Sunday, August 20, 2006
Where This Is Coming From
So, I'm back from vacation. My time on Great Diamond Island was... all right, I'll admit it. Without the laptop, I likely would've been bored out of my freaking skull. Still, it was a nice, relaxing place, evne if our neighbors were a bit... shrieky.
One night, we'd decided to head into Portland for dinner. While Mother and Father Cognito split off to meet friends for dinner, Brother Cognito and I decided to walk around before getting our meal. Eventually, we found a bookstore. I was flipping through the current events section, when I found a book that made me feel slight pangs of disgust: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer (and no, I'm not dignifying it with a link).
For a little background, the P.I.G. series (as illustrated by a little cartoon pig) extends also to "Science" and "Feminism." Its authors basically believe, "Forget facts, logic, and compassion; I want my women barefoot, my earth flat, and my Muslim hordes conquering." This wasn't my first encounter with the book, either; I'd seen it mentioned in a post on Crooks and Liars. A quote from the book talked about exploring "the truth behind the Crusades." Y'know, those same Crusades where every man, woman, and child in Jerusalem who was not Christian (and even some who were) were slaughtered. I thought to myself, "Jesus Christ, not Crusades revisionism."
So, like Pandora opening the box, I flipped through the book. And yes, it was Crusades revisionism of the most pedestrian attempt, trying to paint both sides as having done bad things (which somehow makes the men representing God's divine representative on Earth immune from blame for what was practically genocide). But when flipping through the book to the table of contents, I found something that gave me a chill.
There, as an epigraph to the whole sordid affair, was, in bold, the phrase "DEUS VULT!" The same phrase used by Pope Urban II in his speech sending off the first Crusaders.
This book wasn't just Crusades revisionism.
It was, effectively, Crusades cheerleading.
Of course, this book had statements of praise in the front by all the leading warriors against the Muslim horde, such as Michelle Malkin. This, to me, says a lot. This distrust they engender, this invective they hurl... I'm beginning to believe that people like Malkin and Spencer would see nothing wrong with every Muslim man, woman, and child in the US being forced, at gunpoint, to convert or die.
Hell, they may be the ones who lead the charge.
One night, we'd decided to head into Portland for dinner. While Mother and Father Cognito split off to meet friends for dinner, Brother Cognito and I decided to walk around before getting our meal. Eventually, we found a bookstore. I was flipping through the current events section, when I found a book that made me feel slight pangs of disgust: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer (and no, I'm not dignifying it with a link).
For a little background, the P.I.G. series (as illustrated by a little cartoon pig) extends also to "Science" and "Feminism." Its authors basically believe, "Forget facts, logic, and compassion; I want my women barefoot, my earth flat, and my Muslim hordes conquering." This wasn't my first encounter with the book, either; I'd seen it mentioned in a post on Crooks and Liars. A quote from the book talked about exploring "the truth behind the Crusades." Y'know, those same Crusades where every man, woman, and child in Jerusalem who was not Christian (and even some who were) were slaughtered. I thought to myself, "Jesus Christ, not Crusades revisionism."
So, like Pandora opening the box, I flipped through the book. And yes, it was Crusades revisionism of the most pedestrian attempt, trying to paint both sides as having done bad things (which somehow makes the men representing God's divine representative on Earth immune from blame for what was practically genocide). But when flipping through the book to the table of contents, I found something that gave me a chill.
There, as an epigraph to the whole sordid affair, was, in bold, the phrase "DEUS VULT!" The same phrase used by Pope Urban II in his speech sending off the first Crusaders.
This book wasn't just Crusades revisionism.
It was, effectively, Crusades cheerleading.
Of course, this book had statements of praise in the front by all the leading warriors against the Muslim horde, such as Michelle Malkin. This, to me, says a lot. This distrust they engender, this invective they hurl... I'm beginning to believe that people like Malkin and Spencer would see nothing wrong with every Muslim man, woman, and child in the US being forced, at gunpoint, to convert or die.
Hell, they may be the ones who lead the charge.
