And the Lying Continues
The future head of the Anglican Church, Price Charles, fights for Islam:
Might I suggest that Price Charles take a tour of Continental Europe to confront the hate and bigotry against America?
The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.Of course, President Bush has nothing but praise for Islam. Clearly Charles has been hallucinating or falling for anti-American bigotry. In actuality, this line of attack is meant to be pre-emptive. Before Mr. Bush, or more likely another leader, identifies the threat of Islam, the apologists are yelling “anti-Islam” to solidify our current blindness. This is an attempt to close people’s mind and inculcate a positive prejudice before they critically examine Islam.
Might I suggest that Price Charles take a tour of Continental Europe to confront the hate and bigotry against America?
posted by Jason Pappas at 8:56 AM
11 Comments:
So, the U.S. over-reacted to 9/11? Excuse me? Damn, that makes me mad!
The article to which you linked also stated this: Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam. He said in 1994 that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith".
A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws.
He spoke warmly of the West's debt to the culture of Islam and distanced moderate Muslims from misguided militants. "Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity," he said.
The Prince needs to do some reading--if he can get off his polo pony long enough to do so! He can start with Winston Churchhill and John Adams, if he wants to read the words of Western political leaders. Or maybe he should check out what Ali Sina and Ibn Warraq have had to say.
Yes, Jason, the battle continues (as you said when I took my car-crises break of a few days). And various leaders (Charles doesn't qualify as a leader, IMO) continue to insist upon the continuation of pc blindness.
Damn, that makes me mad!
Yes, me too. I barely touched on all the explicit nonsense and implicit insults in that article. I thought I'd let people react to it on their own. I feel the same way.
If you look in the Arab world you'll find 90-100% express hate towards American and Jews. The hate, as I've said, made 9/11 acceptable. Perhaps, Charles should address the real sources of hate: Islam and failed Arab culture. Oh, but that would be a criticism and we would become "too intolerant" of Islamic intolerance.
This goes back to my very first article. We can raise the question of America being evil (it is not even a question in some people's mind.) But we dare not even ask that about Islam. And Charles is trying to cement this taboo even further.
I wonder how high a percentage of Habsburg blood is in the Windsors.
Jason,
You are right about 90-100% hatred for Jews in Islamic countries. Recent polls in Jordan and Lebanon show, literally, 100% of citizens profess to dislike Jews.
That's an astonishing statistic. Where can you go anywhere in the world and find an entire population that agrees on anything, even the color of the sky.
If anyone doesn't believe me, I will be happy to find the links. They're buried in the CUANAS archive somewhere.
MIght I offer Charles take a tour of Jersey City and talk to Copts who are afraid to speak up in America.
I am an American and no Jihadist or Commie will ever take away my right to free speech. If they don't like it or feel uncomfortable leave. There are lenty of lands for them to live under their bigoted Jim Crow and inhuman Sharia.
Sharia by definition is a human rights abuse.
Why doesn't someone ask Prince Charles if he has any idea who the Banu Qurayza were, or the poetess Asma? Doesn't look too good on the resume of a holy man...
Warren,
Ah, the Hapsburg blood! The blood of morons and of congenital defects.
Just remembered this...When the exhibit The Treasure Houses of Great Britain toured the U.S., it came to the National Gallery of Art. I went to see the exhibit a day after the Royals toured. One of the docents told me that there was "something wrong" with all of them--except for Lady Diana.
Jason,
Before I ever started hanging around the blogs and got introduced to you by The Beak, I had stumbled upon your article "Is Islam Evil?" I've sent it to every one of my students and friends.
The hatred of Jews in specified in the Koran. Isn't it true that Sufis also hate Jews? Let me know the facts on that.
And it seems that the more educated Muslims are among the most militant. I learned that fact from the book Faith At War, written by a reporter for the WSJ.
Pastorius has a font of information at his site. Can he install some kind of search tool?
Beak,
Great comment! While my experiences are different from yours, I so agree. I will not shut up! I was too quiet for too long as it is.
Benjamin Orion,
Charles has no idea what the hell he's talking about. Can he read?
(I'm so mad that I'm now reduced to profanities. Sorry.)
I’m glad to hear you noticed Is Islam Evil? Caroline first noticed that article as well. As a matter of fact, I find that I regularly list in the top 5 on search engines when the search includes “Islam” and “Evil.” Thus, this is still my best outreach article. And I think it says everything important even if it is sometimes terse. It’s a good summary.
The Sufis are interesting but I still don’t know enough. Being a mystical sect they tend to be less than lucid about the essence of their teachings. They emphasize the personal mystical experience guided by a mentor. From the different sources I’ve read, Sufism is more of an eclectic practice incorporating Islam and other religions. One writer called the term “Sufi” an umbrella term for many different combinations of Islam and other religions, often of regional importance. Thus, Sufism in India often has Hindu elements while in Northern Africa it has Christian elements. I sometimes wonder (but I have no proof) if Sufism was originally a quiet way for conquered people to continue to practice their religion while calling themselves Muslims. Since Sufism can be quite secretive and Muslim rulers were more concerned with allegiance to the state, it seems likely that those strongly religious would practice in private and take this out if offered to them.
Many orthodox Muslims don’t consider Sufism Islam at all. Some I’ve spoken to dismiss it as a silly and harmless rural practice. Sufism did not achieve widespread acceptance on a sustained basis until al-Ghazali defended it in the 11th century. He also attacked the Hellenic tradition which had competed with Islam during the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad. He is blamed for Arab’s closing the door on reason and open debate. But one wonders if it wasn’t inevitable.
Back to the Sufis, I’m still not clear on how to classify them or even describe them. I hear that they focus on the Meccan passages. Even 30 years ago, I remember passing a Sufi bookstore here in New York City, and noticing a book in the window called the “Meccan Revelations.” In any case, they don’t seem to be a force that shapes Islam today.
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