Pakistani traders put £80000 bounty on Rushdie's head
You read that right. Some Muslim Pakistani whack jobs feel the only way to get other Muslims to listen is to buy their faith. Faith, in being best shown by action, really can never be purchased. Actions, pretending to be faith-motivated, can be purchased, just as anyone can be hired to do a job.
Naturally, selling your soul is a bad move in any faith, but, desperate to atone for some nana-poo-poo comments they feel Sir Salman Rushdie made in a book they never personally read (and much of the illiterate Arab Muslim world could not read) , they decided to whore out the so-called dignity of the guy they believe is a prophet.
Yes, it comes down to that. Harsh? Well, yes.
Why not offer no money, and some do-gooder, angry lackey will go all Tony Soprano on Sir Rushdie? Wasn't happening. It is easier to get someone to kill himself by running a plane full of people into a building New York City than it is to kill a writer known only to the literati before this. A fatwa offered by then kingpin Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wasn't enough. Apparently.
I don't know what Sir Rushdie should do. Hide, like Osama bin Laden, in the caves of the Middle East? Go on Oprah, and see if he can get his book into her famous "Oprah's Book Club"? Surely, he has no desire to take a bullet in the head from an Islamic zealot, but, in turn, hiding only proves terrorism has influence.
He survived this long, since February 14,1989, when the murder order was made.
If it turns out that some punk takes out Sir Rushdie, expect a backlash, supporting freedom's newest martyr. Bad PR, I say.
Since I heard there's boycott against British goods, I need to find out how I can purchase as many British things as possible. Cadbury chocolate? Dr. Who? If I see the musical Spamalot, or buy a Monty Python DVD, will that count? I really have no idea what is officially British and available in the United States.
Caveat
None of this presumes I agree with Sir Rushdie, or think he should have been knighted. I don't know. I have never read his works, and this includes "The Satanic Verses." My thoughts are based on the reaction, the motivation, the hate, and the violence suggested, and the attempt to manipulate others into tolerating their own intolerance.
None of this presumes either that I believe every Muslim thinks this way, or supports the hate crime mentality against Sir Rushdie, just as I do not believe every prolife person supports those whack jobs who tries to blow up a Planned Parenthood abortion shop, or that every anti-fur person supports PETA's screwball activities.
The Presidential Question
The everlasting question is -- which candidate running for president will know what to do on January 20, 2009, when he or she takes office? This is bigger than all the lesser questions, like gender, personal faith, party affiliation, experience, and what part of the USA did they grow up in. This one is about leadership and wisdom. Do they know what to do, and, are they able to get it done?
No election, in my opinion, matters more than this one. All the usual reasons for picking who to vote for have become inconsequential.
See: Ruhollah Khomeini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3 comments:
I don't know. Have you ever had Turkish Delight? Really nasty stuff...
Sounds like Islam needs a Vatican II, to learn that indulgences are no longer needed. Shall we call it Mecca II?
I have tried the stuff. I know the kiddies in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe loved it, but not me. I tried it just because of that, bought at the Irish shop near here.
If Islam convocates for Mecca II, does this mean Mass will no longer be in Arabic, and that they can eat pork on Fridays? What about pre-Mecca II advocates? If Mel-Ali gib Son gets drunk in Bollywood, I somehow think he might say nasty things about Jews. ;)
In all seriousness, I don't know what Islam should do. I'm not a Muslim, and not in agreement in any way with where they are coming from. It looks, from an outsider's point of view, that they have significant problems politically to sort through.
On one hand, they lack the central governing body that the Roman Catholic Church has, but on the other, the various factions have certain unities with one another, much as Protestant groups do. Whether those unities are enough to come together and decide who they are, or if they will eternally fight for power, I have no idea.
Assorted Turkish Delight
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Widescreen Edition)
I think that was Lewis' point- how awful must this Edmond be, to actually eat an entire box of the sickly sweet stuff!
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