Neo-Islam: a political movement pretending to be a religion

The following two articles by Amir Taheri offer useful information about understanding the beliefs of Islam, and how they relate to politics, historically and currently. The article at the end by Jack Kelly ties in nicely with how and why this is being handled (or mishandled) by the MSM, with many international references.

BONEFIRE OF THE PIETIES
Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion.

BY AMIR TAHERI
Wednesday, February 8, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

"The Muslim Fury," one newspaper headline screamed. "The Rage of Islam Sweeps Europe," said another. "The clash of civilizations is coming," warned one commentator. All this refers to the row provoked by the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper four months ago. Since then a number of demonstrations have been held, mostly--though not exclusively--in the West, and Scandinavian embassies and consulates have been besieged.

But how representative of Islam are all those demonstrators? The "rage machine" was set in motion when the Muslim Brotherhood--a political, not a religious, organization--called on sympathizers in the Middle East and Europe to take the field. A fatwa was issued by Yussuf al-Qaradawi, a Brotherhood sheikh with his own program on al-Jazeera. Not to be left behind, the Brotherhood's rivals, Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party) and the Movement of the Exiles (Ghuraba), joined the fray. Believing that there might be something in it for themselves, the Syrian Baathist leaders abandoned their party's 60-year-old secular pretensions and organized attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and Beirut.

The Muslim Brotherhood's position, put by one of its younger militants, Tariq Ramadan--who is, strangely enough, also an adviser to the British home secretary--can be summed up as follows: It is against Islamic principles to represent by imagery not only Muhammad but all the prophets of Islam; and the Muslim world is not used to laughing at religion. Both claims, however, are false...

You can read the whole of this richly informative articleHERE.


In this article in the New York Post, Amir Tehari talks about what he calls Neo-Islam, a political movement masquerading as a religious faith.

HIJACKING ISLAM

By AMIR TAHERI

"GOD? What about him?" the sheik asked with a frown.

We were in a London mosque, discussing the ser mons the sheik delivers at Friday congregations. I had asked why God almost never featured in (or, at best, got a cameo role) in sermons that focused almost exclusively on political issues.

For the sheik, what mattered was "the sufferings of our brethren under occupation." In other words: In our Islam, we don't do God — we do Palestine, Kashmir and Iraq!

Here we have a religion without a theology, a secular wolf disguised as a religious lamb.

How did this neo-Islam — a political movement masquerading as religion — come into being, and how can those who know little about Islam distinguish it from the mainstream of the faith?

USING Islam as a vehicle for political ambitions is not new. The Umayyads used it after the Prophet's death to set up a dynastic rule. Three of the four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad were assassinated in the context of political power games presented as religious disputes...

You can read the whole piece HERE. (registration may be required to read the whole article, but it's worth it. It's filled with historical details that explain what we are dealing with now).


PROPHET AND LOSS
U.S. media's failure to print the Danish cartoons is craven

by Jack Kelly

The New York Times had an editorial Tuesday on the controversy triggered by publication in a Danish newspaper of 12 caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.

"The New York Times and much of the rest of the nation's news media have reported on the cartoons but refrained from showing them," the editors said. "That seems a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols."

The next day, in a story on the reaction to the Mohammed cartoons, the Times republished, gratuitously, an image of a work of "art" portraying the Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung. (The painting by Chris Ofili, "Holy Virgin Mary," was the subject of much controversy when displayed at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999.) In 1989, the Times was one of many newspapers that published an image of "Piss Christ," a photograph by artist Andres Serrano showing Christ on a crucifix submerged in a vat of urine.

Washington Post Executive Editor Len Downie told Editor & Publisher he wouldn't publish the Danish cartoons because of "general good taste." Had Mr. Downie developed his good taste a week earlier, the Post might not have published a Tom Toles editorial cartoon of a quadruple amputee soldier so vile all six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wrote a letter to the editor protesting it.

Most in the news media don't mind offending people who express their outrage by writing letters to the editor. But when the offended threaten to cut off the editor's head, editors become more "culturally sensitive."...

...Only extremist sects like the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia think any depiction of Mohammed is blasphemy. But this isn't reported much, because if it were, it would be clear the media's self censorship is motivated more by cowardice than by conviction.

"Let no one pretend that the reason for this censorship isn't fear," wrote Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun.

Bowing to the demands of Islamic radicals undermines Muslim moderates, Mr. Bolt said.

"This refusal to publish does not represent the success of multiculturalism but its failure," he said. "Habits of free speech good enough for generations of Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jews are too much for Muslims whose anger scares even their leaders." ...

You can read the whole article HERE.

Sunday Funnies 02/12/06

I think this is hilarious! It was published recently, drawn by the Akron Beacon Journal's Chip Bok. And now Muslims are protesting outside the newspaper offices. CAIR demands an apology, and they are being backed by other religious leaders... nothing like Useful Idiots to help drive in the nails of the coffin of Free Speech. But on a more entertaining note:

A muslim newspaper has now superimposed the Queen of Denmark's head onto the body of a woman wearing a red bikini.

I think Queen Margrethe II should respond with a public announcement; that the photo ISN'T a fake; she has just aged really, really well! ;)

If she does respond, I'm rather sure that beheading and slaying people will not be a part of her response repertoire.

Now for our Ted Kennedy Children's book cover of the week:



And how about a Ted Kennedy book cover for people old enough to drive:



But how about a future cover for a good Conservative book, by a conservative author, like, say, George W. Bush:



This is one of my favorites! Be sure and click on it to see it as a larger image, and look closely; it's rich with fun details.

JOKES:

(I have NOT tried to confirm if the following story is true or not, and make no claims about it's authenticity...)

Only a Kentuckian could think of this ... from the county where drunk driving is considered a sport, comes this true story.

Recently, a routine police patrol parked outside a bar in Mt.Sterling Ky. After last call, the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed to find his car.... which he fell into. He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off.

Finally, he started the car... switched the wipers on and off (it was a fine, dry summer night) -- flicked the blinkers on, then off a couple of times, honked the horn and then turned on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a little, and then remained still for a few more minutes as the remainder of the vehicles left.

At last, the parking lot empty, he pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive slowly down the road.

The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, and promptly pulled the man over and carried out a breathalyzer test. To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man having consumed any alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the police station. This breathalyzer equipment must be broken"

"I doubt it," said the truly proud Kentuckian.
"Tonight I'm the designated decoy."




