Conservative readers might also find that this blog strikes a chord, so you too may want to read on. The main thrust though is to pose questions for Liberals (in the American meaning) and Socialists - and all of their fellow travelers.
Listening to the TV news, this morning, I was struck by the time spent on news stories about the destruction of 3,500 year old Assyrian artefacts by ISIS. Such destruction, by the mindless Muslim zealots who promote Islamic 'jihad' against all non-Muslims and all symbols of pre-Mohammaden era art, is not unprecedented. The same happened in Taliban Afghanistan and in Mali.
However, my interest was more on what wasn't being reported. There was a spokesman from UNESCO calling the destruction a war crime and then various other talking heads explaining the 'rationale' behind this.
What you didn't see though, was any linkage to the far more important destruction that is occurring, on a daily basis, in ISIS territories and also in other Muslim dominated countries. While you will hear squeals of outrage about the destruction of these statues, you won't hear any such noise about the mass murder of Christians by ISIS. Even the murder of homosexuals, usually such a sensitive touch-point for Liberals, evokes no outcry. There are frequent reports of homosexual men being thrown alive from tall buildings and cliff-tops. Where are the protests? Christians and Yazidis are being lined-up and shot in the back of the head and their bodies pushed into mass graves, in scenes reminiscent of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, but there is only muted comment.
Thinking about this, I don't believe that this can be put down to post-Charlie Hebbdo fear. This silence pre-dates these January attacks in Paris. Homosexuals have been being hung from crane gibbets for years by the murderous Iranian regime but the LGBT community keeps quiet. I wrote a blog-post on this site about the changes to the UK marriage laws and how they affect homosexuals and this piece received many comments from seemingly homosexuals, who called me homophobe and yet these same people seem to stay silent in the face of the far more important than marriage rites, state-sponsored persecution and murder of homosexuals. I guess that is what it means to be a Liberal?
Attack a comedian, who makes a risque or slightly derogatory statement about homosexuals or 'trannies' or whatever, but say nothing about what is happening in ISIS Iraq and ISIS Syria and Iran and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Let President Obama get away with denigrating Premier Netanyahu when he questions the idiocy of allowing Iran to become a nuclear-armed state (and the betrayal of America's staunchest ally in the Middle East) but don't support Republicans who recognise the evil that is in power in these countries, because, 'Hey, they're republicans, right?'
I think I can kind of understand the deafening silence from Socialists. It kind of fits with their overwhelming sense of guilt at the 'imperialist' past of the West. Something along the lines of 'well it is a normal response because these countries have been so exploited by the West, why would we get upset when they finally throw off the imperialist yoke and hit back at us, their oppressors' Or some such rubbish as that! Then there is the belief that is deeply held by Socialists that all the ills of the world can be squarely laid at the feet of Capitalism and if Capitalism is destroyed and replaced with Socialism then there would be no need for religions (ref. Imagine by John Lennon) and all would live in peace (and prosperity, of course)!
What I find very puzzling and concerning though, is the silence from Christian church leaders and from Hindu leaders. It is very disappointing that Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby have not publicly, and regularly so, denounced the persecution of Christians within the Muslim world. To be clear, this is not a problem that is confined to ISIS areas. Christians are being persecuted, and have been for many, many years, in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and in the countries where Arab oil money holds sway. Egypt's Coptic community suffers daily attacks but the Liberals and Socialists and their fellow-travelers in the media, stay silent.
So I am calling for a sense of proportion. I am upset about 3,500 year old stone statues and carvings being destroyed but I am outraged by Christians being killed because of their faith and by homosexuals being killed because of their sexual inclinations. I am outraged that politicians and church leaders in the West do not speak out (make that scream out) more about these atrocities. That these politicians don't adopt a 'you've got more to lose policy' with Saudi Arabia and Iran and Egypt and Pakistan, by withholding aid, in the case of Egypt and Pakistan and perhaps more effectively by cutting off all diplomatic ties with those countries and imposing full trade sanctions, until the persecution ceases and until those countries adopt the same sort of freedom for an individual to freely practice their chosen religious faith or sexual inclination, that all people in the West enjoy - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists, Jedi, Buddhists, etc..
How long do you think that Egypt or Pakistan would survive without foreign aid? Yes Pakistan would descend into chaos and, given its nuclear status, that is a concern but measures could be taken to mitigate that risk. How long would Saudi Arabia survive if its 'princes' were denied access to the 'sinful' joys of the West?
Having read through the above, I realise that this is bordering on a rant. No politician in the West has the courage to do the right thing and oppose militant Muslims. They are too wrapped-up in preserving the comforts that they currently enjoy. The media cannot be relied upon - they always look for equivalency - the CIA 'torture' terrorists with buckets of water and that is then 'matched' by ISIS burning people alive or beheading innocents, on video! I am reminded of the quote attributed to Lenin, something along the lines of 'the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we shall hang them'. The silence of the West in the face of the destruction of the values that have produced the greatest advances in humankind, will lead to a return to the barbarism from which Islam arose.
