Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Each of us originates in the bubble that is the womb, and proceeds into a larger bubble — a system of approved myths inherited upon birth. Mythical systems accrete over the centuries, they become the stuff of culture, of family, of traditions — of a certain mythos. Xenophobia is a fear of the foreign mythos, the strange, the other-wordly.

atlantic.slave.trade

You’re talking about the dregs of society who have a way at doling off the rest of us. Not in our neighborhood, Bill.

Three monotheistic religions spring from myths. The triad started with the patriarch Ibrahim’s sexual relations with that woman (Sara) and with that woman (Hagar). Ibrahim stands atop an isosceles triangle, isosceles because Judaism and Christianity are more familiar with each other, they are the points at respective ends of the shorter line of the triangle. Together, they celebrate something called a Judeo-Christian tradition.

Bill, have you ever heard of a Judeo-Islamic tradition, a Christo-Islamic tradition? Hang out with scimitar lovers and you’ll die by the sword. Live safe or die, that’s our motto.

The progeny of Isaac and Ishmael revere their father Ibrahim, but they do not visit the mother of the other. A brother discarded at birth becomes a grotesque creature during centuries of banishment.

My birth certificate states that its described birth was “legitimate” — that I am not a bastard. Legitimate and illegitimate bring baggage to the children thus belittled. Do they not? Are there any possible connotations that suggest “bastard” might be a loaded word?

Takes one to know one, bastard. Your father was probably born in Kenya, too. We’d like to see if your birth certificate has an “il” erasure. Just the facts, man. Just the facts.

tribes.of.the.indian.nation

Yesterday was “Columbus” Day, it was also “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” Columbus myths are more important to its proponents than Columbus facts. Fortunately for them, those who favor myth have techniques such as confirmation bias to keep the 25th suggestion for an Indigenous Peoples Day safely at bay.

Indians, Slaves and Mass Murder

I listened to a disquieting interview yesterday with author Carol Delaney on her book Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem. Delaney offered much more than a standard defense of Columbus Day, she accurately and disturbingly connected the dots that most Columbus proponents ignore. In other words, Ishmael be damned.

She proudly connected those dots to illuminate an ambition far larger than a couple continents — the apparent need for never ending condemnation of Islam in polite company. Forever and ever, amen.

A few salient points on population movement:

  1. The expulsion of Jews from Spain was completed in 1492, the expulsion of Muslims was completed in 1609.
  2. The  ethnic cleansing in the Americas began in 1492
  3. The Inquisition in Spain was already underway in 1492
  4. There still exists a longing nostalgia for the Crusades today
  5. The Crusades are yet described as purely a matter of self-defense.

The sacred myth informs the non-indigenous that Columbus was a  faithful Italian Catholic tasked with restoring Jerusalem to Christendom — or at least Judeo-Christendom — through a two-speared operation, from the east as well: completing the aims of the Crusades and the object of the Inquisition.

Columbus stumbled onto a foothold role that established ports for the grim slavers to reap the benefit of clockwise flowing ocean currents. These currents were perfect for purposes of logistic maximization. Cargo circuits brought plentiful human resources from Africa to “get the job done” in a properly fulsome manner. After emptying human cargo at the ports of Columbine discovery, they could deadhead those empty craft and load up bipeds in Western Africa. A logistical marvel of the first order.

slaves.dumped.in.ocean
Discarded human resources at the bottom of the sea

Portugal supplied missionaries to convert indigenous peoples surrounding the Amazon, pacification brought us Brazil, Spain pretty much tamed the rest of what is now known as Latin America. Access to pagans made possible by craven Conquistadors who rammed through the soft underbelly of the western portions of North America to the wealth of California and the expanse of Texas.

Welcome Europeans?

Does it matter a whit that the colonizers spring from European stock, possess Caucasian physiognomy, have a skin color not tanned by either the sun or made golden under a set of purple ultraviolet ray emitters?

You were probably offended by that Dove advertisement that got all you political correctors lathered. What’s wrong with being white? To the victors go the spoils. Says it all. That’s all you need to know, all there is to know. Get with the program or take the next flight out.

Thanks for reading.

Xenophobia and the Church Militant

Al Kresta

The über orthodox Al Kresta owns the drive-time slot on Ave Maria Communications (he is also their CEO). His scholarly tones suggest intellectual curiosity, unfortunately that curiosity seems to cast suspicion on  “the stranger” or “the other.”
kresta.in.the.afternoon
 I’m in the Kresta in the Afternoon audience, but not singing with the choir. Al gives me an opportunity to refresh my understanding of logical fallacies, and to remind me that half-truths lead to full-blown lies. I call a partial truth a bold challenges, a euphemism I once overheard in a marketing campaign. how much misinformation can be included in an ad for the king’s latest attire before the clever ruse is noticed.
Open minds threaten xenophobia and racism.
A couple years ago Kresta announced an upcoming panel to definitively answer the question “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?”  He decided to bring people with different ideas to the table to balance the views expressed. As a seeker of truth Kresta would weigh opposing views to see if that mighty question might find a true and everlasting answer.
Big but: Kresta stacked the panel.
robert-spencer-jihad-watch-did-muhammad-exist
comment unnecessary
The American Muslim published an article on the debate. An excerpt:
 
