One of the more puzzling viewpoints of our cultural relativist and (self-described) progressive friends is that they insist on telling us that values of the East… or more specifically the Islamic Middle East… are just as good as ours, while at the same time reminding us of the paramount importance of the equality of women, gays, etc., lest we be slack in that regard.
Contradiction? Well, we could ignore this. After all, consistency is the hobgoblin and all that.. But along comes the assassination of Hamas leader Nizar Ghayan in Gaza today and we learn the poor benighted ex-fellow had four wives (now apparently defunct along with him) – or, in the words of Haaretz, “at least four“: Earlier Thursday, an Israeli aircraft killed a high-ranking Hamas official in Gaza along with nine women, including at least four wives, and 11 of his children, in the first major assassination since the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.
It had always been my understanding that Islam permits only four wives, even for powerful thugs like Ghayan who was apparently responsible for multiple suicide bombings as well as the murder of a good number of his fellow Palestinians in the reviled (by Hamas) Palestinian Authority. Or so the religion dictates. But don’t, with all these extra wives floating about, think for a minute there are orgies going on in Hamastan. As the Wiki tells us: Multiple marriages are a heavy responsibility on the male. It is not a pleasure trip as some people may assume. Some even imagine all kinds of sexual exploits involving a man and his wives altogether. However, such activity is not permissible in Islam. A man must divide his time equally among his wives. He may, for example, spend one night with each wife on a rotating schedule.
Now here’s an interesting possibility. Evidently, again according to Haaretz, the Israelis had given one of their telephonic warnings to the residents of Casa Ghayan that they were about to bomb his warlordness’ manse. Normally, the aforementioned residents scatter (wouldn’t you?) or, at the least, go up on the roof and make a conspicuous presence to the Israelis in hopes their guilty Jewish pilots will turn away. But this time it didn’t happen. Why? Could poor Nizar have been in a quandary, trying out to figure out how to “divide his time equally among his wives,” skulking about in the corridor between the bedrooms and then poof? [Why don't you consult Gloria Steinem about that?-ed. I knew you had a sense of humor.]
And so it goes. Nicolas Sarkozy complains about the lack of “proportionality,” but those of us with a different take, say “Bravo, IAF!” You are ridding the world of a psychotic religious murderer before he kills more people – Jews and Arabs. More, please.
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34 Comments
1. John Moore:Modern “progressive thought” consists of simultaneously holding two or more contradictory ideas to be absolutely and importantly true, and to never notice the dissonance, even when reminded.
Jan 1, 2009 - 10:26 pm 2. Lightnin' Hopkins:And how they hate to be reminded, John.
Incurious at best, willfully ignorant at worst, “progressives” are perfectly happy to gloss over or just plain ignore any unpleasant facts that collide with their worldview. All the beheading videos and clips of crowds chanting “Death to America” in the world can’t cut through the BDS.
Jan 1, 2009 - 11:17 pm 3. Don Kenner:“Nicolas Sarkozy complains about the lack of “proportionality”
And he’s supposed to be pro-America and pro-Israel. Ha! What a fraud. I wonder, when the nail bombs get to France, will Sarkozy call for “proportionality” or will will we see the France of the Algerian war? Not much proportionality there!
Jan 1, 2009 - 11:47 pm 4. Rob:The left’s dissonance between their contradictory ideas is what produces the hate. BDS is a form of psychological deflection from thinking about their own contradictions. You see this again and again throughout history. It’s much easier to blame everything on the Jews or blacks or whomever than to rethink one’s own ideals.
Jan 2, 2009 - 2:20 am 5. Stephen Rittenberg:Don’t forget, this guy sent one of his sons out to die on a suicide mission in Israel. Islam is a form of sexual sado-masochism, disguised as a religion. The Marquis de Sade would recognize all of them.
Jan 2, 2009 - 5:59 am 6. Wellspring:Whatever was going on, it seems likely that if a warning was given, then the civilians were kept there intentionally to up the civilian body count. According to the UN (which has traditionally over-stated body counts), the death toll yesterday was 400 dead, 60 of whom were civilians. The newspapers have been careful to put it as “more than 400 dead, many civilians”.
Whatever goes on in their bedrooms is their own business. It’s their obsession with controlling what goes on in ours that I have a problem with. That and of course their corruption, wars of aggression, and wholesale slaughter of innocents.
Sarkozy’s “proportionality” is simply a formula to let him condemn the operation in gaza despite the facts on the ground and despite france’s own behavior when its national interest is at stake. Let’s not forget that just because france is no longer actively expending its national influence against us that they’re suddenly the Good Guys. They’ve always sought to regain their great power status by allying with marginal or ostracized powers, and this is no exception.
Illustration: which countries armed Saddam Hussein? Most people get this question wrong, because the Left has promoted a deception.
Jan 2, 2009 - 7:04 am 7. tim maguire:Sounds like the Wiki editors spend a lot of time thinking about what goes on in Muslim bedrooms.
