Apparently Charles Johnson doesn't believe that diversity and embracing different cultures, religions and races solves anything.
He's pissed that Mayor Bloomberg of New York has the audacity to point out that New York, a city founded and enriched by immigration, integration and diversity, that in the fight against extremists embracing all communities trumps illegal wars, corporate corruption and botched imperialism.
Here's Mayor Bloomberg's reply to a swivel-eyed loon of the LGF variety.
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the lighting of the Empire State Building in commemoration of Eid-al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan.Well done, Mayor Bloomberg.
While this was a private decision made by the Empire State Building Company, I admire their choice to celebrate this important event with our entire City. People have always come to New York from all over the world, bringing different customs, traditions, and faiths. This incredible diversity is one of the things that makes New York the greatest city in the world.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, our City united as never before - and we remain united today, across all ethnicities, races, and religions. I can think of no better response to the terrorists than demonstrating our determination to stand together as New Yorkers and as Americans, celebrating the unity we have found in our diversity.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor
(Update)...and well done the Empire State Building Company for celebrating other holidays in the same way.
23 comments:
Religion is trouble, but it should be equal treatment for all. If they're going to dismantle the 10 Commandments from all public places, they should do the same for Ramadan displays.
Wouldn't you agree?
Anonymous at 8:04:00 PM - I do not agree that religion is trouble. I do agree that if it is prohibited to show the 10 Commandments, or a Christmas manger, or Hannukah decoration, then the same should hold for Ramadan displays.
There is EMBRACING other beliefs, and then there is TOLERANCE for other beliefs. I can tolerate other beliefs without embracing them and having them become part of me. I can tolerate other beliefs without requiring that they be the same as mine. The problem with Islam, is that it lacks the TOLERANCE part, and goes overboard on the EMBRACING part - they want to EMBRACE us all and make us just like them. So, LGF Watch, I find your use of the term "embrace" to be very very interesting. Why can't you just let me be? Why must I "EMBRACE" Islam and become a Muslim?
There's a difference between having the 10 commandments displayed in a public building (ie a civil building) and the Empire State deciding to celebrate a holiday, no matter what the religion.
Charles, with his horde of sheep has only managed to build up a devil's circle, and this thread perfectly closes this circle:
They will fight terrorism ("fighting" in terms of wasting perfectly good webspace), and complain about no moderate Muslims speaking up, yet when they do speak up, they cry "Taqiyya" (Something that doesn't even exist in the dominant Sunni doctrine).
They will demonize all Muslims, radical or not, thus giving no Muslim any reason to support them in their cause. After all, who wants to cooperate with people who want to destroy his/her religion and keep spewing venom at him/her?
And then to crown it all, they will attack ANYBODY who reaches out to Muslims and tries to build bridges, promote more understanding and tolerance, and eventually lead to gaining their trust, something that could motivate more Muslims into engaging against terrorism, something they have already whined about not happening.
It's a perfect example of wishing for something, and vehemently striving against it at the same time. In my book that's Schizophrenia.
Apparently they shine special lights to celebrate Christmas as well, so no problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Redandgreenfloodlights.JPG
Illuminated for Hannukah as well.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE6D7123CF932A25751C1A961958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/E/Empire%20State%20Building
And for many, many other occasions, to wit:
Green:
St. Patrick's Day
March of Dimes
Rainforest Awareness
Earth Day
Red, White & Blue:
Presidents' Day
Armed Forces Day
Memorial Day
Flag Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Veterans' Day
Red:
St. Valentine's Day
Fire Department Memorial Day
Big Apple Circus
Red & Blue:
Equal Parents Day/Children's Rights
Yellow & White:
Spring/Easter Week
Blue, White & Blue:
Israel Independence Day
First Night of Chanukah
Blue:
Police Memorial Day
Child Abuse Prevention
Purple & White:
Alzheimer's Awareness
Red, Yellow & Green:
Portugal Day
Lavender & White:
Stonewall Anniversary/Gay Pride
Purple, Teal, White:
National Osteoporosis Society
Red & White:
Pulaski Day
Red Cross
Red, White & Green:
Columbus Day
Blue & White:
Greek Independence Day
United Nations Day
Red & Yellow:
Autumn
Black, Yellow & Red:
German Reunification Day
Pink & White:
"Race for the Cure"/Breast Cancer Awareness
Green, White & Orange:
India Independence Day
Green & White:
Pakistan Independence Day
Red & Green:
Holiday Season
Dark/No Lights:
"Day without Art/Night without Lights" AIDS Awareness
Anon@10:43 - so does the fact that the ESB is lit up in lavender for Gay Pride mean that Mayor Bloomberg wants to turn everybody queer?
