J.K. Rowling: Trump Is Worse Than Voldemort

Reacting to Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump's outlandish idea that America should close the border to any Muslims seeking entry in the wake of the San Bernadino Shootings, Harry Potter author opined that the brash billionaire was worse than her arch-villain  Voldemort.

On First Amendment Prudence?

The "Draw Mohammed" event in Garland, Texas has provoked some mixed reactions in the media. Pamela Geller, the proprietor of Atlas Shrugged and co-founder of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, believes that speaking out against radical Islam through an event in Garland, Texas is properly exercising her Freedom of Speech.

Greta Van Susteran went "Off the Record" condemned Pamela Geller and the Draw Mohammed event as not being a prudent application of her First Amendment rights.



Some self censorship critics, point to Constitutional limits of Freedom of Speech.  Chris Cuomo got on his high horse regarding hate speech and kept pointing to the 1942 Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire Supreme Court decision about "fighting words".

But if one relies on the Constitution as being a "living document", one must read further high court cases.  to understand that "fighting words" limitations essentially now must be provocative personal epithets. For CNN commentators preening about their juris doctor degree, check Cohen v. California 403 U.S. 15 (1971) [the "Fuck the Draft" case] and Snyder v. Philips (2010) 562 USC ___ (2011) [Westboro Baptist Church protesting soldier's funeral],

It is ironic that there are elements in the media, which ought to revel in the First Amendment, that urge those who advocate unpopular opinions to be reticent about expressing their Freedom of Speech.  That's some freedom-- not!

It is ironic that there are elements in the media, which ought to revel in the First Amendment, that urge those who advocate unpopular opinions to be reticent about expressing their Freedom of Speech.  That's some freedom-- not!

Several years ago, after the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, there was an effort for encourage civic civility. Alas, that was a progressive ploy to stifle conservative dissent and was not reciprocated by the left.

The admonitions of today to be prudent when exercising free speech seem to show the inroads of cultural jihad.  One can not express Free Speech which a Muslim might find offensive. This can be considered soft tyranny or de facto sharia.  Should we acquiesce to such sensibilities now, consider how imams like Anjem Choudrey would handle such offensive speech. 

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Bobby Jindal and Smart Power

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) traveled to London England to address the Henry Jackson Society.  This British think tank, named after the anticommunist defense hawk Sen. "Scoop" Jackson (D-WA), is dedicated to support a strong military and a "forward strategy" (involving diplomacy, culture, economics and politics) to make the world safe for modern liberal democracies.

Jindal's speech before Scoop Jackson academics had the potential for promoting his political standing amongst aficionados of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, while contrasting world views with his prospective general election rival Hillary Clinton.  However, Jindal chose to focus his remarks on the dangers of political Islamism both in global hot zones as well as within Western democracies. Jindal alluded to no go zones in Europe.

After the speech, Jindal was pressed by a CNN reporter to name a No Go zone in London, the presumed Republican presidential hopeful refused to give specifics


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So instead of concentrating on the substance of the speech, a politically correct media inclined to destroy any rivals to the second coming of the Clintons to the Oval Office, played a media game of Gotcha'. While progressive partisans may think that they have already won in taking down Jindal with no go zones, just like Gov. Chris Christie's prospects were impaired by the ersatz "Bridge-gate" scandal, they are too clever by half.

Jindal should feel justified that there are at least 85 sharia courts operating in the UK. Recently, terrorism pundit Steve Emerson opined on Fox News that Birmingham was "entirely Muslim", which FNC publically disavowed.  But England's second largest city is 22% Muslim and this can create a de facto no go zone with western women not dressed modestly enough for unofficial prude police.  Then there is the case of the two evangelical preachers threatened with "hate" crimes for passing out Christian pamphlets in Muslim majority neighborhoods.   However, that is not a formal "no go zone" as in France. 

Jindal sought to properly define "Smart Power" to pursue American political and economic security.  But since the two term Louisiana Governor is considered in the hunt for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, the Lamestream Media will use political language to shape the race as they will.

Post Scriptus 01/21/2015 At Red State, Eric Erickson pointed to an earlier video from CNN which reported on Muslim patrols which sought to enforce ad hoc sharia law on the streets of East London. 

Duke Ditches Plan to Sound the Friday Call to Prayer Across Campus

Duke University announced that the Muslim Call to Prayer would be broadcast every Friday at 1PM. This was being done to promote religious pluralism for the 700 Muslim students on campus. Imam Adel Zeeb, the Muslim chaplain at Duke explained: "The adhan is the call to prayer that brings Muslims back to their purpose in life, which is to worship God and serves as a reminder to serve our brothers and sisters in humanity." 

 Off-campus, however, reaction to this news was swift and condemnatory.  The Reverend Franklin Graham took to social media to express disapproval of Duke's decision.  Although Muslim students had been meeting in the basement of the Chapel for years, Rev. Franklin felt that amplifying the adan was poisonous pluralism.  Franklin posited that: "You're taking that bell tower, and you're turning it into a Muslim minaret. I think it's a slap at the Christian faith."

The day after the Duke Call To Prayer idea was shared with the world, Duke University backtracked on the decision. Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations, stated:

“Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students. However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect.”

It may not have just been Franklin Graham's moral suasion which won the battle for the bell tower. Franklin Graham's initial Facebook post suggested that alumni and donors ought to withhold support until the decision was reversed.

After University officials opted  against amplifying the adan, Rev. Graham posted his support for Duke's decision.

Omid Safi, the director of Duke's Islamic Studies program, disputed the notion that the Call to Prayer was an effort to supplant Christianity on campus.

