BREAKING: Duke Reverses Muslim Call to Prayer Decision

I do not yet know what prompted this other than a big stink.  Perhaps a major donor or two read them the riot act? Perhaps administration feared divisive tumult or worse on campus?

But whatever the cause Duke has reversed its decision to allow the amplified Muslim call to prayer from its Chapel bell tower.

Duke University has reversed itself, and announced Thursday afternoon it will not allow a Muslim call to prayer Friday from its iconic cathedral. [IT’S NOT A CATHEDRAL! – ed.]

The decision had met with widespread controversy.

“Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect.”

I imagine it wasn’t.

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By the way, yours truly made the Charlotte Observer article at the link.  Can you find me?

King George III and Obama

When I get into a really good rant about the U. S. Federal Government, I often note that the tyranny under Obama far exceeds the tyranny under George III that provoked the American Revolution.

Well, the Library of Congress, no less, has pretty much determined that I am . . . correct.

What would George III do when faced with a law he didn’t like?

Not even the King of England at the time of the American Revolution had the authority to suspend laws unilaterally, the Law Library expert wrote in a memorandum to the Senate committee tasked with responding to President Obama’s recent executive orders on the enforcement of immigration law.

One hundred years before the American Revolution, another British king had “attempted to suspend a number of laws,” contributing to the onset of the Glorious Revolution in England, a senior foreign-law specialist at the Law Library writes in the memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “King George III,” the specialist goes on to remind the committee, “was thus unable to enact or repeal any laws unilaterally without the involvement of Parliament.”

Now British friends will surely say that we Americans can come back if we like.  To which I say . . .

Don’t tempt me.

If the Republican Party continues enabling, instead of really opposing, Obama’s tyranny, I will be sorely tempted as it is.

Duke to Broadcast Muslim Call to Prayer

Before you even think I am a Duke hater, I am a Duke alum.  I graduated with honors.  So Duke-hate, no.  Duke-disgust? Oh, yes.

Duke will broadcast, yes with amplifiers, the Muslim Call to Prayer from the bell tower of its chapel tomorrow at 1pm.

I only wish I were joking.

Look, I have no problem with Muslims being allowed to have an UN-amplified call to prayer from a site other than the iconic Chapel.  But broadcasting it like this from the University Chapel is utter submission to Islam.  Which reminds me . . . Islam means "Submission," and so does Liberalism.

And let’s cut the crap that this is about tolerance.  Well, this is about “tolerance”, but Duke has already demonstrated it is not that interested in real tolerance:

Duke University has a long history of fostering political correctness and hypersensitivity, from Chick-Fil-A’s removal from campus, to hosting a the national Palestinian Solidarity Movement conference, and to canceling a pro-life event in their Women’s Center on campus.

It is more about Duke becoming yet another politically correct bad joke in higher education.

I hesitate to say what I would do tomorrow at 1pm if I were still a Duke student.  But I do hope current students show some good gumption and visibly refuse to submit.  Given their conduct at basketball games (which goes back to my day), I am confident in their ability to be creative about that.

Muslim Nations vs. Freedom of Speech

When someone is so bold as to call out adherents of Islam for such enormities as their hostility to free speech, the enabling appeasing multicultural crowd, including that in that White House, cries, “No, those are just extremists who have little to do with Islam!”

To which I say, “Pig manure!” particularly when it comes to hostility to free speech.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), comprised of 57 Muslim-majority nations, is arguably the broadest Islamic group in the world and includes a number of relatively moderate countries.  And they have been in the forefront of trying to criminalize free speech that is not respectful enough to “The Prophet” and his foolish followers.

The OIC, whose member states range from moderate U.S. allies such as Jordan to adversaries such as Iran, describes itself as the world’s largest international body after the United Nations. For more than a decade, “the collective voice of the Muslim world” has spread the belief that any insult directed against the Muslim faith or its prophet demands absolute suppression. Quashing “defamation of Islam” is enshrined as a chief objective in the organization’s charter.

With countless internal resolutions, relentless lobbying of the international community and block voting on resolutions advocating a prohibition on defamation of religion at the U.N., the OIC continuously pushes to silence criticism of Islam.

