An Attack on Christmas
by H. Numan
In 2005 we saw massive riots occur right after the Christmas season started in France. Two Muslim juvenile criminals tried to escape from the police after a robbery. They fled into an electricity building and got electrocuted. Not nice, agreed. But something one might expect when taking refuge in a building like that. Nor can you blame the police for it. However, Muslim society certainly did. They reacted immediately with massive violence. So much so that the authorities were not able to cope with it. And not a single word condemning the two robbers.
That might be a coincidence. True. But what do we see this year? We see massive violence occur right after the Christmas season started in France. Two Muslim juvenile criminals tried to escape from the police on a stolen motorcycle, and died in a traffic accident. Not nice, agreed. But something one might expect when driving recklessly without a helmet. One cannot blame the police for it. However, Muslim society certainly did. They reacted immediately with massive violence. So much so, that the authorities are not able to cope with it. And not a single word condemning the two thieves.Once is a coincidence. When exactly the scenario happens twice it is not. If you think so, I have a bridge to sell you. What we see here now is a perfectly orchestrated attack on the West’s most important festival: Christmas. Why Christmas? Why not Easter? After all Easter has a far more significant meaning for Christians. Agreed, but while Easter is religiously more significant, Christmas has a much bigger impact on society as a whole . The celebrations around Easter are far less substantial than around Christmas, for example.
Look back in history: every tribe, every nation and every civilization in Europe celebrated something around the end of the year. From prehistoric times until today. Our ancestors considered the shortest day of the year to be of massive importance to their spiritual life. Celts, Germanic tribes, Romans, Franks, Vikings, Saxons — just about anybody you can think of celebrated it. The period usually starts at the end of November and lasts until the first week of the new year.
The rise of Christianity didn’t change that. It merely continued under a different name, with a different ritual. The Roman Saturnalia, for example, changed into our Christmas, and New Year’s Day became Saint Sylvester’s day. The first week of the New Year was closed now by the arrival of the wise men from the East, or Epiphany. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Christmas season became more secular and far less religious. But the festival remained essentially the same.
For Muslims the situation is very different. They never celebrated Christmas, and in the desert ‘the dark days before’ simply don’t exist. Add to this the singular view monotheists hold, Muslims in particular: any festival not theirs is per definition a heathen/infidel/pagan ritual. For Muslims anything not ordered in the Koran or hadith is a blasphemy at the very least. Over time, I have read many news items in which Muslim imams speak against such festivals. Christmas is, according to them, a pagan festival.
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Correctly so, if you choose to go back to its very roots and ignore everything else. The same is true for Easter or any other Christian or Western festival you can think of. Many of our festivals have ancient roots, going back millennia in time.
According to these Muslim teachers, who are — and never forget it — the spokespersons of all Muslims, Christmas still is a pagan festival where idols are worshiped: father Christmas, the Christmas tree, and of course the Nativity Scene.
Do we really worship any of these symbols? According to Muslims, we certainly do. We also seem to worship animals. A bunny, to be exact. We do that during Easter. So, according to the new colonists of Europe, we are about the same as the (pagan) red Indians encountered by the Pilgrim Fathers, and need to be dealt with the same way. As there are far too many Injuns, and their bows and arrows are a good deal more dangerous, a different strategy must be applied.
This is something the West cannot understand. There seems to be a collective mindblock for it: Everything is observed from a religious point of view, and a very strict point at that, in the Muslim world. Not just in Saudi Arabia or Iran, but every Muslim nation on earth. Far worse: the adherents to the faith accept it without question.
This goes much further than the strictest form of Marxism. (Where do you think Marx found this idea?) “Anything that promotes the cause of Marxism is good, anything that hinders it, is bad.” This principle has been questioned many times in Marxism, but rarely in Mohammedanism. If the question arose, the issue was always settled in favor of the hardliners. The questioners usually were dispatched to Allah to discuss this in person with him.
Liberalism and democracy are blasphemous words to a devout Muslim, even more offensive to Muslims than they were to hard-line party hacks during the height of the Cold War. One uses liberals and democrats to achieve one’s goals. Then, just as now. Then it was a worldwide worker’s paradise, now a world containing only Muslims.
