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Watch Your Back
Jan. 4th, 2006 11:55 pmBefore I get to the serious story - as someone who went to college at the University of Houston while were were still in the Southwest Conference and had Texas as a rival, I can't say I'm happy about Texas winning the National championship. I still have problems with thir fans chucking batteries at us (I was in the band) in a couple of games. Texas fans can be a little...overbearing, and I'm not really happy about having to hear the Teasips in my office with thier smack tomorrow.
Still, I didn't think Texas was up to the task, so I have to say they did a pretty good job. It was a a good, exciting game.
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I saw a story recently where some writers in a British publication were fired for taking a very hard line editorial stance against Islamic immigrants to the UK. Their opinion was that the growing Muslim population was a threat to current freedoms in Great Britain, and the high birth rate of the immigrants should also be of concern.
While they likely would have been fired by a mainstream newspaper in most western countries for their views, Great Britain doesn't have the freedom of speech rules that we do in the US, and they might also come under governmental prosecution for their racial views that saw print. Of course, why their paper, actually publish the article, is a mystery to me, if they knew there could be trouble with the law.
Still, there's a kernel of truth there. Radical Islamist are looking to change our way of life as they hope to change the laws to reflect their values, even going so far as to introduce Sharia Law, laws more closely aligned with and eye for an eye, and based on a very different philosophy than our own notions of being innocent until proven guilty. Already Muslims in Canada have petitioned their government to establish courts that would use sharia law for their citizens over that of common Canadian law. That request was denied.
On the flip side, a leader of a Muslim organization in the UK has condemned the country's new civil partnerships, stating that gays are immoral and are damaging to society, and that the government is irresponsible in supporting these partnerships. I wonder if this guy will see himself brought up on charges for his words. i doubt it.
I don't think the average Muslim citizen in western cultures are really pushing this, but it seems as though conservative clerics and a strong minority are looking to do this, as they try to turn back the clock on all of the progress that western society has achieved. Still, I'll never say that all muslims are of one mind. There's good and bad in all groups.
The thing that makes me concerned is that society isn't just being attacked from one side. So many people just see the one threat because it's foreign and different, but I see several of the same tactics pursued by the Republican Party along with the religious right. they also look to turn back the clock to a time they feel was better, and run roughshod over the gains minorities have gained, including women's rights. they look to stock the courts not only to create their change, but also to uphold the actions of the president and congress.
If nothing else, just look at the Republican's take over of the South, and the continuing push by Mormons to take over city and state governments in the western US. It may not be sharia law, but it is pushing a different brand of religious intolerance.
We need to be vigilant, but in a way that we're not watching one aggressor without seeing the other. There's more than one front in this culture war.
Still, I didn't think Texas was up to the task, so I have to say they did a pretty good job. It was a a good, exciting game.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I saw a story recently where some writers in a British publication were fired for taking a very hard line editorial stance against Islamic immigrants to the UK. Their opinion was that the growing Muslim population was a threat to current freedoms in Great Britain, and the high birth rate of the immigrants should also be of concern.
While they likely would have been fired by a mainstream newspaper in most western countries for their views, Great Britain doesn't have the freedom of speech rules that we do in the US, and they might also come under governmental prosecution for their racial views that saw print. Of course, why their paper, actually publish the article, is a mystery to me, if they knew there could be trouble with the law.
Still, there's a kernel of truth there. Radical Islamist are looking to change our way of life as they hope to change the laws to reflect their values, even going so far as to introduce Sharia Law, laws more closely aligned with and eye for an eye, and based on a very different philosophy than our own notions of being innocent until proven guilty. Already Muslims in Canada have petitioned their government to establish courts that would use sharia law for their citizens over that of common Canadian law. That request was denied.
On the flip side, a leader of a Muslim organization in the UK has condemned the country's new civil partnerships, stating that gays are immoral and are damaging to society, and that the government is irresponsible in supporting these partnerships. I wonder if this guy will see himself brought up on charges for his words. i doubt it.
I don't think the average Muslim citizen in western cultures are really pushing this, but it seems as though conservative clerics and a strong minority are looking to do this, as they try to turn back the clock on all of the progress that western society has achieved. Still, I'll never say that all muslims are of one mind. There's good and bad in all groups.
The thing that makes me concerned is that society isn't just being attacked from one side. So many people just see the one threat because it's foreign and different, but I see several of the same tactics pursued by the Republican Party along with the religious right. they also look to turn back the clock to a time they feel was better, and run roughshod over the gains minorities have gained, including women's rights. they look to stock the courts not only to create their change, but also to uphold the actions of the president and congress.
If nothing else, just look at the Republican's take over of the South, and the continuing push by Mormons to take over city and state governments in the western US. It may not be sharia law, but it is pushing a different brand of religious intolerance.
We need to be vigilant, but in a way that we're not watching one aggressor without seeing the other. There's more than one front in this culture war.
