the blog quebecois

Rod Dreher in The Corner:

It will come as news to many Christians that an Anglican bishop believes that the Islamic revelation was true, not false, as Christianity teaches implicitly. Nevertheless, a Michigan lawyer friend suggests that Bp. Chane has opened up a new and exciting area for exploring ecumenism/syncretism. Now, the Episcopalians of Washington can have a gay wedding in the church, and push a wall over on the two grooms at the reception.

What would Judas do?

He would probably betray Jesus, that's what he'd do.

Via Tongue Tied

The Honolulu Advertiser says Buddhists in Hawaii are upset about a new bar opening in Waikiki that bear the name of the big guy himself.

The Buddha Bar opened only last week and is already generating letters and emails of complaint.

"This is an inappropriate name and is a show of disrespect towards Buddhism," wrote Barbara Brennan in an e-mail sent to Buddhists and others. "The ignorance of the proprietors and their efforts to create a 'catchy' name for their establishment shows disregard for our religious community."

Okay, so it's a groaner. It's been a tough day.

One of the more (albeit inadvertently) entertaining websites out there is Ask-Imam.com. Let's see what the good cleric has to say about this monthly dilemma.

Ask-Imam.com > Marriage (Nikah) > Question 13539 from United States

Can a Muslim send a marriage proposal to a Muslima within the time span of her idda?

As-salamu-alaikum Imam. My question is only about sending the marriage proposal. The proposal is intended to be sent to a Muslima who has started her idda. Can this proposal be sent to her before she has completed her idda? Please let me know the evidence from Islam to support your answer. Jazak Allahu Khair

Answer 13539

It is prohibited to send a proposal to a woman during her Iddah.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

This must lead to some rather . . . strained conversations. "I . . . I wish to ask for your hand in . . . marriage, unless . . . you know?"

"I . . . I know."

"Maybe next week?"

While you're there, don't forget to check out the exciting random fatwa feature!

Ask-Imam.com > Society and Culture > Question 11138 from Canada

If a non-mahram gives salaam to me, am I supposed to reply it quietly or loudly? I have heard its wajib to reply to a salaam.

Answer 11138

It is Waajib (compulsory) for a Muslim to reply to the salaam of a Muslim if there is no fear of Fitna and evil, for example, a Ghayr Mahram makes salaam to a male.

In such a situation where there is fear of Fitnah and evil, one should not reply to the salaam. It is not appropriate for a Muslim to display bad character and conduct in front of a non-Muslim. If a non-Muslim makes salaam, in principle, one should reply ‘Salaamun alaa manittaba’ alhudaa’ (May peace be upon those that follow guidance). One may offer an answer to the effect of the above with respect and dignity.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

I'm certainly glad we were able to clear that up!

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In the post below I mentioned that I prefer to delay commenting on matters profound until someone smarter comes along and does it for me. Mark Steyn to the rescue:

The root of the Pope's thinking - that there are eternal truths no one can change even if one wanted to - is completely incomprehensible to the progressivist mindset. There are no absolute truths, everything's in play, and by "consensus" all we're really arguing is the rate of concession to the inevitable: abortion's here to stay, gay marriage will be here any day now, in a year or two it'll be something else - it's all gonna happen anyway, man, so why be the last squaresville daddy-o on the block?

See how much work this saves me? (I heartily -- do I even have to say this? -- recommend the full article at the Telegraph. Registration required, but it's just an email address, if I remember right.)

I don't know what religion Steyn professes; or if he believes in any at all -- but he surely has a better understanding of Catholicism than, say, the CBC, which has spent the last week rounding up every feminist virago and homosexual malcontent it could find to explain how the next Pope must "fix" the church.

North American Catholics might be ambivalent about some of these issues, but to portray Frances Kissling -- a woman who heads the (memberless, but well funded) Catholics for a Free Choice, as representative of any kind of groundswell opinion is ludicrous. She ran three abortion clinics, for pity's sake.

This video of a Christian pastor recounting the story of Lot gets a bit raunchy. He meant to say "Lot pitched his tents" but it didn't quite come out that way. See? You don't need alcohol to have a good time.

Warning: He gets a bit loud during the segment, so you might want to turn the volume down if at work.

Times Online:

VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would �harm the fairies� living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again.

Marcus Salter, head of Genesis Properties, estimates that the small colony of fairies believed to live beneath a rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him �15,000. His first notice of the residential sensibilities of the netherworld came as his diggers moved on to a site on the outskirts of the village, which crowns the easterly shore of Loch Earn.

He said: �A neighbour came over shouting, �Don�t move that rock. You�ll kill the fairies�.� The rock protruded from the centre of a gently shelving field, edged by the steep slopes of Dundurn mountain, where in the sixth century the Celtic missionary St Fillan set up camp and attempted to convert the Picts from the pagan darkness of superstition.