Subject: Six Short Affairs


The 1st Affair
A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went to her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM. The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home.
Where have you been? his wife demanded.
"I can't lie to you," he replied, "I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon."
She looked down at his shoes and said: "You lying bastard! You've been playing golf!"
_______________________________________________________________________

The 2nd Affair
A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son. They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted. The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.
The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son. He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen. He told his wife: "There's no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?"
The wife smiled sweetly and replied: "Not this time!"
_______________________________________________________________________

The 3rd Affair
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr.Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery.
Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen! "I'm sorry Mr.Schwartz," the mortician commented, "I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity."
So, he removed it, stuffed it, put it into his briefcase, and took it home.
"I have something to show you won't believe," he said to his wife, opening his briefcase.
"My God!" the wife exclaimed, "Schwartz is dead!"
_______________________________________________________________________

The 4th Affair
A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. "Hurry," she said, "stand in the corner."
She rubbed baby oil all over him, then dusted him with talcum powder.
"Don't move until I tell you," she said, "pretend you're a statue."
"What's this?" the husband inquired as he entered the room.
"Oh it's a statue," she replied, "the Smiths bought one and I liked it so I got one for us, too."
No more was said, not even when they went to bed.
Around 2 AM the husband got up and went to the kitchen and returned with a sandwich and a beer.
"Here," he said to the statue, "have this. I stood like that for two days at the Smiths and nobody offered me a damned thing."
_______________________________________________________________________

The 5th Affair
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer.
"Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent."
"One Cent?" the man exclaimed. He glanced at the menu and asked:
"How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?"
"A nickel," the barman replied.
"A nickel?" exclaimed the man. "Where's the guy who owns this place?"
The bartender replied: "Upstairs, with my wife."
The man asked: "What's he doing upstairs with your wife?"
The bartender replied: "The same thing I'm doing to his business down here."
_______________________________________________________________________

The 6th Affair
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly, " I have something I must confess."
"There's no need to," his wife replied.
"No," he insisted, " I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend and your mother!"
"I know," she replied, "now just rest and let the poison work."



And how about a touch of inspiration to finish with:

When Your Hut's on Fire....

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.

He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.

Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost.

He was stunne d with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island!

It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.

Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

P.S. You may want to consider passing this on, because you never know who feels as if their hut is on fire today.

Honesty, Islam and a Free Press:Our decent impulses used against us.

I've read so much excuse making by MSM, about why they will not show the 12 Mohammed cartoons published by the Danish Newspaper, which leaves people to imagine that they are really horrible. But in truth, they are so tame, that when they were published months ago, not only in Denmark but in an Egyptian Newspaper last October, there were no riots.

The riots are NOT about the 12 cartoons. The rioting only started after radical Danish Imams went on a tour through the middle east on a propaganda campaign, adding some very offensive pictures of their own to the ones that were published, spreading lies that the Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten had 120 cartoons, not 12, and that the paper was owned by the Danish government, who would censor and burn the Koran, and that Danes were planning to make a blasphemous movie about Mohammed. Pamphlets were distributed. Some European News media have been reporting this, and many people in the Blogosphere, but much of the Western MSM has remained silent about this, insisting they have no wish to offend.

Many of the people in the Middle east have been whipped up into a frenzy with lies and propaganda. They have been given false information as facts, been shown photos that were never published, and they are reacting to THAT. Yet the MSM still maintains that it's about the 12 origninal photos published in a Danish newspaper months ago... pictures they will not even show us!

These radical Islamists play the western media like it's a piano. Our politically correct Multiculturalist training, and our decent impulses not to offend, are being used against us to prevent the truth about what is really happening here from being discussed honestly and openly. It's worse than ironic; it's dangerous.

In an article by Melanie Phillips, called The British Inquisition, she talks about how the British government aims to pass a law against incitement to religious hatred. Many people in other western countries are also now pushing for such laws. An excerpt from the article:

...When a BNP organiser put up a poster with a picture of the Twin Towers in flames and the legend ‘Islam out of Britain— protect the British people’, he was convicted and fined for a threatening, abusive or insulting action motivated by hatred of a racial or religious group.

So why is the government going to these extraordinary lengths? The answer is that it is trying to appease the Muslim community which has been pressing for such a law for years. Ministers are desperate to win back votes by Britain’s 1.8 million Muslims which were lost over the Iraq war, and also because they think that if they give the most extremist Muslims whatever they want this will quell Islamist rage against Britain and the west.

That is why, in a grovelling article in Muslim News before the last election, the then energy minister Mike O’Brien boasted of all the measures the government had introduced at Muslim request, including the religious hatred law. That is why, in a pre-election letter to all mosques Home Secretary Charles Clarke apologised for the failure to get this law through Parliament and blamed it on the opposition parties.

If it is now passed, it will shut down legitmate and vital debate about Islam. Months ago I asked the newly knighted Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, whether he thought that any public statements about Islamic terrorism, or any speculation about the number of Muslims in Britain who might support Islamic terrorism, would constitute incitement to religious hatred. He replied: 'There is no such thing as an Islamic terrorist. This is deeply offensive. Saying Muslims are terrorists would be covered by this provision'...

The bold emphasis is mine. There are Muslim groups in the US who would like to have similar laws here. We need to discuss what is happening with Islam here and abroad openly and honestly. Islamist Totalitarian Extreamists oppose this most of all, for if they allow any discussion their deceptions are exposed and their power and authority dwindles. We MUST NOT LET legitmate and vital debate about Islam be squelched. We must not let political correctness, the MSM or our decent impulses be manipulated by those who would use them as weapons against us.




Hat tip to The Discerning Texan for the comic, but be sure to also read his post Straight Talk about this Cartoon BS.


Related articles:

CARTOON RAGE
By Diana West
February 10, 2006

We need to learn a new word: dhimmitude. I've written about dhimmitude periodically, lo, these many years since September 11, but it takes time to sink in. Dhimmitude is the coinage of a brilliant historian, Bat Ye'or, whose pioneering studies of the dhimmi, populations of Jews and Christians vanquished by Islamic jihad, have led her to conclude that a common culture has existed through the centuries among the varied dhimmi populations. From Egypt and Palestine to Iraq and Syria, from Morocco and Algeria to Spain, Sicily and Greece, from Armenia and the Balkans to the Caucasus: Wherever Islam conquered, surrendering dhimmi, known to Muslims as "people of the book [the Bible]," were tolerated, allowed to practice their religion, but at a dehumanizing cost.

There were literal taxes (jizya) to be paid; these bought the dhimmi the right to remain non-Muslim, the price not of religious freedom, but of religious identity. Freedom was lost, sorely circumscribed by a body of Islamic law (sharia) designed to subjugate, denigrate and humiliate the dhimmi. The resulting culture of self-abnegation, self-censorship and fear shared by far-flung dhimmi is the basis of dhimmitude. The extremely distressing but highly significant fact is, dhimmitude doesn't only exist in lands where Islamic law rules...

You can read the whole article HERE.