“He will certainly be in over his head, and this “featured debate” will simply be used as an opportunity to humiliate the American Muslim community. Shadid Lewis may mean well, but participating in this very public event without the tools to deal with someone like Robert Spencer is at the very least unwise. And, the fact that Spencer, Kresta, Ave Maria, et al are framing this as a debate between scholars, when that is clearly not the case makes it clear that they have an agenda.”
From my article “The Jailer Mentality and Alternate Histories” published here.
“…those who brood much on the remote past or future, or stare long at the night sky, are less likely than others to be ardent or orthodox partisans.”
Arsalan Iftikhar approaches Islamophobia from a different perspective.

RNS-IFTIKHAR-QANDA

 Thanks for reading.

Niemöller and Johst

Niemöller was not a narrow-minded person

Pastor Martin Niemöller’s timeless quote is larger than his name.

First they came for … then … then …there was no one left to speak for me.

first.they.came.for.the.palestinians
from Mondoweiss

Xenophobia is dangerous and narrow-minded. It flourishes on ignorance. It has no redeeming social value.

Ignorance of algebra combined with chutzpah-level arrogance recently became equated with terror. My advice: spend less time removing innocent passengers from flights and spend more time learning about other cultures. 

The Arabic word “InshaAllah” is the most common word spoken by Arabic speakers to express the hope that everything will be OK, such as “Let’s hope for the best.” Not all Arabs are Muslims. Most Muslims are not Arabic.

Curiously enough, the word algebra comes from Arabic; actually a long list of English words come from Arabic

aljabr

Should we be more tolerant of the rabidly intolerant? Let’s consider über orthodox Al Kresta, the broadcaster who owns the drive-time slot on Ave Maria Radio. Mr. Kresta always presents himself as a fair commentator. A couple years ago he announced formation of a panel to answer the question “Is Islam a Religion of Peace.” He selected a new convert to Islam as the panel’s scholar and proceeded to bulldoze the poor guy.

Here is an excerpt on the clever ruse from The American Muslim:

“He will certainly be in over his head, and this “featured debate” will simply be used as an opportunity to humiliate the American Muslim community. Shadid Lewis may mean well, but participating in this very public event without the tools to deal with someone like Robert Spencer is at the very least unwise. And, the fact that Spencer, Kresta, Ave Maria, et al are framing this as a debate between scholars, when that is clearly not the case makes it clear that they have an agenda.”

Al’s guest today was Winston Churchill’s grandson. It did not take long for Kresta to direct the conversation to Islamic jihad and The Church Militant. The takeaway: Winston would have recognized ISIS as a threat similar to Reich 3.

billziegler1947 follows Kresta in the Afternoon so you don’t have to. 

Fear of the stranger may derive from a sense of superiority, privilege or ordained certainty. Xenophobia flourishes best on the dark side: it works like the brain’s autonomic system to profile “the other” as an existential threat. You don’t even have to think about it. Hate goes way beyond rolling the eyes: visceral reactions, racist rants, flying spittle, cognitive dissonance…

cognitive-dissonance-2

We enough personal experience with the human shadow in our cultures, traditions and literatures to know how long that shadow may be cast.

Hanns Johst wrote the play Schlageter

First performed on Hitler’s 44th birthday, 20 April 1933, Schlageter is a play by Hanns Johst. It celebrates the arrival of Adolph Hitler and Reich Number 3. That piece of Nazi theater is the source for “When I hear the word culture…, I release the safety on my Browning!”

SCHLAGETER: Good old Fritz! (Laughing.) No paradise will entice you out of your barbed wire entanglement!

THIEMANN: That’s for damned sure! Barbed wire is barbed wire! I know what I’m up against…. No rose without a thorn!… And the last thing I’ll stand for is ideas to get the better of me! I know that rubbish from ’18 …, fraternity, equality, …, freedom …, beauty and dignity! You gotta use the right bait to hook ’em. And then, you’re right in the middle of a parley and they say: Hands up! You’re disarmed…, you republican voting swine!—No, let ’em keep their good distance with their whole ideological kettle of fish … I shoot with live ammunition! When I hear the word culture …, I release the safety on my Browning!”

SCHLAGETER: What a thing to say!

THIEMANN: It hits the mark! You can be sure of that.

SCHLAGETER: You’ve got a hair trigger.

— Hans Johst’s Nazi Drama Schlageter. Translated with an introduction by Ford B. Parkes-Perret. Akademischer Verlag Hans-Dieter Heinz, Stuttgart, 1984.
It’s not fair to judge a minority of Israelis on the actions of a majority, but the word “Palestinian” twitches thumbs to search for the safety.
Fascism produces no art, no literature. Actually nothing of value, but it is superb at destroying all human values.

 

Thanks for reading.

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