Journalistic jihad. From The Times via The Australian, with thanks to Meredith:
BAGHDAD: Sliding out of the insurgents' house in Fallujah, the Iraqi journalist headed out of town with the Arab fighters' threat echoing in his ears: "Interview us or we will kill you."Before he had reached his car, masked Iraqi fighters sensitive about the presence of foreign guerillas in the city countermanded the order, presenting him with an impossible dilemma. "Broadcast that and we will kill you," they told 30-year-old television journalist Mohamed Abdul Razzaq.
One day into the campaign for the January election, Iraq's media are feeling the squeeze in a country where decades of dictatorship has left no legacy of tolerance for free speech.
The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat closed its Baghdad office yesterday after rebels threatened to blow it up if the paper did not publish within one week a story about Omar Hadeed, the Iraqi guerilla said to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's deputy in Fallujah.
"The men said that they sever the heads of those who malign them like they cut off the heads of sheep," the newspaper said.
Sixty journalists have been killed in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003. Although most of the attention is on Western journalists, those in the Arabic media face daily risks to their lives, and complain of intimidation by insurgents and arrest and confiscation of material by trigger-happy US-led forces.
Hmmmm.... that goes a long way in explaining lamestream media attitudes of unending appeasement of the islamic cause. When last did you hear the mainstream media openly criiticise jihad or not try to 'balance' their covergae with 'positive' spin on islam?
I believe reuters has gone on record saying they fear for the lives of their journos in the ME is they label cartian 'militant' groups terrorists.
What’s PC Today? – PC Entertainment
In a shrinking world and with increasingly diverse views – to be Politically Correct is our way of getting along. The guy next to you might be a good person but have views which are slightly different. PC is a compromise, it is something that we do voluntarily and should continue to do.
But there is a new PC - one that is not voluntary – one that says - use this or die. Today, to speak out against Islam is to risk one’s life. This is not the PC that most of us had in mind. As the film producer Van Gogh found to his peril – that to expose the brutality which many Muslim women endure in order to be submissive to their husbands – is to die. But is this a new threat? Or is it a sign of the things to come – remember Salman Rushdie?
The new PC comes with a threat to one’s safety – first it seeks to limit speech – next possibly choice. It’s seen as the new Fascism – and has been dubbed Islamofascism. It comes with the knowledge – that to speak out against Islamic practices – is to risk loosing one’s life. This while – Islamic leaders insist that their religion is one of ‘Peace’.
This new PC is in no way - the one we use to respect the other guy – and for this reason it shouldn’t be called PC at all; but rather AC – Authoritarian Correctness or ARC – Authoritarian Religious Correctness – because we use it where we fear for our lives.
When we hold political elections – we criticize the other guy – big time. The church and its religious content can also be analyzed – as well as criticized. But to criticize Islam – according to Cat Stevens / now Yusuf Islam – that person should be killed. Why should we – be threatened by the religious beliefs – of groups which have primarily come to the West as refugees and/or as economic migrants? Who will define our thinking – and should it be defined violent means?
To PC or Not To PC?
Many of the new Islamic migrants are former goat or camel herders – modern concepts and ideas of freedoms – will be lost on most for at least a few generations. But does the extended – culture shock give them the right to murder us?
Many Islamic people wish to migrate to Western countries because they believe that we have everything. In their minds – our streets are paved with gold.
Many Western people believe that they had to work for everything they have – and that even golden streets need paving.
Turkey should not enter the European Union. The Turkish people will only come for the money – but will not want to integrate.
Perhaps Turkey should join an Arab Union. Human rights and the rights of women will not feature high on the list of reforms – needed to join it. And the economic policies will be simplified to – where there is oil – there is prosperity and economic growth. The Turkish worker could fill this need for Islamic workers in the Saudi Kingdom.
More than half of Turkish women believe it is OK to be beaten by their husbands or other male members of the household.
The Theo Van Gogh film was provocative in that it showed the partially naked body of a Muslim woman – covered in Islamic verse.
The Theo Van Gogh film was provocative in that it showed the total humiliation and abuse of a woman by her husband – under the sanction of a belief in God.
An Islamic Imam is deported to Algeria – for teaching the Qur’anic verse – on how best to beat your wife – without leaving visible marks.
Islam should moderate itself – if it is to co-exist peacefully in Europe.
Does the Islamic man feel that he should have dominion over all women / even when he walks the streets in a Western country?
According to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an – women are as farm animals. Are they?