Read Patrick Poole’s article for more details.  Or you can try to say negative things about “The Prophet” in public in “moderate” Muslim countries and see how things go.

I suggest reading the article, but that’s just me.

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Yes, I know there are Muslims who respect free speech, one of whom I praised yesterday.

They are a minority in Islam at best.

Mayor of Rotterdam Tells Fellow Muslims Who Do Not Appreciate Freedoms of West to…

I was tempted to conclude the above headline, but I wish to avoid naughty language.  Nonetheless, I heartily concur with the Mayor of Rotterdam’s comments.  And that they come from a Muslim is so much the better.

Appearing on live television just hours after the shootings, Mayor Aboutaleb said Muslims who 'do not like freedom can pack your bags and leave'.

Labour politician Ahmed Aboutaleb, a former journalist who was appointed mayor of the Dutch city in 2008, is known for his straight-forward stance on integration.

The 53-year-old won the praise of London-mayor Boris Johnson over his comments last week, attacking fellow Muslims who move to Western nations and refuse to accept the way of life. 

'It is incomprehensible that you can turn against freedom,' Mayor Aboutaleb told Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur (Newshour).

'But if you don't like freedom, for heaven's sake pack your bags and leave.

'If you do not like it here because some humorists you don't like are making a newspaper, may I then say you can f*** off.

'This is stupid, this so incomprehensible. 

'Vanish from the Netherlands if you cannot find your place here. 

That so needs to be said, not just in the Netherlands and not just to Muslims.  The West, including the U. K. and the U. S., is being greatly undermined by various groups who appreciate neither the cultures nor the freedoms of their host countries and even act in opposition to them.  Such people need to be told in no uncertain terms where they should go.  

I best not expand on that (for now) lest I get on a really good rant.

Yes, I have had enough.  I am glad to see I am not the only one.

“Embarrassing the Nation He Leads”

I am embarrassed to be an American this morning.  A remarkable number of world leaders join over a million people to march against terrorism in Paris.  . . . And, thanks to Obama, America is AWOL.  The highest official the Obama Regime sends to participate is the U. S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley.

And even her presence is embarrassing:

“The highest U.S. official at the march yesterday over there was the U.S. ambassador over there who was a big Obama donor who got that job in part because of her contributions to President Obama,” New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin observed.

Those appalled include Democrats and even some in the news media.

As for me, I am at a loss.  This is a day of shame for America.

Oh, that quote in the headline?  It is from self-professed Lefty Democrat Rick Ungar.

But I guess everyone is just quibbling.

Muslims Not Alone in Attacking Free Speech

If you think attacking free speech in the West is just a Muslim thing, think again.  Here in the U. S., Leftists are in the vanguard of attacking Freedom of Speech.  Take Tanya Cohen, for example . . . please:

Like any sensible person, I am a strong believer in the unalienable right to freedom of speech and I understand that defending freedom of speech is the most important when it’s speech that many people do not want to hear (like, for example, pro-LGBT speech in Russia). Freedom of speech is the core of any democratic society, and it’s important that freedom of speech be strongly respected and upheld. Censorship in all of its forms is something that must always be fiercely opposed. But we must never confuse hate speech with freedom of speech. Speech that offends, insults, demeans, threatens, disrespects, incites hatred or violence, and/or violates basic human rights and freedoms has absolutely no place in even the freest society.

Yes, slightly contradictory. “I am a strong believer in the unalienable right to freedom of speech . . .” unless it “offends” - presumably that offends her or her preferred “minorities.”  She is all for free speech unless she really does not like it.

And she is not alone, not by any means, not even in the United States.

I do have to note there has been speculation that Cohen’s missives are satire. Michael Walsh seems convinced this is not satire.  I think it is not as well, but I also think it wise to include this disclaimer. 

This is a problem with so much coming from the Left nowadays – it is so absurd, it is sometimes not easy to tell what is satire and what is not.  

Which makes the job of those who engage in satire that much harder.

By the way, if someone thinks this post or this blog for that matter is a no-no because it “demeans” and/or “offends,” go pound sand.  Oh, did I just “disrespect”? GOOD! You want respect? Then respect my freedom!

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Yet another hat tip to the Ace of Spades people, who have a wonderful nose for the absurd fascism of the Left.