It is extremely important to remember this. I think this is the key why the West at the moment is puzzled about how to respond to Mohammedanism. It showed the same puzzled reaction to Communism in the bad old days of the cold war. We should have dialog. We should understand their point of view. We should compromise, and everything would be okay.
Those who questioned this were seen as warmongers, hardliners or worse. Today the West faces a much tougher opponent than ever before. It is therefore vitally important to realize Muslims observe everything according to the Koran, and reject most that is not strictly permitted in it. Faith rules the lives of all Muslims, and there is very little else. Anything democratic, if you happen to find it in a Muslim society, is purely coincidental.
Now I think the situation becomes a bit more clear. Christmas is the key festival of the West. Muslims are known for head-on attacks. They have always preferred that throughout history. One might opt for more subtle actions, but why on earth bother?
The war against Christmas has been going on for more than two years and very few people seem to realize it. Why use a surgeon’s knife if you can stun them with a sledgehammer? Subtlety will be applied when they meet resistance, and they haven’t so far. Of course this sledgehammer approach is only temporary. The French, and Europe, will come to understand soon enough Muslims don’t like Christmas. Once the French understand that, they will be sensible enough to self-censor the Christmas season down to… nothing. Once the Christmas season is censored away, any other festival is a walkover.
There is a very good reason why Al Qaeda doesn’t do bombings in Europe anymore: they don’t need to. A strategic Al Qaeda document leaked out clearly stated that bombing Europe was no longer necessary, nor desired, after the attacks on London and Madrid. Both governments immediately surrendered. Any more brutal bombings would be counterproductive for the Jihad. You can say a lot of nasty things about Muslims or Al Qaeda, but being lousy strategists isn’t one of them.
Rest assured that next year’s Christmas might very well be a very quiet affair, strictly within the family. “So as not to offend our Muslims”. If that happens, we have lost the war. A war that most of us don’t even realize is going on right now.
24 comments:
Good Stuff here: Maybe Al Qaeda is being given too much credit for alleged cleverness, and maybe not
I believe that there were more attacks planned, but prevented by good Intel work; and I believe that there will be More
Murderers murder; mass murderers kill masses of people: that's just what they do. Yes they are also Political Opportunists and conpsiratorial fanatics who will use any incident to advance their Cause, but they won't give up killing
They LIKE it..........
I've posted before that the Muslims are patient. They will simply sit back and wait for stupid EU immigration policies and demographics do all the heavy lifting in their attempt to take over Europe. Even Khadaffi said this, back in 2006: "We have four million Muslims in Albania. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe – without swords, without guns, without conquests. The fifty million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades. Europe is in a predicament, and so is America. They should agree to become Islamic in the course of time, or else declare war on the Muslims."
Will Europe take his advice?
Last time the riots were about race, not religion. Blacks were more common than North Africans. Although many of the blacks are also of Muslim backgrounds many are nominally Christian and probably animist.
Neocons love the idea that it's all about Islam. That way they can say "look, it's not about race. And since Mexicans aren't Muslims it can't happen here."
personalrep1 --
I've asked you before: please do not leave excessively long off-topic comments on our posts. They are thread-killers.
I will continue to delete them.
O.T a bit, but errr...Baron I think you deleted the wrong one. You left personalrep1's comment but Archonix's has gone.
A slip of the finger no doubt.
I said:
I agree with the premise, but I don't necessarily agree with the idea that christmas will end up being self-censored. The French are majority Roman catholic, and that roman catholicism is undergoing a massive resurgence in France right now. A massive resurgence, even in urban areas. I think in a couple of years we'll see France simply not tolerating this sort of behaviour anymore. They certainly won't censor christmas.
Sometimes it's possible to shoot and hit the wrong target. We've seen plenty of examples of that in the last few weeks... :)
Ginro --
Whoops! You're right. My bad.
Senile dementia in action.
It's fortunate that Archonix is a good-natured bloke... :)
Last time the riots were about race, not religion. Blacks were more common than North Africans. Although many of the blacks are also of Muslim backgrounds many are nominally Christian and probably animist.
Neocons love the idea that it's all about Islam.
The Los Angeles riots in 1992 where all about race, black anger that 4 white police officers, captured on tape (heavily edited when shown so that onlt the beating was shown, not the PCP addled criminal who had led police on a high speed chase punching cops and throwing a female officer through the air), weren't convicted in a criminal trial.
