Salman Rushdie: Should He Matter to Muslims?

The question of Salman Rushdie continues. Mostly, it has fallen into the same crowd who thinks Osama bin Laden is a good man (or is it Usama?). The average Muslim is more enlightened, from what I am reading, and, although they are quietly not protesting for or against, they are looking toward other issues.

Interesting piece: Flippant Thoughts On Sir Salman. It is written by a Muslim who contends it is much ado about nothing. He is serious about his faith, yet believes Muslims are not only wasting their time focusing on this issue when compared to greater matters at hand, and:

For some Muslims, burning flags and effigies (and, in come cases, even embassies) seems to be the preferred method to respond to an offence of religious sensibilities. It’s as if we think the best way to protest the honour of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) is to disobey him!

It seems to me, a Christian, that the violent protests against Rushdie are something some Muslims feel they can engage in, especially if they are otherwise powerless economically or politically. Like England's soccer hooligans, or those people who begged for Bill Clinton's impeachment -- it is ultimately inconsequential (except perhaps to Sir Rushdie), making an impact forgotten in the midst of the smoke from burnt flags and books.

Christians in America had a similar crisis a few years ago, when the movie "Last Temptation of Christ" came out. Somewhat popular in its own right, the protests vaulted into a symbol for both sides. Christians protested it because of a larger issue - they felt Hollywood was bastardizing all they felt to be holy. The message in the movie was considered blasphemous, but eventually, they realized what they believed would not change because of a movie. They believed that Jesus Christ's life - his values, message, etc., could not be threatened by one movie (or a thousand).

It is easy to lose focus, to sublimate a symbol into reality. Isn't that a temptation of post modernism?

As elections approach, and we look at candidates, I hope we get past personas, biases prejudices and other kinds of hogwash. Otherwise, Bill Clinton would have only been a dumb Southern hick, and not an Oxford scholar. Hillary Clinton would be elected (or not) just because she is female, and, likewise, Barack Obama elected (or not) just because he is black, and Fred Thompson elected just because he looks like a president.

Bigger issues are at hand.

Issues: I Got 'Em

I've got issues.

• Iraq, and the terrorism question, is a big one. I think, no matter what the campaign speeches say, we are staying in Iraq for another several years.
• I do not think the North Korea issue is over.
• I'm not worried about the economy - I believe in capitalism, and that the market will right itself.
• Gas prices do not bother me: maybe we will learn to use alternate transportation.
• I do not think abortion should be legal, but I am not sure the next president can make a difference without Congressional support.
• I do not think executing criminals should be legal, but, like abortion, do not think this will change in the next term.
• I do think religious freedom in America is a big issue, but I also think modern Americans have become too afraid of speaking their mind about their faith. That's their problem, not the White House's. Use it or lose it.
• I do think we need to be vigilant about air quality. Smoke and chemicals go somewhere. What impact they have is a scientific argument, and I'm not equipped with a position or capacity to argue.

Obama Mixes Politics With Religion While Criticizing Conservatives

Obama accuses conservative religious leaders of 'hijacking' faith

Forgetting, it seems the photo ops in churches of Jesse "Reverend" Jackson, John Kerry and Bill Clinton during elections, the noteworthy and often articulated faith of President Jimmy Carter, and the amazing faith and life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (never known as having been shy about his faith), Barack Obama has claimed there has been a hijacking of faith by conservatives. Some conservatives.

Obama spoke with intensity at a United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ, as a denomination, is consider theologically and socially liberal, more than almost any other mainline Protestant denomination. It is considered part of the "social gospel" belief system by some.

Obama is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, on Chicago's south side, where they teach liberation theology, a highly controversial mix of politics and religion.

Hillary Clinton's, on paper, a United Methodist, but her beliefs have never really made the news. When they do, you'll be able to read about it here.

How 'Some' Muslims Want You to Sell Your Soul

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

Moore, Gore Missing from Top Movies of All Time

The Top Movies of All Time list has been released. Remarkably absent? All Michael Moore movies, including SiCKO and Fahrenheit 911. Missing also was that Al Gore flick,
An Inconvenient Truth.

Doesn't anyone recognize these two filmmakers are creative kin to Orsen Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese? Steven Spielberg has nothing on Moore.

Right?

French-Canadian Pop Singer Celine Dion to Sing the Song of Hillary

Voters did not choose an American. Not just any Canadian, but a French-Canadian.

What do I say? Don't start believing.

Rumors of Hillary's potential running mates include Mick Jagger (a shoo-in as president of vice) and, if not Sir Mick, then Nicolas Sarkozy, that Hungarian-named French president who will be looking for a real job next year once he finds out how weak his health benefits are.

Voters pick Celine to join Hillary's campaign
Telegraph.co.uk - 23 hours ago
By Alex Spillius Supporters of Hillary Clinton will only have themselves to blame if they become bored with Celine Dion over the coming months, after choosing a hit by the Canadian singer to be the US presidential hopeful's official campaign song.

Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Soprano's spoof/parody

Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Soprano's spoof/parody

Is this a wise, foolish, or indifferent thing for a presidential candidate to do?

Mitt Romney's a Mormon? So what.

While the basic tenets of Mormonism can be criticized, they are not key to the election, any more than Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are Southern Baptists.

We all know there's quite a row about Bush's faith, which, theologically, is the same as Clinton's and Obama's. Whatever frailties Romney's theology has, isn't he, in America, free to believe in the god of his choice

re: Some Mormons Worry as Faith Comes Under Scrutiny
Mitt Romney's Presidential Rivals Have Used His Mormon Faith for Negative Campaigning

Long live Sir Rushdie! Long live freedom of faith! Let freedom ring!

re: Britain responds in Rushdie knighthood row

This is the world Hillary Clinton will inherit, one in which tolerance is expected to be one-sided, in which Islamic tyranny breathes heavily, panting with lust in Iran.

If violence is needed to protect the prophet's honor, he has no honor.

How feeble is the Koran that it cannot withstand scrutiny?

How insecure are Islam's faithful that the disbelief of another person causes rage?

How petty can someone be to think a few scratches in a newspaper are offensive to someone they believe knows Allah?

Are these really offensive, or just an excuse to vent prepubescent angst?

Long live Sir Rushdie! Long live freedom of faith! Let freedom ring!

Hillary Could Ace the Primaries, Lose the General Election

Various polls are claiming Hillary, and Democrats in general, would lose to specific leading Republicans. I've mentioned this issue previously. Though all of these polls are void in so much as it is too early to be naming winners and losers, it indicates a troubling trend.

This challenge amazes me. While it is good to see that voters are seeing through partisan affiliations, they also seem to not know what they think.

No surprise with Rudy G, since, as Republicans go, he's pretty liberal. Same with Romney, for opposite reasons. But why is Hillary so popular, yet unelectable?

In Polls, Clinton Loses to Republicans

EVEN MORE OH-EIGHT: ELECTABILITY