Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Clyde List Editorial: The Middle East
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR AMERICA: NO MORE CRUSADES!
"This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile." --George W. Bush in 2001
"President Bush's use of the word 'crusade' was most unfortunate" --Soheib Bensheikh, Grand Mufti of the mosque in Marseille, France.
To this very day, moslems freak when they hear a Western leader say the word 'crusade.' When my German ancestors watched the First Crusade romp through their barley fields in 1099, they felt no different. The First Crusade was basically a motley procession of people on foot-- not only soldiers, but also country people, women and kids. It was obvious to anyone that these crusaders "...had altogether lost their wits."
But Germany's reluctance to (ta-da!)"Join the Crusade" did not last long. They soon helped lead the procession. I can just see an 11th Century Collin Powell (i.e. Peter the Hermit) going to a 11th Century united nations with the kind of evidence that was considered incontrovertible back then. It was reported that ...a woman after two years gestation finally gave birth to a boy who was able to talk; and that a child with a double set of limbs, another with two heads, and some lambs with two heads were also born; and that colts came into the world with great teeth, which we ordinarily call horses' teeth and which nature only grants to three-year old horses.... through these and similar signs the whole creation seemed to offer its services to the Creator. --Medieval Source Book
Oh! There you go! Even a glued to the party line semi-amusing milk-toast like Rush Limbaugh would agree. Case closed! Middle East, here we come. Grab your hat and staff and off the deep end we go!
11 comments:
Anonymous said...
Did they think they were going to find the Holy Grail in Germany???
10:38 AM
JayCee said...
No. Like most people visiting Germany, they were just passing through. (That's not true. Haha. Just kidding.) Please go to the source for further information:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ekkehard-aur1.html
4:20 PM
Lilly Morgen said...
There are people in Sherwood town that have been against this unlikely "Crusade" from the beginning. Every Wednesday evening there has been a vigil down at the Sherwood Library. People stare at the motley crew and their signs and candles, but they don't stop and join in. I'm afraid that there has been only one lonely real crusader and his name is George Bush. What he is really after is the Holy Dollar!!!!
6:02 PM
JayCee said...
Hats off to you, those few of you who have the wisdom to look into the future and see the past: A world Robin Hood fought against.
5:02 PM
Clyde said...
I see this essay was picked up by a web site in France. I wonder why the topic would be of any interest to them.
10:11 PM
Lilly Morgen said...
I will have to say that we should resolve not to go into any wars nor should we be backing them.
1:45 PM
Clyde List said...
I'm reading a book about America's Civil War. How innocently it all started out! "Yeah. Sure. War is ugly." the thinking went, "But this won't be that kind of war. We'll fire a few shots at one another and everyone will get a good laugh out of it and we'll go home. Let the South have their own country if they want. After all, we're all brothers and sisters of the same religion and color of skin. We don't really hate each other. Do we?"
10:55 AM
JayCee said...
Oh yes! July 16, 1861! Mark it on your calendar. We're all going to war! I almost have to laugh, it's so comical. This "War" will take place just 22 miles south of Washington, D.C. It will be a great family weekend, and it should only last an hour or so. We'll have a picnic. Hundreds of excited spectators in horse-drawn carriages will be there! Our brave boys will dispatch that nasty upstart Confederacy once and for all.
--This posting is based on
http://military.discovery.com/history/civil-war/bull-run/bull-run.html
11:40 AM
JayCee said...
Strangely, this posting is rated high on the internet. If you google "more crusades" or "no more crusades" it comes up right away. And yet it receives very few comments.
11:43 AM
Anonymous said...
If you type Crusdaes and Middle East you get this:
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/09/opinion/oe-simes9
2:34 PM
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