WILL EUROPE BECOME EURABIA?
by Mona Charen

"Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." -- Arnold Toynbee

As Danish embassies and European Union offices smolder in Beirut, Damascus, Gaza and Tehran -- the result of a junior varsity jihad -- the time could not be more apt for Bruce Bawer's "While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within," due out at the end of this month. Bawer is a gay American with a flair for languages who moved to Europe in 1999 to escape what he perceived to be the narrow-mindedness of the Christian right in America.

The move changed him. It also afforded a front row seat at the clash of civilizations now flaring into flames. If American Christian conservatives seemed intolerant to Bawer, they were cream puffs in comparison with the Islamofascists who are multiplying in Europe. Theo van Gogh produced a film about the mistreatment of women in the Islamic community and was assassinated by an unrepentant Islamist who defiantly told the dead man's mother, "I cannot feel for you because I believe you are an infidel." A rumor swept the Muslim world that American soldiers in Guantanamo flushed the Koran down a toilet, and violence erupted worldwide. European newspapers published cartoons insulting to Mohammad, and death threats poured in, embassies were set ablaze, and red-faced Muslims now vow jihad throughout the world...

You can read the rest HERE.


HOW THE WEST WAS LOST
By Melanie Phillips

At first blush, the murdered Dutch maverick Pim Fortuyn and I would not appear to have been natural bedfellows. He was, after all, a flamboyant post-Marxist gay libertarian who advocated sexual permissiveness, casual drug use and euthanasia. I campaign for traditional family values, deeply oppose drug use and euthanasia, and do not employ a butler, wear a spaniel under my arm or smoke Cuban cigars.

However, one thing he stood for did ring a bell with me. He was, above all, aware of the danger that Islam presents to liberal values. Despite his knee-jerk media designation, he was not a racist. He recruited ethnic minorities to his cause; he condemned Jean-Marie Le Pen – a real racist and heir to the Nazi collaborators in the Vichy regime – for his anti-Semitism.

His objection to immigration was different. He thought the Netherlands simply could not absorb so many newcomers; but more specifically, he was against Muslim immigration because of the threat he thought this posed to liberal values.

He recognised that Muslims threatened the way of life he promoted: women’s rights, sexual permissiveness, homosexuality, drug use, free speech.

He was entirely right...

You can read the full article HERE.

THE PIG SNOUT SWINDLE

Looks like Danish TV has a spine. In a recent interview with a Danish imam... well, here is an excerpt from Michelle Malkin:

Danish TV station, DR 1, aired a valuable news segment yesterday on the manufacturing of the Cartoon Jihad yesterday.

The station took the BBC to task for erroneously attributing the now-infamous French pig-squealing contest photo--exploited by a delegation of Danish imams to foment fear of anti-Muslim sentiment in Denmark--to the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The BBC has since acknowledged its error and role in spreading false propaganda. (See Biased BBC for more. And see also Marc Landers on how the British media is saluting the blogosphere.)

As noted here previously, the origin of the pig snout photo was first exposed by blogger Dennis Nixon at NeanderNews. The Associated Press, which originally snapped the photo, is now protesting the use of its pic in the imams' propaganda...

There are video clips. The imam talks in circles, avoiding questions. The anchorman persists in questioning the imam aggressively... the transcript is worth reading, and there are photos and more...

You can read the whole post HERE

BUY DANISH: IT'S WORKING!

Perry de Havilland at Samizdata notes that the "Buy Danish" campaign "seems to be helping." He provides translation of an article in Børsen, which reports that "Buy Danish campaigns in large markets like the USA and Germany might give Danish companies enough increased turnover to cover the losses from the Arabian boycotts."...

See more by Michelle HERE.

And have you tried any Havarti Cheese yet?

It's GOOD! At our local supermarket, it comes in it's regular flavor, and also flavored with dill or caraway. I sometimes have it on crackers for lunch, or on toast for breakfast.

The Lying Danish ImamsShould be Put to DEATH...

... according to Islam!

Here is an excerpt from Paul Belien's article The Cartoon Hoax from the Brussel's Journal (Hat tip to Michelle Malkin):

...Denmark is being punished at the instigation of radical imams because twelve cartoonists have depicted Muhammad. However, these imams created their own three Muhammad images. They have even presented a French clown as being Muhammad. Because the twelve JP cartoonists are not Muslims, the Muslim blasphemy laws do not apply to them. But these laws do apply to the imams. Consequently, these imams deserve death. They – and no-one else – depicted the prophet as a pig – the highest imaginable insult in Islam.

...Western papers and blogs that published the twelve cartoons were right to do so. If they had not published, no-one would have been able to ascertain that the pigsnout was not among them. If they had not published, the cheating, blasphemous imams would have got away with their lies. The public is served by information, never harmed by it. Let this be a lesson to the cowards of The Guardian, SBS, the BBC and the British and American mainstream media, who “out of respect” for Islam would have allowed blasphemous imams to get away with their gross insult of the prophet, with slander and libel, and with the violent acts which they instigated...

But of course the Imams won't be put to death, because this whole drama isn't really about religion or offending cartoons, an Egyptian Newspaper published the 12 cartoons last October, and there were no riots. It's about political power and leverage for Iran and Syria. I hate to keep posting on this cartoon drama so much, but the details just keep unfolding...

THE LYING DANISH IMAMS

By Michelle Malkin. An exerpt:

...In addition to the fake drawings and photos and the other lies included in the Danish imams' propaganda pamphlet posted over at The Counterterrorism Blog, my reader reports that Danish radio has enumerated additional falsehoods.

The imams reportedly spread lies that the Jyllands-Posten had 120 cartoons, not 12, and that the paper was owned by the government. (There are no state-run newspapers in Denmark.) In addition, the imams reportedly claimed that the Danish government would censor the Koran, burn the Koran, and that Danes were planning to make a blasphemous movie about Mohammed. (Brussels Journal and Jyllands-Posten had initial reports on these lies. See here and here.)

The full Danish radio report is here.

It's in Danish and I'm looking for someone who has the time to do a full English translation. Thanks. (Update: Translation below. in extended entry. Thanks to my Danish readers.)

Meanwhile Dennis at Neander News follows up on how the Danish press is putting the heat on the Danish imams...

Even under Danish law, they can be prosecuted for what they've done. And so they should be.

And WHERE IS THE AMERICAN MSN ON ALL OF THIS! It's truely shocking. If it wasn't for the blogosphere, what would we all be thinking now? I thought journalism was supposed to dig for the truth?

You can read the Michelle's entire post (and her many reference links) HERE.

