Put out the lights on the Age of Reason

[alexsarll]

"Freedom of speech has its limits when it concerns others...How would it feel if Jesus Christ was the one insulted instead?" - Randa Ahmed Essa, Egypt. Right. You're really not very familiar with the work of Monty Python, Lee & Herring or indeed modern European culture in general, are you Randa? Aside from a few ass-backwards argu(ment/er)s against evolution, we'd laugh or not, then carry on about our day. Try it, it's really quite liberating.
Oh, and Peter Mandelson - On The Fvcking List alongside Clinton, now. You're both contemptible Quislings and a disgrace to the tradition that made you. Kindly move to Iran, and just wait to see how they repay your solidarity when they get wind of your private life. Or, even better, why don't the whole accursed bunch of you move to 2003 UB313? So far as we can tell there's no cartoons, gays or Jews within millions of miles. You'll love it!
Newsnight led with all this last night, unsurprisingly enough. I was particularly surprised by quite how unconvincing Christian Voice's peon-in-chief Stephen Green is - how does a no-mark like that ever manage to rouse the rabble? The Hizb ut Tahrir spokesscum at least had a bit of a passion, though obviously every word he spewed was poison. "Freedom of expression is to be questioned." Bzzzzzt, wrong answer. "A society where we insult each other's mother, each other's religion - is that civilisation?" Yes. Yes. YES. Which, incidentally, is what your Mum tends to say when I'm around.
The Danish editor responsible for the original cartoons put it well - "I don't think they are asking for my respect, I think they are asking for my submission." While speaking for the Guardian, the eminently slappable Jonathan Freedland characterised the British approach as "pragmatic, careful". Yeah, just like Munich 1938, Jonathan.
Oh, and when it was pointed someone from the Sharia Council of Britain (a name to chill the blood if ever I heard one) that mediaeval Persia often depicted the Prophet, he pretty much said that they had only mistakenly believed themselves to be Muslims. Right, so one of the Muslim cultures which deserves a place in any list of great civilisations - and you're telling me by your standards they weren't actually Muslims? Really not doing yourself any favours here, mate.

Look, I'm sorry, you know I prefer to have a bit of variety in my posts, but right now I can't really muster much attention for anything else. I didn't go out last night, so there's nothing to talk about there, and even the novel I'm reading describes countries wasting their strength on foolish internal struggles while ignoring the ancient evil on their doorstep that threatens to destroy them all.
Heh - come to think of it, the few people who are paying attention to fighting that ancient evil dress all in black.

Comments

[darkmarcpi.livejournal.com]

Sadly I suspect the whole episode has given the likes of AQ a huge recruiting boost, and significantly from those who previously considered themselves 'moderates'.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

But I also think it's doing a very good job of getting the waverers off the fence on the side of good. A lot more people are taking it personally, dropping the 'just a few extremists' excuse for avoiding engagement, realising the full scale of the threat.