Dear Log,
So I see this headline: "Tirade against Islam dismays Dutch Muslims" and I figure, okay, the Dutch have gotten their own version of Edith Cresson, the French politician whose career is the verbal equivalent of an episode of Jackass. But it turns out that the Dutch tirade-maker is an ex-Moslem from Somalia, a Moslem country, so it is hard to dismiss her criticism as being uninformed or xenophobic, at least not in the fine European traditions of such.
As far as I can tell, with my poor command of Dutch, her critiques come down to the idea (and complaint) that Muhammed was an asshole and a rampant boor. It's an aesthetic assertion.
Edith Cresson, the French politician whose career is the verbal equivalent of an episode of Jackass
This has to go down as one of the best descriptions of a French Prime Minister, it's absolutely brillant.
Ah, it brings back fond memories of those demonstrations of my early youth during which we could happy chant "Cresson! L'oseille! Cresson! L'oseille!" (1).
(1) jokes being funnier when not explained, I'll provide the explanation if you need it.
Isn't this true also of Julius Caesar, St Paul, Napoleon Bonaparte ? For some value of 'perversity', a notion often difficult to define.Mrs Ali, [...] said that, by western standards, Mohammed was a perverse man and a tyrant.
That's logical, he was honestly believing that he was following the will of a Supreme Being. Hence he was always right, by definition. Like when he modified the traditions pertaining to marriage and incest so he could marry his step cousin.Mohammed's attitude had, she said, been "do it my way or there'll be trouble".
Not true for the veil : it was only for rich women, at this time. As everyone wants to behave like the rich, this evolved later. Other points are improvements, compared to the previous situation of Arab married women : they had no inheritance right at all (and no right to private property) and could be stoned to death for any reason. Of course the problem here is that lots of people, from many confessions, believe that a legislative text written a thousand years ago or more is still applicable without major amendments.Mohammed says that women must stay at home, wear a veil, cannot take part in certain activities, do not have the same inheritance rights as their husbands and can be stoned to death if they commit adultery.
Oh, and about the rampant boor point : that was exactly the opinion of Arab nomads about the inhabitants of the small villages like the Mecca. So that's not new either. So where is the offense is Mrs Ali words ?
(Side note : very cool quote about Mrs Cresson.)
