| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Burning Bras and Banning Burqas:
The Inexorable March of Progress
I don't want to make an unfair blanket statement about a
large number of people -- most of whom, let me perfunctorily
emphasize, are good, decent and, of course, above all,
delightfully peaceful -- but how much more evidence do we
need that the adherence to Islam is, at the very least,
intellectually stunting and, at the worst, a raving psychological
disorder?
Okay, I'll even qualify that a bit. The fanatical adherence
to Islam.
The evidence continues to pile up like refuse during a New
York City garbage strike. Cartoon riots, endless terrorism and
strife, a fascination with beheadings, the insane preoccupation
with the tiny country of Israel, still more cartoon riots,
societies that revere and encourage suicide bombers, a
profound aversion to post-Dark Ages human progress, and, oh,
did I mention riots over some silly cartoons?
Atheists might argue that the fanatical adherence to any
religion is intellectually stunting, but we’re not talking about
the unobtrusive Amish here, who just shun the modern world
and keep to themselves. With Islam we’re talking about a
religious force that has the power to not only keep a huge swath
of the world in darkness and ignorance, but to disrupt and
destabilize other parts of the world that have managed to
advance over the centuries.
It might be appealing to think that when Islam is practiced
within the context of decent democratic societies in the West
rather than the typical corrupt and dictatorial regimes that
constitute most of the Islamic world, that intellectual stunting
thing would be muted in favor of rationality. But then you go
and read that a recent poll found that 40 percent of British
Muslims want sharia law in the U.K. and 20 percent
sympathized with the 7/7 London subway bombers, and the
only thing you can think is, nope, ‘fraid not.
It’s a bit dispiriting if you have high hopes of Islam and the
West being able to coexist in some kind of warm and fuzzy
multicultural tolerance. Instead, it just looks more and more
like a true clash of civilizations that’s becoming as hard to
ignore as, well, a New York City garbage strike.
But sometimes it's the little things that really nettle. Take,
for instance, a 22-year-old Dutch-born Muslim woman named
Hope. Her native country, the Netherlands, is thinking about
becoming the first European country to ban the burqa and
other Muslim face veils. If it does, Hope says she'll resort to
wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her
religious beliefs.
"I'll wear one of those things they wore during the SARS
epidemic if I have to," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm very
practical." Sure, what could be more practical than walking
around in a surgical mask because you were deprived of the
"right" to wear a burqa?
Part of the justification for outlawing the burqa is as a
security measure so that people are readily identifiable in
public. That’s because even the extraordinarily liberal and
tolerant country of the Netherlands has had its problems with
radical Islam. But there's another reason according to Geert
Wilders, member of the Dutch Parliament: "The burqa is
hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around
on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who
believes in equal rights."
In other words, the burqa represents something that the
Dutch may consider incompatible with modernity and
freedom, both of which were achieved after many centuries of
struggle at a very high human cost, and they don’t consider
that to be a trivial thing.
It could certainly be argued that in a liberal Western
society people have the right to insult the public at large, at
least up to a point. On the other hand, given the recent
worldwide cartoon riots -- during which embassies were
burned to the ground, people were killed and infidels the world
over were threatened with beheadings, annihilation and
general damnation -- do Muslims have any right to make such
an argument without being branded the world’s most egregious
hypocrites?
Nonetheless, Famile Arslan, a Dutch-Muslim lawyer,
believes a ban would only reinforce today’s polarized climate
and said that “a country once known for its tolerance is now
becoming known for its ignorance.”
Really? The burqa itself is an accouterment that utterly
epitomizes ignorance and the Dutch don’t want any part of it.
If it even occurs to Arslan’s presumably razor-sharp legal mind
that women walking around in burqas in the midst of one of the
most liberal countries on earth might be even more blatantly
polarizing than the banning thereof, she keeps it to herself.
But for the Muslim-advocating Arslan it’s all about the West
placating Muslim demands at every turn, no matter how
senseless or troubling to the host societies. It kinda makes you
wonder if she gave a particular hoot about what happened to
Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
Remember him? He was the guy who made a short film that
examined Islam's mistreatment of women and for his trouble,
he got pumped full of bullets and a dagger stuck in his chest on
a public street. Pinned to the dagger was a 5-page explanatory
letter from his Muslim killer about why van Gogh could not be
allowed to go on criticizing Islam.
Theo van Gogh died a brutal death for trying to publicize
the plight of Islamic women, but young Hope is going to strap
on a surgical mask if the burqa gets outlawed in the name of
security and equal rights for women. Hey, the cussed young
zealot has every right to be an ungrateful, self-defeating fool,
but the question is, why would she? She was born and raised in
a secular, liberal country that deals with its problems through
rationality rather than religious dogma. Where is her ability to
reason and compromise? Could it have perchance been
stunted by her fanatical adherence to Islam?
She might as well go to Saudi Arabia and become the official
poster girl for the muttawa, the religious police there who
enforce that country’s strict Islamic code. She would no doubt
be impressed with the muttawa's upholding of Islamic values
and traditions. They once stopped some girls from fleeing from
their burning school building because they weren't properly
covered. Sure, some of them perished, but Islamic traditions
were upheld and that’s the important thing.
Decades ago, Western women were burning their bras in the
name of equal rights. In the Islamic world, it's the women
themselves who can get burned, literally. You’d think people
born and raised in a country like the Netherlands would be
immunized against the sort of fanaticism that affects Hope.
Even her own parents were concerned she had been
“brainwashed” or had developed “militant tendencies.”
Hope’s response to all the fuss? “Yes, extremism is
growing,” she said, “but I am not the problem.”
Au contraire, young Hope. In your fanatical insistence to
perpetuate a symbol that is incompatible with modernity and
the values of your own home country, you are very much part of
the problem.
