Roger's Rules

January 11th, 2010 6:34 am

Self-surrender at the Met: a chapter from the annals of Dhimmitude

“Controversial images”? You know what, I’ll bet there are some prudish types who object to the exhibition of naked women. What is the met going to do about that? Maybe atheists object to all those depictions of Jesus Christ and his mother. How is the Met going to deal with those “controversial images”?

There’s more. “Just recently,” the Post reported, the Met “decided its highly anticipated ‘Islamic Galleries’ will be given an awkward new name ahead of the 2011 opening. Visitors will stroll around rooms dedicated to art from “Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia.”

Someone please call the office of Circumlocution! The Post quoted Kishwar Rizvi, an historian of Islamic Art at Yale, who interjected a bit of common sense into the discussion. “Museums shouldn’t shy away from showing [images of Muhammed] in a historical context,” she said, noting that it was “a shame” the Met dropped “Islamic Art” for a “cumbersome and problematic” rubric.

As Diana West noted on her blog, to speak of “avoiding controversy” in this context is “9/10 talk.” It is, she said, “capitulating to Islamic blackmail.” Yes, but the really scary thing is that the blackmail was performed without the threatening letter or malicious innuendo. There were no offers that the Met “couldn’t refuse.” They supplied the entire cycle: the intimidation a well as the capitulation. If this is blackmail, the Met is the culprit as well as the victim.

We will, I predict, be seeing more and more of these disgusting rituals of surrender. Welcome to the age of Dhimmitude.

[UPDATE: I apologize for describing Kishwar Rizvi as "he" not "she" in my original post: thanks to a reader for pointing out my mistake.]

<- Prev Page 2 of 2 View as Single Page

Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:

1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

2. Stay on topic.

3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.

These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.

52 Comments

1. John Frary:

This article is a signal to the Enlightened to re-affirm their courage by attacking the religious knuckle-draggers who object to masturbation education in grammar schools.

Jan 11, 2010 - 9:24 am 2. Duke of Sharon:

Good point Frary! You hear about so many kids these days not knowing how to masturbate. Have you considered the economic effects of this ongoing failure? Why the savings in terms of tendonitis treatment alone could be in the trillions!

Jan 11, 2010 - 10:56 am 3. Pajamas Media raquo; Self-Surrender at the Met: A Chapter from the Annals of Dhimmitude:

[...] Read the entire story here. [...]

Jan 11, 2010 - 11:40 am 4. Sherab Zangpo:

Don’t worry, commies, you can still offend the Christians, the Buddhists, the Shintoists, the Hindus, the Animists, etc. etc.

It’s just your muslim overlords that you must not offend.

All the commies learning to bow to islam, I had to see this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But then it makes sense…nihilists with nihilists…

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:01 pm 5. Gernot:

Shades of Nazi Germany. Cowardice always garners more intimidation. some never learn!!!

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:11 pm 6. HalifaxCB:

Ha. The art mandinarinate is setting itself up for another Courbet (cf in particular ‘The Return from the Conference’). What with falling modern ‘art’ prices, the de-accessioning panic that’s beginning to bubble in the museum culture (art equivalent of the asset backed paper problem), the rise of competent, confident amateurs (who are the instigators of all great reformations) and students finally insisting they be taught to draw properly, it’s a great time to be alive, and painting.

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:14 pm 7. Professor Guvinoff:

Can you get a discount on your health insurance premium if you submit a certificate of attendance at a qualified preemptive dhimmitude seminar?

The march of We The Lemmings has already started. Dont miss the train.

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:38 pm 8. Urja:

We know now how successful Muslims have been in intimidating the entire world!!! Even before Muslims know what kind of Mos paintings or sculptures are in the Met, the museum has decided to take off those art objects in anticipation of threats from Muslims. The spirit of Washington, Emerson, Adams, et al has disappeared from this land!!! Shame!!!

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:39 pm 9. Francis W. Porretto:

The great Mark Steyn has already addressed the mechanism being exploited here:

blockquoteIf it were just terrorists bombing buildings and public transit, it would be easier; even the feeblest Eurowimp jurisdiction is obliged to act when the street is piled with corpses. But theres an old technique well understood by the smarter bullies. If you want to break a man, dont attack him head on, dont brutalize him; pain and torture can awaken a stubborn resistance in all but the weakest. But just make him slightly uncomfortable, disrupt his life at the margin. and hell look for the easiest path to re-normalization. There are fellows rampaging through the streets because of some cartoons? Why, surely the most painless solution would be if we all agreed not to publish such cartoons. [Mark Steyn, iAmerica Alone: The End of the World as We Know It/i]/blockquote

a href=http://www.eternityroad.info/index.php/weblog/single/freedom_and_power_part_3_the_shape_of_things_to_come/ rel=nofollowbSteyn has fingered the Shape of Things to Come./b/a Theyre already in force in Europe; it appears that our own day of reckoning is drawing near.

