It is revolting to me to breathe the same air as wafts from the exhalations of the madrasahs, or the reeking fumes of the suicide-murderers, or the sermons of Billy Graham and Joseph Ratzinger.
Yeah. I live in the Emirates (I don't know if you read me, so I don't know if you know that), and you should have heard the tirades on Friday. Friday being the holy day, they broadcast the sermons from the mosque. I can't speak arabic, so I don't know what was being said, but it was certainly more fervent than usual. It actually creeped me out. I had to close all the doors and windows and turn my music up.
Plus we can't buy danish butter or chicken any more. The shops all have big signs in them saying "We do not serve Danish products". It's a bit nuts.
Apples and oranges you know, but i still remember "patriot fries" from 2001 ;) Gods, i hate knee jerk reactions, esp those resulting from self righteous ignorance. We've learned nothing from history.
Well, it is similar. It's the other side of the coin, but it's the same coin. It's just, like he says in the article, the media here is full of anti-jew stuff. I've seen articles in newspapers saying 9/11 was a jewish plot to discredit islam. It's just... practice what you preach, you know? It's ok to be anti-semitic, but allah forbid anyone should mock the prophet. It frustrates me that they can't see that its the same thing.
And it saddens me, because as long as normal muslim people can't see that, there's never going to be much hope for any kind of peace or tolerance. And that's the scary thing. That normal muslim people are up in arms about this - not just the mad fundamentalists. You know?
I knew you were in the UAA, but I hadn't realized things had gotten that bad there (I always think of them as the most western-style of the ME countries).
Well things haven't really gotten that bad. It's just this. As far as the religious stuff goes, they are generally pretty tolerant of western customs - we can get pork or alcohol, for example. But this Danish thing is being taken pretty seriously - too seriously, in my opinion.
*sigh* I dunno, I hope this doesn't escalate into something too ridiculous - here at least. In many places it already has. I'm hoping that it'll kind of blow over. They are pretty western style, compared to, say, saudi, but they're still fairly devout. They turn a blind eye to our evil pork-gobbling ways, but there's still a pretty religious feel. It's a weird place. I could write an essay on the strange juxtapositions that go on here.
Just read it, he makes good use of historical fact as well as common sense (which in itself seems to be becoming increasingly uncommon). I'm becoming fanatical about abhorring fanatics...
Unfortunately it's *not* just fanatics. I mean, the emirates is one of the more progressive muslim countries, and yet they're up in arms too. Mind you, islamic leaders have a pretty astonishing amount of control over what the average muslim thinks and does - far more than anyone in the west. Except maybe Oprah. ;)
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-04 11:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 01:03 am (UTC)Oh, the beauty of that sentence...!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 05:04 am (UTC)Plus we can't buy danish butter or chicken any more. The shops all have big signs in them saying "We do not serve Danish products". It's a bit nuts.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 10:06 am (UTC)Gods, i hate knee jerk reactions, esp those resulting from self righteous ignorance. We've learned nothing from history.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 10:12 am (UTC)And it saddens me, because as long as normal muslim people can't see that, there's never going to be much hope for any kind of peace or tolerance. And that's the scary thing. That normal muslim people are up in arms about this - not just the mad fundamentalists. You know?
*sigh>
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 04:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 06:14 pm (UTC)*sigh* I dunno, I hope this doesn't escalate into something too ridiculous - here at least. In many places it already has. I'm hoping that it'll kind of blow over. They are pretty western style, compared to, say, saudi, but they're still fairly devout. They turn a blind eye to our evil pork-gobbling ways, but there's still a pretty religious feel. It's a weird place. I could write an essay on the strange juxtapositions that go on here.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 10:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-05 10:15 am (UTC)