You should pity and weep for your children and grandchildren at the world that we bequeath to them!
Listening to the TV news, this morning, I was struck by the time spent on news stories about the destruction of 3,500 year old Assyrian artefacts by ISIS. Such destruction, by the mindless Muslim zealots who promote Islamic 'jihad' against all non-Muslims and all symbols of pre-Mohammaden era art, is not unprecedented. The same happened in Taliban Afghanistan and in Mali.
However, my interest was more on what wasn't being reported. There was a spokesman from UNESCO calling the destruction a war crime and then various other talking heads explaining the 'rationale' behind this.
What you didn't see though, was any linkage to the far more important destruction that is occurring, on a daily basis, in ISIS territories and also in other Muslim dominated countries. While you will hear squeals of outrage about the destruction of these statues, you won't hear any such noise about the mass murder of Christians by ISIS. Even the murder of homosexuals, usually such a sensitive touch-point for Liberals, evokes no outcry. There are frequent reports of homosexual men being thrown alive from tall buildings and cliff-tops. Where are the protests? Christians and Yazidis are being lined-up and shot in the back of the head and their bodies pushed into mass graves, in scenes reminiscent of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, but there is only muted comment.
Thinking about this, I don't believe that this can be put down to post-Charlie Hebbdo fear. This silence pre-dates these January attacks in Paris. Homosexuals have been being hung from crane gibbets for years by the murderous Iranian regime but the LGBT community keeps quiet. I wrote a blog-post on this site about the changes to the UK marriage laws and how they affect homosexuals and this piece received many comments from seemingly homosexuals, who called me homophobe and yet these same people seem to stay silent in the face of the far more important than marriage rites, state-sponsored persecution and murder of homosexuals. I guess that is what it means to be a Liberal?
Attack a comedian, who makes a risque or slightly derogatory statement about homosexuals or 'trannies' or whatever, but say nothing about what is happening in ISIS Iraq and ISIS Syria and Iran and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Let President Obama get away with denigrating Premier Netanyahu when he questions the idiocy of allowing Iran to become a nuclear-armed state (and the betrayal of America's staunchest ally in the Middle East) but don't support Republicans who recognise the evil that is in power in these countries, because, 'Hey, they're republicans, right?'
I think I can kind of understand the deafening silence from Socialists. It kind of fits with their overwhelming sense of guilt at the 'imperialist' past of the West. Something along the lines of 'well it is a normal response because these countries have been so exploited by the West, why would we get upset when they finally throw off the imperialist yoke and hit back at us, their oppressors' Or some such rubbish as that! Then there is the belief that is deeply held by Socialists that all the ills of the world can be squarely laid at the feet of Capitalism and if Capitalism is destroyed and replaced with Socialism then there would be no need for religions (ref. Imagine by John Lennon) and all would live in peace (and prosperity, of course)!
What I find very puzzling and concerning though, is the silence from Christian church leaders and from Hindu leaders. It is very disappointing that Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby have not publicly, and regularly so, denounced the persecution of Christians within the Muslim world. To be clear, this is not a problem that is confined to ISIS areas. Christians are being persecuted, and have been for many, many years, in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and in the countries where Arab oil money holds sway. Egypt's Coptic community suffers daily attacks but the Liberals and Socialists and their fellow-travelers in the media, stay silent.
So I am calling for a sense of proportion. I am upset about 3,500 year old stone statues and carvings being destroyed but I am outraged by Christians being killed because of their faith and by homosexuals being killed because of their sexual inclinations. I am outraged that politicians and church leaders in the West do not speak out (make that scream out) more about these atrocities. That these politicians don't adopt a 'you've got more to lose policy' with Saudi Arabia and Iran and Egypt and Pakistan, by withholding aid, in the case of Egypt and Pakistan and perhaps more effectively by cutting off all diplomatic ties with those countries and imposing full trade sanctions, until the persecution ceases and until those countries adopt the same sort of freedom for an individual to freely practice their chosen religious faith or sexual inclination, that all people in the West enjoy - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists, Jedi, Buddhists, etc..
How long do you think that Egypt or Pakistan would survive without foreign aid? Yes Pakistan would descend into chaos and, given its nuclear status, that is a concern but measures could be taken to mitigate that risk. How long would Saudi Arabia survive if its 'princes' were denied access to the 'sinful' joys of the West?
Having read through the above, I realise that this is bordering on a rant. No politician in the West has the courage to do the right thing and oppose militant Muslims. They are too wrapped-up in preserving the comforts that they currently enjoy. The media cannot be relied upon - they always look for equivalency - the CIA 'torture' terrorists with buckets of water and that is then 'matched' by ISIS burning people alive or beheading innocents, on video! I am reminded of the quote attributed to Lenin, something along the lines of 'the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we shall hang them'. The silence of the West in the face of the destruction of the values that have produced the greatest advances in humankind, will lead to a return to the barbarism from which Islam arose.
You should pity and weep for your children and grandchildren at the world that we bequeath to them!
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