Jan 11, 2010 - 12:42 pm 10. Douglas:

Yeah John, those horrible Christian terriorists should take note. We best watch out for them under our beds as well as in our schools and every where your paranoid delusional mind projects them.

Jan 11, 2010 - 1:00 pm 11. Judy, NYC:

we have a moslem in the white house. this is why these scum feel confident they can get away with anything, just like the brownshirts in nazi germany. not a day goes by anymore without some shocking, repugnant incident having to do with these filthy islamists. we have no leaders who have the courage to defend our society against this intimidation. impeaching this treasonous imposter in the wh would be a good start.

Jan 11, 2010 - 1:20 pm 12. Harris Tweed:

The intellectual and moral decay of our educational and cultural institutions seems to be picking up steam.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:13 pm 13. Joe:

So we are all being held hostage by some people still living in the 11th century. What is happening to this country, or should I say, the world? And, why, may I ask, are we still allowing these people access to this country? What has happened to plain old common sense? What we really need is some strong leadership, but unfortunately, that is only a pipe dream.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:20 pm 14. Thomas_L......:

I have some sympathy for people and institutions that have a genuine concern for peoples safety, admit it and act on it. What I have no sympathy for is when a director like Roland Emmerich includes scenes of the destruction of archetypical images representing all the major religions but cuts the Islamic ones due to being a chickensh*t.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:38 pm 15. mr:

#11 JUDY: a little angry RENT WE? look all muslims are not bad. I am a muslim and I happened to think I am a very good person. Look i am assuming you are in the city. take the A train to canal streert ang go south one block to mercer street and go to babeland and do some shopping. you will have a more liberal view of muslims. or you can go to their site
http://www.babeland.com

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:42 pm 16. JED:

This jihadist victory, like Gitmo, will be another recruiting tool in you know where. The land of the free and the home of the brave must be irksome to you know who.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:44 pm 17. BerlGoetz:

Relax! Muslims can mount all the legal attacks they want, but they will never take over our Western Nations unless they outreproduce us. The best way to fight against their attempts at religious absolutism is to educate ourselves, have children, and educate them too. By studying anthropology, history, philosophy, the sciences, comparative theology, and the like, we can better discriminate between what is practical and impractical in life.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:47 pm 18. P T Bull:

Guess they used up all their courage with transgressive anti-christian art.

Jan 11, 2010 - 2:55 pm 19. don:

Gee, isnt the Met where the pisschrist was shown.? Well maybe if conservative Christians behaved badly, screwed up some of that old testament fortitude, performed behavioral practices so aptly indulged in by conservative Muslims over cartoons of their religions founder, then Mohammeds artistic representation in a toilet bowl probably wouldnt be an issue with the Met; just another example of Beatnik art from the hip era.

Jan 11, 2010 - 3:07 pm 20. Zhombre:

@Harris Tweed # 12: Picking up steam? Jeez,its been lumbering down the track for forty years.

Jan 11, 2010 - 3:15 pm 21. john from cinncinatti:

you cant have an image of him or it would lead to idolatry, they would have to go circle the square instead.

Jan 11, 2010 - 3:19 pm 22. john from cinncinatti:

sacred buildings books and other such idolatrous manifestations

Jan 11, 2010 - 3:20 pm 23. Yes We Cant:

Artists of the world, be brave! Never surrender your democratic right to illustrate the world as you see it.

Paint and be damned (to a visit by a suicide bomber, or abduction and beheading), but what price true freedom? Eh?

Jan 11, 2010 - 3:32 pm 24. Lynn B:

#10 Douglas
Thats exactly what Souther said (nominee for head of TSA).
As I stated on another thread, Islam is becoming idolatrous without help from anyone. I cant imagine anyone emulating the lifestyle of Muhammed in the 21st century or even wanting to (except for the pedophiles and polygamists). One doesnt hear much about Allah from the Islamists, mostly about Muhammed and blaspheming him. It isnt much different then the martyr worship they engage in. One should not engage in dhimmitude to a mass psychosis being perpetrated by illogical people.

Jan 11, 2010 - 4:09 pm 25. Tom Curley .:

I agree they should take it down those pictures would be a good template for a mosaic tile floor in the mens room

Jan 11, 2010 - 4:33 pm 26. BigAlSouth:

Unfortunately, academics and educators are not really known for their courage. I think that one of the reasons that the academic crowd loathes the military is that the military reminds them every day of how very small in spirit they are.

Jan 11, 2010 - 5:15 pm 27. Kerry:

What! Pictures of Moo-hamm and Ed? There are no pictures of Moo-hamm and Ed. Though I hear he bears a striking resemblance to Rudolf Valentino…or was it Joe Besser?
Anyone seen the picture of Moo-hamm-eds mole?

