First, the Sleeping Dog Growls

The old saying goes, "Let sleeping dogs lie", and it is a moral that suggests that disturbing the sleeping dog may result in a violent reaction from the hound and an unhappy ending for the disturber. Nevertheless, some simply can't resist repeatedly poking the poor slumbering animal and shattering the peace.

In the case of the so-called Mosque at Ground Zero, we are being told that if Imam Rauf is convinced to move its intended location, such a move will inflame and enrage Muslims worldwide into violent acts. This would seem to suggest that merely capitulating to the wishes of the Imam would "save" us from such a reaction.

We're also told that preventing the Pastor from Florida from his planned burning of the Qur'an would likewise head off a violent reaction by Muslims. Never mind that those reactions are already taking place despite the fact that no Qur'ans have yet been harmed. Muslims around the world have frequently proved that a catalyst is rarely needed for the flames of outrage to burn.

Christians and Jews are the figurative sleeping dogs of the world, wishing for nothing more that peaceful slumber and safety. At various times throughout history, such a placid existence has been misconstrued as weakness, and the Muslims have awakened them with sharp and intrusive sticks. The only provocation for such behavior has been those wishes and a reticence to become engaged in conflict. Eventually, however, the dog is sufficiently angered into action, abandons the warning growl, and attacks.

Leading up to the Christian Crusades, Muslims were on a continuous course of conquest, pushing the Christians further and further back into retreat until finally the Christians declared that enough was enough, and pushed back, hard. To blame Christians for some foul deed would be akin to faulting the kid who has been punched in the back of the head ten times by the kid sitting behind him, and who finally strikes back.

Misguided Liberals who attempt to suggest that the actions of the United States are responsible for Muslim anger must be asked specifically which actions those might be. Are Muslims angry at us for saving countless Muslims in Kosovo? Are they infuriated at our audacity for saving the Kuwaiti Muslims from Saddam Hussein? Perhaps our collective charity towards Indonesia after the tsunami was presumptuous and misguided?

These must be the things that prompted the embassy and barracks bombings in Libya. The bombing of the U.S.S.Cole must have been retaliation for our philanthropy. The destruction of the World Trade Center and the murder of 3,000 people must be characterized as retribution for our magnanimity and generosity. And of course, our arrogant indignation of those attacks must have triggered the Bible burnings, Church desecration and Crucifix destruction in Gaza in 2007.

Oh, you never heard about that? That is not surprising, since attacks on Christianity seem to be in vogue, and are obviously considered "understandable" by a self-loathing media. But in the summer of 2007, shortly after their victory over the Fatah Party in Gaza two years earlier, Hamas focused their attention on all things Christian, having ransacked, burned and looted a school and convent that are part of the Gaza Strip's small Romany Catholic community. According to the website Associated Content,

Father Musalam additionally told The Jerusalem Post that the Muslim gunmen used rocket-propeled grenades (RPGs) to blow through the doors of the church and school, before burning Bibles and destroying every cross they could get their hands on.

Yet there was no worldwide outcry over this, not was there any violent reactions from Christians. But we have to be concerned over one pastor who has been poked with the stick enough times to want to burn a few Qur'ans? What if we allow the Mosque to be built right where the Muslims want? What if we stop the Qur'an burning? Will Muslims stop attacking us and come to tea? Highly unlikely.

People of the West are growling on the porch, and it may not be much longer before radical Islamists discover that they have awakened something that will bite. Of course, the rest of the world will blame the dog.

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I Want Your Money

A new movie coming out this fall. Looks like it's going to be a hit!

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Missing the Symbolism of Cordoba

The battle continues to rage over the proposed Islamic Center a mere few hundred feet from the site of the worst attack by Muslim extremists ever perpetrated on U.S. soil., the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. Nearly three thousand people perished that day at the hands of a dozen and a half radical Muslims, but the after effects propel the numbers of both perpetrators and victims into untold numbers.

The argument now is over the Constitutional right of Muslims to build where they want in America as compared to other religions, but those opposed to this building acknowledge readily, as true Americans would, that right. But as the after effects of that day linger, the extended families of the victims and the multitudes who were captured on film dancing in celebration as the towers burned and crumbled have only seen their gulf further divided. To the latter group, the day symbolized a huge victory.

To them, that was only stage one of the battle, unarguably a battle for which they could claim success. They blew one by us, and as a movie character once said, "Savor the flavor, kid, 'cause it ain't gonna happen again". Undeterred, some still try.

Imam Rauf, at the heart of this proposed building, insists that his is a mission of "bridge building", a gesture of good faith toward the non-Muslims of America and, by extension, the West. He claims an attempt to demonstrate that compassion can overcome contention, but when met with passionate opposition, turns to stone and cold defiance. Despite the fact that the opposed have done so peacefully, the Imam has dug in his heels and refuses to move.

After a huge outcry from the public and the blogosphere - which has been portrayed as a collection of imaginative juveniles by a nervously envious mainstream media as crazed - the group behind the "Ground Zero Mosque" has strategically changed its name of the project. When the comparison of the "Cordoba Initiative" to the Conquest of Cordoba in Spain in the eighth century was too much to bear, the project name was changed to Park51.

As I pointed out in Cordoba Sounds Nice a month ago, Cordoba was designed to sound more European and romantic to Americans than what its meaning actually held. It was a tactical error by the good Imam and his cohorts based on the assumption that we, Americans, were all fat, dumb and happy. Now that they are discovering the opposite, and as they realize their counter claims that we are merely crazy won't work, they have cleverly changed the name of the project. But they're really not as clever as the change might otherwise indicate to the few who are exactly as the Imam thought.

Steve Malzberg of WOR Radio 710 in New York brought this up a few days ago on his afternoon show, and while I'm not quite sure of who is responsible for the discovery, I still credit Steve with having the courage to speak about it. To my knowledge, no one else has. Hopefully Steve will clarify the intrepid party who dug this up and apply proper credit.

But the new name, Park51, is just as Cordoba was; built for subterfuge, which is a mainstay of Mohammed and Allah in the war against the "infidel". The Quran commands lying in order to attain victory, and many still listen.

What Malzberg brought to light was a reference in the Imam's own Holy Book to the significance of the kinder, gentler Park51 name, and its relation to the message of triumph just as Cordoba held. The address of the mosque building (I refer to it as "the mosque" for expediency, even though I know those critical will complain of the label) is not 51 Park Place, as many View watchers will assume with a relieved sigh. It is actually 45-51 Park Place.

*Malzberg's account is 45-47 Park Place, Wikipedia has it as 47-51 Park Place.

Americans read left to right, Asians right to left. Presumably, Muslims read right to left, I do not claim to know, but it might account for the Park51 being derived from the latter of the address numbers. But a perusal of Chapter 51 of the Quran, versus 45-47, reveals that the message of triumphant conquest is alive in this mosque endeavor. From the know Quran website:

51:45	So they were not able to rise up, nor could they defend themselves --
51:46	And the people of Nuh before, surely they were a transgressing people.
51:47	And the heaven, We raised it high with power, and most surely We are the makers of things ample.

Considering Imam Rauf's recent assertion that this property has more significance than that of just a "piece of real estate", it must be considered that he means something else. Perhaps the significance lies in the numerical address of that property. It is, after all, about symbolism. 

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