The Pink Flamingo Bar Grill: Bill from INDC picks up a tutor for his cliff notes version of the Koran

Typically Bill misses a lot of points in his quest to make everything better again between Islam and the West. But then again who can blame him even Amir Taheri misses several points in an article published in Opinion Journal Feb 8, 2006. For instance Amir claims that Muslims should not "blame all Westerners for the poor taste of a cartoonist who wanted to be offensive". Which misses the entire point of the cartoons to begin with and Amir knows better. Because its a point he made some time ago, more on that later.

From Brussels Journal October 22, 2005 long before any plot by the Syrians and Iranians to distract attention from their shenanigans, real though they are now:

Flemming Rose, the cultural editor at the newspaper, denied that the purpose had been to provoke Muslims. It was simply a reaction to the rising number of situations where artists and writers censored themselves out of fear of radical Islamists, he said. “Religious feelings cannot demand special treatment in a secular society,” he added. “In a democracy one must from time to time accept criticism or becoming a laughingstock.”
The affair, however, has also led to a

diplomatic incident. On Thursday the ambassadors of eleven Muslim countries, including Indonesia, a number of Arab states, Pakistan, Iran, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, complained about the cartoons in a letter to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. They say the publication of the cartoons is a “provocation” and demand apologies from the newspaper.

Jyllands-Posten was also included on an al-Qaeda website listing possible terrorist targets. An organisation which calls itself “The Glorious Brigades in Northern Europe” is circulating pictures on the internet which show bombs exploding over pictures of the newspaper and blood flowing over the national flag of Denmark. “The Mujahedeen have numerous targets in Denmark – very soon you all will regret this,” the website says.

This is the point of the cartoons to reaffirm the rights of a free press and to push back against the prevalent notions that one must engage in self censorship to avoid upsetting Muslims. Left unsaid is that upsetting Muslims tends to reflect poorly on your life expectancy in Europe. Witness Pim Fortuyn, Theo Van Gogh and the many people under police protection for having the temerity to speak ill of Islam. It certainly was not to be offensive to Muslims, though completely benign articles about Islam or Mohammed would not have made the point. What is a terrible shame is watching this new meme sweeping the blogsphere as if its something brilliant. It is merely a way to calm the masses and delay the inevitable clash of civilizations.

What is really hilarious about Bill from INDC using Amir Taheri in his quest to bind up the wounds between the West and that quaint little 7th Century religion aka as Islam is Amir doesn't buy into what Bill is selling. Mainly that Islam is compatible with Democracy.

Here lets let Amir crush Bill's little world.
AMIR TAHERI'S REMARKS AT DEBATE "ISLAM IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY"by Amir TaheriBenador Online May 19, 2004

Let us return to the issue of equality.
The idea is unacceptable to Islam.
For the non-believer cannot be the equal of the believer.
Even among the believers only those who subscribe to the three so-called Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam ( Ahl el-Kitab) are regarded as fully human.
Here is the hierarchy of human worth in Islam:
At the summit are free male Muslims
Next come Muslim male slaves
Then come free Muslim women
Next come Muslim slave women.
Then come free Jewish and /or Christian men
Then come slave Jewish and/or Christian men
Then come slave Jewish and/or Christian women.
Each category has rights that must be respected.
The People of the Book have always been protected and relatively well-treated by Muslim rulers, but often in the context of a form of apartheid known as dhimmitude.
The status of the rest of humanity, those whose faiths are not recognised by Islam or who have no faith at all, has never been spelled out although wherever Muslim rulers faced such communities they often treated them with a certain measure of tolerance and respect ( As in the case of Hindus under the Muslim dynasties of India.)

Its a long article and I recommend you read it just to understand how odd it was to read Amir today in the Opinion Journal. Here is the clincher in case you are like Bill and love Cliff notes.

Democracy is the rule of mortal common men.
Islam is the rule of immortal God.
Politics is the art of the possible and democracy a method of dealing with the problems of real life.
Islam, on the other hand, is about the unattainable ideal.
We should not allow the everything-is-equal-to-everything-else fashion of postmodernist multiculturalism and political correctness to prevent us from acknowledging differences and, yes, incompatibilities, in the name of a soggy consensus.
If we are all the same how can we have a dialogue of civilisations, unless we elevate cultural schizophrenia into an existential imperative.
Muslims should not be duped into believing that they can have their cake and eat it. Muslims can build democratic society provided they treat Islam as a matter of personal, private belief and not as a political ideology that seeks to monopolise the public space and regulate every aspect of individual and community life.
Ladies and gentlemen: Islam is incompatible with democracy.
I commend the motion.

Amir has a lot he can help us with regarding terror but he is blind apparently when it comes to the issue before us.
INDC Journal: Amir Taheri on Islam
Deans World has a not so unique view on the matter...too bad that there was an uproar when the Cartoons were first published. Demonstations and protests from around the Islamic World. Better luck next time Dhimmi!
DON'T FORGET: BUY DANISH MOHAMMED WOULD WANT YOU TO!

Reference Article