Robert Spencer on August 7, 2008 at 10:26 AM

Ah Robert…when will they learn….
I hope not before it’s too late.

Why this matters. My column in FrontPage today: Eid mubarak, Shelbyville! Union employees at Tyson Foods’ poultry processing plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee will enjoy a paid holiday this year on October 1, the date on which the Islamic holiday of……

Otherwise, one might think the protestors are not serious about their faith and the “offense” other faiths cause them and are just agitating for other reasons.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science – the science against which it had vainly struggled – the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
- Winston Churchill

In 2008, the superiors of the soldier in question, right on up the chain of command to commander-in-chief George W. Bush, only express their respect for, and, in a very frightening way, submission to the Koran despite its totalitarian message — and even at the expense of the soldier’s Constitutional rights.

Let’s play around some more with the story. Imagine if, during the Allied occupation of post-Nazi Germany, a GI had been discovered using “Mein Kampf” for target practice. Would Gen. George S. Patton have kissed a new copy of the Nazi bible as he presented it to a cadre of former Nazis? In the words of Ol’ Blood and Guts — oh, wait; this is a family newspaper. Let’s just put it this way: Not likely.
- Diana West

But I would have to ask, what if it were Mormons coming in? Or Hindus? Anybody who is different put you off?

Mormons? Hindus? Nope. Not at all. No problemo.

It is human nature to be suspicious of folks who are different. [It is human nature to be "suspicious" of those who follow the filthy koran.] But claiming, as some here have, that letting a union local swap a holiday around, and next year we’ll all be wearing beards n’ hijabs and eating halal at gunpoint (yes, I exaggerate for effect)[No. That is not exaggeration, that is a strawman] is overwrought. Sounds like some of the crep that was heard in the SOuth in the late 1950s…

major john on August 6, 2008 at 12:26 PM

Equating the American South to Islam. That’s what Clueless Condi did.

Condi is a dangerous incompetent

Brat on August 6, 2008 at 4:24 PM

You’re right. My T-shirt got stolen from my high school gym locker. It was a muscle shirt…definitely 80’s chic.

Nonfactor on August 6, 2008 at 4:29 PM

Red meat will do that to ya.

Barntender on August 6, 2008 at 3:37 PM

It was actually the Grace Under Pressure tour in ‘84. I was a student at Va Tech, and a bunch of roommates/friends from Northern VA/DC area went down there with me. Gosh that was a wild trip. And they got their first look at the real AppaLAYsha!

I think the first concert I saw at Freedom Hall was Heart in the mid ’70s and the last was RUSH in the mid ’80s.

Brat on August 6, 2008 at 1:35 PM

That Rush concert was my first one at Freedom Hall. Power Windows tour, right? Y&T opened up for them. Also got my first contact buzz at that show.

The Somalis are part of waves of secondary migration of the African Muslim refugees brought to America by the US State Department with the help of volags (mostly church groups in this case) that have rocked small American cities over the last few years.

Church groups! What did I say up the thread? (Wait…did I say that here? Shoot. I spend too much time running my mouth off on the internet).

I’m not that flexed at Tyson. I just want to know why there are so many Somalis in Shelbyville, ‘k?

S. Weasel on August 6, 2008 at 2:04 PM

Interesting website that addresses this here.

entagor on August 6, 2008 at 1:21 PM

Of all the things that bother me about Tyson, this just isn’t one of them. I think their vacation day decision was wrong-headed and I also think that accommodation does lead to the incremental “creep” referenced here.

But I don’t think that the list of suggested prayers should give rise to the level of outrage that I’m seeing here. It is an idiotic attempt at multi-culti self-congratulation and trying to illustrate their acceptance of different religious beliefs or non-belief. It is transparent and lame, but I don’t see the boogey-man lurking behind this.

Tyson is a bad actor in many ways, but I don’t believe that they are trying to promote Islam. This is just more multi-culti PC bullsh!t run amok.

Tyson is all about the bottom line, and this is just another way for them to keep cheap labor on the job without having to actually pay them a decent wage.

Yes, Tyson sucks. But I am more concerned with their influence-buying practices and other issues more than whatever lame PC drivel they put on their website.

Barntender on August 6, 2008 at 12:32 PM

You are correct, it is pronounced like “apple at cha.” I cringe when I hear AppaLAYshia, even to describe the region.

I don’t get up there much anymore since my parents have passed away and my siblings are spread around the East Coast. My husband’s mom moved from Big Stone Gap to Bristol so we go there once or twice a year. I’ve been in the ATL,GA area for almost 20 years. I think the first concert I saw at Freedom Hall was Heart in the mid ’70s and the last was RUSH in the mid ’80s.