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Hollywood's Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott: Sharia or Islam?
Townhall.com ^ | May 15, 2014 | Larry Elder

Posted on 05/15/2014 4:30:53 AM PDT by Kaslin

The Beverly Hills Hotel, owned by the sultan of Brunei, is a ghost town.

The sultan recently imposed Sharia on the citizens of this small country in Southeast Asia with a population of less than 500,000. The law includes the punishment of death for any who engages in the "crime" of homosexuality or adultery. Jay Leno, one of the celebrities attending a rally in front of the hotel, said: "It's people being stoned to death. Hello!"

Meanwhile, Bill Maher, another member of the almost-all-Hollywood left, discussed the kidnapping of mostly Christian Nigerian schoolgirls by a radical Muslim group. But, Maher added, "There's no mention here of connecting this to the religion, which is always what I am seeking to do because I think that's the elephant in the room." Maher, unlike the Hollywood lefties protesting the hotel, insists Islam itself, not merely Sharia, is the issue.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born critic of Islam. She, too, argues that Islam itself mandates a second-class status for women. She restricts her objection not to Sharia, but also Islam itself. She thinks reform may be possible, but receives death threats and is the subject of a Fatwa -- a religious decree that, in her case, commands that she be killed.

Hirsi Ali was recently invited to speak at Brandeis University, where she would receive an honorary degree. But after Hirsi Ali received the invitation, the Council on Arab Islamic Relations sent Brandeis a list of "offensive" things Hirsi Ali said about Islam. Brandeis retracted her invitation. The University called some of Hirsi Ali's opinions "inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."

Brandeis had no problem bestowing an honorary degree on playwright Tony Kushner, who admits he has "a problem with the idea of a Jewish state." And Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at Brandeis despite having characterized Israel as an "apartheid state." Brandeis' tolerance of a variety of opinion, apparently, doesn't apply to those critical of Islam.

Robert Spencer, author of "Onward Muslim soldiers," ought not wait for an invitation to speak at Brandeis. He, too, argues that Islam itself is the issue: "There are millions of peaceful Muslims ... but the fact is that radical Muslims are using core texts of Islam that are deeply rooted in Islamic theology, tradition, history and law to justify their actions, and those radical Muslims are able to recruit and motivate terrorists around the world by appealing to these core Islamic texts. ... As far as the radical, violent elements of the religion go, they are very deeply rooted and we are naive in the extreme if we don't recognize that and try to get moderate Muslims to acknowledge it so that real reform can take place. ...

"When people say that jihad is a peaceful struggle -- it means 'struggle,' literally -- it means to bring the soul into line with the teachings of the Koran and the will of the law, that's true. But it's not the only meaning of jihad or even the principal meaning. Throughout Islamic history, and Islamic theology and law, you have violent jihad being the primary understanding of what it means -- this collective responsibility of the Islamic community to wage war against non-Muslims until they either convert or submit as second-class citizens under Islamic rule."

Hollywood's reluctance to raise the question about Islam's treatment of women is also about money, or more specifically the use of Arab oil money to help finance movies. Matt Damon's anti-fracking movie, "Promised Land," was financed by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, the state media company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

But there's an even bigger reason why Hollywood refuses to address whether Islam itself needs reform -- President George W. Bush.

In making the case for the invasion of a Iraq, Bush said, "It is presumptuous and insulting to suggest that a whole region of the world -- or the one-fifth of humanity that is Muslim -- is somehow untouched by the most basic aspirations of life. Human cultures can be vastly different. Yet the human heart desires the same good things, everywhere on Earth." Bush viewed Muslim and Arab women's apparent acceptance of their second-class citizenship as akin to the Stockholm syndrome, rather than a matter of free choice. Bush hoped that a "free and peaceful" Iraq would provide a "dramatic and inspiring example" to the Middle East and the Muslim world.

Hollywood scoffed at his "cultural elitism" and his embrace of Western values of social, political, economic and religious freedom and equality of human rights.

But how long can Hollywood ignore the injustice Brandeis displayed toward the brave Ayaan Hirsi Ali? How long can the Hollywood left avoid the broader and more profound issue of the suppression and subjugation of Muslim and Arab women? The moral relativists of Hollywood may have to make a moral judgment about culture and values.

That means choosing sides.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: beverlyhillshotel; brunei; islam; sharia; sultanofbrunei

1 posted on 05/15/2014 4:30:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Billy Maher has a moment of lucidity. Rare indeed for any of the Hollywoodies.


2 posted on 05/15/2014 4:37:22 AM PDT by donozark (The voices inside my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!)
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To: Kaslin

The Left produces propaganda, and it is stupid. But some on the Right in order to get a dog treat take it seriously and produce their own legitimization of the leftist propaganda to make themselves sound smart and shrewd. I pray that conservatives can learn how to state simple truths in plain language instead of playing George Will or Bill Buckley (two step and fetchits to left propaganda and power)


3 posted on 05/15/2014 4:37:23 AM PDT by junta ("Peace is a racket", testimony from crime boss Barrack Hussein Obama.)
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To: donozark

BUMP.