Jan 2, 2009 - 7:17 am 8. david foster:Much “progressive” rage against their own societies is probably really driven by their issues with their *own* parents. Since your basic Palestinian terrorist doesn’t look or act like their parents, they have no reason to object to his beliefs or actions.
Think psychodynamics, not logic.
Jan 2, 2009 - 7:31 am 9. Lynn:I’m glad he’s dead. Ghayan has killed more Pals then Israel, since the Hamas takeover. He was also an instructor at the Islamic University in Gaza. The rules have changed, now Hamas knows it.
Jan 2, 2009 - 8:20 am 10. Michael Smith:If a male Muslim gets 72 virgins as reward for dying for Allah, I wonder what his four wives get?
Jan 2, 2009 - 8:44 am 11. Mike_K:One advantage of the multiple wives is that, given a roughly 50-50 distribution of sexes in the birth rates, this assures a plentiful supply of frustrated young men who cannot find wives and who are therefore available as suicide bombers.
Jan 2, 2009 - 8:45 am 12. gsarcs:Comment #8 – Much “progressive” rage against their own societies is probably really driven by their issues with their *own* parents.
I just read that to my wife and we immediately began to tick off all the “progressive” friends that we know. Sure enough, each one had (if parents are now deceased), or has (if parents are still living) issues with their parents. My wife’s mother is a raging progressive nutter. And she had major issues with her parents.
Jan 2, 2009 - 9:23 am 13. John McLachlan:How nutty is she? Sometime ago she breathlessly informed my wife about some conspiracy she had just learned of. Days later, she informed my wife that she had just read some information that debunked said conspiracy. “Well,” she said,”even though there is new information that disproves what was said earlier, I still think it is true.”
I just shake my head and keep my distance.
The french government murdered 4 students in New Zealand for peaceful protests conducted upon international waters. Perhaps the french consider death to be a proportionate response to peaceful protests, but not to murder of civilians. Whenever GWB mentions “rogue terrorist states”, he should mention france. Greenpeace did not launch any missiles at France, yet the French government considered bombing “Rainbow Warrior” to be a ‘proportionate response’ to the peacefull protests of her crew.
Jan 2, 2009 - 10:53 am 14. Dr. Lumplevin:Where is there any “dissonance” from us on the Left? “Smash monogamy” was one of our favorite slogans in the 70’s. Monogamy is just an instrument of the bourgeoisie to oppress sexuality and womyn and foment capitalist control over society.
So the Hamas freedom fighters and the Progressive Left are, contrary to what you try to prove, solidly together on this one.
Jan 2, 2009 - 11:23 am 15. tanstaafl:Well, gsarcs, I rarely recommend books, especially books that put forward a mental illness thesis to explain the origins of any individual’s or group’s “thinking”…
However, this thesis is not without merit…
The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness
(As for Ghayan, my own thesis is that guys like him are (malignant) narcissistic megalomanics, who can imagine greater glory in the afterlife (and greater honor from the poor mortals left behind) if their own demise is large scale and spectacular)
Jan 2, 2009 - 11:33 am 16. Roger L Simon:Ah, yes, Dr. Lumplevin, “Smash monogamy!”… I remember it well. But as I recall that was two-sided. In Islam, it’s one-sided. Not very fair, I think you would agree. I think old Nizar had more in common with Bringham Young then he did with Jerry Rubin.
Jan 2, 2009 - 11:39 am 17. Boojum:Mohammad limited his followers to four wives though he himself indulged beyond the limit.
Throughout Muslim history the vast majority of men had only one wife. Multiple wives were usually limited to the sheik, the king, or the very wealthy who could afford them. You will see the same arrangement repeated other cultures. In fact, unlike most religions, Christianity has forbidden polygamy since the beginning. The ‘infidels’ are actually the oddballs on this one.
Don Kenner, Wellspring;
Sarkozy is well aware of the fact that France’s population is 10% Muslim.
Michael Smith;
72 credit cards
Jan 2, 2009 - 11:39 am 18. Roger L Simon:Boojum, good idea in response to Smith, but 72 credit cards are just too many. You don’t want people getting bad credit scores in the hereafter – not with the current mortgage crisis.
Jan 2, 2009 - 11:44 am 19. Dr. Lumplevin:In Islam, it’s one-sided. Not very fair, I think you would agree. (Roger)
I would not! It only seems that way. We all know that womyn do not want or need sex as much as men, so the Islamic setup is actually much more humane, understanding and recognizes our diversity much better than our played out western values do. Polygamy actually reduces the pressure on womyn by men to have sex when they don’t want it, effectively reducing marital tension, eliminating infidelity (not that that is immoral or anything,) and the famous “I-have-a-headache” syndrome. So Progressives and Muslims are on the same page, after all.
Jan 2, 2009 - 12:42 pm 20. Roger L Simon:Ah, Dr. Lumplevin, perhaps you missed this from Tiresias:
“If the parts of love’s pleasures be counted as ten, thrice three go to women, one only to men.”
Jan 2, 2009 - 12:44 pm 21. Alan Kellogg:Old Arab Saying
One wife is a necessity.
Two is a luxury.
