Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:13 pm  

Dally wrote:

Maybe some good will come of the EDL then? If people start communicating and behaving as one culturally then we can move away from the daft and dangerous concept of "multi-culturalism." If the EDL, this mosque, or anyone else, is the catalyst for that they will be doing this country a great service.

I think you're reading your own meaning into this simple act of acting sensibly - there's no suggestion that the mosque will start preaching Christianity and handing out face-bleaching cream, more that they are happy to speak to people who don't understand them and explain that they mean no harm in a multi-cultural society and nor does their religion.

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:15 pm  

Homer wrote: Well done York Mosque http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/2 ... a-biscuits Meanwhile, in the same area: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/403128 ... Rigby-plea (Not so well done).

Homer wrote: Well done York Mosque http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/2 ... a-biscuits Meanwhile, in the same area: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/403128 ... Rigby-plea (Not so well done).

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:16 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

I think you're reading your own meaning into this simple act of acting sensibly - there's no suggestion that the mosque will start preaching Christianity and handing out face-bleaching cream, more that they are happy to speak to people who don't understand them and explain that they mean no harm in a multi-cultural society and nor does their religion.

We should have ONE culture but as many religions as people want.

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:45 pm  

Dally wrote:

We should have ONE culture but as many religions as people want.

How about no religion and plenty of culture?
Sounds a lot better proposition to me.

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:49 pm  

Dally wrote:

We should have ONE culture but as many religions as people want.

What do you mean by "culture"? ... I suspect it isn't the same as the meaning to which I would subscribe, which is habits, beliefs and views of life differentiated by such things as religion (or absence thereof), morals, cuisine, language, music etc etc.

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 1:50 pm  

Dally wrote:

We should have ONE culture but as many religions as people want.

So the City of Culture thing every year would be pretty boring then ?

If you've ever studied Arabian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese decorative culture in fabrics, weaponary, wall hangings or artwork you'll quickly realise that all of those cultures were at least 1000 years ahead of the Europeans - they are a hard act to follow and we've been following them ever since.

Re: Woolwich incident : Tue May 28, 2013 11:31 pm  

I'm now looking out for a conspiracy theory which ties in Dally's secret service theory and the Bull St mosque to the other one.

In fact, I may spend the rest of the night working on it, just to see if I can get some circulation out of it.

Re: Woolwich incident : Wed May 29, 2013 7:46 am  

JerryChicken wrote:

If you've ever studied Arabian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese decorative culture in fabrics, weaponary, wall hangings or artwork you'll quickly realise that all of those cultures were at least 1000 years ahead of the Europeans - they are a hard act to follow and we've been following them ever since.

To be fair, the Greeks were pretty nifty too, as were the Minoans before them. We are still discovering surprising things about the Beaker People and the Celts and Europe still hasn't shaken off the term "Barbarian" as coined by the Romans. Who incidentally said the same about the Persians and called their men effeminate and perfumed even though they couldn't conclusively beat them in battle.

Re: Woolwich incident : Wed May 29, 2013 9:42 am  

Dreamer wrote:

To be fair, the Greeks were pretty nifty too, as were the Minoans before them. We are still discovering surprising things about the Beaker People and the Celts and Europe still hasn't shaken off the term "Barbarian" as coined by the Romans. Who incidentally said the same about the Persians and called their men effeminate and perfumed even though they couldn't conclusively beat them in battle.

Well indeed, if you look at anything east of, say, Italy you'll find a far more sophisticated ancient "culture", or even to the North African Muslim "Moors" who populated the northern coasts of the Med in the Middle Ages - far more advanced by means of design and decoration - a trip around the Far East section of the Royal Armouries to see the steel lined quilted silk armour and laquered weaponary that dates back long before we Anglo Saxons had been invaded by Normans (who in turn taught us about architecture) will show that.

Re: Woolwich incident : Wed May 29, 2013 10:31 am  

More widely, a couple of interesting comment pieces: This from the Indy on censoring 'hate preachers'. And this from the Huff Post Canada on the nature of jihad.

More widely, a couple of interesting comment pieces: This from the Indy on censoring 'hate preachers'. And this from the Huff Post Canada on the nature of jihad.