The Inexorable March of Progress
I don't want to make an unfair blanket statement about a
large number of people -- most of whom, let me perfunctorily
emphasize, are good, decent and, of course, above all,
delightfully peaceful -- but how much more evidence do we
need that the adherence to Islam is, at the very least,
intellectually stunting and, at the worst, a raving psychological
disorder?
Okay, I'll even qualify that a bit. The fanatical adherence
to Islam.
The evidence continues to pile up like refuse during a New
York City garbage strike. Cartoon riots, endless terrorism and
strife, a fascination with beheadings, the insane preoccupation
with the tiny country of Israel, still more cartoon riots,
societies that revere and encourage suicide bombers, a
profound aversion to post-Dark Ages human progress, and, oh,
did I mention riots over some silly cartoons?
Atheists might argue that the fanatical adherence to any
religion is intellectually stunting, but we’re not talking about
the unobtrusive Amish here, who just shun the modern world
and keep to themselves. With Islam we’re talking about a
religious force that has the power to not only keep a huge swath
of the world in darkness and ignorance, but to disrupt and
destabilize other parts of the world that have managed to
advance over the centuries.
It might be appealing to think that when Islam is practiced
within the context of decent democratic societies in the West
rather than the typical corrupt and dictatorial regimes that
constitute most of the Islamic world, that intellectual stunting
thing would be muted in favor of rationality. But then you go
and read that a recent poll found that 40 percent of British
Muslims want sharia law in the U.K. and 20 percent
sympathized with the 7/7 London subway bombers, and the
only thing you can think is, nope, ‘fraid not.
It’s a bit dispiriting if you have high hopes of Islam and the
West being able to coexist in some kind of warm and fuzzy
multicultural tolerance. Instead, it just looks more and more
like a true clash of civilizations that’s becoming as hard to
ignore as, well, a New York City garbage strike.
But sometimes it's the little things that really nettle. Take,
for instance, a 22-year-old Dutch-born Muslim woman named
Hope. Her native country, the Netherlands, is thinking about
becoming the first European country to ban the burqa and
other Muslim face veils. If it does, Hope says she'll resort to
wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her
religious beliefs.
"I'll wear one of those things they wore during the SARS
epidemic if I have to," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm very
practical." Sure, what could be more practical than walking
around in a surgical mask because you were deprived of the
"right" to wear a burqa?
Part of the justification for outlawing the burqa is as a
security measure so that people are readily identifiable in
public. That’s because even the extraordinarily liberal and
tolerant country of the Netherlands has had its problems with
radical Islam. But there's another reason according to Geert
Wilders, member of the Dutch Parliament: "The burqa is
hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around
on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who
believes in equal rights."
In other words, the burqa represents something that the
Dutch may consider incompatible with modernity and
freedom, both of which were achieved after many centuries of
struggle at a very high human cost, and they don’t consider
that to be a trivial thing.
It could certainly be argued that in a liberal Western
society people have the right to insult the public at large, at
least up to a point. On the other hand, given the recent
worldwide cartoon riots -- during which embassies were
burned to the ground, people were killed and infidels the world
over were threatened with beheadings, annihilation and
general damnation -- do Muslims have any right to make such
an argument without being branded the world’s most egregious
hypocrites?
Nonetheless, Famile Arslan, a Dutch-Muslim lawyer,
believes a ban would only reinforce today’s polarized climate
and said that “a country once known for its tolerance is now
becoming known for its ignorance.”
Really? The burqa itself is an accouterment that utterly
epitomizes ignorance and the Dutch don’t want any part of it.
If it even occurs to Arslan’s presumably razor-sharp legal mind
that women walking around in burqas in the midst of one of the
most liberal countries on earth might be even more blatantly
polarizing than the banning thereof, she keeps it to herself.
But for the Muslim-advocating Arslan it’s all about the West
placating Muslim demands at every turn, no matter how
senseless or troubling to the host societies. It kinda makes you
wonder if she gave a particular hoot about what happened to
Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
Remember him? He was the guy who made a short film that
examined Islam's mistreatment of women and for his trouble,
he got pumped full of bullets and a dagger stuck in his chest on
a public street. Pinned to the dagger was a 5-page explanatory
letter from his Muslim killer about why van Gogh could not be
allowed to go on criticizing Islam.
Theo van Gogh died a brutal death for trying to publicize
the plight of Islamic women, but young Hope is going to strap
on a surgical mask if the burqa gets outlawed in the name of
security and equal rights for women. Hey, the cussed young
zealot has every right to be an ungrateful, self-defeating fool,
but the question is, why would she? She was born and raised in
a secular, liberal country that deals with its problems through
rationality rather than religious dogma. Where is her ability to
reason and compromise? Could it have perchance been
stunted by her fanatical adherence to Islam?
She might as well go to Saudi Arabia and become the official
poster girl for the muttawa, the religious police there who
enforce that country’s strict Islamic code. She would no doubt
be impressed with the muttawa's upholding of Islamic values
and traditions. They once stopped some girls from fleeing from
their burning school building because they weren't properly
covered. Sure, some of them perished, but Islamic traditions
were upheld and that’s the important thing.
Decades ago, Western women were burning their bras in the
name of equal rights. In the Islamic world, it's the women
themselves who can get burned, literally. You’d think people
born and raised in a country like the Netherlands would be
immunized against the sort of fanaticism that affects Hope.
Even her own parents were concerned she had been
“brainwashed” or had developed “militant tendencies.”
Hope’s response to all the fuss? “Yes, extremism is
growing,” she said, “but I am not the problem.”
Au contraire, young Hope. In your fanatical insistence to
perpetuate a symbol that is incompatible with modernity and
the values of your own home country, you are very much part of
the problem.