While the worst rioting was in the parts of town where African-Americans lived, other people, Hispanic and Caucasian, joined in, rioting in other parts of town. Just because some people just like the license to steal and vandalize.
So race may be a secondary factor in the Parisian riots, but a primary factor is Islam. And, of course, non-Islamic Africans are in France for the same reason Muslims are, to take advantage of a generous welfare state, and people with the low morality involved in choosing the dole over work are the kind of people most likely to riot.
I'm no neocon, whether that was meant as a code for 'Jew', as I am Christian, and I have been voting Republican ever since I was in the US Navy and cast my first ever ballot for Ronald Reagan.
Archonix - do you have any links to the resurgence of religion in France? It would indeed be a welcome event but I won't believe it until I see/read it.
Ed,
Your background is similar to mine, US Navy vet (Nuke and EOD) and first ever vote for RR ('84)
Charlemagne--
There is indeed some manifestation of Christianity in France.
Here is the best example, I think:
Taizé
There are goups all over the world, and they are especially known for their music.
Here is an excerpt re their history:
Taizé, in the south of Burgundy, France, is the home of an international, ecumenical community, founded there in 1940 by (the late) Brother Roger. The brothers are committed for their whole life to material and spiritual sharing, to celibacy, and to a great simplicity of life. Today, the community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, from more than twenty-five nations.
At the heart of daily life in Taizé are three times of prayer together. The brothers live by their own work. They do not accept gifts or donations for themselves. Some of the brothers are living in small groups – “fraternities” – among the very poor.
Since the late 1950s, many thousands of young adults from many countries have found their way to Taizé to take part in weekly meetings of prayer and reflection. In addition, Taizé brothers make visits and lead meetings, large and small, in Africa, North and South America, Asia, and in Europe, as part of a “pilgrimage of trust on earth”.
While it is oobviously male -- only "brothers" are mentioed, women make the pilgrimage to Burgundy too.
As I understand it, this grew out of a need to reconcile the horrors of Europe in the 1930's and '40's.
Our son's Latin teacher went there some years ago with his children and was very taken with the place. We attended a Taizé service he celebrated back here at home. The music is lovely...and easy to sing.
_____________
BTW, I went to your blog. You and your wife have the same anniversary as the Baron and I. A good day for marrying, no?
Another good person to ask is Paul Belien, since I think his children were involved in something in Belgium.
I'll ask him and report back to you. Maybe he'll do a post?
Thomas Landen has two articles on these events in Brussels Journal.
In the first article he observes: "Yesterday evening, three young people died in the suburbs to the north of Paris. Mouhsin (15) and Lakamy (16), two immigrant youths, were killed in Villiers-le-Bel when their motorcycle [...] collided at high speed with a police vehicle. The two youths [...] died on the spot. A few hours later, Anne-Lorraine [Schmitt], a young journalist, was stabbed to death on a suburban train near Creil, whilst resisting a man who was trying to rape her. The man had already been convicted for violent sexual assault in 1996. The news of the deaths of Mouhsin and Lakamy became world news, dominating today’s media in France and abroad. Anne-Lorraine’s death is a mere footnote, a “faits divers” in France, a non-event abroad. [...]
After Mouhsin’s and Lakamy’s deaths their friends and relatives went on a rampage. [...] A spokesman of the French police union said today that the officers had been shot at by youths with firearms. According to Omar Sehhouli, the brother of one of the two dead youths, the eruption of violence was not what it seemed. “This is not violence,” Omar told [...] AFP, “but just anger that needs to be expressed”.
A few hours after the death of Mouhsin and Lakamy, Anne-Lorraine [...] was attacked in a suburban train. [...] The girl was covered in blood and had over thirty stab wounds in the chest and face. She was still alive but died shortly afterwards. The police later arrested a 44-year old man with stab wounds on his arms. When questioned he confessed that he had assaulted the young woman. [...] The man said that he had tried to rape Anne-Lorraine because they were alone in the train carriage. He had stabbed her because she resisted him.
Today, Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie offered her condolences to the young woman’s relatives and friends. The latter have not gone on a rampage. They have not torched train carriages nor have they arsoned train stations. The French authorities do not fear they will turn to violence in the coming nights, either. One wonders why. Is there no “anger that needs to be expressed”?"