Muslims in Western countries are using – those countries’ laws to suppress their women – as they were in the old country. In the spirit of openness and PC’correctness it is being allowed.
Did you see how few women were in the Olympic line-up for Islamic countries – I am sure they were all happy and completely satisfied to watch the other women of the world perform at such a high level.
There was an unprecedented level of security at the 2004 Olympics.
All Islamic people are not violent.
Why all the security at the airports – if Islamic violence is a not a real threat?
Which Islamic people are you afraid of?
Islam is a religion of Peace.
Where Islam can not take over a non-Islamic area - peacefully – the Qu’ran teaches us that violence should be used.
If you are a Muslim and wish to convert to another religion – you should be put to death under Shari’ah Law.
We should all try to understand Islam – to live together in harmony.
We should all try to understand Islam – to find out why we are being attacked.
Allah is the ‘One True God’.
Allah was a Moon God to the ancient Arabs.
Allah had three daughters – the ‘trinity’ / named Al-Lat, Manat and Al-Uzza. (See Encyclopedia Britannica (Islam/Life) Book 22 / page 105 – top right – sharing of the deities [Origin of Hajj – same page – bottom left]. Allah’s three daughters / all mentioned in the Koran / page unknown.
Encyclopedia Britannica – not allowed in the Saudi Kingdom. In the past the books have been shredded on entry.
Islam is a backward religion. It requires blind devotion – to ancient ideas. The problem comes when it requires the rest of us – to do the same.
One day Islam will take over America and Europe.
Does anyone remember when Osama bin Laden first declared war on America and the West? At the time – how seriously did any of us take the threat?
Did you ever see a beheading?
Before and during the beheading – an Islamic prayer is chanted in a hypnotic fashion. The knife is usually too dull to do the job quickly and so the barbaric fest lasts for up to 3 minutes or more.
Those are not the true followers of Islam.
The Koran says…...women can work / women can choose whether or not to wear a head covering / women are like farm animals / men can beat and starve them.
Questioning the Islamic faith is hateful.
In Islamic countries – real questions on Islam are forbidden.
Islam is a good religion - which has been hijacked by a few radicals.
Challenging Islam does no one any good.
Islam is a beautiful religion.
Islamic knowledge was a part of the foundation of a modern Europe; so should it not be too rude to ask - What has Islam done lately?
Why should we care anymore if Islamic women are mistreated? They have made the sacrifice for the Greater Good – and they prefer it that way.
Honor killings are good for Islamic women and girls. A family’s honor is more important than the female’s freedom.
The Jordanian women voted to keep Honor Killings. It is thought that it was more difficult for the men – who were responsible for carrying out the merciful act.
An Islamic woman’s worth is in her virginity. With all the things that today’s woman can accomplish – from being an astronaut to running a country as Prime Minister – it all comes down to ‘Are You a Virgin?’ – No one ever asks the men.
If an Islamic woman looses her virginity outside of marriage – even through rape – she might be killed or discarded at best. A single piece of skin – separates her from the rest of humanity.
An Islamic woman can work outside the home – with her family’s permission.
Islamic women are not so smart – they need to be controlled – it is for their own good.
Many Islamic women are kept illiterate – as with slavery – it is a lot easier to control those who can not read.
But the Koran doesn’t say this…………….
Islam is perfect and so should not be challenged.
September 11 / March 11 train bombing / Beslam siege / the beheadings – expose an underbelly of the Islamic faith which many never expected – existed. Starting with Saudi Arabia – young people in the Islamic World are taught to hate and possibly to kill – those who do not fall under their religious faith – in state run schools.
Perhaps Saudi Arabia’s desire to gain control of the West – equates to having us all face East while praying.
Islam teaches tolerance of other religions.
CNN’s ‘Inside the Middle East’ invites viewers to visit Iran – for a vacation. About one week later, Iranian government officials openly call for ‘Death to the Americans’. Does CNN think that maybe the Canadians and British can still go?
Islam is being portrayed badly by the world’s media.
When pressed – on China TV – about the death of Chinese workers in the region – the Pakistani Prime Minister said – Islam is a religion of companion, tolerance, love and moderation – he went on to site the Palestinian Crisis as the underlying cause for all Islamic violence. (Even the three attempts on the Pakistani President’s life?)
Peaceful protest worked for Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King in the US and after 40 years considerable progress has been made – but this probably would not work for the Palestinians. Living in rubble is good.
Sudanese leader tells group of Arab League in Egypt that – Israel – is responsible for the Brown skin Muslim against Black skin Muslim – Darfur crisis.
