Article

2004-11-23 Europe

Spengler: Muslim anguish and Western hypocrisy

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Posted by tipper 2004-11-23 01:42|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11129 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 ATimes's Spengler: The re-elected administration of US President George W Bush has put into action a two-pronged attack, destroying the Sunni resistance in Fallujah and neighboring cities, while holding a gun to the head of Iran in order to forestall the emergence of a greater Shi'ite opposition. Not a whimper of protest arose from the Europeans, whose undivided attention was focused on the van Gogh affair and its implications. The ground will continue to erode beneath the feet of moderate Muslims, the constituency upon whom the White House placed its best hopes.

The title of this article should be "The Myth of Muslim moderation". First off, Spengler is a supercilious European poseur who puts together caricatures of American conservative thought to entertain his audience, as if to say - hey, check out those animals. Second, it appears that Spengler, like many European pseudo-conservatives, appears to think that it is possible to deal with Muslim moderates who support Iranian nukes and Iraqi terrorists. I don't. And I doubt GWB does.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-11-23 1:48:36 AM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2004-11-23 1:48:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Tonight(7:00p,E)Fox will air a 4 paart series on the Islamazation of Euorpe.

Posted by raptor 2004-11-23 6:41:33 AM|| 2004-11-23 6:41:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Thank you, Zhang Fei, for reminding me of Spenger. I have forgotten to read him for a while now. Muslim moderates? this is still being played out and the question is in doubt if there can be Muslim moderates, as Spengler acknowledges.

This is certainly one of the best paragraphs ever written on this conflict, and it comes from the current Spengler article you cite.

"Smugness oozes from European politicians who demand that Muslims repudiate violence as a precondition for residence in the West. To repudiate the death sentence for blasphemy would be the same as abandoning the Islamic order in traditional society in favor of a Western-style religion of personal conscience. The West spent centuries of time and rivers of blood to make such a transition, and carried it off badly. Whether Islam can do so at all remains doubtful."

Ain't that the truth of it.

Best Wishes,

Traveller

Posted by Traveller 2004-11-23 7:49:19 AM|| 2004-11-23 7:49:19 AM|| Front Page Top

#4
Spengler is a supercilious poseur who puts together caricatures

This passage reminded me of someone else.
.

Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-11-23 7:49:54 AM|| 2004-11-23 7:49:54 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 If Muslim's don't want to "abandon" the "Islamic order" - then they can go back to the barbaric lands they came from. We don't want them here and no longer care if they are "anguished" over it. If they want to live a peaceful world, they are welcome here. Speak up or shut up and go home.

Posted by 2b 2004-11-23 8:52:00 AM|| 2004-11-23 8:52:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Does anyone know what is the specific 'anguish' and what is the specific 'hypocrisy'?

Or is the title just supposed to be catchy?

Or is there some general 'anguish' and general 'hypocrisy'?

Posted by mhw 2004-11-23 3:38:09 PM|| 2004-11-23 3:38:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 mhw-I think he is trying to say "anguish" = perpetual humiliation of Muslims... not sure about the "hypocrisy" accusation-maybe that the West is hypocritical of its own history of forcing peoples to adopt religious doctrine?

In any case, I thought these two paragraphs were pretty good:

...Jews and Christians have learned to accept humiliation. God's love for the individual soul remains valid despite worldly reverses, and failure in the temporal realm provides cause for self-evaluation. Humiliation is intolerable to Islam; Allah sets the spin of every electron around every nucleus by a discrete act of will, and reverses in the temporal world challenge Islam's promise of success.

The logic of events offers nothing to Muslims but humiliation. The re-elected administration of US President George W Bush has put into action a two-pronged attack, destroying the Sunni resistance in Fallujah and neighboring cities, while holding a gun to the head of Iran in order to forestall the emergence of a greater Shi'ite opposition...

Posted by Jules 187 2004-11-23 4:29:40 PM|| 2004-11-23 4:29:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Jeeez, poor damn victimized Muslims. They gotta put up with sooooo much shit...

Posted by tu3031 2004-11-23 4:36:13 PM|| 2004-11-23 4:36:13 PM|| Front Page Top

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