4 posted on 05/15/2014 4:53:38 AM PDT by golux
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To: Kaslin

Anybody really give a rat’s ass about Hollywood’s selective outrage?


5 posted on 05/15/2014 4:59:03 AM PDT by NRA1995 (I'd rather be a living "gun culture" member than a dead anti-gun candy-ass.)
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To: junta

It doesn’t matter what the conservative message is, if the media is controlled by the enemy of truth and the almighty dollar. You are falling into their deception by believing conservatives are to blame. We are certainly manipulated like children, but the lies are blame, and those who tell them.

Pray that God gives the world the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and His truth. We are living in a world of complete deception. At the end of the day it is all about evil wanting to enslave us with anything from Sharia Law, terrorism, fear, war, addictions, etc.

Afghanistan has record productions of poppy. The Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaeda are nothing more than contrived, heroin cartels. The people running the show in this country have interests at odds with the American people. They are at odds with humanity.


6 posted on 05/15/2014 5:04:23 AM PDT by mgist (.)
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To: donozark
It's not really lucidity -- it's a pure and undying hatred for ALL of the world's religions.

His dogma -- Atheism -- is sacrosanct.

7 posted on 05/15/2014 5:04:43 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Rempublicam)
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To: Kaslin
“The Beverly Hills Hotel, owned by the sultan of Brunei, is a ghost town.”

Nice place. Have they dropped their rates 90%? If so, I'd like to rent a bungalow there.

8 posted on 05/15/2014 5:13:36 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: donozark

That’s for sure


9 posted on 05/15/2014 5:16:31 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: NRA1995
Anybody really give a rat’s ass about Hollywood’s selective outrage?

I sure don't but others here really care.

10 posted on 05/15/2014 5:17:22 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: mgist

Afghanistan had always been this way. Their dependence on the poppy predates Islam and Christianity. Can’t blame any religion for what they are today. It’s always been one of God’s poorer and more miserable places.


11 posted on 05/15/2014 5:20:18 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: NRA1995

No.


12 posted on 05/15/2014 5:20:58 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: Kaslin

It’s always fun watching liberals getting slapped in the face by reality.


13 posted on 05/15/2014 5:34:42 AM PDT by Arm_Bears (Shoot cops that shoot dogs.)
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To: Kaslin
"It's people being stoned to death. Hello!"

As it has been in the Islamic world for 1,500 years. But the left didn't care until it was their chosen minority group of the day (gays) being targeted. What they don't realize is that the Islamic world considers them (Hollywood), and the rest of America for that matter, as the great Satan, so they fact that they are upset and marching just tells the Muslims that they are doing something right...

14 posted on 05/15/2014 6:12:13 AM PDT by apillar
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To: cloudmountain
"Afghanistan had always been this way.

This may have always been the Afghan way, but in Obama's America, it is becoming the American way. We have an epidemic opiate addiction, and pure heroin that is flooding American neighborhoods. It is cheaper and easier for kids to get than beer. The faces of evil aren't just in Sharia law, it comes in all forms of thought that don't respect human life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqUcScwnn8

15 posted on 05/15/2014 6:34:12 AM PDT by mgist (.)
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To: donozark

Maher, like the late Christopher Hitchens is at least consistent.....he hates ALL religion.

Most atheists, are more anti-Christian than anything else, they never have a bad thing to say about Islam...in fact, they love using Islam as a tool to bash Christians with.


16 posted on 05/15/2014 6:36:56 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Kaslin

sharia OR islam?

??????

Ain’t it the same BLEEPING thing???


17 posted on 05/15/2014 6:47:46 AM PDT by Flintlock (islam is a LIE, mohammmud a CRIMINAL, sharia is POISON!)
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To: mgist
This may have always been the Afghan way, but in Obama's America, it is becoming the American way. We have an epidemic opiate addiction, and pure heroin that is flooding American neighborhoods. It is cheaper and easier for kids to get than beer. The faces of evil aren't just in Sharia law, it comes in all forms of thought that don't respect human life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqUcScwnn8

I guess you weren't around in the 60's. The "mantra" of the day was: "Drug, sex and rock 'n roll."
Those brainless and brain dead hippies killed their bodies and brains with dope. Oh yeah, I forgot, NOTHING wrong with pot. It ISN'T a "gateway" drug. It's way cool too. They were stupid morons to begin with, getting involved in all that crap...and the drugs made them even worse.

They also didn't bathe because "clean" was uncool. The volunteer doctors at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic were appalled. They said that they were taking care of diseases and conditions that hadn't been seen or written about since the 14th century--due to the filth the hippies thought was "cool."

Drugs have returned to the lame-stream fools. They have choices, God-given free will. Satan can't FORCE anyone to do evil...they do it with their own free will. MORONS, stupid fools.

We taxpayers WILL have to foot the bills for their medical expenses and continual rehab. They ONLY rehab so that the "thrill" of the drugs returns with their temporarily cleaned up bodies. Then BACK they go to the drugs. That is their life.

Sorry for the rant...I just get sick of hearing how "WONderful" drugs are..."mind-blowing" and "cool"--PAH!

18 posted on 05/15/2014 9:40:12 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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