanded by me does not exist. It is a Big Lie being spread by Hindu-baiters. Hindus have never done what they are being accused of. My only point in mentioning the incident is that even honest people can become victims of hostile propaganda which is not countered in good time.

    ……………………….

    II

    When the first edition of this book came out, I sent a copy of it to Professor Romila Thapar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in her capacity as the doyen of the Marxist historians.

    ………………..

    I am drawing your attention to these pages so that your school does not plead ignorance of them while maintaining silence. Of course, you are free to ignore the questionnaire as coming from a person who has had no standing in the academic world. I, however, feel that there are many people still left in this country who care for truth more than for position

    ……………….

    She was kind enough to reply by a letter which said:
    As regards the issues raised in the questionnaire included in your book, you are perhaps unaware of the scholarly work on the subject discussed by a variety of historians of various schools of thought.

    ……………….

    I wrote back, and stated my position as follows:

    I wish you had refrained from striking the pose of superiority which has been for long the hallmark of your school of historians. It does not go well with academic discipline.

    For your information I have been primarily a student of ancient India’s history and culture, and gone through a good deal of source material, literary as well as archaeological. One of the reasons I have wandered into India’s medieval and modern history is that I want to know what happened to Hindu heritage at the hands of latter-day liberators.

    …………………

    I am sorry to say that your pamphlet has added nothing to my knowledge or perspective. The method of selecting facts and floating fictions is very well known to me. Christian missionaries have done far better with lesser fare.

    …………………

    (continues further )

  59. sidney penny says

    Nov 18, 2014 at 7:05 am

    Maybe Professor Mia M. Bloom was a student of Professor Professor Romila Thapar

    Note the “noxious dose of her arrogance, ignorance, and utterly unwarranted hostility” by Professor Romila Thapar.

    Should I add pose of superiority as well by Professor Mia M. Bloom

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/index.htm

    HINDU TEMPLES
    WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM
    Volume II
    The Islamic Evidence
    (Second Enlarged Edition)
    SITA RAM GOEL
    VOICE OF INDIA
    NEW DELHI

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/app4.htm

    Summary below but read the whole thing online.

    QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE MARXIST PROFESSORS

    I
    ………………….

    We stick to our position, namely, that it is the theology of Islam which offers the only straight-forward and satisfactory explanation of why Muslim conquerors and rulers did what they did to Hindu places of worship.

    We have provided full facts about that theology, as also about the history of how it took its final shape. It would be most welcome if the professors come out with their comments on the character and meaning of this theology. In fact, we look forward to a Marxist explanation of it. What were the concrete material conditions and objective historical forces which gave rise to this theology in Arabia at that time?
    ……………..

    There seems to be no other way. Sweeping generalizations based on slender or dubious evidence are no substitute for hard facts.

    We hope that the professors will not resort to the hackneyed swear-words such as Hindu communalism, reactionary revivalism, and the rest.

    Swear-words offer no solutions. In any case, the time when swear-words carried weight has passed. It is no use inviting the other side to hit back in a similar manner.

    If the professors fail to come out with answers to questions posed by us, and to present the evidence in support of their statements, we shall be forced to conclude that far from being serious academicians, they are cynical politicians hawking ad hoc or plausible explanations in the service of a party line.
    ……………..

    Such damage has already been done to the image of Hinduism, and much more damage is likely to result if this talk is not challenged and stopped. How loose and irresponsible this talk can be is illustrated by the following instance:

    I attended a seminar on the Mandal Commission Report held in the Gandhi Peace Foundation in October, 1990. One of the participants who spoke in support of the Report was Shri Hukam Dev Narain Singh Yadav, an MP of the Janata Dal at that time and a Minister in the Chandra Shekhar Government some time later. Speaking of Brahminical tyranny, he referred to the time when rivers of the blood of Buddhist monks were made to flow in the Buddhist monasteries (jab bauddha vihãroñ mêñ bauddha bhikSuoñ kê rakta kî nadiyãñ bahãî gayî thîñ).

    The following dialogue took place between myself and the speaker at the end of the latter’s talk:

    I: Could you kindly name the Buddhist monasteries where it happened, and also the time when it happened?
    Speaker: I will not pretend that I know. I must have heard it from someone, or read it somewhere.
    I: I give you six months for finding a single instance of Hindus murdering Buddhist monks. I am demanding only one instance, not two.
    Speaker: I will try.

    The speaker looked to me to be one of the finest men I had ever met. His voice had a ring of sincerity in whatever he said. His humility in presenting his point of view was more than exemplary. I expected him to remember my question and provide an answer.

    But two and a half years have passed and there is no word from the eminent politician occupying a high position in the public life of this country.

    I know that the evidence demanded by me does not exist. It is a Big Lie being spread by Hindu-baiters. Hindus have never done what they are being accused of. My only point in mentioning the incident is that even honest people can become victims of hostile propaganda which is not countered in good time.

    ……………………….

    II

    When the first edition of this book came out, I sent a copy of it to Professor Romila Thapar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in her capacity as the doyen of the Marxist historians.

    ………………..

    I am drawing your attention to these pages so that your school does not plead ignorance of them while maintaining silence. Of course, you are free to ignore the questionnaire as coming from a person who has had no standing in the academic world. I, however, feel that there are many people still left in this country who care for truth more than for position

    ……………….

    She was kind enough to reply by a letter which said:
    As regards the issues raised in the questionnaire included in your book, you are perhaps unaware of the scholarly work on the subject discussed by a variety of historians of various schools of thought.

    ……………….

    I wrote back, and stated my position as follows:

    I wish you had refrained from striking the pose of superiority which has been for long the hallmark of your school of historians. It does not go well with academic discipline.

    For your information I have been primarily a student of ancient India’s history and culture, and gone through a good deal of source material, literary as well as archaeological. One of the reasons I have wandered into India’s medieval and modern history is that I want to know what happened to Hindu heritage at the hands of latter-day liberators.

    …………………

    I am sorry to say that your pamphlet has added nothing to my knowledge or perspective. The method of selecting facts and floating fictions is very well known to me. Christian missionaries have done far better with lesser fare.

    …………………

    (continues further )

  60. Richard Childress says

    Nov 25, 2014 at 4:43 am

    Robert, how does one go about getting a debate set up? There is an academic in Chicago who thinks Karen Armstrong is the last word. He has a phD in comparative religions I think it is. We recently went publicly round and round over the Affleck/Maher thing, I said you’d destroy him in a debate and he said “don’t be too sure”. I’d love to see a debate happen and he says he’d do that. What is the next step?

    Richard (faithful jihadwatch reader for nearly ten years now)

    • Robert Spencer says

      Nov 25, 2014 at 8:11 am

      Richard, I’d be happy to debate him. You can email me at director@jihadwatch.org to set it up. Thanks and regards, RS

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