In the second article Landen looks a little closer at the circumstances of both events:
"Today, Le Parisien writes that the suburban metro line (RER) to the north of Paris is generally considered to be dangerous. The French authorities know this, but they fail to protect the citizens. “There are no guards and no surveillance cameras,” a metro employee acknowledges. “After Garges [...] there are hardly any passengers left on the train. It is then that the acts of aggression begin,” a regular RER passenger says. This, however, is a fact of life in contemporary France. People accept it. They do not arm themselves with shotguns, but sit on the train, while the state has abandoned them.
Barely three hours before Anne-Lorraine was stabbed, [...] two joyriding immigrant youths of 15 and 16 years old drove their stolen motorcycle at maximum speed into a passing police vehicle. They died on the spot.
[...] [T]he teenagers ignored traffic rules and crashed into the police vehicle. The motorbike they were riding was unregistered [...]. Neither of the boys were wearing a helmet as required by law. The relatives and friends of the youths, however, blame the two officers in the vehicle for the death of the boys. They claim the officers left the scene as fast as they could. The public prosecutor has opened an inquiry to probe whether the officers failed to help the teenagers and whether manslaughter charges should be filed. The officers had called rescue services to the scene, but policemen and medics who arrived at the scene where attacked by youths and fled.
Yesterday night [...] youths attacked police officers and firemen in Villiers-le-Bel and in nearby Sarcelles and Garges-les-Gonesses. In last night’s riots 77 officers got wounded, five of them seriously, including one officer whose shoulder was pierced by a bullet from a shotgun. In addition, 63 cars, a public library, two schools, a bank and a supermarket were torched."
Here's what I'm wondering:
First, why is there no inquiry into the State's failure to provide adequate security on the train where Ms. Schmitt was attacked?
Second, why was the public prosecutor's first response not to defend the two policemen's "fleeing the scene as fast as they could" as reasonable given the "youths'" tendency to attack figures of authority on the slightest of pretexts?
The fact that one incident gets all the press and the other doesn't, indicates that at least the MSM has decided that they are not equally important. If that is all the news Parisians and Frenchmen get to see, it appears as if the "youths" are always the victims. This feeds the progressive white guilt syndrome, and it explains why the French appear to find it all so "acceptable". In addition, when the societal norm is to let the authorities handle things, but a part of society does not buy into that concept, that part of society that submits to the law is collectively disadvantaged. In such a social environment it's little wonder that both the police and the judiciairy appear powerless to act...
Thank you Dymphna
I don't think that the Church is necessarily going to be the salvation of the West in Europe but it's as good a place to start as anywhere else. People have to believe sommething or else they believe in nothing and right now it doesn't appear as though Europe believes in much of anything. There really needs to be a reawakening to the value, importance, and criticality of Western culture in Europe. I hope the church can find its voice and lead the effort. Maybe the Pope will abandon the politics of "dialog" and really challenge Europe to prevent Islamization. We'll see in coming years.
I want to get a bumper sticker that says "Regarding Islam...WWRD?"
What Would Rome Do, the Rome of the Caesars that is.
Ecumenism is the enemy.
If Muslims are attacking Christmas with violence, Secular Jewish Lawyers are working as their allies by attacking Christmas in the courts.
I don't know if you saw this, but read this CNN article and come to this description:
"Rioting and arson quickly erupted after the crash. The violence worsened Monday night as it spread from Villiers-le-Bel to other impoverished suburbs north of the French capital. Rioters burned a library, a nursery school and a car dealership and tried to set some buildings on fire by crashing burning cars into them."
Doesn't that sound like the next best thing to car bombing?
Sounds like their brains were burned out a long time ago.
Baron Bodissey wrote : Once is a coincidence. When exactly the scenario happens twice it is not.
I dont think it is coincidence. A similar phenomenon can be seen in India, where Muslims start riots at times of major Hindu festivals. The last series of bombs in Delhi were at the time when Hindus were preparing for their most important religious festival - Diwali.
CHICAGO (AP) - A 23-year-old man who once dreamed of waging violent jihad in Illinois now faces 30 years to life when he's sentenced next year.
Derrick Shareef pleaded guilty today to plotting a hand grenade attack on a Rockford mall crowded with Christmas shoppers.
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=7422609&nav=1sW7
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