Monday, July 10, 2006
THE MATH IS NOT PLEASANT READING
Michael Portillo, being rational, in The Times (via the wife):
Ummmm, most British Muslims seem to -- the BBC, June 23:
Thus does even obvious informational acceptance among a small minority in democratic Britain seem to have a scarily long way to go to reach similar rationality. Back to Mr Portillo:
None of that matters to the likes of those who think this way, according to another Times piece:
There are 1.6 million Muslims in the UK. What's 13% or even 2% of them? Well, you do the math. The numbers aren't pleasant reading.
Relatedly, consider this, from the Medieval Sourcebook, AD 1120:
Bear those lines in mind, as we fast forward to an obviously underappreciated poet of our current day, AD 2006:
Thus has thinking "advanced" in 900 years. For, gosh, what a peaceful soul that is. That Omar is clearly another Omar Khayyam. Indeed, such beautiful prosletyzing can but only make one wanna join "that faith".
Yes, apparently another one with way too much "self-esteem". Indeed, to be honest, until the likes of THAT start to get dismissed and laughed AT, and not applauded and laughed WITH, it doesn't require a PR genius to note that Islam overall will not begin to shake off the poor image of it the likes of THAT continue to help create. ¶ by Robert, Monday, July 10, 2006
Michael Portillo, being rational, in The Times (via the wife):
...The allied invasion of Afghanistan was a response to the terrorist murder of nearly 3,000 civilians in New York and Washington. No serious figure denies that Al-Qaeda organised the crime from its bases in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Ummmm, most British Muslims seem to -- the BBC, June 23:
...In one of the survey's most striking findings, majorities in Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan said they did not believe Arabs carried out the attacks on the US on 11 September 2001.
The report says this attitude is not limited to Muslims in Muslim-dominated countries - 56% of British Muslims said the same...
The report says this attitude is not limited to Muslims in Muslim-dominated countries - 56% of British Muslims said the same...
Thus does even obvious informational acceptance among a small minority in democratic Britain seem to have a scarily long way to go to reach similar rationality. Back to Mr Portillo:
Iraq is a more controversial case. It has become a mess. But relatively few Iraqis died when we invaded and overthrew their genocidal dictator. The vast majority of Muslims who have been killed since have been murdered by other Muslims — by Al-Qaeda, by Sunni and Shi’ite extremists or by Saddam Hussein loyalists. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq and a Sunni, urged death to Shi’ites whom he described as poisonous snakes and atheists. Al-Qaeda is determined to destroy the West, but in the short term most of its victims will be Muslims in any place where it can topple their government to replace it with a regime as repressive and homicidal as the Taliban’s was.
Many British people object to Blair’s foreign policy. But only Muslim suicide bombers claim it as a justification for murder. In Tanweer’s videotape released last week he links his crime to Afghanistan and Iraq. But just in case anyone is tempted to think that Britain could avoid terrorism by withdrawing from those countries, Tanweer also calls on us to end our military and financial links with America and Israel. The United States was attacked in 2001 not because it had invaded another country (except to save Muslim lives in Bosnia), but because it is rampantly secular and supports Israel’s right to exist...
Many British people object to Blair’s foreign policy. But only Muslim suicide bombers claim it as a justification for murder. In Tanweer’s videotape released last week he links his crime to Afghanistan and Iraq. But just in case anyone is tempted to think that Britain could avoid terrorism by withdrawing from those countries, Tanweer also calls on us to end our military and financial links with America and Israel. The United States was attacked in 2001 not because it had invaded another country (except to save Muslim lives in Bosnia), but because it is rampantly secular and supports Israel’s right to exist...
None of that matters to the likes of those who think this way, according to another Times piece:
...Nearly half (49 per cent) of British Muslims think it is offensive that some non-Muslims feel anxious if they see someone they think is a Muslim on public transport carrying a backpack. However, 18 per cent say that they too feel anxious if they see someone who looks Muslim with a large bag or backpack.
13% of British Muslims think that the four men who carried out the London Tube and bus bombings of July 7, 2005, should be regarded as “martyrs”
7% agree that suicide attacks on civilians in the UK can be justified in some circumstances, rising to 16 per cent for a military target
16% of British Muslims say that while the attacks may have been wrong, the cause was right
2% would be proud if a family member decided to join al-Qaeda. Sixteen per cent would be “indifferent”...