Related Links:

VIDEO: ALAN DERSHOWITZ GETS IT
An excerpt: [On the American media's unwillingness to show the cartoons:]

...You can't have a story about a cartoon without seeing the cartoon. In fact, when you see the cartoons published by the Danish newspapers, they are mild in comparison with what's published every day in Islamic fundamentalists newspapers and in Syrian newspapers, in Egyptian newspapers, in Saudi Arabian newspapers. So you have to see the cartoon to get a sense of how outrageous these attacks on the Danish embassy [are] and the hypocrisy across the Middle East is.

OTHER NEWS

Yes, there ARE other things happening in the world ;)

Debra Burlingame Puts the NSA in Perspective

From TammyBruce.com. An excerpt:

Ms. Burlingame, the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, tends to put a lot of things in perspective for us. She is also the one who initially exposed the hijacking of Ground Zero by George Soros' gang. A horrible situation we eventually were able to reverse in part because of her passion. Remember that?

Now, she reminds us what's at stake in the WoT and why the NSA surveillance program is important...

...In 1999, the NSA began monitoring a known al Qaeda "switchboard" in Yemen that relayed calls from Osama bin Laden to operatives all over world. The surveillance picked up the phone number of a "Khalid" in the United States — but the NSA didn't intercept those calls, fearing it would be accused of "domestic spying." ...

To the Democrats: "Duuh!" Isn't it obvious to most people, that if we are going to foil terrorist plots, we have to find out about them first?

You can read Tammy's post Here.

And last but not least, some interesting links from Nealz Nuze:

John Stossel, a champion of school choice, talks about the uproar in South Carolina over the governor there sending his kids to a private school.  Turns out the public schools weren't too good..so why shouldn't people have a choice?

For some reason, Democrats get off big-time when it comes to their history with civil rights and race. As Bruce Bartlett points out, it was the Democrats that held onto slavery and clung to the Jim Crow laws of the South.

Do people have a right to free medical care, food and housing?  Not hardly...Dr. Walter E. Williams says none of those "rights" appear in the U.S. Constitution.  But that hasn't stopped liberals from trying to put them there.

The mainstream media and the left continually push the notion that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. But Thomas Sowell calls that a myth, and points to some interesting statistics to back things up.

The American Main Stream Mediaand the Danish Cartoons

Michelle Malkin was a guest Tuesday evening on Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes, for a segment on the Mohammed Cartoons. She tried to show viewers all 12 cartoons to give viewers the full context of the Jyllands-Posten's decision to publish the artwork.

As she tried to walk through the content of the cartoons, the camera cut away from her display to video of the Islamists' violent protests instead. Says Michelle:

Why do they persist in leaving viewers in a cloud of ignorance about this international controversy? Cherry-picking the most arguably inflammatory cartoon--the one of Muhammad and the bomb turban--and implying that it is representative of the rest of the artwork is not journalism.

That's journalistic malpractice.

And it's exactly what the radical Islamists are counting on the cowering MSM to do.

I had a nice chat with another FOX News personality before my segment. This person hadn't seen all the cartoons--but had already formed a firm opinion that the Jyllands-Posten was being unnecessarily provocative and insensitive.

Is it any wonder that millions of people are turning to the Internet to get to the truth?

The bold emphasis was mine. WHERE is this attitude comming from?

Michelle went on to say:

There also wasn't enough time to address the other most important aspect of the Cartoon Jihad -- the fabrication of truly anti-Islam cartoons by Danish imams, who did precisely what the Jyllands-Posten is unfairly blamed for doing--that is, deliberately inciting Muslims to violence.

Here again are those bogus cartoons:

But you won't hear much, if anything at all, about this in the MSM, either.

Why not? ...

You can see Michelle's entire post, with embedded links, HERE.

But her question... Why Not? Why not indeed...



In the case of Fox News, could it have anything to do with one of it's shareholders, Saudi Prince al-Walid bin Talal? How much influence does the wealthy prince have at Fox? It seems he does have direct influence over how muslims are depicted in the news, according to this report from RogerSimon.com:

Fox News... Fair and Balanced or Fair and Bought?


There is a very interesting article about the Prince from Frontpagemag.com:

Fox's Saudi Prince

An excerpt:

...Al-Waleed is said be the world’s fifth richest man and now NewsCorp’s fourth largest voting shareholder (behind the Murdoch family, Liberty Media and fund giant Fidelity Management & Research Co). Such a role would appear to give the Prince some say over the way the business is run. That could, presumably, extend to the content of Fox programming and that of the company’s other media outlets (which include DirecTV and 20th Century Fox).

Will Al-Waleed be a prince, and leave these American institutions alone? Or will he throw his weight around, perhaps only behind the scenes, to – let’s say – improve the sorry image his country has earned in the United States?

Mind you, public relations is not exactly something at which Al-Waleed has previously excelled. But not for want of trying.

Recall that he was the Saudi prince who made headlines after September 11th when he visited Ground Zero and offered then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani a $10 million check for relief efforts.

A few days later, however, the prince released a statement that blamed the United States and its support for Israel for the devastating 9/11 attacks...

I have to wonder how many other stocks he, or other wealthy Saudis, own in the American MSN?

Hat tip to TammyBruce.com for calling attention to the link.


Other Related Links:

More lies from Danish Imams :
... Abu Laban, in fact, was first shown speaking on Danish television condemning the boycott of Danish goods (in English), then shown interviewed on al Jazeera, cheerfully commenting on the effectiveness of the boycott (in Arabic)...

Danish Imams Busted! The fake "cartoon" of a muslim with a pig snout was really a Frenchman dressed in a pig costum, as a contestant for a pig-calling competition in France! The photo was originally published as a news item by the AP.

BBC Admits Negligence They reported that the fake cartoon pictures used as propaganda to incite violence were genuine Danish cartoons. How could such a large news corporation be so sloppy in checking their facts?

THE MUHAMMAD CARTOONS BLOGBURST UNDER ATTACK

Cartoons and Islamic Imperialism

From the New York Sun, February 7, 2006:

by Daniel Pipes

The key issue at stake in the battle over the twelve Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is this: Will the West stand up for its customs and mores, including freedom of speech, or will Muslims impose their way of life on the West? Ultimately, there is no compromise: Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

More specifically, will Westerners accede to a double standard by which Muslims are free to insult Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, while Muhammad, Islam, and Muslims enjoy immunity from insults? Muslims routinely publish cartoons far more offensive than the Danish ones . Are they entitled to dish it out while being insulated from similar indignities?

Germany's Die Welt newspaper hinted at this issue in an editorial: "The protests from Muslims would be taken more seriously if they were less hypocritical. When Syrian television showed drama documentaries in prime time depicting rabbis as cannibals, the imams were quiet." Nor, by the way, have imams protested the stomping on the Christian cross embedded in the Danish flag.