I'm thinking that it didn't quite take.

Via Dave Barry

Mariah Carey album covers doctored to meet the sensitivities of the Saudis. I would have gone them one better and bulldozed Mariah herself into a landfill, if only to prevent young Arab minds being poisoned with lyrics like this:

you like this and you know it
caution, it’s so explosive
them chickens is ash and i’m lotion

I'm no expert on Islamic law, but something tells me that any mixture of chickens, ash and lotion is definitely not kosher.

instant karma's gonna get you
gonna knock you right on the head

john lennon

Two Buddhist monks pray in the Wat Tham Yod Thong temple, in the Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Their helmets protecting them in case of falling rocks.

Must wreak havoc with the meditation: "Ommmmmmm Bonk! mmmmmm Bonk! mmm Bonk! Bonk! mmm . . .

Via we make money not art

Wired:

Physicists announced Thursday that they now have the smoking gun that shows the universe went through extremely rapid expansion in the moments after the big bang, growing from the size of a marble to a volume larger than all of observable space in less than a trillion-trillionth of a second.

You know, I don't really have a dog in this fight. I'm nominally Catholic, though not particularly religious. I nevertheless think that the above model of events is no less fantastical and requires no less a leap of faith than the idea that the universe was conjured up out of fairy dust by The Big Guy With The Beard.

So, while waiting for the physicists to knit together their superstring theories, I might be inclined to revisit Pascal's Wager. Hedging my bets, as it were.

Pensées, Section III, #205:

"When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and after, the little space which I fill and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant and which know me not, I am frightened and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, why now rather than then. Who has put me here? By whose order and direction have this place and time been allotted to me? Memoria hospitis unius diei praetereuntis." [Wisd. of Sol. 5. 15. "The remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day."]

we make money not art:

As part of his ongoing exploration of Religious Technological Artifacts, New York-based Canadian artist Paul Davies has built the Prayer Antenna, a porcupine-like helmet that allow its wearer to receive signals from God.

The thrift-store motor-cycle helmet is covered with antennae quills, and fitted with sufficient surveillance technology to receive signals from the gods. The helmet is mounted to the wall on an ornate arm and a small kneeling stool is provided. To use the Antenna the worshipper must kneel on the stool and inset their head into the helmet. The visor is blacked out. Integrated headphones allow the supplicant to experience the signals. Sufficient controls allow him/her to tune the signals.

Paul Davies explained me that "the helmet works very simply. There are two radio transmitters out in the museum/gallery/whatever and they transmist the amibiant sounds (people talking, etc) to the left and right channel of radio recievers hooked up to headphones inside the helmet (so each ear is a distinct source). The interactivity is the simple act of kneeling and putting your head into the helmet. What you hear is other people (what is god if not other people.)"

I don't see it that way, though maybe it's just the crowd I hang with.

As Celia Green points out, it's a rather dubious theological proposition:

The philosophers have discarded metaphysics and have a tinkling song of their own which says, "In the beginning was the word and the word is mine and the word was made by me." This is rather a strong position in its way, because if you try to criticize it they will point out that you can only do so in words, and they have already annexed all the words there are on behalf of humanity. (And the meaning of the words is the meaning humanity gave them, and they shall have no meaning beside it.)

The theologians are finding theology rather an embarrassment, and one can only suspect they would be happier without it. Their tradition does make it a little more difficult for them to put God in his proper place, but all things considered, they're keeping up with the times pretty well. Sartre said "Hell is other people"; the up-to-date theologian says "God is other people".

No worries, mate. If this God thing doesn't work out, you can always get a job as a street busker:

Mike Wood is the Comedy Engineer. He was born too late for vaudeville and too early for what will be its intergalactic counterpart. Still he manages to flout all the rules of the universe known to man. Relying heavily on his engineering degree, Mike will defy the laws of physics with nothing more than his tight pants. He’ll test quantum theory by impaling a catapulted cabbage on a spike atop his head.

I don't know if he's praying for cabbages, but they've got to be coming from somewhere.

It would explain so much.

BBC:

LaToya's not the only member of the Jackson family talking ahead of the first anniversary of Michael's death.

His brother Jermaine's claiming converting to Islam might have saved his life.

"I felt that if Michael would have embraced Islam he would still be here today," the former Jackson 5 member told the BBC World Service.

Michael might well have survived thanks to Islam; but the real question is: Would Islam have survived Michael? Not likely.

Big Peace:

How many floors does Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf need for the mosque portion of this triumphal Islamic command center planned for the two building sites at 45-47 Park Place in New York City? Think about it: maybe 2 floors for the mosque itself and related offices. A 3rd floor for the swimming pool, a 4th for the 500 seat auditorium, a 5th for the halal restaurant and halal culinary school, a 6th for the art studios, the childcare center and library, a 7th for the gym and basketball court. Add an 8th floor for miscellaneous storage and offices. And then add a 9th floor for the September 11 memorial, an after-thought that was recently added to the Imam’s plan, although that may in fact be more of a room off to one side than a whole floor.

