Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Muslim Protests - in Canada

So Canadian Imams and Muslim groups have encouraged their followers to go out and protest. Silly, silly. Protest what? A deadly insult to their prophet, their messenger of god. All right, already. We get it. We got it awhile ago. We're sick of it. Also kind of tired of being pushed around. You want respect, give respect.

I haven't seen too much respect from Muslims, truth to tell, going out to others not of their faith. Although I do know it exists, from the quiet ones, those in the background, intimidated by all the noisy ones who proclaim their great love for Allah and Muhammad, and have no problem expressing their disgust with the Western way of life, while taking unto themselves all of the benefits deriving from residence within the great West. They've seen what life offers to those who live in Muslim societies and have decided it's somehow not for them. They seek opportunities elsewhere, where they are offered freely.

They're also free to dissent, free to discuss, free to criticize. But not free to demand that others among whom they live who do not share their beliefs, their cultural imperatives and their religious piety, fully recognize and do obeisance to those same beliefs, etcetera. It just isn't on. That's the whole point, fellas, about living in Canada. We tolerate one another's differences, we don't seek to foist our beliefs upon others. Harmony, co-operation, that's the ticket.

So when the Imams and Muslim spokespeople begin to publicly congratulate themselves and their adherents for displaying restraint in the manner of their public protests, I'm somewhat taken aback. These are supposed to be Canadians, what are they protesting for, what are they protesting about, and were we really afraid that things might just get out of hand, and the protesters might begin smashing up storefronts, burning flags, hurling rocks at disinterested passersby?

Are Canadians supposed to congratulate Muslim protesters at the damage they have caused to Denmark? Or will they recognize that we abhore this truly unbelievable response resulting in the deaths of both innocent victims and protesters themselves in Muslim countries? To view the crazed behaviour, the fanatic demeanour demonstrated by hordes of implacably insulted Muslims in their rampages is to view a society envisaged by Hieronymous Bosch in his illustrations of humanity inhabiting hell. Muslims have themselves to thank for the spectacle which now persuades rational people that they are an ungovernable, frantic and murderous rabble.

Fellow Canadians, be you Muslim or otherwise, accept Canadian values and the Canadian way of life, our priorities, our acceptance of others, or you really do not belong here; the proverbial square peg in a round hole. It's quite possible that most Muslims have much to give to this country and this country will be the better for it, but quite possibly that would exclude those whose rage is so great against so slight an excuse they will never achieve Canadianness and we have no need of them here.

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