Is it true – that nonviolent Buddhist Monks have to walk with armed guards in Thailand – because they are being attacked by Islamic people and at least one of these Monks was found beheaded? I am sure these same Buddhist Monks will have all Muslims in their prayers.
Are the armored tanks parked outside Saudi Royal families’ homes – there to protect them from the – Freedom Fighters / Terrorists / American Infidels / Israeli Invasion?
Islamic countries repress all information – including that of the News Media and Scientific programs – in favor of high religious content and the glorification of the leaders.
How long will we be dependant on the oil?
How long could the Middle East remain prosperous on the illusionary Islamic Science – without the oil revenues?
At the moment Saudi Arabia can afford its eccentricities – but they may prove too expensive – in the future.
Besides oil – we know that there is also a large market in black cloth in ‘The Kingdom’.
Women’s Rights anyone? – Baa Humbug!
This is the religion of peace. How can they say that without breaking up in laughter.
Carolyn2:
They can say it because their very definition of the word "peace" is utterly different from ours. "Peace" to them is not the absence of conflict, it is the ultimate triumphant dominance of islam.
Quite right CGW. In the same way, "there is no compulsion in islam" really means "to become apostate means that you are either foolish or reluctant; in the former case we will bring you back to our ways, in the latter, surely you must die".
Geoff
No action on 'gay Jesus' - police
The production has provoked strong criticism
Police investigating a controversial theatre production which depicts Jesus as homosexual have said they will be taking no further action at the moment.
Christian Voice has labelled Corpus Christi, now playing in St Andrews, a "hate-filled mockery".
A member of the prayer group lodged a complaint of blasphemy with Fife police after walking out of the play on its opening night on Thursday.
However, the director of Corpus Christi defended her version of the play.
The piece by American playwright Terence McNally is being staged by student company Zuloo and is sold out at The Crawford Arts Centre until its run ends on Saturday night.
I don't like Christ portrayed as a filthy, swearing, pervert
Christian Voice Protester
Q & A: Blasphemy law
The play originally opened in the US in 1997 to strong protests and is a modern retelling of the Gospels, taking place in the Texan town of Corpus Christi.
Mr McNally's play portrays Jesus and his disciples as sexually active homosexuals, which has since become the main focus for its many religious critics.
About 20 Christian Voice protesters gathered outside the centre on Thursday.
One of the protesters outlined her reasons for joining the demonstration to BBC Scotland and said: "I'm a Catholic Christian and I don't like Christ portrayed as a filthy, swearing, pervert."
While another added: "The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, that there's no way to Heaven but through him.
Homosexual 'sin'
"And for people to come out and say he is a homosexual and to portray him as such is unacceptable.
"Jesus was sinless. He wasn't a homosexual. Homosexuality is a sin.
"It's a slur on Jesus Christ and these people will have to stand before God in judgement some day."
However one Christian who went to see the play did not agree with their views.
On leaving the opening night, she said: "I consider myself a born again Christian and a lot of stuff which happened in that play, I could see as being offensive.
"But we live in a world where stuff like this happens and you've to take these things with a pinch of salt.
I fear for the town of St Andrews which has allowed this blasphemous, hate-filled mockery
Stephen Green
Director Christian Voice
"You know what's going to happen in the play and I enjoyed it."
Stephen Green, director of Christian Voice, said he has not seen the play but stressed: "If there is a blasphemy like this Christians have to stand up about it.
"What we have here is our beliefs, our saviour, being vilified and insulted and this wouldn't happen against any other religion.
"If they did this to Mohammed or Buddha all hell would break loose around them.
"The fact is that Jesus Christ is being portrayed here as a foul-mouthed, drunken, promiscuous, homosexual and that is an insult to my faith.
"Quite apart from that, God is not mocked, and I fear for the town of St Andrews which has allowed this blasphemous, hate-filled mockery."
But the director of the play, Zsuzsi Lyndsay, was unbowed by the criticism.
'Deepest respect'
She said: "What we were trying to do is to reiterate the fact that Jesus is for everyone, not just for people who are straight but for homosexuals as well.
"I have the deepest respect for their beliefs, I'd have even more respect for them though if they came to see the show and saw what they were picketing against.
Protesters have branded the production a "slur"
"I'm afraid that Jesus is not portrayed as a drunken, foul-mouthed messiah and if you read the play you would know that.
"He doesn't say one bad word throughout the play."
Responding to Mr Green's criticisms, Ms Lyndsay invited him to see the play and judge its contents for himself.
