Merit-bound Alley

Well, the verdict is in, and Miss Gibbons is guilty. However, the court allowed a lesser sentence of 15 days in jail, which while still ridiculously severe for the “crime” is better than 6 months and 40 lashes. I guess we can all be happy that Sudanese Muslims did not decide to brutalize an old woman. Yay for them.

The real good news in this mess is the rare public outcry (and the more rare news coverage of such) of moderate Muslims in the west. The following quote reflects views that I suspect are more prominent than we realize:

“It’s very, very sad, very embarrassing for us,” said Dr. Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of the Muslim Parliament in Great Britain, earlier this week. “The Muslim community here has also expressed that this is simply unacceptable behavior from the Sudanese government, and I think the Sudanese have got to realize that this episode is doing immense damage to their credibility outside.”

Less bold is this statement from Daisy Khan, director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement:

“I think that what we’re looking at is a difference of cultural expression,” Khan said, “because most Muslims revere their prophets and don’t name their prophets in vain.

And:

“What we’re looking at here is a cultural ‘faux pas,’ and there’s a political undercurrent that’s running through this furor,” said Khan. 

While I appreciate that Khan is speaking out (kinda) against this monstrosity, it bothers me that she is doing it in a typical American Pussy fashion that forwards the view that any discussion of religion must be handled with kid gloves. Where is the outrage? This kind of wishy-washy limp dishrag statement does nearly as much harm to the credibitilty of Muslims as the barbarism of the monsters that wanted to batter Ms. Gibbons in the first place. Don’t talk about “cultural differences” when a government wanted to incarcerate and whip the shit out of an old woman who gave a toy to some kids! I want want to see Khan flushed with rage and sick with anger that these tyrants want to brutalize a kindly teacher in the name of her god.

Now, I’m going to take a shot at the media for their shameful dereliction of duty in not giving an appropriate amount of coverage of moderate Muslim decrial of this and other inhumanities dealt out by extremists in the Middle East. While I do think that moderate Muslims need to be more vocal, what’s the point if the media ignores it? There should be as much coverage of the outcry as there is of the target of that outcry, otherwise you have slant. But let’s face it, folks, bad news gets viewers, and we will probably never see the moderate Muslims on any network as much as we will see Anna Nicole, the War on Christmas, or OJ.

So, a heartfelt round of applause goes out to Dr. Siddiqui and others who are not afraid to voice their disgust, and the a hearfelt middle finger to those afraid to voice theirs and the media for not giving it the attention it deserves.

Imagine you’re middle-aged teacher that picked up and left all things familiar to teach children in a third-world country. Imagine also that you kindly brought a toy in for the children, a teddy bear for instance, and allowed the kids to name it and take turns bringing it home with them on weekends. Kids being kids, they name the bear after a popular boy in the class. It’s a pretty picture to paint, no?

Now, imagine that the popular boy’s name is Mohamed, you’ve moved to Sudan, and country ruled under Sharia law, and now you are going to be jailed and physically beaten for your crimes. Not so pretty anymore, but sadly true for Gillian Gibbons, 54. See, it’s a bit of a blasphemy to craft an image of Muhammed. We all remember the furor over some cartoons a while back. Now, what I’m uncertain about is how that relates to naming a stuffed toy after a child in the class, who happens to share a name with Islamic prophet. Should the boys parents be flogged as well for naming him such?

I love this quote. According to the Sudanese Assembly of Ulemas, “An influential and semi-official association of clerics, scholars, and preachers”:

“What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles plotting against Islam,” the Ulemas added. “It is part of the campaign of the so-called war against terrorism and the intense media campaign against Islam”.

Well, genius, if you don’t want your religion portrayed as a violent travesty against human rights, then make it a church law to not react to the merest slight with violence! A teddy bear gets lashings? Cartoons get riots? Books get death threats and goddamn fatwas? What’s next, punishment for getting raped?

Oh, forgot. You “clerics and scholars” have that one under your belts, too. Maybe there would be no “media conspiracy” if Islamic powers-that-be were able to use the power that they’ve gained from it’s poverty-stricken faithful for anything other than heavy brutality, willful ignorance, and paranoiac retribution. Yes, violence will solve anything. Neighbor’s tree shedding leaves in your yard? 40 lashes! Cat puke on the carpet? 40 lashes! Wife just get 40 lashes? 40 more! Mailman bend an envelope? FATWAH! There’s nothing you can’t solve through violence and death!

Well, I think I’ve spent my vitriol by just sitting in my chair, fuming, plus I don’t want to have a brick thrown through my window by some scholar. But I will leave you with this: people don’t like being brutalized, artists and authors don’t like death threats, and the world is slowly turning against crimes against humanity like punishing the victim. If Islam in the Middle East doesn’t want to be naturally phased out by a population that will become more learned and will realize that they have power over the beasts in charge, then it must pull itself out of the New Dark Ages and mold itself to fit the world as it is and will be. Give something valuable to the world. Otherwise it will be nothing more than mythology, like Valhalla, Pegasus, and tan M&Ms.

I hope you liked my story time.