Boy, that seemed like some kind of bizarre exoticism, didn’t it? You know, like a message in a bottle from a cargo culture, or something. Unfortunately, we now realize just how widespread this mentality is:
Christians committing stonings and beheadings? The reason such perversions of reality can be aired is that the entertainment industry knows that any horror, no matter how ludicrously false and offensive, can be attributed to Christians without fear of retribution, and that no horror, no matter how demonstrably true, can be attributed to some Muslims without incurring a fatwa and violating the Prime Directive of multiculturalism, which holds that all cultures must be equally valued and respected – except Western culture, which is inherently evil, racist, imperialist, exploitative. . . et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, as Yul Brynner might say.
(Let me stop right here and insert the standard, ubiquitous disclaimer that the majority of the world’s Muslims, especially in America, are themselves offended by and reject such pre-medieval horrors. This would seem to be so obvious that it doesn’t need stating, but apparently it does, because any criticism of Islamist behavior is immediately met with loud protestations that not all Muslims are terrorists. Of course they aren’t; what reasonable person ever said they were? And while I’m at it, let me deal with the other kneejerk objection that always arises in discussions of these matters: “What about the Crusades? Christianity’s just as bad!†The blindingly obvious answer is, that was 800 years ago. Christianity’s moved on, fundamentalist Islam hasn’t.)
Comment by happyfeet on 2/16 @ 1:43 pm #
Cold Case is Warner Bros. and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Comment by Sir Winston Churchill on 2/16 @ 1:53 pm #
And what of the Crusades! It brought spices to Europe and helped bring on the Renaissance.
Comment by Darleen on 2/16 @ 2:04 pm #
seems, too, that feminists have never heard of Muzzammil Hassan.
Comment by Joe on 2/16 @ 2:06 pm #
Muslims use violent intimidation all the time. Why Westerners give in to this is beyond me.
And rather than take these stories head on, let’s just blame Christians for their intollerance. Hey–when Christians want to promote absintence, they make a movie like A Walk To Remember. When Muslims have issues with sexual abstinence or infidelity, it’s off with their heads. Then again, maybe this guy was just taking acid and watching this. Western culture to blame again. If only he used a gun, then it would be fodder for gun control.
Even Salaman Rushdie does not get it. His head is full of liberal mush on this subject. The only one from the left who really gets it is Christopher Hitchens. Email Ace to bring up the subject over drinks–the two of them are in Lebanon right now.
Comment by Timstigator on 2/16 @ 2:16 pm #
Spices are the evil behind all evil. Death to spices!
Comment by Joe on 2/16 @ 2:19 pm #
Cargo Cults? The only explanation of this stimulus plan is secret Cargo Cult missionaries coming here, infiltrating Democrats, and making this seem like a good idea. Will I get some cargo too if I pray to John Frum (aka Barack Obama)?
Comment by Joe on 2/16 @ 2:22 pm #
Actually Dan said “cargo culture” and I had to pick between cargo cults and Culture Club.
Comment by cranky-d on 2/16 @ 2:57 pm #
The crusades were a response to rapid Muslim expansionism and massive conversion to Islam at the point of a sword. If the Muslims had succeeded in taking over all of Europe, we’d still be living in the 12th century.
Comment by PalmettoTiger on 2/16 @ 3:19 pm #
“‘What about the Crusades? Christianity’s just as bad!’ The blindingly obvious answer is, that was 800 years ago. Christianity’s moved on, fundamentalist Islam hasn’t.”
Charles Martel was reported to be vacationing in Poitiers and was unavailable for comment. See also: Reconquista of Spain after 700 and change years of Muslim occupation.
PT
Comment by TheGeezer on 2/16 @ 3:28 pm #
“Cargo culture”? That brought to mind Clutch Cargo and dammit, the nightmares had finally abated!
Comment by Celtic Dragon on 2/16 @ 3:49 pm #
Those that don’t learn from history are condemned to pissing me the hell off!
The Crusades were response to MUSLIM CONQUEST of the Holy Lands, and subsequent FORCED CONVERSIONS of the locals to Islam. Even then, the Crusades didn’t start until the Muslims began capturing Pilgrims to Jerusalem, and either holding them for ransom or simply enslaving them.
