"Faith Woe More"

I am using the title that the National Post gave to their article on a new film The Infidel.

The caption to the photo accompanying the article is even funnier: "This is what happens when a middle-aged Muslim man suddenly discovers that he is actually Jewish."

Here is part of the Internet Movie Database synopsis on The Infidel:

[A]fter his mothers death a discovery turns Mahmuds world upside down. He finds his birth certificate which reveals that not only was he adopted at birth but he's Jewish, and his real name is Solly Shimshillewitz!

As Mahmud tumbles headlong into a full scale identity crisis, the only person he can turn to is LENNY (Richard Schiff), a drunken Jewish cabbie who agrees to give him lessons in Jewishness, which start with how to dance like Topol. Oy vey.

Yes, a Muslim man realizes he is Jewish by ancestry, and thus begins his anguish. Unlike Christians, who can be converts from any race or ethnicity, Judaism (at least the Orthodox position), as I understand it, is hereditary. So, in a sense, once a Jew, always a Jew. Still the twist on this story is that the man never "converted" to Islam, so both technically and through heredity, he is still Jewish.

Islam is also supposed to be hereditary. This is a religion which has pulled together a large number of Judaic (that religion which it purports to hate so much) and Christian elements in order to produce its own separate stance. According to Daniel Pipes, "In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child." This is only a slight variation on the Orthodox Judaism's mandates, where  "A person born of a Jewish mother to be Jewish, even if they convert to another religion." Strange how successful Islam has become. Yet, on closer inspection, it is so autocratic, unbending and aggressive, that without these intrusive safeguards, it wouldn't have any authentic legs to stand on.

Land Grab: From the Poor to the Poor

Image downloaded from the Macleans article: "What’s the new global source for
fresh, shiny produce? Famine-ridden Ethiopia." Photo by Nancy MacDonald

Rather than gradually colonizing a country, and eventually taking over its administrative control, a quick land grab with 100 year long contracts is the third wave in securing territorial influences. Here is a depressing article in Macleans (Canada's current affairs magazine) describing how China, India and countries in the Middle East are leasing land in African countries, including Ethiopia, for such long periods.

This strange, new "scramble for Africa" now involves "Second World" countries who have trouble feeding their own people, and need additional land elsewhere to grow the necessary crops.

Even the most cynical observers of 19th and 20th century colonizations will agree at some point that the colonizers left something substantial on their departure: educational systems, courts of law, language proficiency, irrigation and transportation networks, and much, much more.

What will the Chinese (and others) leave, in this 21st century wave, since their own populations are in such need? This is probably the most under-reported of the Chinese "outsourcing" story, and even Macleans is more supportive than not. "One non-European country helping another," is probably their angle. To liberals, all non-white countries are the same. And by supporting their outrageous endeavors (even if it means killing each other), it is just another way for these liberals to stick it to their white, non-liberal, racist and ethnocentric opponents in their own white countries. The ultra-liberal Macleans (what else can it be, it's Canadian?) is proving this point of view with its ambiguous, non-judgmental (towards all those third worlders) article. Of course, the target of our outrage should really be those countries' leaders who have decided to "lease" these precious lands for what is essentially a permanent sale.

The full article: "What’s the new global source for fresh, shiny produce? Famine-ridden Ethiopia" is available here.

Muslims Challenge Time

The Royal Mecca Clock Tower is being built in Mecca, to which Muslims of the world can set their watches and have them run on Arab Standard Time.

Here is the article from the National Post: Times are a-changin'.

Here's an excerpt:

For more than a century, a point on the top of a hill in south-east London has been recognized as the centre of world time and the official starting point of each new day.

But now the supremacy of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is being challenged by a gargantuan new clock being built in Mecca, by which the world's 1.5 billion Muslims could soon be setting their watches.

Link Correction for "Moratorium on exotic representations"

Trillium and Queen Anne's Lace

I have corrected the first link to my article  (posted yesterday) "Moratorium on exotic representations," although I have published the full September 2008 blog post in yesterday's blog post.The second link to the same article is fine.

Moratorium on exotic representations

I wrote the blog entry Moratorium on exotic representations almost two years ago. The problems, and my appeal, are still relevant (and even more so) today.

Perhaps a more appropriate title, which better describes our current problems, would be: Moratorium on Islamic representations.

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 Moratorium on exotic representations
Our Changing Landscape
Friday, September 26, 2008

I understand and appreciate fully the creative desire at times to represent "exoticism." And this is just what I did with my gouache print design which I did a couple of years ago entitled "Desert Jewels." I'm pretty sure it is the turquoise domes of the Iraqi landscapes which inspired me to do this.

But, this type of occasional representation is a far cry from the stories of design and fashion changes that our Muslim residents are planning for our cities.


Print design "Desert Jewels"

With sadness, I have to conclude that exoticism has to be out for now. And we are far better off going back to our original landscape to reinforce it back into our psyche.

Fortunately, I did just that last year, with my Trillium and Queen Anne's Lace series.

Print design
"Trillium/Queen Anne's Lace"

(End of September 26, 2008 entry)
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I have already posted my article Stealthy Islamic Inroads into our culture (published at Chronwatch.com) at a recent blog post, but it bears referencing once again since it documents the cultural (and not just political and religious) inroads Islam  is making into our society.

Stealthy Islamic inroads into our culture.
Chronwatch
July 24, 2008

Moratorium on exotic representations

More Evidence of "Changes to Our Landscape"

How "Little Mosque on the Prairie" Is Aiming at Our SoulsChronwatch.com, 12/12/2008 An article of mine describing the current CBC sitcom "Little Mosque on the Prairie," set in a small Canadian prairie town. Even with low ratings, "Little Mosque on the Prairie" is still going strong. The show borrows its title from the beloved series of book by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which includes "Little House on the Prairie," set in the American prairies.These books were were made into the television series "Little House on the Prairie" in the 1970s.

Christian Tolerance, Islamic Jihad

"Twin Towers" by Dolores Wesnak, 2002

My ongoing theme at Our Changing Landscape for the past several posts has been how Islamic culture is influencing Western society, and even transforming it. Here is my article Christian Tolerance, Islamic Jihad, also published at the View from the Right, discussing how Ethiopia, one of the first countries to adopt Christianity, temporarily succumbed to Islam. My argument in that article is that the problem was essentially one of tolerance, and even kindness, which is what Christianity advocates at a fundamental level. Ethiopia's Christian emperors allowed Ethiopian Muslims to infiltrate the country, from the lowest levels to the highest positions, accepting them as equal citizens. But Islam cannot tolerate non-believers - i.e. non-Muslims. The power and positions that Muslims were accorded eventually led to their outright invasion of Ethiopia and a temporary Islamic ruling presence, until the Christian leaders consolidated their forces and ousted the Muslim insurgents.

Although this 16th century tale has a positive ending, contemporary Ethiopia (again!), Europe and America may not be so lucky. There is, though, some hope, at least when assessing Geert Wilders's valient efforts in the Netherlands.