Fife Constabulary confirmed that it had received a complaint of blasphemy from a member of Christian Voice who walked out of the play in disgust.
But Inspector Craig Dewar said they would be keeping a close eye on events.
He said: "We'll be here to facilitate each individual's democratic rights and their freedom of expression, and that's on both sides."
The last man to be sent to prison in Britain for blasphemy was John William Gott.
In 1922 he was sentenced to nine months' hard labour for comparing Jesus with a circus clown. In Scotland, there has not been a public prosecution since 1843.
In 1977 moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution against the Gay News for publishing a poem, The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name, depicting a centurion's love for Christ.
how about a play about mohamed,
I read an article on BBC online about two nurses in France who were murdered. What caought my eye was the manner in which they were murdered: decapitation and slit throats. Sound familiar at all?
Check it out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4109945.stm
This line says all that one needs to know about the arrogant sense of entitlement felt by pious Muslims:
That's why Theo Van Gogh was killed, it's why Salman Rushdie has lived in hiding all these years, and why Ibn Warraq writes under a pseudonym.
Yes, because here in the great Satan, life isn't worth anything. That's why we uphold a strict trigger happiness policy.
I think someones confusing politeness with political correctness.
--------------------------------------
"PSYCHODYNAMICS OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Introduction
The term "Political Correctness" made its way into public consciousness through an article by Richard Bernstein in the New York Times (1991). It referred to a strain of post-Marxist leftist thought in which the struggle between economic classes had been replaced, as a primary ontological framework, with a more differentiated set of oppositions based on such differences as gender, race, and sexual orientation. Thus, as Bernstein put it:
Central to pc-ness, which has its roots in 1960's radicalism, is the view that Western society has for centuries been dominated by what is often called 'the white male power structure' or 'Patriarchal hegemony.' A related belief is that everybody but white heterosexual males has suffered some form of repression and been denied a cultural voice ... (Section 4:1).....
http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=18&q=http://www.sba.oakland.edu/faculty/schwartz/PCJABS.htm&e=7627
Pass it On:
One of the dreaful things bout the current wave of Islamicist militancy is that it isn't ex-goat and camel herders doing it. Most of those leading the movement are privileged and wealthy Gilf Arabs. The half-literate goatherders either helped or cheered while America and allies cleared hit the Taliban, then stuck up the middle finger at the Taliban remnants to vote in the election that Karzai just won.
As for blaming the JOOOOOZ for everything, those Arab League types blaming Israel for brown Muslim v. black Muslim violence in Darfur stinks of education in the worst kind of Western social science--the higher excuse-making, if you will.
Shiva: I'll admit that my sympathies are 150% with the people protesting a production showing Jesus Christ as a homosexual. Frankly, I think that all these people who see homosexuality in every deep friendship between men are pathetic people who have never enjoyed a real friendship in their lives and for whom everything is sex.
BTW, I do stake my soul on Jesus' sinlessness, including freedom from homosexuality. If they bring up John leaning on Jesus' breast, well, don't tell me the Latino guys I know who give me abrazos are marracons; or that the older Chinese men with large broods of children and grandchildren who take me by the hand are "tong zhi". And yes, I'm a homophobe: anyone who can enjoy giving or getting the moral equivalent of a colonoscopy scares me only a little less than someone who thinks that theological arguments are to be settled by guns and bombs.
If you scroll back up to patrickafir and click on the box to the right, you'll go directly to his website. I'm a fan. I urge you to give his work a look at. He's a good guy who writes well and thinks clearly.
As a kid I recall quite clearly that adults would seriously question whether a statement on a political topic was "politically correct," and they did so without any sense of irony or derision. It was the Communist equivelent of questioning the morality of x. Often times the conversations would descend into Scholatic silliness that now reminds me of Scholaticus, who wrote this wonderful peice of logic: "Do not enter the water until you know how to swim."
The point of this is to show that in the European Middle Ages, with it's myopic Aristotleanism, with very few exceptions, the Academy was worthless at best, and genuinely harmful usually. The Sorbonne, a university that today claims high prestige, was a sewer of scholaticism and its attendent hersey hunters. The greatest Moslem philosophers of today, those the Moslems and their cheerleaders are forever extolling the brilliance of, are those very same commentators on Aristotle who lived in the Middle Ages and who did nothing better than rehash Arsitotle. today, the same myopic scholasticism prevails in our universities in the West. Anything is valid so long as it fits within the box of Left political orthodoxy. Our intellectual class has betrayed the West by lapsing into scholasticism. These are pseudo-intellectuals arguing how many peasants can live on the head of a pin. And when that is the pinnacle of the academy, consider how far the drift down to the actual peasants with technical training, the educated idiots of Islam with their engineering degrees. Trained by Islam to memorize and not to criticize, they believe all the witch-burning invective, all the stupidities of the daily conspiracy, and the drivel of Islam itself. They live in the Middle Ages. Our intellectuals are no better. They are committed to a programme of thought, insular and self-proving, and any challenge to it is seen as the work of the devil, as racist, sexist, or homophobic. Anything outside the box of Left political orthodoxy is politically incorrect, i.e. as heretical and deserving of an auto de fe.