Jan 11, 2010 - 5:37 pm 28. Frank:

I will die before I submit to dhimmitude.

Jan 11, 2010 - 5:40 pm 29. Mike Jefferson:

Someone should inform the libtard artists that appeasement and capitulation to the subscribers of the death cult doesnt work. Apart from killing soldiers and civilians, Mohammedians seem to gain special pleasure in murdering artists – Daniel Pearl, Theo van Gogh…

Jan 11, 2010 - 5:59 pm 30. SenatorMark4:

Come, come, come along you guys. This isnt really all that bad. It is just a leading example of what our future must become. Our grandchildren will be used to organizations conceived in liberty leaving us nothing but what the Islamists want. Big deal? Unless we can define FREE well continue to do business with tyrants, offer them NGO funding to feed the starving people that make up THEIR armies, and wonder and ponder what in the world we did to deserve all this. Pussies. Three things, IMHO, are the power that has made this country the greatest: 1) First Amendment, 2) Second Amendment, and 3) Article I, section 2 http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec2…where we get to toss the tax man every two years. IF they dont agree with these principles I say we let them eat sand. No aid, No grants, NO loans, NO travel, NO NUTTIN!

Jan 11, 2010 - 6:36 pm 31. skeeziks:

Conservatives should stick to Larry the Cable Guy and leave real art to the liberals. Play to your strengths. Git R Done!

Jan 11, 2010 - 6:37 pm 32. John K:

If you go to the Mets website and search for Jesus, they come back with 1641 results.

Wanna bet that some of them are offensive? So why dont they pull them?

Answer – Christian dont bomb those who depict their most sacred icon in a disrespectful light.

Jan 11, 2010 - 6:41 pm 33. Leatherneck:

#12, Harris Tweed,

Agreed. I believe it is called the New Age, or global secular humanism.

Jan 11, 2010 - 6:41 pm 34. tanstaafl:

i…“capitulating to Islamic blackmail.” Yes, but the really scary thing is that the blackmail was performed without the threatening letter or malicious innuendo./i

Geez, maybe wed better start chipping away at…

a href=http://zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/misc_mo/ rel=nofollowThe North Frieze on the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC/a

Considering all the uncontested, unproblematic depictions of Mohammed throughout the centuries, bowing to this current crowd of nutcases is beyond pathetic.

Jan 11, 2010 - 6:52 pm 35. Insufficiently Sensitive:

The goodthinkers on the Board of the Metropolitan Museum, at their soirees and opening nights and other occasions of public intellectual discourse, almost certainly praise ‘moderate’ Muslims and assign them enormous credit for all those art objects, including graphic depictions of the Prophet Mohammed himself.

And as a coda, they express coded distress over the insufficiently liberal behavior of Muslim ‘extremists’. Blame for their, well, overexuberant behavior is assigned to insensitive Westerners who ‘occupy’ parts of the world which were once not governed by Muslims (who are seventh-century latecomers, really), but now are. No, no, those governing Muslims are not ‘occupying’ those countries, they dwell therein in righteous possession, and wouldn’t unjustly conquer a fly.

They figure in lively paint, their attitudes queer and quaint… and it ends up displayed at the Met, with suitable oohs and aahs. But I digress.

So do these well-educated and nuanced Directors base their decisions on the doings of the ‘moderate’ Muslims who produce the fine art and exquisite depictions of the Prophet, or on the oh-so-very-small minority of extremists who regrettably strew the earth with body parts?

Well, due to the post-modern refinement of consciousness of said Directors – who like the Oxford kids of 1933 who wouldn’t dream of taking up arms to defend their own unworthy civilization – they cede control to that tiny minority of extremists. And bar the rest of us from the displays that their Museum was specifically created to mount.

Tar and feathers.

Jan 11, 2010 - 9:00 pm 36. Reza:

Your grandchildren will be Muslim.

Allahu akbar!

Jan 11, 2010 - 9:54 pm 37. Rob:

Skeez, I ‘ll take Larry the Cable Guy over someone that thinks smearing their feces on a wall is art. However, capitalist that I am, I am not averse to charging you a nominal fee to view my ‘artwork’ any time nature calls.

Jan 11, 2010 - 10:22 pm 38. person:

Contact the cowards at the Met and

1. tell them how outrageous their decision is and why, and
2. suggest some other pieces in their collection that should be pulled for whatever reasons you may cite, be they cultural, political, religious, etc. Fiar is fair, no?

http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp

Jan 11, 2010 - 10:46 pm 39. Paul -Indiana:

#36 Reza, I noticed you didn’t say ‘children’. Your prediction is in the league of the global warming ’scientists’ who say terrible things about what will happen 50-100 years in the future. Like their prediction, yours is equally false.

