Is George Galloway defending Islam? Or defending extremists who represent a sect in it? Or is he simply making a fool of himself? Video after the “Read More”.
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Imagine a world in which a mad Cardinal, in charge of all the oil and mineral wealth of South America, was bent on creating an empire in Europe through religious orders and mission schools which he has funded. Imagine moreover, that the Cardinal was bent on building a nuclear weapon, etc. It would in the first instance be a challenge to the Catholic communities in the target countries. It would be within the congregations that the debate would be sharpest. In my limited experience, it is the dissidents of “Muslim background” and even the dissenting imams who are most at risk in the debate over Islamic extremism. I was astounded to meet Australian dissidents of “former Muslim background” who were actually living in secret addresses or moving from place to place just as one would in the old underground days. The debate within Islam is going to be settled largely by Muslims or those with a Muslim background. Which brings us to George Galloway.
Who is Galloway really talking to? Despite the “religious” themes of this debate, the audience of the Galloway interview is an overwhelmingly secular British viewership who probably feel that all religions are nonsense. It’s a theme that Galloway consciously twists to his own ends. The imams are doing, he argues, no more than preachers do when they quote the Old Testament. Radical Islam is no different from the milktoastish kind of Christianity preached by the aging vicar in the parish church. And anyone who says different is a bigot, etc.
In a sense, the debate about Islam within Britain isn’t an internal discussion within ‘Christendom’ but within secular atheistdom. Galloway’s opponent is so effective because he realizes this. He refuses to defend Christianity or Judaisim or any religion at all. He plants his feet foursquare in the secular world and simply hits Galloway over the head with the central tenet of post-modern European life: that we should all get along. The real crime radical imams are guilty of is the one of not getting along; of being intolerant; of calling for the stoning of adulteresses and gays and lesbians. It’s a crime the audience intuitively abhors. And he keeps beating Galloway over the head with this brick until the very end. It is all Galloway can do to escape with his trunks on.
But if Galloway isn’t really an advocate for Islam, then what is he an advocate for? What is this debate about? After all, what devout Muslim would actually believe that Galloway worshipped any sort of God, let alone Allah? My guess is that George is really an advocate for the destruction of his own society and hasn’t thought things through any further than that. Behind his soaring turn of phrase, George is really a simple man. Galloway used to be able to astonish and intimidate his interlocutors with his verbal audacity. Unfortunately the intervening years have raised a crop of debate opponents who not only have better tactical footwork than Galloway, but greater phrase speed and superior knowledge. In the video above George doing the equivalent of trying to bite somebody’s ear off in the ring and leaning against the ropes, hoping the bell will save him. Ultimately Galloway lost the round. But who won? One wonders.
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Wretchard,
First time poster but long time reader (since even before we fell back!). Thanks for providing yet more evidence of the kind of useful idiots that we have to contend with.
In my darker moments, I find myself wondering how people like George Galloway will be remembered should the three conjectures come to pass.
I can comprehend and coherently disagree with a Marxist or hardline socialist but I find these people to be difficult to fathom.
Fischer.
George is of course in it for himself, bought and paid for by Islamic money. He’s running out of steam for sure, but he’s still a cheap date for Islam, with his own t.v. show, etc.
Some years ago a Jewish friend, at a dinner party, was going on at length about how the Holocaust represented a crisis for Christians. A professor of ethics replied, “It seems to be a crisis for Judaism, not for Christians.” Ouch.
In the same way, radical Islam is not so much a crisis for Christians (except if they live under Muslim rule or get blown up by Muslims) as a crisis for Islam. The Muslim religion seems unable to negotiate existence in a rational, enlightenment, post-enlightenment world. The deserved civilizational status of the religion, at least the deserved status of radical stone-the-adulterers Islamists, should be that of pariah. The undercover video featured in the Galloway interview shows why.
At least in the interview we see a liberal who’s willing to stand up for his side, which is clearly the high ground.
Seeing as Islamification appears to be public policy in Great Britain he’s probably just hedging his bets, the coward. The establishment isn’t a physical threat to him but the Islamists could be. As Dylan wrote: “You don’t need a weatherman…”
That video was awful.
How does a Marxist morph into an Islamic apologist? No doubt there is some money involved. Also, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He spent his lifetime fulminating for Marxism against the Establishment, under cover of the Labour Party. Marxism is no longer a viable electoral path to be agin’ the Establishment, but Islam is. Money and natural inclinations combine. Recall his florid defenses of Saddam. As I recall, there was some Oil for $ involved.The enemy of my enemy is my friend,with money thrown in. Repeat after me.
Of course George’s vile voting constituency is the target consumer for this obscurantist swill. That consists of the witches brew of the treasonous Left and their BFFs the treasonous Muslims — it’s they who need to see their darling mouthpiece putting up this feverish verbal Jihad on cue.
I don’t think the hollowness and absurdity of Galloway’s assinine content matters the slightest to this constituency – all that matters is that their pit bull George approximately hits the proper hot buttons, and is perceived to be fighting on their behalf. After all, we’re talking about the benumbed acolytes of the the mind shackles of Islam, here… Them, and their malignant Leftist abettors, both of whom yearn to see the West destroyed. I’m sure those constituencies would rate his performance with an A+. This is merely a measure of their unreasonable unappeasable hatred.