The deeper issue here, however, is not Muslim hypocrisy but Islamic supremacism...

You can read the whole article, with embedded links, HERE.

Hat tip to TammyBruce.com for the link.


Related Links:

The War Behind the Cartoon War

AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS, WILL YOU PLEASE STAND UP? Are European newspapers finding their backbone, while American Newspapers lose theirs?

ORIGINS OF A FAKE MUHAMMED CARTOON

WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER

The Cartoon Jihad: putting the pieces of the puzzle together...

Here are the pieces to put together:

The fake cartoons being circulated in the middle east by Danish Imam Ahmad Abu Laban; the lack of riots when the actual cartoons were published months ago; and the fact that if the International Atomic Energy Agency reports Iran to the UN Security Council, and the Council gets around to considering what form of sanctions to impose on Iran, chairmanship of the Council will have passed to... Denmark.

In this MUST READ article by Melanie Phillips, "The Cartoon Jihad", she explains these facts and many more that piece together a larger picture that the MSN seems to be missing.

Hat tip to Nealz Nuze for the link to this article. Some other good links from Nealz Nuze:

Victor Davis Hanson wonders if Europe is finally waking up.  I don't know, it's been a pretty deep sleep.

Suzanne Fields draws an interesting parallel.  She compares Hamas, the Palestinian group that has called for the wiping of Israel off the map, to another anti-Semitic figure: Hitler.

Jeff Jacoby points out the obvious: how come you don't see other religious organizations rioting in the streets when they're offended?  It always seems to just be radical Muslims.

From our Fark.com friends.  Here's a sidewalk artist who puts most of the crap you would find in an exhibit of modern art to shame.

Other Cartoon Jihad related links:

The American Thinker: The Cartoon Crisis Conspiracy and Moderate Muslims

David Conway at the Civitas website

Dr. Sanity: SHAME, GUILT, THE MUSLIM PSYCHE, AND THE DANISH CARTOONS

Catholic Priest Shot to Death in Turkey

BILLY ZANE AND GARY BUSEYCO-STAR IN AN ANTI-AMERICANTURKISH PROPAGANDA MOVIE

While it's well known that many in Hollywood do not support the troops, or even believe we are at war, it seems that some actually have no problem actively helping the other side.

From the blog Captain's Quarters:

Michelle Malkin, Jim Geraghty, and Debbie Schlussel note the release of a new Turkish film that depicts American soldiers as mass murderers and Jews as organ thieves. This wouldn't come as much of a surprise, except that two American actors went halfway around the world to participate in this disgraceful epoch:

In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.

They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv. ...

The movie's American stars are Billy Zane, who plays a self-professed "peacekeeper sent by God," and Gary Busey as the Jewish-American doctor.

Both actors have seen better days...

You can read the rest HERE.

Says Debbie Schlussel on her blog:

Thanks, Gary. And congrats. You're now an official member of the Anti-Semite club. In the grand tradition of Hitler, the authors of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, etc., etc., etc. So Hollywood, so "enlightened."

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion that Debbie refers to is a bogus text about Jews plotting to take over the world. Created for propaganda purposes by the Russian Czarist secret police, it was latter embraced by the Nazis, and is currently used by Islamist Extreamists in the middle east to promote Jihad.

Related link:

HOLLYWOOD LIBS GONE WILD

DANISH IMAM FAKED CARTOONSTO INFLAME MUSLIMS

From Gateway Pundit:

As far as most Western news services are concerned, it was only the cartoons pictured in the paper were the ones creating all of the uproar. Probably not!

Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, the man behind this whole Danish cartoon controversy, not only faked obscene cartoons on his trip to the Middle East, but also has quite a bit of baggage he's been carrying around...

...In November he traveled to the Mideast to set the region ablaze with Anti-Denmark hatred!

This was AFTER the cartoons were already published in regional papers... without the rioting!

Could it be the three extra fake cartoons he slipped in? You know,... the ones that included a cartoon of Muhammad as a pedophile demon, Muhammed with a pig snout, and a praying Muslim being raped by a dog that were NEVER published in ANY Danish paper?...
This makes more sense. An Insane Imam from Denmark going on tour with fake cartoons to make people angry and drum up support for his Jihad.

you can read all about it here on Gateway Pundit's blog, which has all the details and also many links to other sources reporting on this story.

Totalitarians Think Alike...

BEHEAD BUSH! Say Islamist Militants...

Oops sorry, it's the DEMOCRATS. It's no wonder that Bin Laden uses the Democrats talking points in his video messages. They think so much alike.

Even Bill Clinton thinks we need to be more sensitive to adherents of the "Religion of Peace", who teach their children:


Is this REALLY the sort of thing we have to be more tolerant of? Would it be too rude to suggest that perhaps the MUSLIMS need to learn a few things about being more tolerant?

And the Democrats wonder why they don't win more elections...

For the latest on the riots, which the MSN is reluctant to talk about, see FANNING THE FLAMES.

On a more positive note, have you tried any Danish Havarti cheese? We bought some at the supermarket yesterday, and had some for breakfast today. I was plesantly suprised to find out how delicious it is. I heartily recommend it.

Sunday Funnies 02/05/06

This I think is the funniest of the cartoons the Muslims are rioting over. Michelle Malkin is hosting THE MUHAMMAD CARTOONS BLOGBURST. If you want to post one of the cartoons on your blog and join her list, then check it out.



A British lady, while visiting in Switzerland, was looking for a room and she asked the schoolmaster if he could recommend any. He looked with her to see several rooms and when everything was settled, the lady returned to England to make final preparation for the move. When she arrived home, the thought suddenly occured to her that she had seen no "water closet" around the place. So she immediately wrote to the schoolmaster, asking him if there was a WC around. The schoolmaster was a very poor master of English, so he asked the Parish Priest if he could help in the matter. Together they tried to discover the meanings of the letters WC and the only solution they could find for the letters was "Wayside Chapel" (a kind of small church). The schoolmaster then wrote the following note to the English lady seeking a WC with her room:

Dear Madam,

I take great comfort in informing you that a WC is situated nine miles from the house, in the center of a lovely grove of trees, surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding 229 people and it is open Sundays & Thursdays only, as there are a great many people expected during the summer months,I would suggest that you come early, although there is usually plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation, especially if you are in the habit of going regularly. You will, no doubt, be glad to learn that a good number of people bring their lunch and a make a day of it while others who can afford to go by car arrive just in time. I especially advise your ladyship to go on Thursdays, when there is an organ accompaniment. The accoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds can be heard by all.

It may interest you to know thay my daughter was married in the WC and it was there that she met her husband. I can remember the rush there was for seats. There were ten people to a seat usually occupied by one, and it was wonderful to see the expressions on their faces.

