THE DAILY BLADE: Call me Ishmael, And Get That Sword Off My Neck!
David Aikman, a writer in residence at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, VA, notes that a video of Fox News correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig supposedly announcing their conversion to Islam was "one of the prices paid" for their release – that, and "a six-figure cash delivery reportedly slipped under the table to the group who kidnapped them." Aikman describes the scenes of Centanni and Wiig professing their devotion to Mohammed and to Allah as "distasteful in the extreme":
Mr. Centanni became "Khaled" and Mr. Wiig became "Yaaqob"--and reading an obligatory denunciation of U.S. policy in the region. A tag-line on the screen said the conversion to Islam had been "without pressure." Mr. Centanni shot this assertion down almost instantly. "We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," he told Fox News within minutes of his release.
The notion of forced conversions is extremely distasteful to Americans, though Islamic history is replete with instances of entire communities conquered by Muslims being coerced to convert, either forced to pay a special tax, or face execution. The Quran itself (Sura 2:256) says "there shall be no compulsion in religion," but in many Islamic societies the murder of someone who leaves Islam for another faith, and thus becomes an "apostate," is not a crime.
Columnist Robert Spencer explains that forced conversion is common – and commonly accepted – among Muslims:
Islamic law forbids forced conversion, but as Andrew Bostom documented earlier this week, this is a law that throughout Islamic history has all too often been honored in the breach. Nor is this yet another case of a "twisting" or "hijacking" of Islam …
Muhammad instructed his followers to call people to Islam before waging war against them - the warfare would follow from their refusal to accept Islam or to enter the Islamic social order as inferiors, required to pay a special tax (Sahih Muslim 4294). There is therefore a threat in this "invitation" to accept Islam. Would one who converted to Islam under the threat of war be considered to have converted under duress? No; from the standpoint of traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence, such a conversion would have resulted from "no compulsion." …
In his letter to President Bush, [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad invited him to accept Islam, and then echoed the Prophet of Islam in delivering a threat to Bush through Mike Wallace: "We are all free to choose. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate."
Kathleen Parker comments that, "We don't often get to watch our media people convert to Islam, so the footage of Fox News' Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig has been riveting." It also repulsed her:
Obviously, none of us can imagine what we'd do under similar circumstances. Yet despite our empathy and relief at the men's release, there is nevertheless something about that video -- of seeing those two decent, open-hearted Western men surrendering to these lowlife fanatics -- that makes me want to take a shower. …
It is easy to imagine that rancorous Muslims are as attuned to the video as we are, watching replay after replay in the smug satisfaction that they have scored another victory against the infidel and the Great Satan. Those few minutes of choreographed horror affirm for the Islamic world that Westerners are weak, while they reiterate the jihadist's message to the West:
Convert to Islam -- or die.
Finally, OpinionJournal editor James Taranto - a self-described "religious nonbeliever" - took exception to The New York Times reporting that the two journalists were "released unharmed":
That is a curious way of putting it. Isn't a forced religious "conversion" a form of harm?
One suspects the Times would not describe as "unharmed" the al Qaeda prisoners who supposedly have endured insults to their religion by U.S. interrogators. For secular Westerners, taking religion seriously is an act of condescension toward "victimized" groups.
Human Events Lists Top 10 Reasons Why Islam Is Not A Religion Of Peace
Columnist Don Feder is of the same mind as The Stiletto on why an air passenger has ample justification to be nervous about being strapped in his seat on an enclosed craft hurtling through the wild blue yonder at 30,000 feet with one or more young Muslim males on the same flight:
A passenger revolt occurred on a Malaga-Manchester flight. Vacationing Brits refused to fly with two Arabic-speaking men. This came in the wake of arrests of 21 British-born Muslims who were plotting to blow up as many as 11 trans-Atlantic flights.
A spokesman for Britain’s opposition Tory party said the passengers panicked into "behaving irrationally." Fancy that, not wanting to fly with members of a faith whose adherents keep trying to blow things up. Oh, how irrational!
Within days of this incident, a Lebanese student was arrested for trying to plant bombs on German trains. In India, meanwhile, a group with alleged ties to al-Qaeda threatened to blow up the 17th century Taj Mahal.
If Muslims make travelers nervous, it’s not without cause.
Would you be more likely to have an anxiety attack at 20,000 feet if the passenger seated next to you was: A) An Irish nun saying the Rosary? A Mormon missionary in regulation white shirt and narrow, black tie? C) A Hari Krishna in a standard-issue saffron robe? or D) A bearded bloke of Middle Eastern complexion holding a well-thumbed Koran?
When you hear of a terrorist incident, is the first thought that pops into your head: Probably some crazy Muslim? Guess what? It probably was some crazy Muslim!
In all honesty, The Stiletto would prefer to sit next to a rich, handsome, single man who is a rock-ribbed conservative, but Feder’s point is well-taken. However, common sense seems to be in short supply at Homeland Security:
Guessing the religion of those who plant bombs, highjack planes, fire into crowds of civilians, take hostages and murder hostages is the world’s ultimate no-brainer.
And yet our leaders, the media and many of us pretend there’s absolutely no connection between psychopathic, ideological killers and the religion which exalts the slaughter of unbelievers.
To clarify matters, he helpfully offers a Letterman-style list, "The Top 10 Reasons Why It’s Quite Possible That Islam Isn’t Exactly A Religion of Peace" (an excerpt):
10. Islam is Bent on Global Conquest
9. Where Have All The Moderate Muslims Gone -- Long Time Passing?
8. Islam isn’t Minority Friendly
7. When a Young Muslim Becomes More Involved with His Religion, His Thoughts Often Stray to Suicide Bombing
6. Generally, the More Muslim a Nation, the More Lunatic and Dangerous It Is
5. Public Opinion In The Muslim World is Scary
4. Islam is Virulently Anti-Semitic
3. For Muslims, Violence and Threats of Violence Are Always the First Resort to Any Perceived Insult or Injury
2. Muslims Don’t Play Well with Other Children
1. While It’s Certainly True that Not All Muslims Are Terrorists, It’s Equally True that Most Terrorists Are Muslims
Update:
Hazelton Delays Enforcing Its Tough Illegal Immigration LawHazleton, PA, agreed to delay enforcing city ordinances that would impose fines of $1,000 on landlords renting to illegal immigrants, yank the business permits of companies that employ them and make English the official language. The measures were to have gone into effect on Sept. 11, but the town of 31,000 about 80 miles from Philadelphia will delay implementation to work on amended wording that Mayor Lou Barletta hopes will be "even stronger and more defensible" against a constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), reports The Associated Press. In its lawsuit brought on behalf of 11 residents and business owners and three nonprofit groups, the ACLU will argue that the Constitution gives the federal government sole authority to regulate immigration. Hazleton agreed to give plaintiffs at least 20 days' notice before enforcing either the ordinance passed in July or its replacement – plenty of time for the ACLU to petition the court to enjoin the city from doing so.
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February 6, 2007
The Stiletto wrote:
Now that Dems Control Everything, "Health care is coming back. It may be a bad dream for some," Hillary Clinton tells The Associated Press. But some would argue that the former first lady needs to wake up and smell the coffee (again) - universal healthcare is unworkable and unaffordable. Case in point: The Golden Gate Restaurant Association, has filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court to block the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance, which offers some 82,000 uninsured residents access to medical services. The 800-member culinary trade group contends that the health care program violates the federal ...
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