Word of the Day (British Dhimmitude Edition)

Gobsmacking

If any story is worth bringing back my daily Gobsmacking, that one is. Here's a quote that should sum up the attitude of all folks, Muslim and non-Muslim alike with regards to this nonsense

Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "By selling alcohol you are not committing a sin. You are just doing the job you are paid for.

(I pulled out that quote cause, firstly, it's very sensible, and secondly I just wanted to direct your attention to the musical loveliness that is the name Inayat Bunglawala)

It's not necessary for Islam to be the religion of perpetual outrage, and it's not anywhere in the Qu'ran that you must avoid all contact with things prohibited, but there are extremists out there who hold too much influence over too many adherents to that faith that are driving these petty displays of rectitude. Giving in to these little displays invariably leads to larger demands and concessions to piety.

The truly pious live their lives piously, even amongst the iniquities around them, if you can't maintain your piety while surrounded by the unfaithful, it's your faith that needs strengthening and examining, not de-secularizing the society around you.

LOL Amanpour?!?

(does anyone expect this CNN special series to be anything but a 'moral equivalence' fest?)

(and the 'oppressive bangs' phrase, borrowed from amba's description of Christo's Gates)

Creeping Sharia In Dear Old Blighty

Wolverhampton, England, segregation rules.

First it's pools, then it's buses, then it's Islamic courts. Surrendering freedoms in the hopes of placating a vocal minority within a minority that demand special treatment will only lead to greater demands.

Government condoned segregation, whether requested by a minority to keep outsiders out, or imposed by a majority to keep a minority down, leads to all sorts of social ills.

If Muslims fear seeing a belly button or upper thigh so much, they should open their own private pools, they shouldn't demand the local governments to conform to their concepts of modesty. If they want to play in public, play by the public rules.

I live in a neighborhood with many Orthodox Jews. They have their rules on modesty for followers, but they don't expect everyone walking down the street to follow their customs (of course, a different story if you're invited to their homes, as it should be). They don't go around demanding public streets be closed down on Saturdays cause they can't drive on the Sabbath.

Yet, that's essentially what the Muslims in Wolverhampton are expecting. It's wrong, very wrong. This is a small thing on the surface, but it's symbolic of a trend going on, and that trend won't lead to compromise, won't lead to happy, shiny multiculturism. Instead that trend will lead to more demands and stronger reactions to the craziness.

It's hard to believe the good folks in England had once been known for their pluck and resolve, the news from over there seems to lack those attributes.

Sure, She Can Use That Line . . .

And yes, to answer one of those lost Zawahiri lines, that grey beard does make you look gay

Tammy Bruce writing about Ayman al-Zawahiri latest release (at least latest video release, his latest release most likely is still inside some poor abused she-goat's vagina (those caves are lonely places, and she-goats are easier to come by than human females))

I couldn't get away with that line. If I said that I might be accused of being a homophobe by the likes of Andrew Sullivan.

Some folks aren't disturbed by the shockingly similar rhetoric spewing from the mouths of Al Qaeda spokesgoats and Democratic Party stalwarts.

But, many folks are (follow the Tammy link for many other voices joining the chorus). Callimachus also gets stirred up by the disgustingly symbiotic relationship between our declinist and defeatist media and those that wish for our decline and our defeat.

al-Zawahiri is the real Jackass#2. That movie, currently in theatres, don't got nothing on him.

Different Takes on the Same Tale

Michelle Malkin comments on Deustche Oper's cancelled production of Mozart's Idomeneo.

Victoria comments as well (and comments very well indeed).

Searching about using tools like Tailrank, Technorati and Google Blogsearch it would seem that the political response to this has been almost exclusively from the right of center blogs.

The consensus from opera and culture blogs (as exemplified by New Criterion editor Roger Kimball) would seem to be that the director of this opera, Hans Neuenfels, is an idiot. He has been hacking away at classic operas for years, and if he were to be figuratively beheaded as to never be allowed to commit his churlish and asinine productions ever again, that wouldn't be a bad thing (please note that I said figurative)

It should be noted that this production premiered in 2003 and presumably went off without leading to actual beheadings.

I think Prof. Althouse's take on the matter is worth noting, too

This is a complex problem. Neuenfels's production takes the easy faux-daring route of "Piss Christ" and the Madonna crucifixion, but at least he had the nerve to hit all religions equality, and not to single out one religion. Perhaps he did that because it wouldn't have made any sense to go after the conventional target of Christianity when it's an opera about the Trojan War. It doesn't make all that much sense to drag Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad into that setting either, but bringing them all in to join their super best friend Poseidon made some kind of crazy sense.

Now that some Muslims have made it painfully obvious that religion-taunting is not an easy game anymore, abandoning it expresses fear, not respect for religion. And continuing to disrespect the religions that don't lash back only highlights that cowardice. Poor transgressive rebel artists! How are they to shock the middle class anymore?

I searched long and hard for an actual liberal site that mentioned this and found this bit of wisdom from Mahablog

Today there’s some grumbling on the blogosphere about “political correctness” and how “artistic freedom” is being sacrificed to placate Muslims. To which I say, try performing this critter in the Bible Belt. As soon as the Holy Rollers hear about Jesus’s severed head the opera house is as good as vandalized, if not torched. And every Mozart CD in Alabama — all six of ‘em — would be tossed on a bonfire, along with video cassettes and DVDs of “Amadeus.”

Yeah, sure, whatever you say, nothing offensive to Christians has ever been staged in a college town deep in the bible belt.

Crazed Islamo-Fascists intent on killing or converting all unlike themselves aren't the problem, it's those Christians who are ruining the world.