The exploited Maldives 'celebrants' are the victims here, not the Swiss couple

al-Guardian ^ | 10/29/10 | William Sutcliffe

[Enchante]

re: “they asked for it”

This is not a flame, I agree at least that they are dim-witted Eurotards, but just b/c people open themselves up to easy crime or victimization does not make what’s done to them any less wrong.

Sure, you have to be a special kind of New Age idiot to entrust your “sacred renewal of vows” to Muslims speaking a language you don’t understand. But that does not make it any less contemptible that the a-clowns in the video treated this couple as they did. It might, however, make the experience educational, if only some libtards around the world can learn something from this episode.

[kearnyirish2]

I guess we have different senses of humor; for me one of the all-time funniest movie scenes was in “European Vacation”, where the Griswold family is at the cafe in Paris. Clark has his gadget that’s supposed to translate, and he’s trying to speak the little French he knows, and the whole time the French waiter is abusing him in French: when Clark orders Cokes for the kids, the waiter says “Coca Cola? Ah, champagne American!”. He proceeds to tell them they wouldn’t know the difference between wine and dishwater, comments on his young daughter’s breasts, and ends by saying “Go f%&# yourself”...smiling the whole time!

[kearnyirish2]

For some reason I thought the Maldives were Buddhist (I think it was from some Thor Heyerdal book); they were somewhat cut off from other Asians by the rise of Hinduism & Islam, if I recall correctly. I guess not; maybe it was another island group in the Indian Ocean.

[GATOR NAVY]

I liked this one from the comments section-

Genius William. You manged the entire article without mentioning what the fuss was really about. Religious hatred. It wasn't 'Orientals' mocking the middle class in a search for cod spiritualism. It was Muslim low paid, probably exploited, workers despising the 'infidels and swine' they were forced to deal with. Funny you didn't mention that. Can't think why.

[Enchante]

apparently Buddhism was the local religion for more than a millenium, until Islam took over (from Wikipedia):

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Buddhism became the dominant religion in the Maldives and enjoyed royal patronage for many centuries, probably as long as over one thousand and four hundred years. Practically all archaeological remains in the Maldives are from Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and all artifacts found to date display characteristic Buddhist iconography. Buddhist (and Hindu) temples were Mandala shaped, they are oriented according to the four cardinal points, the main gate being towards the east. Even today, many mosques in Maldives face the sun and not Mecca. Since building space and materials were scarce, Maldivians constructed their places of worship on the foundations of previous buildings.

The ancient Buddhist stupas are called "havitta", "hatteli" or "ustubu" by the Maldivians according to the different atolls. These stupas and other archaeological remains, like foundations of Buddhist buildings Vihara, compound walls and stone baths, are found on many islands of the Maldives. They usually lie buried under mounds of sand and covered by vegetation. Local historian Hassan Ahmed Maniku counted as many as 59 islands with Buddhist archaeological sites in a provisional list he published in 1990. The largest monuments of the Buddhist era are in the islands fringing the eastern side of Haddhunmathi Atoll.

In the mid-1980s, the Maldivian government allowed the popular Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, to excavate ancient sites. Despite the clear evidence that all the ancient ruins in Maldives are Buddhist, Heyerdahl claimed that early "sun-worshiping seafarers", called the "Redin", first settled on the islands. Keeping up with his sensationalist style, Heyerdahl argued that 'Redin' were people coming from somewhere else, whereas an ancient Maldivian poem (Fua Mulaku Rashoveshi) says: "Havitta uhe haudahau, Redin taneke hedi ihau". This poem gives us the clue about the name 'Redin'. According to Magieduruge Ibrahim Didi, a learned man from Fua Mulaku, it was merely the name which the converted Maldivians used to refer to their infidel (ghair dīn = 'redin') ancestors after the general conversion from Buddhism to Islam.

It is generally said that the conversion of the Maldives to Islam was peaceful, but historical evidence suggests the contrary. For example, the 12th century copperplates found at Isdhoo Island state that the monks (Sangumanun) from the monastery at that island were brought to Male' and beheaded.[4]

[kearnyirish2]

Interesting stuff; thanks for the info. I haven’t heard much about the place, though I remember their low-lying land mass was a concern during the tsunami.