Gods, I HATE stupid people…
Comment by Joe on 2/16 @ 3:56 pm #
Celtic Dragon, did you just score some D&D points with that post?
Comment by Celtic Dragon on 2/16 @ 4:21 pm #
I have a +5 against stupid people double-bladed axe… called MoronThwacker ;-)
Comment by Christopher Taylor on 2/16 @ 4:37 pm #
And, if you look more closely at the crusades and the actual historical record, they weren’t what people think they were at all. As Celtic Dragon points out, the crusades were primarily (especially at first) about defending or taking back lands that Islamic aggression took by the sword with typical rape, murder, and looting of the time period. Some evil was done by the crusaders, some horrors like the Children’s crusade and corruption in the Roman Catholic Church was engaged in. Yet not worse, and often far less than the Muslims engaged in. The Muslims were the aggressors and the empire builders. The crusaders were trying to stop them.
Comment by B Moe on 2/16 @ 5:56 pm #
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours
Comment by cynn on 2/16 @ 8:42 pm #
Let’s whip up as much fury as we can here. It’s an accessory to the evil fascist face that is now the U.S. government.
Comment by McGehee on 2/16 @ 11:14 pm #
Nah. Fury isn’t frothy enough.
Comment by Mark Tapson on 2/17 @ 12:07 am #
Greetings all, I’m actually the author of the above-linked article. Glad to see that so many commenters know the truth about the reason for the Crusades. I nearly expounded on that when I wrote the piece, but considering the space limitations and that it was just an aside, I ultimately settled on the “It was 800 years ago, Christianity’s evolved” bit, which is also true and made my point a little better. Just wanted to clarify that, for what it’s worth.
And also for what it’s worth, I’m working on a script about Charles Martel – Hollywood might even be tricked into going for it if I call the bad guys Saracens instead of Muslims!
Comment by B Moe on 2/17 @ 5:43 am #
Nice piece, Mark. I am starting to have my doubts about this, though:
…. the majority of the world’s Muslims, especially in America, are themselves offended by and reject such pre-medieval horrors.
I want to believe this also, but it is becoming less and less obvious that it is so.
Comment by serr8d on 2/17 @ 6:17 am #
…. the majority of the world’s Muslims, especially in America, are themselves offended by and reject such pre-medieval horrors.
Funny, the majority of the World’s Muslims are the quiet ones. But if one listens closely one can hear the sounds of suicide belts and car bombs (and the occasional beheading) from any minaret in the world.
Comment by Joe on 2/17 @ 7:34 am #
I know the majority of Muslims reject suicide and other madness. But very few Muslims will ever speak out about it worrying they will be shunned by criticizing another Muslim out side the family so to speak, many of them are afraid of retailation, and a few secretely like it.
There is a deep deep subterranean river of humilation and doubt flowing in the Arab world that fuels this stuff. They are told at birth Islam is everything, yet they can see it is not. It freaks them out.
Comment by SarahW on 2/17 @ 9:50 am #
#21 I’m not so sure about the automatic NTTAWWMuslims rhetoric. As far as I have seen, and I’ve been watching, any lip service to peace love and understanding is seldom unaccompanied by ugly apology for the motivations of radical or old-fashioned Muslims and the evils they perpetrate. Unfairness, Jewiness, “imperialism” are tossed out as mitigating the horrors and evils.
Silence is about as good as it gets, and silence I construe as consent, when evil acts are done by those claiming to be soldiers of the faith.
Comment by james wilson on 2/18 @ 12:08 am #
Now that you point it out, I can see not all Muslim are terrorist; and not all Nazis were war criminals. You have a point.
Comment by Andrew the Noisy on 2/18 @ 8:23 am #
The moderate muslims are irrelevant to the damn conversation. They are neither the problem nor the solution. The problem is the bloodthirsty bastards on the extreme, whose goals and ambitions are little better than the Krikkiters in the Douglas Adams books.
The solution is ceasing to let them get away with it. Since nothing will convince our multi-culti-mufti-lefties that the problem is actually a problem, (as cynn’s blytherie so aptly demonstrates) the solution is going to be messy. And loud.