September 26, 2007
My dinner with Adolf
Heinrich, Reinhard and Hermann were such fabulous hosts! They served the finest liebfraumilch with their vegetarian dinner and personally asked all the journalists in attendance to partake in a dialogue about the Third Reich, the Third Reich with a song in its heart, the real Third Reich that wants to pursue justice through "love and kindness and human dignity" and "end all conflicts on earth."
After an hour, [Ahmadinehad] is ready to respond. He does so first with a half-hour ode to the relationship between man and God that might have been dictated by the Iranian poet Rumi. "I believe that Almighty God created the universe for mankind. Man is God's most important creation and it is through him that we appreciate the beauties of the universe. God has sent man here on a mission." That mission, he says, is to pursue love, justice, kindness and dignity. In fact, he repeats those works so often that it begins to sound like a mantra: Love. Justice. Kindness. Dignity. He speaks with the quiet zeal of a not-very-flamboyant televangelist. "The pursuit of justice through love and kindness and human dignity can end all conflicts on earth," he says. "Inshallah."[...]
Finally, in response to a question about whether war with Iran was growing more likely, he says, "Mr. Bush is interested in harming Iran. But I believe there are wise politicians in America who will prevent such a war. We hate war. We would not welcome it. But we are prepared for every scenario. Yet I don't think war will happen." [My emphasis]
You hate war? Of course you do, Mahmoud. That's why 28 years ago you, personally, were involved in a direct act of war against the United States -- unanswered by that quintessence of Liberal/Democrat testicular fortitude, Jimmy Carter. Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Are these people that detached from the real world?! Are they that stupid?
Posted by George Moneo at September 26, 2007 11:00 AM
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Comments
I found it interesting that most standard lefties seemingly only had a cow about what I'm A Dinner Jacket had to say about homosexuals, George. I will give the president of Columbia some props for his "welcoming" speech, though.
What I did find particularly disgusting was his lip service towards general "human values", and his blasphemous mention of the Almighty. What makes it even more aggravating, IMO, is that he did indeed try to sound like a Sufi poet-particularly ironic since I believe that most Sufis in Iran (despite their coming out of the Shi'a tradition) are treated much like Christians, gays, Bahai's, etc. To me, that was as if Hitler had tried to imitate Johannes Eckhardt's (aka Meister Eckhardt) style in a speech. (And yes, I know you are pretty down on Islam in general George, but there's much I've found in Rumi's writings that I find quite beautiful, and that transcends Islam-or any other particular religion.)
Posted by: Peshkatari ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 26, 2007 12:13 PM
I just know what's in their book, that's all, and it ain't very pleasant for us infidels. I've heard several "secular" Muslims here in the US say that Islam (both Sunni and Shia) needs a major reformation that will allow coexistence with those of different beliefs. Not in my lifetime, I fear.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at September 26, 2007 12:17 PM
I'm curious, George (no pun intended!): Did you ever hear about the "Secular Islam" conference that took place earlier this year? I was surprised-it even got a favorable mention from Robert Spencer! And yes, I agree-Islam does indeed need a major reformation. (frankly, it wouldn't hurt if some of the more "mystical" varieties, like Bekteshism and Ismailism played more of a role, since an active mystic tradition often tends to help defuse fundamentalist tendencies in a religion, at least to some extent. But then again, sadly, a lot of "mainstream" Muslims look upon them as heresies, too.) I may be a bit more optimistic than you on the time frame, but IMO, it probably won't happen until I'm a lot older (and grayer) than I am now, even in a "best case" scenario.
Posted by: Peshkatari at September 26, 2007 12:42 PM
I did and I admire their courage in facing the inherent problems of Islam head-on. However, they are but a small group of voices, a small rowboat in the middle of the Pacific.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at September 26, 2007 01:22 PM
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