We are living in a culture ruled by mad priests of fascist Liberalism. The struggle for women's rights is Feminism, not the safety of Aayan Hirsi Ali and those like her. The preservation of the lives of Christians in Darfur is secondary or non-existent as a project for the liberals because it conflicts with the power struggles of Blacks in Sudan, and to intervene is now not a Human endevour but racist imperialism and neo-colonialism. And to ensure that homosexuals aren't hunted down and burned at the stake is to produce plays in theatres that malign Christians.
If we are to make a stand against Islam as fascism we can forget about enlisting the help of the Left. They have gone completely into the fascist camp, from which they mostly began. One of the last, and one of the few cogent statements Robespierre made was, just prior to his friends cutting off his head: "Extremes meet." Thse social revolution of the 60s died of cancer, and the corpse still walks among us. The Left is so putrid that only the worst among us can stand the stench, and yet like people of the Middle Ages, the smell is part of the enviornment, and perfume is the solution. The Left is no friend to us. Any claims to moral superiority they make, and they demonstrate in their thousands at every opportunity, come out of their mouths like swamp gas. We have no need of these people as they are.
There's been some discussion here whether we as contributors to Spencer's site are doing more harm than good by not being more moderate in our writings, texts that incite the Left and the dhimmi media to dismiss Spencer's work as Rightwing crankiness. We do not need them on our side. If we compromise on our stands we will become co-opted into the mire of what is and what isn't allowable, what is politically expedient, and then what is politically acceptable until we find ourselves tied in knots wondering if we're politically correct. We do not need moderators, censors, or people giving advice on how and what to write here. The standard is organic, flowing back and forth, and in time will find its proper level of discourse. All sites such as this are layered, each having a niche of Human need to be filled, and we intuitively fill those niches. to try to exclude one niche from the organism is to create the need for a replacement. This site, and all others like it, is a body of people that fits a pattern that cannot be tampered with without cause so much distortion that it will die. There's no good to come from attempts to make this site politically correct or appealing to the msm. this site is what it must be, and there can't be any Procrustan bed to change its shape and size. If we try we'll soon end up with statements like: Write this way or you'll be banned, and if you write that we'll expel you."
What, then, is to be done? If we carry on as usual, we will be ignored or slandered by the general population. I say: "So what?" Integritiy is far better than popularity, even if it doesn't pay very much. We can, without ourselves devolving into fanaticism, remain firm in our resolve to work against the fascism of Islam. We do not need a great number of supporters. We need only those who will act in good faith for the cause of human freedon, and that means we need people who will lead. When others lead, the masses follow. We do not need converts. They will come when the growth rate is visible. In the meantime we need those who are already converted to our cause, those who sit silently on the bench waiting to be called. In time ours will be the orthodoxy of the day. God help us.
Again, by way of conclusion here, I urge you to contact your neighbors and friends, move them slowly onto positions of alliance with this movement, and the momentum will build. Make no compromises here. Wew do not need the support of the politically correct pseudo-intellectuals. In time they will take up this cause as their own, and they will move into comfortable positions at universities to replace Esposito and Armstrong. for us, now, the time is here to create from the ground a grass-roots counter-movement to regain the world of free thought and individual liberty, and not simply for ourselves but for the entire world of Humanity--including Moslems.
I propose that we hand out leaflets with our Christmas cards. I'll do my best to ensure that we have something within the coming week. Should I fail, I urge you to pick up the challenge and succeed where I might fail due to lack of computer skill. I will, if I'm able, post a page we can all pass out to our friends and associates. It all starts simply enough, and then one realizes that power to the people is truely the power people always had but never recognized.
We can rely exclusively on ourselves at this point, and we can become the media. Our message is clear, and our base will expand. If we get out our message, it need not be politically palatable to anyone other than those who already agree with us. And we start from the higher moral ground of not having to threaten anyone with death if they pass out our material. Or don't.