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The D.A. in the Muslim beheading case sees “domestic violence,” but eagle-eyed Pipes sees things as they really are
How many times have I said that neoconservatives are ideologues, and therefore they only see reality in terms of ideology? For example, when it comes to immigration-related cultural problems, neocons will never say that some foreign culture, ethnic group, or religion may be unassimilable or even dangerous to America. They will only say that an ideology is dangerous to America. So if Hispanic immigrants are changing America in undesired ways, it’s not because Hispanics are different from us in any important respects; it’s because the multicultural ideology is preventing Hispanics from assimilating. Keeping that in mind, consider Daniel Pipes’s response to the Orchard Park, New York beheading of a Muslim woman, Aasiya Hassan, by her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, the founder and CEO of BridgesTV. Pipes quotes the Erie County District Attorney who said, “Obviously, this is the worst form of domestic violence possible.” Pipes then comments:
No, this is not at all obviously about domestic violence. It is obviously about a totalitarian ideology in our midst that authorities like district attorneys refuse to open their eyes to.In fact, Muslims have been beheading their wives, other Muslims, and non-Muslims for the last 1,400 years. That’s what Muslims do. It’s what their religion and their customs tell them to do against a wide variety of malefactors, including disobedient wives and female relatives who have “dishonored” the family. Beheading is built into their culture, their way of life, their very mentality. Wherever Muslims are, there will be beheadings. But Pipes, being a neocon, that is, being an abstract liberal who refuses to look at concrete reality, because concrete reality contains concrete differences that disturb the universalist liberal vision, can only relate to this ancient Islamic custom by calling it a “totalitarian ideology,” as though the Cold War were still raging and he was talking about Communism! I’m reminded of a saying I like and have often quoted, that if a pickpocket met Jesus, all he would see would be his pockets. Well, if a neocon met Satan himself, all he would see would be a totalitarian ideology. That aside, the rest of Pipes’s column is worth reading, as he has been following BridgesTV since its inception in 2004 and has uncovered a lot of interesting things about it. Pipes is useful when it comes to presenting facts about radical Muslims. It’s in the realm of concepts and meaning, particularly the meaning of Islam itself, that he is hopelessly at sea.
See my other articles on Pipes, America’s most prominent commentator on Islam.
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