13% of British Muslims think that the four men who carried out the London Tube and bus bombings of July 7, 2005, should be regarded as “martyrs”
7% agree that suicide attacks on civilians in the UK can be justified in some circumstances, rising to 16 per cent for a military target
16% of British Muslims say that while the attacks may have been wrong, the cause was right
2% would be proud if a family member decided to join al-Qaeda. Sixteen per cent would be “indifferent”...
There are 1.6 million Muslims in the UK. What's 13% or even 2% of them? Well, you do the math. The numbers aren't pleasant reading.
_____________________________
Relatedly, consider this, from the Medieval Sourcebook, AD 1120:
33.
Days changed to nights, ere you were born, or I,
And on its business ever rolled the sky;
See you tread gently on this dust-perchance
'Twas once the apple of some beauty's eye.
34.
Pagodas, just as mosques, are homes of prayer,
'Tis prayer that church-bells chime unto the air,
Yea, Church and Kaaba, Rosary and Cross
Are all but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.
491.
Man is a cup, his soul the wine therein,
Flesh is a pipe, spirit the voice within;
O Khayyam, have you fathomed what man is?
A magic lantern with a light therein!
498.
If popularity you would ensue,
Speak well of Muslim, Christian, and Jew;
So shall you be esteemed of great and small,
And none will venture to speak ill of you.
Days changed to nights, ere you were born, or I,
And on its business ever rolled the sky;
See you tread gently on this dust-perchance
'Twas once the apple of some beauty's eye.
34.
Pagodas, just as mosques, are homes of prayer,
'Tis prayer that church-bells chime unto the air,
Yea, Church and Kaaba, Rosary and Cross
Are all but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.
491.
Man is a cup, his soul the wine therein,
Flesh is a pipe, spirit the voice within;
O Khayyam, have you fathomed what man is?
A magic lantern with a light therein!
498.
If popularity you would ensue,
Speak well of Muslim, Christian, and Jew;
So shall you be esteemed of great and small,
And none will venture to speak ill of you.
Bear those lines in mind, as we fast forward to an obviously underappreciated poet of our current day, AD 2006:
A SPEECH by an extremist Muslim cleric praising the London bombers and mocking victims of suicide attacks has been broadcast on the internet to coincide with the anniversary of the July 7 attacks.
The audience laughs as Omar Brooks, a British Muslim convert who also uses the name Abu Izzadeen, makes fun of non-Muslims as “animals” and “cowards”.
Brooks — who has previously described the London bombers as “completely praiseworthy” — identifies with the views of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the ringleader of the London attacks.
He contrasts the supposed bravery of Khan’s suicide to the “kuffar” (non-Muslims) who are characterised as debauched binge-drinkers who vomit and urinate in the street.
The speech is peppered with jokes that bring laughter from his audience at the Small Heath youth and community centre in Birmingham, where it was filmed last Sunday.
At one point he announces dramatically that the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center “changed many people’s lives”. After a pause, he brings the house down by adding: “Especially those inside.”...
The audience laughs as Omar Brooks, a British Muslim convert who also uses the name Abu Izzadeen, makes fun of non-Muslims as “animals” and “cowards”.
Brooks — who has previously described the London bombers as “completely praiseworthy” — identifies with the views of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the ringleader of the London attacks.
He contrasts the supposed bravery of Khan’s suicide to the “kuffar” (non-Muslims) who are characterised as debauched binge-drinkers who vomit and urinate in the street.
The speech is peppered with jokes that bring laughter from his audience at the Small Heath youth and community centre in Birmingham, where it was filmed last Sunday.
At one point he announces dramatically that the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center “changed many people’s lives”. After a pause, he brings the house down by adding: “Especially those inside.”...
Thus has thinking "advanced" in 900 years. For, gosh, what a peaceful soul that is. That Omar is clearly another Omar Khayyam. Indeed, such beautiful prosletyzing can but only make one wanna join "that faith".
Yes, apparently another one with way too much "self-esteem". Indeed, to be honest, until the likes of THAT start to get dismissed and laughed AT, and not applauded and laughed WITH, it doesn't require a PR genius to note that Islam overall will not begin to shake off the poor image of it the likes of THAT continue to help create. ¶ by Robert, Monday, July 10, 2006