That leaves six mystery floors empty - or dedicated to other activities. Six floors - that’s a lot of offices, a lot of employees, maybe more than half of the 150 full-time and 500 part-time jobs the Imam says he’ll bring to Lower Manhattan. What are Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s plans for those six mystery floors?

and it's beginning to look as if it should stay there.

Jihad Watch:

Non-Muslim nations continue to bear the brunt of demonstrating the compassion and generosity that the petrodollar-glutted Gulf nations won't. Meanwhile, in Pakistan: aid from non-Muslims? Bring it on! Send more! (Well, maybe not you, India.) Aid to non-Muslims? If you're lucky. And it's not the first time. Muslims in Pakistan have attempted to coerce non-Muslims to convert by blackmailing them with hunger and the withholding of life's most basic essentials.

Quid pro quo, kuffar. "The politics of relief: Aliens in their own land," by Abdul Manan for the Express Tribune, August 18 (thanks to GS):

The government and local clerics refused to shelter around 500 flood-affected families belonging to the Ahmadiya community in South Punjab's relief camps. Not only that, the government also did not send relief goods to the flood-hit areas belonging to the Ahmadiya community, The Express Tribune has learnt during a visit to the devastated Punjab districts of Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur.

For its part, the government claims that all relief goods are being distributed among survivors without discrimination. And that all survivors have been sheltered in relief camps without distinction. The flood-devastated families from the Ahmadiya community have strongly criticised the government's "discriminatory attitude" even at a time when the entire country is reeling from the ravages of the worst flooding in living memory.

Via Blazing Cat Fur

CBC:

Alberta should put a moratorium on approving new tailings ponds until the science evolves to better handle the waste from oilsands mining, Avatar director James Cameron suggested Wednesday after a three-day tour of the controversial oil deposits. Reclamation of tailings ponds isn't yet sufficiently viable - either economically or scientifically - to offset the environmental impact of oilsands mining, and the province needs to regulate the industry more closely, he added.

"[The oilsands deposit] will be a curse if it's not managed properly. It can also be a great gift to Canada and to Alberta, if it is managed properly," Cameron told a news conference in Edmonton.

I was waiting and waiting in vain for Cameron to repudiate his claim at the Oscars while picking up the Best Director award for Titanic that he was the "King Of The World." Well, Jim, I`ve since learned that there is another "King of the World," and he goes by the name Muhammad (PBUH).

So if you are the true King, what does that make Muhammad? Chopped liver? That swarthy guy who comes over to mow the lawn every week? How about a falafel made from shaved ham and dog feces?

Not that I give much of a damn one way or the other, but there are certain excitable religious types who might take great offence at his characterization of Chairman Mo. Let us pray that, say, Islamic Rage Boy never finds out about it.

Oh noes! Too late!

Blazing Cat Fur:

Every Friday my daughter's school cafeteria changes into a mosque as dozens of Muslim boys and their imams (Islamic preachers) lead Islamic ritual prayers and no one else can even walk through the cafeteria.

Some imams (Islamic preachers) come from the outside of the school and lead Muslim students in the Islamic prayer and this happens at the school Cafeteria after the lunch on Fridays. All other non-Muslims are in classes in the afternoon when they are using the cafeteria as mosque. There is a mosque nearby but the Muslim kids pray in the school.

School administration take part preparing the Cafeteria and making it into mosque every Friday and no one but Muslims can use the Cafeteria during the Islamic prayers on Friday.

Why these belligerent morons are so intent on creating another Syria is a mystery to me; but I'd be willing to pack them all up (along with their craven enablers) and ship them off to the real thing.

Ricochet:

You have to hand it to Barack Obama. He has unmasked in the most thoroughgoing way the despotic propensities of the administrative entitlements state and of the Democratic Party. And now he has done something similar to the hierarchy of the American Catholic Church. At the prospect that institutions associated with the Catholic Church would be required to offer to their employees health insurance covering contraception and abortifacients, the bishops, priests, and nuns scream bloody murder. But they raise no objection at all to the fact that Catholic employers and corporations, large and small, owned wholly or partially by Roman Catholics will be required to do the same.

The freedom of the church as an institution to distance itself from that which its doctrines decry as morally wrong is considered sacrosanct. The liberty of its members – not to mention the liberty belonging to the adherents of other Christian sects, to Jews, Muslims, and non-believers – to do the same they are perfectly willing to sacrifice.

A long but very readable essay by Paul A. Rahe, Professor of History at Hillsdale College.

Via Ace Of Spades HQ