The way that the blogosphere in particular and West in general is slowly but surely focussing in on the all-too-human life of the very founder of Islam himself reminds me strongly of the way that we anti-Soviet elements in the 1980s finally stopped pratting around with nonsense about how Communism had been “betrayed” by Stalin, and said, no, it had just been done, by Lenin himself, and by Stalin, and by all Communists since then.
This from Scrappleface last Friday is a send-up correction note by the Nigerian newspaper that had sparked off the rioting by venturing a few mildly humorous observations about the Lenin of Islam:
“We regret our statement earlier this week that Mohammed would have chosen a bride from among the Miss World contestants. Upon further study of the life of the religious leader, we determined that he would have preferred to marry someone much younger than these women–since his favorite wife was Ayesha, who was six years old when he wed her.
“In addition, it is unlikely that Mohammed would have chosen just one bride from among the contestants, since he was married at least 11 times after his first wife died. The editors regret having printed such a poorly researched assertion.”
And how about this, from the “in fact” section of the December 2002 issue of Prospect (no link, you have to subscribe to view), picked up from the November issue of Commentary?:
The prophet Muhammad engaged in 78 battles, only one of which was defensive.
The problem is, however, that there is no way that faith in Muhammed is going any time soon to fade from the millions upon millions of minds that now contain it. Faith in Lenin was nothing, absolutely nothing, by comparison. Lenin promised heaven on earth, and it took seventy years for this to become such obvious bullshit that the regime founded upon believing Lenin simply collapsed. The Cold War could be utterly won, simply by holding up Leninism to the world-wide contempt that it had so brutally earned and demanding that it cease utterly from being believed in by anyone of the slightest importance. But Muhammed promises heaven in heaven, and this promise shows no serious sign of losing its lustre, after the best part of one and a half millennia.
This is why our rulers are so very anxious to restrain us from telling each other, and anyone else who will listen, harsh truths about Islam’s (I believe) inherently belligerent nature. Such counter-belligerence can only cause offence, and all the more offence if it is true. For this is a clash of civilisations that isn’t going to be won merely by the other fellows becoming convinced of their wrongness and giving up.
So keep it polite, say our rulers.
No, let’s tell it like it is, says the blogosphere, for that is its nature. (Our nature.)
As Lenin said: What is to be done?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that I’m starting to sound like David Carr.
I find that troubling.
Very troubling indeed.
What I do know is that I’m starting to sound like David Carr
Brian,
Obviously you must be one of these hi-tech identity thieves I keep hearing about.
However, I don’t think you sound like me at all.
Yes, we’re continually told that Islam is a religion of peace and love – it’s amazing how many of its adherents seem to get hold of the wrong end of the stick.
Amazingly, no one in the West is ready to confront the ugly truth: We are facing a battle to the death with an enemy that wants nothing less than to turn back the clock to their own fanciful notion of the Islam of the caliphs. That their ideas of Islam have no basis in history or reality is of no consequence to them.
They have utterly failed to move their societies into the 21st century (Or the 19th, for that matter), and so they feel no alternative but to destroy us to improve their relative stature.
They are nihilists with a thin veneer of religious mumbo-jumbo as rationalization for their actions.
Make no mistake: It’s us or it’s them. In that scenario, I am reminded of a quote I heard a few years ago on a calendar:
“There comes a time in every man’s life when he must spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
stop fabricating stuff man…..your intentions are very clear…you are guilty so therefore you want to islam to look bad…the more you people do this the more it will spread untill jesus himself will come down..not as a prophet but as a follower of muhammed….that’s god’s promise!