Three is insanity.
Jan 2, 2009 - 12:59 pm 22. Lightnin' Hopkins:You don’t have to travel to the Middle East to find the “more humane” Islamic view of marriage, Dr. L.:
http://tinyurl.com/7f6668
I wonder how many of these “womyn” (or young girls, as the case may be) are enjoying all that reduced marital tension you speak of.
Jan 2, 2009 - 1:22 pm 23. Mike_K:So the Hamas freedom fighters and the Progressive Left are, contrary to what you try to prove, solidly together on this one.
And on a few others, as well. Israel, for example. Read any left wing blog’s comments.
Jan 2, 2009 - 2:31 pm 24. Dr. Lumplevin:Tiresias? Ha! That skanky old dominatrix? Rumors have it that she was transgender so it doesn’t apply anyway. Even with the distribution of Viagra to Muslim chieftains and such, (which might explain why Nazir’s wives did not go to the roof or run out into the street,)it is still more humane for womyn to not have to become the nightly sexual object of a man because he has no other options. I even heard the story of one Muslim family where there were three wives and a continual production of babies. The wives were exhausted and wanted more freedom so they voted to petition their husband to obtain a fourth, younger wife who would then bear the brunt of his sexual attentions and child-bearing so they could be free. A western wife has no such options and hence is more subjugated and imprisoned.
Jan 2, 2009 - 3:05 pm 25. Terrye:Progressive my behind. In this country the same people call men who have more than one wife “Mormon fundamentalists” and demand their children be taken away from them and they be thrown in jail.
Jan 2, 2009 - 3:21 pm 26. Lightnin' Hopkins:“A western wife has no such options and hence is more subjugated and imprisoned.”
Wow. Just effing wow.
Jan 2, 2009 - 3:28 pm 27. tanstaafl:In the spirit of this, uh, discussion
…it’s nice to know that the CIA might be helping out some Afghan warloads.
And maybe getting a little helpful information in the bargain.
Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan
(bin laden and that grizzled old fart, al zawahiri, reportedly each “took” girls, age 16 or so, as “new” wives. Very sad for those girls. And remember when that paragon of insanity, Khomeini, re-instituted the age 9 marriage rule, since “The Prophet” (PBUH) connsumated his marriage to Aisha when she was 9 years old ? After first wife Khadija died, The Prophet “took” quite a few wives himself, around 14 or so. Reportedly, at least one was a Jewess captured in battle. Tho’ we’re told she’d renounced “the book” before Mohammed married her, I’ve always wondered what that particular marriage does to the whole “apes and pigs” thing.)
Jan 2, 2009 - 3:51 pm 28. Barbara Skolaut:I complain about the lack of proportionality, too.
The Israelis should return an unguided rocket aimed specifically at a non-military target in Gaza for every one the Paleos fire (and have ever fired) at them. THAT’s proportional.
They can keep up the precision IAF bombing, too.
Jan 2, 2009 - 4:14 pm 29. whiskey:Smash monogamy is always one sided. Without rules, boundaries, limitations on men and women’s sexuality, most men lose out and various harems get formed by “Big Men” … regardless if they are Palestinian terrorists or Bill Clinton.
The sympathy of the Left for the Muslim terrorists and their polygamy stems from the same thing — desire for “Big Men” plus various harems and dynasties and such.
Jan 2, 2009 - 5:40 pm 30. Michael:The thing that struck me about this was to think of the Western money that goes to support these goons. The Gazans are poor defenseless little church mice with houses that are 3 story flats and have 14 children. The money we give to the UN goes for that? No thanks.
Jan 2, 2009 - 7:02 pm 31. Sally:Progressives are just biding their time, confident that they will be able to reform their less enlightened Muslim allies once the struggle against Western imperialism has been won. Or perhaps they believe their own values will be accommodated once sharia is ascendant. Gay men will be able to have 4 spouses at one time, for example.
The secular or more moderate types in Iran thought that way when they partnered with Khomeini in the fight against the Shah. Except that didn’t work out so well for them, I don’t think.
Jan 2, 2009 - 7:18 pm 32. EdGi:progressive proportionality against Isreal says that the killing of semetic jews by delberatly unguided missels, the deliberate use of human shields and Geneva Convention protected locations is OK if done by semetic muslims. Any act by semetic jews or Americans against semetic muslims is un-OK criminal to progressives. Scary hypocracy, and oddly dull witted, as progressive racist anti-semitism supports muslim loons who are semite.
Jan 2, 2009 - 8:34 pm 33. David:Roger, re: #18, I don’t think you have to worry about credit scores in Paradise. I’m pretty sure the ratings agencies are all in the other place…
Jan 3, 2009 - 11:29 am 34. Roger L Simon:“Roger, re: #18, I don’t think you have to worry about credit scores in Paradise. I’m pretty sure the ratings agencies are all in the other place…”
Well, YOU say, David. But as any good cultural relativist would tell you, that’s only your view. In the eschatology of others equal to you, credit agencies may be the Gates of Heaven themselves.
Jan 3, 2009 - 11:37 am