Wretchard, you ask your readers to imagine a Catholic movement of a nature that has not existed for centuries. It’s a useful exercise. I propose another.
Imagine a society which places no value on scientific or technical investigation, but only on the rote memorization of the sacred writings of its faith. That society places so much value on that rote scriptural memorization that there is a title used throughout the lands for any man who can demonstrate that rote learning, and that honorific will bring more respect and privilege to those who claim it than any academic degree, or technical or medical certification.
Imagine that the society all agree that female children will not be allowed education, nor to show their faces in public, nor to wear cosmetics, nor to be seen in the company of any male outside their immediate family, and that punishment for defiance of these restrictions may be whipping, poisoning, beating, caning, stoning, hanging, bombing, machine-gunning or beheading, at the discretion of the males of the female’s household. Or ANY male of the culture who feels a female has strayed from approved behavior.
Imagine that since no learning is valued other than rote learning of sacred texts more than a thousand years old, and since females are punished for any learning at all, there are very few people who have skills beyond those necessary for subsistence.
Imagine that this society accepts the dictate of its sacred writings that anyone who disavows the faith is subject to execution, to be carried out by any faithful member of the society, and that no person of faith who performs such an execution is subject to any penalty, but rather honor and reward. Ditto for any one who is accused of insulting the faith, its founder, or its sacred text.
Imagine a society which adheres to a faith which dictates to its followers that any who do not accept the faith may be enslaved, murdered, beaten, cheated, lied to, and otherwise abused so long as they refuse to submit and convert; that its faith is the only faith, and any other religion is false, blasphemous, and evil, and not to be tolerated, but attacked ruthlessly until its followers convert, submit to domination and tributary tax, or die.
Imagine that this society allows each man four wives, and dictates that those wives are his to order and punish, even to the point of death.
Imagine that because of all these factors, most of this culture’s young men have no skills that will earn them enough income to support one wife, much less four wives. As a result, enormous numbers of young men are idle and overflowing with unchannelled creative energies. Imagine a powder keg looking for a match.
Imagine a faith which promises those young men that if they die while slaughtering the opponents of the faith, or even while merely TRYING to slaughter unbelievers, they will be transported instantaneously to heaven, to be greeted by 42 eager and willing female virgins, ready to provide endless sexual delight to the freshly deceased martyr.
Imagine that while this culture and its faith also profess to honor the concepts of tolerance, patience, mercy, and generosity, that those are specifically ordered for others of the faith, and may be disregarded for unbelievers.
Imagine that even though many of this society and faith actually do behave with civility, courtesy, tolerance, and mercy, to their unbelieving neighbors, that a significant and militant plurality of the culture consistently behave savagely to both their coreligionists and all unbelievers.
Now, think hard, dear readers.
See if you can put a name to a religion that fulfills all those imaginings.
Um, are there a bunch of lawsuits pending against the IRS from this religion?
A lot of faithful who carry SAG membership cards?
And fly their own Lear Jets?
Am I getting warmer?
Problem is “news” is now only sensational opinion and entertainment, regardless of whether it is George, CNN, Fox, etc. Sensation sells. Shocking sells.
Really difficult to get the facts without someone telling you what to think these days, and when they tell you what to think, they try to break it all into some outrageous boolean argument. It’s all black an white, and suitable for my low IQ to comprehend. Oh, and there always has to be a babe in there somewhere.
That sounded just like the last late night “discussion” I had around the fire with my old buddy. heh. Don’t answer a question, interrupt constantly, and when on the ropes, ad homenim change the subject. It’s fun!
Galloway is a power-mad git. He is allied to the Muslims not because he has a religious feeling for them (his only religion is ppower) or a feeling for them being the victims social discrimination; he simply sees them as the best tool in the drawer for expressing his hatred for Western civilzation.
Marxism is religious built on hate and theft, so is Islam. The switch was easy for George as the only thing he had to change was the name of the book he was quoting.
10. jak: Is your buddy the poster known here as “vivo”?
7. MumbaiGal
May I have permission to use that post of yours?
It nails it down perfectly!
7. Mumbaigal:
Thank you for taking the time to write your very thoughtful and entertaining challenge.
I think I’m beginning to figure out the group you are talking about, but I may need a few more clues . . . .
I lack a polite vocabulary with which to express my highly negative feelings towards Galloway, so I will only suggest that anyone who has not yet seen the “Undercover Mosque” program should do so right away.
It seems to have mostly been purged from YouTube, but this includes a segment referred to by Galloway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wzhzLhbNd8
MumbaiGal.
Wow, you have everything to the point there, and to your question ‘a religion that fulfills all those imaginings’ the answer is simple: Taliban.
Yes all those ‘imaginings’ are within the Taliban, a group the mainstream Muslims disassociate themselves with world over. These ‘imaginings’ have nothing to do with Islam or it’s followers, or even it’s srciptures.
It’s all about the Taliban and the Western Media’s excuse of generalising these ‘imaginings’ with Islam is a whole.
I must say that you are totally into the Western Media or have been personally effected by the Taliban.
Either way, do more reading.