The newest attraction is a bell, donated by a wealthy resident of the district. It rings every time a person enters. A bazaar is to be held to provide plush seats for all, since the people believe that it is a longfelt need. My wife is rather delicate, so she cannot go regularly. It is almost a year since she went last. Naturally it pains her very much not to be able to go more often. I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you if you wish, where you may be seen by all.

Of course the children go at a separate time, so as not to disturb their elders.

Hoping to have been of service to you.

Yours truly,
The Schoolmaster
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"Dear Dad.."

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up.

Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the center of the bed. It was addresses "To Dad".

With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands.

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing this. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you.

I've been finding real passion with Barbara and she is so nice even with all her piercing, tattoos, and her tight motorcycle clothes.

But it's not just the passion, Dad, she's pregnant and Barbara said that we will be very happy together.

Even though you don't really care for her, as she is much older than I, she already owns a trailer in the woods and has enough firewood stacked for the winter.

She wants to have many more children with me and that's now become one of my dreams, too.

Barbara taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone, and we'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with her friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want.

In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Barbara can get better. She sure deserves it!

Don't worry, Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself.

Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

P.S. Dad, none of this is true. I'm over at a neighbor's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the lousy report card that's in my desk centre drawer.

I LOVE YOU!
Please call when it's safe to come home.
.

****
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Ted Kennedy's next book:


(thanks to FARK.com)
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There's been lots of pics this Sunday, so I'm gonna end this with a dash of inspiration:

God's Boxes

I have in my hands two boxes,
Which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box,
And all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored,
But though the gold became heavier each day,
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black,
I wanted to find out why,
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole,
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be!"
He smiled a gentle smile and said,
"My child, they're all here with me.."

I asked God, why He gave me the boxes,
Why the gold and the black with the hole?
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."
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Is this REALLY about cartoons?

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

From Michelle Malkin:

You can see more HERE.

From TammyBruce.com:

Vatican Says Western Culture Should
"Know its Limits"

Fascinating. The part of Western Culture Cardinal Achille Silvestrini refers to is Freedom of Expression. Maybe it's just me, but last time I checked there's been nothing out of the Vatican suggesting that Muslim Culture should know its limits. This is the problem with "mutilculturalist" societies -- after being indoctrinated by leftists with guilt, they condemn themselves with attempts at proof of "tolerance."...

You can read more HERE.

Oh yes, I see. These people calling for the beheading of people who insult Islam are upset at the suggestion that they're violent terrorists. And because it's the Religion of Peace, they'll advocate killing anyone who suggests it's not...

You can read more HERE.


Muslim Radical Defends Freedom of Speech,
Deplores Europe’s Hypocrisy

From an article in the Brussels Journal. It argues that the Europeans are hypocritical in saying they support free speech, because they often silence dissent. It also says that the right to mock religion is one of the only freedoms of speech they have left! An excerpt:

...Not only Muslims are not allowed to voice all their opinions. Only last week the French parliamentarian Christian Vanneste was sentenced in court to a heavy fine because he had stated that “homosexual behaviour endangers the survival of humanity” and that “heterosexuality is morally superior to homosexuality.” Earlier last month a majority in the European Parliament called for sanctions against Poland and the Baltic states because their governments are said to be “homophobic.” In the Netherlands access to certain jobs in the civil service is effectively denied to anyone religious (be it Christian or Muslim) who refuses to participate in concluding same-sex marriages. And the EU wants to force doctors to perform abortions and euthanasia because, it says, the right to conscientious objection is not “unlimited.”...

...Americans watch in amazement at what is happening in Europe today, but Western civilization, with its freedom of expression, has long died on the Eastern side of the Atlantic. One of the few freedoms left in Western Europe was the freedom to mock religion. Now that this freedom is under attack from Muslim fanatics we realize that this is not the first barrier that needs defending against totalitarians, but in fact the last remaining one. The other barriers have all been abandoned – without a fight.

In contemporary Germany homeschooling Baptists lose parental authority over their children and are jailed on the basis of a bill introduced by Adolf Hitler in 1938. In the Netherlands Reader’s Digest’s “European of the Year” Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants all religious schools abolished and demands the defunding of a Calvinist party because this party does not put forward women candidates for election. In Finland the government is toying with the idea to no longer issue permits for private schools. In Belgium the country’s largest party was effectively banned by the Supreme Court in November 2004 for publishing texts which, though the court admitted they were not necessarily untrue, were said to have been published with “an intention to contribute to a campaign of hatred.”

We are all Danes now, defending the right to satire. But the right of parents to educate their own children according to their own beliefs has long disappeared. So has the right to elect the politicians one wants and the right to tell truths when the government has decided that you are telling them with a wrong “intention.” And gone also is the right not to have to participate in actions that are against one’s conscience.

In America people are free to say and think whatever they like, however offensive this may be to others. In Europe this right no longer exists...

You can read more HERE.


OUTRAGED MUSLIMS! OH MY!

From Neal Boortz:

...Muslim outrage huh. OK ... let's do a little historical review. Just some lowlights:

* Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslim officials block the exit where school girls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to school in Indonesia. A Christian school. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels in Egypt. No Muslim outrage.
* A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia. Muslims shoot children in the back. No Muslim outrage.
* Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in Israel. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and busses. Over 700 are injured. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons. No Muslim outrage
* Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of the 125+ shooting wars around the world. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes, then hang them from a bridge. No Muslim outrage.
* Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage ... but publish a cartoon depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose.

Come on, is this really about cartoons?...

You can read more HERE.

Support the Danes/Buy All Things Danish

See more photos of these murderous freaks HERE.

Here is a list of links about the boycott and the Buy Danish counter reaction from TammyBruce.com:

Judith Apter Klinghoffer:
"BUY DANISH" ASK MY DANISH FRIENDS/ UPDATE - This is an interesting list of things you can buy that are Danish.

Here is the website for the Muslim-targeted Danish Arla Foods.

Visit Danelink for all things Danish, products, lineage information, language, message boards, etc.

The Sandmonkey: A message to those who demand a Denmark boycott: STOP BEING RETARDED!

Michelle Malkin's, as usual, excellent coverage.
The details she reports on, and the photos, are shocking.

You can read more at: TammyBruce.com

Related Link:
"We Are All Danes Now"

Why I believe conservativeChristians are not the enemy

I used to think the Christians in San Francisco were paranoid when they complained about feeling persecuted. Since the city was filled with left-wing atheists, it was only natural that they would disagree with Christians, and there is nothing wrong with that.

But over time, I came to see things differently. I didn't WANT to see things differently, but if I was honest with myself, I had to admit that there was indeed a creeping sort of ... totalitarianism being directed at Christians.

