In a striking new trend, Muslim intolerance for other religions is now breeding tolerance worldwide.
In London, Jack Straw said, “When a Muslim woman comes in to talk with me and she’s wearing a veil, I accommodate her by taking out my handkerchief and holding it over my own face.”
The Pope, who recently came under fire for citing an ancient document in which a generally forgotten ecclesiastic referred to some parts of Islam as “evil and inhuman,” came out with quotations from a modern document, which he himself had just penned, that said, “All aspects of Islam are good and human; in fact, when terrorists say things like, ‘Death to all infidels, Allah willing,’ we should realize that they do not speak for Islam. They merely give the impression that they do.”
A French school teacher came out to make up for the one who recently went into hiding, saying, “Regardless of what that other teacher said about the Prophet Muhammad being ‘a merciless warlord, a looter, a mass murderer of Jews and a polygamist,’ I maintain that he was actually a great guy, Allah be praised. So I don’t have to go into hiding, too, do I?”
Meanwhile, on the streets toleration for Islam is everywhere. For instance, the owner of a wine bar in Antwerp said, “You saw what happened with the Pope….He said Islam is an aggressive religion. And the next day they kill a nun somewhere and make his point. That’s why when any Muslim walks in here, I say right away, ‘Welcome, friend! The drinks are on me!’”
Meanwhile, optimism is at an all-time high among Muslims who have immigrated to Western nations. A Pakistani man in Denmark said, “We were thinking of going back to our country, but now things are going so great we feel right at home. Why, I just had a perfect stranger come up and offer to buy me a new prayer rug.”
A European Parliamentarian, who was so effusive in his praise he asked not to be identified, said, “So there is this fear that we are being transported back in a time machine where we have to explain to our immigrants that there is equality between men and women, and gays should be treated properly. I find that really inviting and I can’t wait to get started. All I need to know is what mosque I can give my first talk in, and I’ll be there.”
The most promising effect of the new reaction to Muslim intolerance is that the idea of “repatriation,” a polite word for deportation, which had begun to be mentioned even in moderate European circles, is heard no more. Instead, crowds of ordinary citizens are gathering at immigration checkpoints to exclaim to every new Muslim arrival the words already printed on the walls in every applicable language: “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!”
Until Muslim clerics and believers realize how urgent it is for them to speak out against Muslim intolerance, one can only hope the trend of intolerance begetting tolerance continues its remarkable emergence.
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