President Obama’s Cairo SpeechPresident Obama was quite clueless when he wanted to repair relations with the Muslim world. The Muslim world is a varied one, and there is no reason to assume that what one Muslim likes, all will like. In fact, not only is the Muslim world varied, but there are factions within it that are hostile to one another, the Sunni-Shi‘ite one being the obvious example. But now there is some suggestion that even the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists are vying for power in Egypt (and that that is what the protests were about). The more sensible approach would have been to have picked out those Muslims in advance that one wanted to repair relations with, if that was even needed, and then to have acted accordingly.
What the Typical Atheist Believes These DaysThis
post (hat tip: Mark Spahn) on Jihad Watch contains a letter purporting to be from an atheist who is upset that the blog is upsetting to Muslims. Some readers were convinced that the letter-writer was not an atheist because, among other reasons, an atheist would not worry about upsetting Muslims. However, I have no idea what is typical among atheists these days. Obviously, someone like Christopher Hitchens is representative of atheists who don’t care if they hurt the feelings of Muslims, but I assume there are plenty of others who have been brainwashed by the left into worrying about such things. In fact, I can think of at least two I know who might be upset at the idea of upsetting Muslims.
Bush’s Trashing of the ConstitutionI remember the days during the Bush administration when liberal and leftist commentators would write solemn opinion pieces in newspapers about how the Bush administration was trashing the Constitution and how awful it was. I never took these people very seriously because I thought they were empowering people who were going to trash it a lot more than Bush would ever do. And now I know for certain that I am right. Where are all these Constitution protectors now that the current administration is trying to stifle free speech?
Wishing to OffendYears ago after the release of the film
Life of Brian, I saw an interview with John Cleese. I’m not so good with English accents, but if I understood him correctly, he quoted from someone who said, “But aren’t there some people you would wish to offend?” That seems to represent the view of leftists when it comes to fundamentalist Christians. The question is why they are so reluctant to offend similar people among Muslims. The Muslims who are the most upset at this film are likely to be the most sexist, the most homophobic, and the most anti-secular. Why wouldn’t I wish to offend them? Why wouldn’t every leftist wish to offend them?
What Leftists Should Be SayingWhat leftists should be saying is not that they want the producer of the anti-Islam film arrested, but that the crowds protesting are mere tools of the imams, who are whipping them into a frenzy. The people in those crowds should realize that their real enemy is their own reactionary culture, a culture that guarantees that they will continue to stagnate. Even the rich countries of the Gulf will stagnate once enough oil is found elsewhere so that they become poorer. The sooner they stop listening to these imams, the better.
Meter Maids in SpainThis
article claims that a Spanish town with a heavy Muslim population has replaced their meter maids in Muslim areas with men doing the job, because the Muslims didn’t want women in that role. This has apparently upset not just the conservatives, but also the leftists. Well, this is what many of us have been predicting for ages, that women (among others) will be victimized by multiculturalism. The only question has been when the left would wake up and figure things out.
The Distraction from SyriaAren’t maybe all of these violent protests really about putting pressure back on the West? Since the rebellion in Syria began, more and more it has become a big fight among Muslims (with Sunnis sending fighters to help the rebels, and Shi‘ites sending fighters to help the Assad regime), and less and less is it about how we in the West are guilty, guilty guilty. So, why not stir up some trouble to put the pressure back where it belongs, on the West?