As an example, consider the Mt. Davidson Cross. It's a large cement cross on the highest peak in the city, erected by christians in the 1920's. Every year, at Easter morning and I think New Years day, Christians would gather there to sing as the sun rose.

The trees on the mountain grew so high, that only the tip of the cross was visable from most places in the city. There was a portion of land that extended out in front of the cross; a cleared viewing area where you could see most of the city on three sides, and also see the sunrise.

The atheists wanted the cross removed, because it was on municiple property. They cited separation of church and state; it was religious, on a city park, and had to go.

I thought that was nonsense; it was also historical, and a part of the city's history. There are Spanish Missions all over California; are we going to start removing them from state parks? Where would it end?

It was argued about for quite a while. Then, at last, a fair and just solution was found. The city auctioned off a half acre of land that the cross stood on, to a private buyer, an organization I think that was related to the Armenian Church. They would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the cross, which would no longer be on city land.

I thought it was a fabulous solution. When I first came to the city 25 years ago, it was an eclectic mix of people who disagreed about all sorts of things, but often, people would work together and come up with wonderful, creative and fair grass-roots solutions to disagreements. I thought this was one of those situations.

But it wasn't. The atheists argued that the cross STILL had to go, because it was a symbol of a majority religion and was therefore, oppressive and offensive to people of other religious faiths. Especially to Muslims, who considered it a symbol of war and death. And of course, offensive to atheists, who sued to have the the sale negated.

That is when I first noticed the STINK; people were not being honest about their agendas.

It started even before that. I remember working in downtown San Francisco, when the anti-christmas crusade began. People were told that they were to no longer call a christmas tree a christmas tree. Hence forth, it must be called a "holiday celebration tree". No one should say Merry Christmas, but say "Happy Holidays" instead. Many companies even issued memos' to their employees with these instructions.

Most of the San Franciscan's accepted it without question. But many of the people who lived outside the city and commuted to work there, were upset. The didn't like being dictated to, or having their religious expression demeaned. Even the non-religious resented the political correctness. But the Thought Police soon informed them that by objecting, they were not being inclusive, and were therefore demonstrating racism and intolerance. That silenced most of the objections.

I did hear complaints from some San Franciscians; religious people of non-christian faiths. Some of them thought it was worrisome that Christians, who were a majority religion in this country, were being told to repress expression of their faith on Christian holidays. If Christians weren't allowed that freedom, then how long would it be before other faiths would be told to repress theirs as well? It reminded them of the repression many of them had experienced in the countries they came from. They recognized totalitarianism when they saw it.

And that is the crux of it for me. No one has to be a Christian, agree with Christians, or even like them. People can be atheists if they want to. But disagreeing with a Christians views does not entitle anyone to FORBID them.

Christians are not hijacking planes and flying them into office buildings, or chopping the heads off of school girls. Yet much of the left in this country talks about them as if they are the worst, most intolerant totalitarians in the world, and I find that really... warped.

San Francisco is full of people who insist they are completely open minded and non-judgmental; that it is really important that we all remain completely open minded to people with other points of view... unless of course, they are happen to be Republicans, who are Nazis, or conservative Christians, who are worse than the Taliban.

When our accountant actually asserted such views in a business meeting with us, we actually had the nerve to disagree and say "Christians are not hijacking planes and flying them into office buildings, or chopping the heads off of school girls."

That sounds obvious to most Americans, but in San Francisco, it was a heresy. Our accountant was so upset that he refused to return any of our phone calls, and completely abandoned us, right in the middle of a big financial transition in which we were very dependent on him for help. He also would not return calls from our new accountants we were forced to hire, who needed to ask him questions about the work he had done. We had sided with the evil Christians, and that was just unacceptable.

So when I hear people going on about how important it is to be open to all other peoples beliefs, but then make an exception to that for conservative Christians, and they start going on in an exagerated way about the dangerous Christians who shouldn't be allowed to believe what they do... well I get that stink under my nose again. I have to wonder if they have an agenda they are not being honest about, or if they are doing something in their personal life that they feel Christians would judge them for, so they villify christians with characterizations and overgeneralizations that most of us can see as... out of proportion to reality.

We are all judgemental, even if some of us have trouble being honest about it. But even so, not all of us are hijacking planes and flying them into office buildings, or chopping the heads off of school girls. That really is an important distinction worth noting, and I get impatient with people who disregard that in favor of exagerating their own predjudices for dramatic effect.

I recently read some comments by someone warning against the dangers of Christian Dominionists in America, who want to subvert the American constitution and create a theocracy. He claimed to have visited hundreds of websites by such Christians, who advocated violence against homosexuals, the establishment of a Theocracy, Old Testament Laws, ect.

Like him, I could never agree with such people. However, he questioned wether such people should be allowed to express such views, and kept expounding on the dangers of Dominionist Christians in American politics. I disagree with such people, but object to the idea that they need to be silenced. WHO get's to decide who may speak, and who may not? And too often, I have seen how the Christian Lunatic Fringe is used as a boogie man to smear conservative Christians generally, in an attempt to silence them all.

Any fool can make a website or blog, and any fool does. Talk is cheap. When you have free speech, you get those looney websites. They can talk Dominionist crap, but if they try to DO anything illegal about it, then at least you know who they are, and what they are up to. They can be watched.

Most Americans don't listen to crazed lunatics, wether they are shouting from soap boxes on street corners or posting their lunacy on the internet.

Arguments about the dangers of Dominionists would be of real concern IF the Dominionists were a majority, or even a significant minority. I don't believe they are either.

Many of the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians I've known vote according to their beliefs, but they also understand and APPRECIATE that there is a separation of church and state; they appreciate that the separation protects their religion from being tainted by power-politics.

The secular left in America, who hate religion, have been trying to re-define freedom OF religion as freedom FROM religion.

The religious right is reacting to that. So what? It's their right to.

If the majority of the religious right were as intolerant as many seem to think, they would never have let things change as much as they have.

People came to America seeking religious FREEDOM. Religious TOLERANCE is a big part of American culture. I do tire of hearing people run American Christians into the ground as the most totalitarian bigoted people on earth. Certianly you can find some fringe lunatics for whom that would be true, but it hardly describes the Evangelical/Fundamentalist majority, who are also a minority in this country. They also don't all agree about everything, there is dissent and discussion, except for a few creepy cults.

Sure, they are trying to assert their viewpoints and gain political influence. Just like everyone else in a free country, its' their right to.

Many leftist groups in the America have an anti-Christian agenda, and they use the Christians as a boogie-man, to whip up their adherents for FUND RAISING purposes; "They're gonna take away abortion; they're gonna take away gay rights; they're gonna take away (fill in the blank)." The Christians are evil; donate here, donate NOW.