OMG
If any of you happen to notice his latest rant against Fjordman (I won't respond but I need to answer -- huh?!), you may have noticed this little gem:
it’s a totalitarian tactic to label critics “deniers,”
Now that's pretty funny, as everyone knows how Charles and the last of his Mohicans treat their critics.
You understand totalitarian tactics very well, doncha Charlie? Heh.
I can't believe that they're still going off on the green ESB. That was back in October fer crissakes.
Wow, I guess the sudden obsession with European "fascists" sidetracked them from their main agenda. I guess they have some catching up to do.
I can't believe these lunatics who freak out because the ESB has a display for Ramadan. Most of them have probably never even been to NYC, and I can assure you they'd despise the actual city and its diversity, much as they love to appropriate the idea of it and 9-11 for their bizarre agendas.
They obviously don't realize that the ESB is *always* lit with some color or other, for any of the many reasons that V mentioned. There might even be a few more. Half the time we have no idea what the specific thing being commemorated is, or if anything is--sometimes it's a certain color for the season, 'spring' or 'autumn' as opposed to for a specific event.*
Personally yellow is my least favorite because then it looks like a giant needle commemorating National Hepatitis Month or something, but hey--let a thousand flowers bloom.
*edited
Comment deleted
This post has been removed by the blog administrator.
That's a new one! lol With comment moderation turned on, I suppose this would mean that you guys were for it before you were against it.
CZ:
There was obviously something in it that needed tweaking....hence the reposted version (with the word edited afterwards)
CZ:
The deletion is because I doubleposted; I left something out of the original one. I flagged it with the word 'edited' so the admin here would know which one to post. I'd left this bit out:
sometimes it's a certain color for the season, 'spring' or 'autumn' as opposed to for a specific event.*
...which is crucial.
It's not only that the ESB commemorates many events with colors, some of them religious holidays, but the building is virtually always lit with a color. So this display is hardly as unusual as the wingnuts would like it to be.
Look at V's list. You can see that lots of 'secular' days are commemorated, for health causes, social causes, -- but it's also always done for seasons.
So it's weird to see rightwing media acting as if commemorating the end of Ramadan is some sort of earth-shattering event signaling 'dhimmi capitulation' or whatever the rhetoric is.
Ah, OK. Just wondering.
I'm not a big fan of comment moderation personally. I know that it's the LGFWers have gone over it before, and that it's necessary to filter out all the spam trolls, but it kinda disrupts the flow of discussion in a blog comments section.
Does Blogger have a feature that allows comments to pass thru unmoderated after that netizen's first comment has been approved by a moderator? That might be the way to go.
"Apparently Charles Johnson doesn't believe that diversity and embracing different cultures, religions and races solves anything."
That's exactly what a neo-nazi would say. They have a huge beef with "diversity".
"They have a huge beef with 'diversity'."
Not to mention "peace," "tolerance," "justice," etc.
Oh yes, our diversity is our greatest asset! The Diversified States of America. Political correctness is the theme...
Something I've grown to expect from LGF Watch.
Anon at 6:00: Please Google the phrase "E Pluribus Unum."
I understand the sentiment, V, but the "pluribus" part refers specifically to the 13 colonies.
Anon,
maybe you'd be better taking this argument over to LGF....recently the 'lizards' have been accusing (rightfully) certain people in Europe of being racists and neo-Nazis and pointing out that the same race politics aren't welcome in the USA because of its diversity...
So it seems diversity is only good when it's seen as backing up their favourite bloggers latest blog war. When it comes to accepting other peoples rights and the need for society to respect difference it's all a left wing conspiracy.
Anon, what's your favorite meal? A hamburger and French fries, maybe? How about a kielbasa with sauerkraut? Or maybe you prefer pizza. Or Chinese food. Or a nice burrito. Or bagels and lox.
From Détroit to Los Angeles, from Bismarck to San Antonio, the U.S. is and has always been a multicultural society. And that, as any patriotic American knows, is our greatest strength.
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