It’s virtually definite: he’s a Muslim

I hope, of course, that the scenario laid out in the preceding entry—the Canadian authorities successfully cover up the truth—does not come to pass. The chief purpose of the scenario is not to make a prediction, but to demonstrate the nature of the forces that are in play and the direction in which things are likely to go if those forces prevail. But there may be other factors that could overcome the PC intentions of the Canadian government. I’ve learned for sure now, via a VFR reader who participates at Liberty Post under the name brave stranger, that the Chinese language North American newspaper World Journal says that Li is a Muslim. And just now as I’m writing this, as a result of my request made through brave stranger, a paragraph from the World Journal article has been translated into English and posted. While the information is very thin and lacks any named sources, it is nevertheless the first statement by a news media organ that Li is a Muslim. The operative passage is: “Those who know Li Weiquang say that he is a Muslim, married, and since coming to Canada has worked in restaurants and newspaper delivery.” I’ve also heard in the last half hour from a Chinese-American who tells me, based on his seeing the same newspaper story, that Li belongs to the Hui ethnic group, which is Muslim. Here is the Wikipedia article on the Hui people.

So let’s say for the sake of argument that Li is Muslim. So long as this information is only in a Chinese language paper and a few blogs, the mainstream media and the government could still black the news out, in which case the cover-up scenario in the previous entry could still largely come to pass.

- end of initial entry -

John Hagan writes:

Excellent:) This story might break because of the internet, if not in Canada, certainly here. His friends can be reached, and he has a wife.

James P. writes:

Peter Brimelow links to a Winnipeg Free Press article, which seems to have disappeared, that says that Vince Li attended Sunday church services.

Also, Tim McLean described himself on his MySpace page as white/Caucasian, although he looked like, and was mistaken for by witnesses on the bus as, a part-aboriginal, a Metis, quite common in the prairie provinces.

It seems to me that the truth about Li’s ethno-religious identity will come from the Chinese community, who clearly have an interest in disavowing him. Could he have been a Hui-Muslim who attended church with his Christian wife?

Laura G. writes:

Raises the question of why on earth he is in Midwestern Canada, for goodness sake. Likely that he was brought there during some resettlement “emergency” by some clueless do-gooders. We are beyond insane, one and all.

Very great work, Larry, on the issue of the killer’s religion. The best part of a week after the event, and no interest or information whatsoever from any of the major news sources. It really is amazing and very, very seriously ominous. I am aware that Rush Limbaugh and others on talk radio believe that there is a plan by liberals to remove conservative access to audiences (“fairness doctrine”), and I haven’t involved myself in it much. However, it does look more and more that our representatives and the press both intend to ensure that our population is unaware of politically inconvenient events and thoughts. How would information on the beheading be playing out if you were not in the position you have carved out for yourself? Small as it is (the readership numbers you give are fascinating), your blog is the epicenter of information, and there is not any other information site even putting its toe in the beheading waters that I can see, so in actuality your site will likely be huge in effect. More on that later, but that is what I mean by your being a living national treasure. Overstated as that may appear, there really are just a very few writers who have the staying power to develop a site and readership and carve out areas of expertise such that they have credibility and power. Hang in. Great work, and essential to any future we might have.

LA replies:

Thanks very much to Laura for her kind and encouraging words.

I would also remind readers that a couple of days ago, when I was ready to believe that I had been wrong, premature, etc., in thinking the suspect was a Muslim, it was Laura’s post, “The likelihood of a Muslim inspiration should not be dismissed,” which brought the larger reality back into perspective, and she turned out to be right.

Evan H. writes:

I commend you for your work on this important issue—it’s unreal that you are about the only person who publicly is attempting to explore the Islam angle. I’d like to propose another thought experiment that shows the reasonableness of your speculation that Vince Weiguang Li is a Muslim or was at least influenced by Islam/Jihadist thought.

Imagine that there was a news report, where all we heard was that someone in the U.S. had been lynched by a total stranger. Just with that information, the immediate speculation would be that the perpetrator was a white supremacist, and the victim black. Then, if a subsequent report revealed that the murderer was from a white, Southern, Protestant background, and the victim indeed black, there would be no doubt what had happened. Even if the lyncher had no explicit ties to white supremacist organizations, everyone would agree that he had at least been influenced by said organizations.

The point is, it’s a sad fact of life that certain cultures are inextricably linked to certain types of murder. Neckringing—black South Africans. Lynching—white Southerners. And beheading—Muslims. It can be nothing less than politically correct, willful blindness not to make the immediate connection between such a savage (savage isn’t even a strong enough word) act of murder, and the murderer’s cultural milieu.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 03, 2008 01:21 AM | Send