M2RB: Dave Matthews Band
We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil
In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil
In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down
The Space Between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...
The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...
The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Why is it OK to mock one religion but not another?
By Bret Stephens
'Hasa Diga Eebowai" is the hit number in Broadway's hit musical "The
Book of Mormon," which won nine Tony awards last year. What does the
phrase mean? I can't tell you, because it's unprintable in a family
newspaper.
On the other hand, if you can afford to shell out several hundred
bucks for a seat, then you can watch a Mormon missionary get his holy
book stuffed—well, I can't tell you about that, either. Let's just say
it has New York City audiences roaring with laughter.
The "Book of Mormon"—a performance of which Hillary Clinton attended
last year, without registering a complaint—comes to mind as the
administration falls over itself denouncing "Innocence of Muslims." This
is a film that may or may not exist; whose makers are likely not who
they say they are; whose actors claim to have known neither the plot nor
purpose of the film; and which has never been seen by any member of the
public except as a video clip on the Internet.
No matter. The film, the administration
says, is "hateful and offensive" (Susan Rice), "reprehensible and
disgusting" (Jay Carney) and, in a twist, "disgusting and reprehensible"
(Hillary Clinton). Mr. Carney, the White House spokesman, also lays
sole blame on the film for inciting the riots that have swept the Muslim
world and claimed the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three of
his staff in Libya.
So let's get this straight: In the consensus view of modern American
liberalism, it is hilarious to mock Mormons and Mormonism but outrageous
to mock Muslims and Islam. Why? Maybe it's because nobody has ever been
harmed, much less killed, making fun of Mormons.
Here's what else we learned this week about the emerging liberal
consensus: That it's okay to denounce a movie you haven't seen, which is
like trashing a book you haven't read. That it's okay to give perp-walk
treatment to the alleged—and no doubt terrified—maker of the film on
legally flimsy and politically motivated grounds of parole violation.
That it's okay for the federal government publicly to call on Google to
pull the video clip from YouTube in an attempt to mollify rampaging
Islamists. That it's okay to concede the fundamentalist premise that
religious belief ought to be entitled to the highest possible degree of
social deference—except when Mormons and sundry Christian rubes are
concerned.
And, finally, this: That the most "progressive" administration in
recent U.S. history will make no principled defense of free speech to a
Muslim world that could stand hearing such a defense. After the debut of
"The Book of Mormon" musical, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints responded with this statement: "The production may attempt to
entertain audiences for an evening but the Book of Mormon as a volume of
scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to
Christ."
That was it. The People's Front for the Liberation of Provo will not
be gunning for a theater near you. Is it asking too much of religious
and political leaders in Muslim communities to adopt a similar attitude?
It needn't be. A principled defense of free speech could start by
quoting the Quran: "And it has already come down to you in the Book that
when you hear the verses of Allah [recited], they are denied [by them]
and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another
conversation." In this light, the true test of religious conviction is
indifference, not susceptibility, to mockery.
The defense could add that a great religion surely cannot be goaded
into frenetic mob violence on the slimmest provocation. Yet to watch the
images coming out of Benghazi, Cairo, Tunis and Sana'a is to witness
some significant portion of a civilization being transformed into Travis
Bickle, the character Robert De Niro made unforgettable in Taxi Driver.
"You talkin' to me?"
A defense would also point out that an Islamic world that insists on a
measure of religious respect needs also to offer that respect in turn.
When Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi—the closest thing Sunni Islam has to a
pope—praises Hitler for exacting "divine punishment" on the Jews, that
respect isn't exactly apparent. Nor has it been especially apparent in
the waves of Islamist-instigated pogroms that have swept Egypt's Coptic
community in recent years.
Finally, it need be said that the whole purpose of free speech is to
protect unpopular, heretical, vulgar and stupid views. So far, the Obama
administration's approach to free speech is that it's fine so long as
it's cheap and exacts no political price. This is free speech as pizza.
President Obama came to office promising that he would start a new
conversation with the Muslim world, one that lectured less and listened
more. After nearly four years of listening, we can now hear more clearly
where the U.S. stands in the estimation of that world: equally despised
but considerably less feared. Just imagine what four more years of
instinctive deference will do.
On the bright side, dear liberals, you'll still be able to mock
Mormons. They tend not to punch back, which is part of what makes so
many of them so successful in life.
Write to bstephens@wsj.com
The Space Between - Dave Matthews Band
You cannot quit me so quickly
There's no hope in you for me
No corner you could squeeze me
But I got all the time for you, love
The Space Between
The tears we cry
Is the laughter keeps us coming back for more
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
Waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted games we're playing
We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
Will I hold you again?
Will I hold...
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil
In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down
The Space Between
Where you're smiling high
Is where you'll find me if I get to go
The Space Between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...
The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Take my hand
'Cause we're walking out of here
Oh, right out of here
Love is all we need here
The Space Between
What's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you
The Space Between
Your heart and mine
Is the space we'll fill with time
The Space Between...
There's no hope in you for me
No corner you could squeeze me
But I got all the time for you, love
The Space Between
The tears we cry
Is the laughter keeps us coming back for more
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
Waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted games we're playing
We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep safe from the pain
Will I hold you again?
Will I hold...
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil
In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down
The Space Between
Where you're smiling high
Is where you'll find me if I get to go
The Space Between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...
The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Take my hand
'Cause we're walking out of here
Oh, right out of here
Love is all we need here
The Space Between
What's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you
The Space Between
Your heart and mine
Is the space we'll fill with time
The Space Between...
No comments:
Post a Comment