Friday, December 23, 2005

Racism is Bad - So is Self-delusion

Mark Steyn: Racism is Bad - So is Self-delusion

These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. A plane flies into the World Trade Centre? Mohammed Atta. A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet. A sniper starts killing petrol station customers around Washington, DC? John Allen Muhammed. A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri. A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed. A gang-rapist in Sydney? Mohammed Skaf.

Maybe all these Mohammeds are victims of Australian white racists and American white racists and Dutch white racists and Balinese white racists and Beslan schoolgirl white racists.

But the eagerness of the Aussie and British and Canadian and European media, week in, week out, to attribute each outbreak of an apparently universal phenomenon to strictly local factors is starting to look pathological. "Violence and racism are bad", but so is self-delusion.

(Cross-posted on A Deeper Look)

2 comments:

Always On Watch said...

At my local grocery store, Mohammed calls himself "Mo."

Remember the logo for Pep Boys? Manny, Moe, and Jack.

Seriously now...Marwan is a nickname for Mohammed.

Krishna109 said...

Mo, eh? Well, I've heard a lot of people address each other as "MoFo"... I'm not sure what that is a nickname for, I imagine that its similar to Marwan? (I've also heard the term "Mo" used as an antonym to "less" . . .?)

What about "Aswan"-- wasn't he Marwan's brother? (Admittedly, my knowledge of Islamic history is a bit rusty).

Funny about the Pep boys, they didn't look Moslem. Someone told me you can always recognize Moslems because they are a distinct race, but I don't think that's true-- its a religious belief system, they can be of any race.

About the Pep Boys again: I wonder . . .were they, perhaps, those mysterious Australian MOMEA? (Trademark).
[MOMEA = "Men of Middle Eastern Appearance".] They certainly didn't appear to be of a middle-eastern appearance-- but I guess when relying on media reports, appearances are often deceiving...in fact, the whole d*mn report is usually deceiving. Just ask Aswan!)

Or...perhaps they were "Fwench"-- you know, those "Youths" (trademark) who recently rioted in Fwance?

All very mysterious-- although I have to admit, Moslem or not, I never really tire of hearing stories about the Pep boys!!!