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Wednesday 2 July 2008

"considered ritually unclean"

The Mail reports that:
"A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.

...

The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.

The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert."


I am puzzled, pigs are ritually unclean to Muslims and Jews but as a child I remember having a "piggy bank" pig and not feeling dirty.

The article continues:
"Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said: 'My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards.

'It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities.

'They (the police) should have understood. Since then, the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they'd seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn't have done it.'

Councillor Asif, who is a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board, said that the force had a diversity adviser and was generally very aware of such issues.

He raised the matter with Mr Vine at a meeting of the board.

The chief constable said he was unaware of the concerns and that the force had not sought to cause any upset but added he would look into the matter."

Why is anyone apologising? The poster is not "ritually unclean" it just shows a photograph of a dog. Do the people complaining burn their television if they turn them on and Crufts is being shown? Do they destroy their television if an advertisement for dog food comes on the television? Do the shopkeepers refuse to sell newspapers with adverts for dog charities inside? Do the shopkeepers refuse to sell dog related magazines?

This is not about the poster it is about a "community" showing its power by exerting control over the rest of society. It is about "submission" which is after all what Islam translates as. It is dhimmitude to submit in this way to this request.


In case you are not aware of the word "dhimmitude" then this from Wikipedia may assist your understanding of the term (my emphasis):
"The term was coined in 1982 by the Lebanese Maronite militia leader Bachir Gemayel, in reference to perceived attempts by the country's Muslim leadership to subordinate the large Lebanese Christian minority. In a speech of September 14, 1982 given at Dayr al-Salib in Lebanon, he said: "Lebanon is our homeland and will remain a homeland for Christians . . . We want to continue to christen, to celebrate our rites and traditions, our faith and our creed whenever we wish . . . Henceforth, we refuse to live in any dhimmitude!""


Bat Ye'or defined dhimmitude thus (my emphasis):
"dhimmitude [...] represents a behavior dictated by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability. [...] By their peaceful surrender to the Islamic army, they obtained the security for their life, belongings and religion, but they had to accept a condition of inferiority, spoliation and humiliation.""



And the cause of all this fuss....

1 comment:

John M Ward said...

Pigs are very clean animals, in the relevant context.

There was a time when it was a bit dodgy to eat from a pig's carcass, before at least the civilised part of the world learned the necessary techniques to be safe (e.g. thorough cooking), as were also learned for other foods.

We who truly live in the twenty-first century (rather than being stuck in a medieval rut) know and understand all of this; but some cultures are still stuck in the Dark Ages with the taboos of those times.

Although some things never change, knowledge and enlightenment can and should move onward and upward.

In this country, we have successfully lived with dogs (of all colours!) as domestic pets for a long time. Those who cannot handle this need to either find an accommodation or perhaps seek out a home country better suited to their peculiarities.

Meanwhile, this is our country and we shall live according to our knowledge -- and that includes the vastly superior knowledge of the real (loving) God and His Commandments, not the Satan-derived words of hatred that emanate from some quarters.