"Every day from that same Duke chapel, church bells ring, and twice on Sunday. The cross is on the emblem of Duke University. The entire quad, and the entire campus of Duke University is laid out as a cross. And the Christian chapel is the very symbol of Duke University. So the kind of fanatical proclamation that Christianity is being erased from Duke’s campus is frankly a poor indication of the intelligence of that argument."

While it is true that Duke University was founded by Methodists and Quakers, the Blue Devil's campus has long been operating as a secular school.  It is facile reasoning that the church bell rings twice on Sunday at Duke Chapel as it ignores the symbolic importance of the adan.  Duke's Chapel is at the highest ridge on campus and one of the highest points in  Durham County.  Having the Collegiate Gothic Chapel broadcast the prayer Friday afternoon would be interpreted by radicalized religious as establishing the dominance of Islam over those academic ivory towers.

It is reminiscent of the controversy over the 2010 proposed "Cordoba House" at Park 51 near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.  There was a great effort by Developer Sharif El-Gamal to plant a mosque in the area, even though there was not a large enough community to support it.  Three years after the mosque opened, El-Gamal announced that he aspired to build a three story museum dedicated to Islam near Ground Zero.  

What explains this obsession with establishing iconic Islamic edifices near prominent real estate?  As Robert Spencer speculated about the current Park 51 plans:

“The structure as you describe it would be as grotesque as a three-story museum dedicated to exploring the faith of Shintoism and emperor-worship, and its arts and culture, with a sanctuary for prayer services and community programs, at Pearl Harbor." 

We in the west seem like we are metaphobes who are incapable of appreciating the significance of symbolism or the political impact of Islam.  They fail to consider that Islam is a holistic system which incorporates law, governance as well as spirituality.  

Radicalized Islamists seek to impose sharia law through cultural jihad.  France is grappling with a suspicion the political correctness coupled with Islamic accommodations is creating an Islamicized France. While the majority of North American Muslims seem content to live in a secular society with a pluralistic polity, it is easy to understand why some are chary about allowing accommodations which can be seen as a primus entre pares situation.

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Manuel Valls on Defending Values

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Sajid Javid on Islamist Terrorism

Stephane Charbonnier on the Freedom of Speech

Stephane Charbonnier, Chief Editor of the French satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo", was one of France's leading cartoonists who created under the pen name "Charb".   Charbonnier was also an outspoken advocate for free speech who fiercely defended his right to push material that others, particularly Muslims, deemed offensive. 

In 2011, Charbonnier invited the Prophet Muhammad to be a guest editor to Charlie Hebdo. This prompted a firebombing which destroyed Charlie Hebdo's offices and put Charb on an Al-Qaeda hit list. 

Stephane Charbonnier defiantly posing after Charlie Hebdo firebombing,  Nov. 2011

The three Islamic terrorists who brutally attacked Charlie Hebdo's offices on January 7, 2015 reportedly asked for Charb by name as they slaughtered twelve people. 

Some Muslim spokesmen justify a rabid response like the terrorist attack as Charlie Hebdo published pieces which were offensive to the Prophet Muhammad.  Bill Donahue,  President of the (American) Catholic League, condemned the killings but stated that "Muslims have a right to be angry" over Charlie Hebdo's provocative publications.

Many media outlets are quick to point out that Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical publication, which is true but is misleading.  This Charlie Hebdo massacre was an attack on Free Speech.  It was cultural jihad which is imposing tenants of sharia law (among which is to not to offend Muslims) on Western society.  This movement is being aided and accelerated by Political Correctness, which seeks to not  provoke favored minorities but is happy to taunt traditional mores.

The fact that many media sources were self-censoring about showing "provocative" Charlie Hebdo covers, but had no problems publicizing Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" (1987) or Chris Orfill's depiction of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung (1996) shows the double standard from the supposed guardians of the First Amendment.

Such spurious self-censoring of provocative content towards a violent minority which seeks to apply sharia law is an early stage of dhimmitude. 

Some of How Ecumenism Has Gone Awry at Washington National Cathedral

Despite Reverend Franklin Graham's disappointment which he shared on Twitter about the Muslim led prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, this is not the first time that the sixth largest Cathedral church in the world  has ecumenically opened its doors to non-Christian worship.

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Regarding the recent Muslim Prayer Service, the Dean of National Cathedral Gary Hall was unaware or did not care that the Muslim prayer service at Washington National Cathedral was held on the centennial of the last Caliph declaring a holy war on all non-believers.

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Muslim led Friday Prayers at Washington National Cathedral Nov. 14, 2014 [photo source: AFP]

The prayer carpets for the around two hundred Muslim faithful gathered for the Jumu'ah (Muslim Prayer Service) were laid diagonally in the transept on the side of the sanctuary to face Mecca without seeing any Christian icons, as Islam forbids prayer in view of sacred symbols which are alien to their faith. 

Before the prayers started, a lone protester proclaimed: "Jesus died on that Cross for us.  Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior." before being whisked out of the supposedly Christian church.

It seems that forthrightly proclaiming the faith in the House of God which a Cathedral church represents is unwelcomed at Washington National Cathedral.  

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Washington National Cathedral was founded on a charter from Congress but it is an Episcopal Cathedral.  While it is wonderful to reach out to people of faith to find commonalities, it seems pusillanimous to not represent the faith at the seat of the Archbishop, who should be shepherding the flock.  Moreover, treating Washington National Cathedral like an International House of Prayer seems like it is making it a big venue religious entertainment.  Then again the Very Reverend Gary Hall wished about to roller skate or throw paper airplanes down the temporarily empty nave of Washington National Cathedral

Ecumenism is illuminating and foster tolerance and perhaps peace in the proper context. This is often accomplished through interfaith prayer services, which may concentrate on the spiritual things which unite various confessions.

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