Posted on 09/17/2006 8:35:35 AM PDT by Allan
I had to digest that statement for a while. I can't think of anyway more concise and powerful to describe her. We've really lost someone special, but we can take this as a call to arms of sorts to follow in her stead.
Why don't you have those opportunities?
Liberals have one virtue that conservatives lack: the courage of their convictions.
I think it is a mistake to confuse boorishness with courage. None of those liberals have the courage to risk loosing their lives in Iraq. They are simply loudmouths.
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
Yes, I agree. So what do you do to fight evil?
"-- Muslims who leave the Middle East to live under the free aegis of the West have a moral duty to support and protect the civilization that has welcomed them, rather than romanticize about what they have forsaken; --"
Everyone in the USA has an actual legal duty to support, protect, & defend the US Constitution, not just a 'moral' duty.
"-- Christianity is more than a religion, but also a powerful emblem of the force of reason, in that it seeks to spread belief by rational thought as well as faith; --"
And those who defy the rational thought inherent in our Constitution should be treated as our enemies, foreign or domestic..
"-- and that affluent and leisured Westerners, bargaining away their honor and traditions out of fear and for illusory security, have only emboldened radical Islam that seeks to liquidate them. --"
And thus they have earned themselves the label of domestic enemy, and should be treated accordingly.
Thanks for the ping. VDH is always excellent.
More smoke and mirrors: the Pope didn't really insult modern Islam, but the modern Islamists chose to take it that way, and he didn't really apologize for what he said, but the media has made it seem that he did.
Extremely important date. The Fall of Constantinople just preceded Columbus' discovery of the New World in 1492. So, the Christian East fell at the same time that what would become the Christian Americas were opened to European settlement. And the Reformation that began in 1517 beget our modern Western civilization. The Muslim faith never underwent a reformation and many Muslims now seek to destroy Western civilization, which, unfortunately, is in such a state of decline at present relatively few wish to fight for its survival.
I loved this woman. Such courage. Her photo should accompany the word indomitable in the dictionary. Alas, not many like her. Maybe Lady Thatcher and Camille Paglia, two more of my icons. I reread The Rage and the Pride the other night. It is comparable to Zola's "J'Accuse" that appeared in L'Aurore. In it she described the execution of three women who had been to a beauty parlor. Despicable savages. And Rosie has the nerve to compare modern day Christians to such venal filth.
We are still here!
She reminds me of myself a lot so I just ordered the Rage and the Pride and will read it through even though I'm not much of a novel reader.
From reading the speech the Pope was specifically making the point that Islam exalts irrationality in contrast to Christianity.
From the speech:
"The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: "For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality." Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practice idolatry.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1702938/posts
Nor is the islamic allah bound up in truth or righteousness. He is a lying @sshole and so are his followers.
The Western left has no fear of having "its skyscrapers, planes, trains, buses, nightclubs and synagogues blown apart or its oil cut off". No fear whatsoever.
Instead, they quake at simply being called "racists". They will appease the radical Islamists until they are separated from their heads -- all so that the dread word won't be used against them.
I love Victor Davis Hansen and he makes good points here, but it's worth pointing out that no civilization "birthed" Christianity.
I love Victor Davis Hansen and he makes good points here, but it's worth pointing out that no civilization "birthed" Christianity.
The Pope knew exactly what he was saying. And he knew exactly what the reaction would be.
He did is either to demonstrate the irrationality of the Islamics or to serve as a lightening rod to divert violence from another venue. If the latter I hope he doesn't end up a martyr.
Hanson always manages to get right to the heart of every issue.
BTTT
Her incisive/sharp wit writing will be missed by many............
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