And yes, sometimes they do, via democracy, take away things like "gay rights" here and there, in bits and pieces. And sometimes those rights are restored, or changed or a compromise is reached, because that is what we do in a democracy. We argue till we find common ground.

We are ALLOWED to disagree and argue. It's very contentious and disagreeable at times, but I wouldn't want it any other way. The ABSENCE of disagreement would be far worse. When that happens, you know you are living in a totalitarian state.

I think most reasonable, thoughtful people would disagree with Dominionism and Theocratic government, and so do I. It's just that when I hear people rant about the iminent danger of the Dominionists, and how they must be silenced and stopped, it sounds out of proportion to reality; like someone using the boogie-man tar brush to taint all conservative Christians generally. Dominionists are on the fringe; the popular culture is against them, and I'd think it more likely they would be negated and pushed aside, than take over. That is why some of them are resisting so vehemently. I don't see their resistance as a bad thing; it's part of the political process.

Our tolerant, western culture has grown out of Christianity, and while I don't specifically refer to myself as a Christian, I like living in a Christian culture. Christianity today, is not in charge of any totalitarian theocracies that I know of. Islam is, and I'm frankly more concerned about that. It makes more sense to fear those real enemies who are actually trying to kill us, instead of a bunch of Christians who don't want to worship in liberal churches.

Source for photos: Mt. Davidson and surrounding area

Related Link:
Did the Founding Fathers intend the USA to be a Christian nation?

UPDATE:
Kent from the blog Right from Left has informed us of a very similar situation to Mt. Davidson, which is now going on in San Diego: Judge Rules Mount Soledad Cross Proposition Unconstitutional.

Is Our Children Learning?

An excerpt from an article by John Stossel:

...Gena's begging eventually got results -- just not results that helped her son. What the school bureaucrats did was hold meetings to talk about Dorian. (Bureaucrats are good at holding meetings.) At the meeting we watched, lots of important people attended: a director of programs for exceptional children, a resource teacher, a district special education coordinator, a counselor and even a gym teacher. The meeting went on for 45 minutes.

"I'm seeing great progress in him," said the principal. "So I don't have any concerns."

Well, Gena still had a concern: Her son could barely read.

Was Dorian just incapable of learning? No. ABC News did see great progress in him -- when we sent him to a private, for-profit tutoring center. In just 72 hours of tutoring, Sylvan Learning Center brought Dorian's reading up more than two grade levels.

In 72 hours, a private company did what South Carolina's government schools could not do in over 12 years.

President Bush's answer to school systems that pass students like Dorian on to the next grade year after year was "No Child Left Behind." It demands that states test students, and it establishes consequences for schools whose students consistently do poorly. Teachers in at least one South Carolina school responded to the pressures of the law by giving some students the answers to the test in advance, said Dale Hammond, grandmother of one such boy. "They were teaching him to cheat!" she told me...

How much longer are we going to put up with (and continue to pay for) this outragously expensive and extremly inefficient government monopoly?

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

Where oil profits go...

From Nealz Nuze:

This structure in Dubai, United Arab Emirates... what could it be for?



Here's what's going on inside...


Yes, this IS in the desert...


You can see more pictures HERE.

Other links from Nealz Nuze today:

Dr. Walter E. Williams says judges who violate the Constitution by handing down disastrous decisions like the Kelo one should be impeached.  He also gives an excellent overview of why that particular Supreme Court ruling was so terrible.

John Stossel has a good point about government schools.  In some districts, the public is spending $100,000 per student...and the kids are still failing. Why not give parents a choice...and save thousands in the process?

Michelle Malkin says it's time to fight the bullies of Islam and points to a recent case in Denmark where editorial cartoonists have been threatened with their lives.  What for?  Drawing political cartoons depicting the prophet
Mohammed. How dare they!

Hamas is a group much like Al-Qaeda and with the West expected to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority, Jack Kelly says the Iranians will probably pick up the slack.  He says it's time for the Israelis to take off the gloves.

It's going to be difficult for the mainstream media to keep a lid on this one: did you know that Louisiana government officials turned down federal help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?  Also, did you know that most Louisiana government officials are Democrats?  Read on.

This is an interesting show of support from an unexpected source: Pat Buchanan says the United States should continue to financially support the terrorist group Hamas, which just took over in the Palestinian territories.  He really said that.


From TammyBruce.com:

Denmark Held Hostage by Islamic/Arab Gestapo
The Religion of Ghouls has perfected the art of hostage taking and is now trying to intimidate, threaten and destroy an entire nation for "offending" Islam with...cartoons. And this is not just a plan by the Islamist Gestapo--but is now a Gestapo campaign mounted by the entire Arab region...

You can read more about the boycott HERE.

So the Arabs don't like it? Well too bad, the shoe fits. If they don't like it, they should change their shoes.

A Better Way To Understand Politics

At the blog Eric's Grumbles Before the Grave, I found an interesting post of his about a better way to understand politics. He used the following graphic as an example of how the political spectrem is usually presented to most of us (you can click on the charts to see a larger, easy-to-read version):


Eric goes on to explain how there is a better way to get a more accurate view of the political spectrum. I won't go into all the details here, but the new chart he ends up with makes more sense to me, and is more telling:


An excerpt about this chart from Eric's article:

...Just about the first thing we notice is that the mainstream of modern American politics is a very narrow part of the spectrum. The second thing we see is that from roughly 1933 to 1980 the spectrum in this country was much further to the Left than now. The bounds are FDR at one end and Ronald Reagan at the other end, each of whom managed to completely refocus the political debate in this country. The third important thing to notice is that there is a fairly dramatic shift from the traditional American Liberal philosophy (Jefferson, et al) and that is bounded by Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

Evaluate where you stand using this matrix, you may come to some interesting realizations if you do. The reason that you want to do something really doesn't matter. You may want welfare to empower individuals and think that means you are an individualist. But the fact is that you still want something that is on the socialist side of the economic line. Here's some examples, starting with individualism first...

I found it especially interesting how Ronald Reagan has more in common with the Founding Fathers of our country than most of our modern presidents. I knew that Reagan was different from other modern presidents because of his belief in small government, and I liked that. I didn't realize how it put him in a whole different class of political thinkers, a class we have moved too far away from.

The rest of Eric's article discusses the beliefs of various people and where that puts them on the map, and how you can determine where you would find yourself on such a chart.

You can read the rest of Eric's article HERE.

There is a political test you can take online at http://www.okcupid.com/politics, which will put you on a chart similar to Eric's.

Here is my test results:

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (80% permissive) You are best described as a: Capitalist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test