Jan 12, 2010 - 6:20 am 40. Code Blue:

We are soon becoming like England, where Catholic charity hospitals are being forced to remove crosses from the rooms and not serving hot cross buns for breakfast, or banks not giving out “piggy banks” for kids, since Muslims are offended.

I just read “Age of Tolerance.” I recommend it, since it shows our future. In one scene, a Muslim complains to a bookstore about a book critical of Muslims. The store removes it from the shelves, but such a book is later found in a bargain bin, at which point the Muslim blows up the store. In another, the president signs the “religious vilification act” making it a crime to carry books critical of Islam.

***SPOILER ALERT***
By the end, the Muslims stage a coup and the vice president, a Manchurian Candidate, forces the president to resign. While speaking before the cabinet, he is asked the following:
“Will we still get our social security payments?”
“will you be fair to labor unions?”
“Will we still be allowed trans-gender bathrooms?”

Bit by bit, our freedoms will be eroded by 7th century throwback savages armed with weapons of mass litigation. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts. No one will fight for it anymore.

Jan 12, 2010 - 7:11 am 41. Toronto Girl:

Why don’t all museums/art galleries just get rid of their Moslem/Arab exhibits altogether? Completely remove all remnants of the Islamic history of the world. No Islam, no problem.

Jan 12, 2010 - 7:36 am 42. Gary Ogletree:

36. Reza: More likely your granddaughters will star at the local strip bars and your grandsons will be Baptist preachers. Islam is no fun, won’t go far in the USA outside of prisons and Muslim ghettos.

Jan 12, 2010 - 8:43 am 43. myth buster:

41. Thats the spirit. Let us cast Islam off from the face of the Earth, that their name be no more in rememberence. Paybacks a bitch, mohos.

Jan 12, 2010 - 10:34 am 44. Code Blue:

It is highly unlikely that the citizens of this country can fight the juggernaut of radical Islam if our leaders do not. The educational establishment is brainwashing your kids that Islam is a peaceful religion (see: be a Muslim for a week at a grade school in California). The entertainment industry goes out of its way to hide the reality of jihad (remember Sum of All Fears, released after 9/11 in theaters? The book had a Palestinian terrorist detonate a nuke in Baltimore; in the movie version it was that all-purpose boogeyman, the neo-nazi/white extremist). Every Islamic atrocity elicits barely a whimper from our leaders, who give up more of our freedoms to placate Muslim ethnovictim mongers.

Eventually, our government will permit the establishment of Shariah Law, and we can live as dhimmis in our own land, where offense to Islam is a greater crime than murder. It will be poetic justice to see these progressives, feminists, homosexuals, race-hustlers and assorted hedonistic anything-goes non-judgmental leftists enjoy the post-American Muslim theocracy they helped bring to our country.

Jan 12, 2010 - 11:29 am 45. Jack in Silver Spring:

Toronto Girl @ #41: Spot-on as are Harris Tweed @ #12 and Don at @ #19. Pretty soon theyll ask to remove Mohamouds statue on the Supreme Court building. BTW Reza @ #12, doesnt say that too loudly in Hebrew – It comes, god is a mouse.

Jan 12, 2010 - 11:36 am 46. Jack in Silver Spring:

That should have been, Reza @ #36.

Jan 12, 2010 - 11:37 am 47. mr:

#36 Reza: what are smoking there sonny boy? I am a muslim and there is no way would I let you or any of your kind to intrude in our way of life. whay don’t you pack up and go to Pakistan. Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, did I mention Yemen?

Jan 12, 2010 - 12:08 pm 48. Toronto Girl:

Would anyone be able to tell the difference between a picture of Mohammad, Maimonides, Saladin, or any other famous middle eastern man during the years 600 – 1500?

Jan 12, 2010 - 2:44 pm 49. gaetano catelli:

the banned art will likely increase in price, and i wont have to undergo a strip search as a condition of entering the Met (for at least awhile longer).

win-win.

(@mr: keep the faith.)

Jan 12, 2010 - 6:46 pm 50. jgreene:

Mohammed was the original stooge. Mo, Khurley and Lawrence of Arabia. What a trio – hilarious! Oh, not that Mo? Never mind.

Jan 13, 2010 - 1:17 pm 51. Listen up:

COWARDS!

Jan 14, 2010 - 9:14 pm 52. Ben There:

Of course, this form of PC is nothing new. It happened about twenty years ago when a group of thugs entered an art gallery in Chicago and removed a “offending” picture of Mayor Harold Washington, a picture that portrayed him in a nightgown.

It happens almost daily at most of the country’s 3,400 campuses, in one form or another, during “sensitivity” training and “introduction to college” events.

My observation: for at least three decades we on campuses have turned ourselves into dhimmis over race, gender, etc. Nothing new is going on, nothing new, at all. Different actors, same mentality.

Jan 15, 2010 - 3:37 pm