http://www.paradisepost.com/columns/ci_4372413 Muslim outrage needs a mirror
By Russ Neal Let me get this straight. The Pope quotes some 14th century Byzantine emperor during the course of an academic lecture. The use of the quote, which was unflattering to the Prophet Muhammad, enrages the peace-loving Muslim world. Muslims everywhere demand an apology. Pope Benedict's spokesperson apologizes twice. Pope Benedict apologizes. Neither is satisfactory to the Muslim community or its leaders. New threats by peace-loving Muslims emerge across the globe. Catholic churches are torched, the Pope is called "Satan" and is hung and burned in effigy, and a Catholic nun is murdered. A peace-loving Muslim Website issues this proclamation: "We shall break the cross and spill the wine & God will help to conquer Rome. God will enable us to slit their throats." What astonishes me about this whole scenario is the Muslims themselves are not amazed at their own behavior. How dare they say we are not a peaceful religion? We will kill them and burn their churches for thinking and saying such things. And perhaps even more incredible is that dozens of Muslims can be slaughtered every day at the open market in Baghdad by other Muslims, and you don't hear a peep of outrage from a single Muslim leader. But let the Pope, or other infidel, quote the words of some emperor from a 600-year-old text, and you'd think someone had dropped a nuke on Mecca. Here's what Salih Kapusuz, deputy leader of a Turkish Islamic-inspired party, had to say: "He (Pope Benedict) has a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the Middle Ages. He ... has not benefited from the spirit of reform." If there exists in the world today a religion that is mired in the Middle Ages, I don't think it's Christianity. And given the recent behavior of its members and leaders, it strikes me the "spirit of reform" has somehow slipped past Islam as well. *** Since I just recently returned from a trip to the East Coast, my eye naturally caught a recent headline that read: "Vacations shrinking as American pastime." The accompanying article went on to say that "nearly one-third of Americans are expected to forfeit vacation days this year a 31 percent increase from 2005." What's the matter with you people?! Are you crazy! You earned your vacation days. You need your vacation days. Take your vacation days! Americans earn 14 days of vacation, and take only 10. Are your demands at work so pressing that you will risk your mental and physical well-being? Are you really that indispensable on the job? Would the business go under if you were hit by a bus today? Now the French are experts at taking vacations. Last I heard, they spend more time on vacation than they do at work. Oh, yes. I forgot. They're the French. But, let's face it. Our neighbors to the north (the Canadians for those who are geographically challenged) earn and take more vacation days on average than we do. Our friends across the pond (the British for those same folks) follow suit with the Canadians. Even the serious, business-minded Germans (noted for enduring lackluster outcomes in successive World Wars) take greater advantage of their earned vacation days (26 of 27). Why do we do this to ourselves? Some say it's our historically strong work ethic. Some think they need to do it in order to impress the boss for that next promotion. Others simply can't afford to go on vacation. My contention is that you can't not afford it. (How's that sentence structure? And where's Jaime O'Neill when I need him?) People need down time. We are, as a nation, wound too tight. We need to relax and smile at each other more. We need to devote more of ourselves to our families. We need to become more French and spend August on the Riveira with the clothing optional beaches Ooops! I mean the warm and sandy beaches. Yes, we need to become Frencher. (Is that a word? Jaime, help!) *** Finally, a word on Wal-Mart. Even poor, uneducated people shop there and for one reason: they know enough about economics to realize their dollar will buy more there. Liberal thinkers (usually people who can afford to shop elsewhere) discount this huge shoppers' advantage, estimated at over $200 billion a year. They claim Wal-Mart's wages and benefits are too low, and, of course, this runs afoul of union contributors to the Democratic Party. And yet Wal-Mart's wages and benefits attract far more people than the company can ever hire and they currently have 1.3 million on their employment rolls. And just think of the sales tax and income tax revenue that is generated locally and nationally by this organization and its workers. Liberal thinkers hate to think anything in the private sector can do more good for the economically disadvantaged than their beloved government handout programs. Liberals are the saviors of the downtrodden. How dare big business trod on their sacred ground! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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