Steyn ping!
No doubt the old British had to actually hang a few of the Indians to make their point to the radicals. The solution in Afghanistan is to face them down on their own soil with meaningful threats of death.
"In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of "suttee" - the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Gen. Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural:
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks, and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
India today is better off without suttee. If we shrink from the logic of that, then in Afghanistan and many places far closer to home the implications are, as the Prince of Wales would say, "ghastly.""
When England had a spine!
What kind of person freely joins a religion that promises death to you if you ever leave it?
It simply boggles the mind that so many are so blind to this hate filled promise of nothingness. Cant follow this logic.
Brilliant all the way through. I also liked this bit, building on bin Ladin's comment that most people prefer a strong horse to a weak one:
"Most prominent Western leaders sound way too eager to climb into the weak-horse suit and audition to play the rear end."
I was surprised to learn that in its origin, it was associated with islam.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks, and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
BTTT
Steyn ping!
In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of "suttee" - the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Gen. Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural:
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks, and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
"You say that it is your custom to execute Christians. Very well. We also have a custom: When a person is prosecuted and faces certain death for their beliefs, we offer him sanctuary. Try to carry out your verdict; we will remove him from your custody so he will be able to follow his beliefs freely and in good conscience. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
It is time for us to follow our customs. They are at the heart of who we are.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Precisely. And it is up to Muslims to prove such is not the case. It is not up to us to prove it as all the evidence already leads inexorably in that direction!
ping
I liked this paragraph (excerpted here) ...
... the reality is that our society pays enormous respect to minorities - President Bush holds a monthlong Ramadan-a-ding-dong at the White House every year. The immediate reaction to the slaughter of 9/11 by Western leaders everywhere was to visit a mosque to demonstrate their great respect for Islam. ...
Shortly after 9-11 I realized that the West lacked the will to win this war. I still believe that. If we can't even talk openly about the problem and face it, we are going to lose. You can't care about the feelings of you enemy.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks, and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
India today is better off without suttee. If we shrink from the logic of that, then in Afghanistan and many places far closer to home the implications are, as the Prince of Wales would say, "ghastly."
Great words.
We should emulate that speaker.
Mark Steyn is a great man. Too bad he isn't in the White House now.
Great Steyn piece, and you are right, the quote from General Napier from decades ago is a great one, one still
pertinent to this ongoing clash of cultures.