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It is interesting to go around the American and Canadian blogosphere to see what the outspoken counter-jihad groups are saying about this latest development on the Islamic front.
My reaction, especially after reading the "European" news via Spiegel Online on the Swiss ban on minaret construction, was to think how the Canadian populace could be galvanized into making such a decision. I conclude that it shouldn't be that hard. Ordinary people are the ones who are confronted daily and viscerally with these changes. They are more than likely to vote "no" against such encroachments.
Here are some reactions from very vocal and active counter-jihad blogs.
Gates of Vienna writes: "So what happens next? What can the 'world community' do to teach Switzerland a lesson?" The focus for Gates of Vienna is not on learning from this bold and refreshing vote, but on how negative forces will conspire to punish the Swiss.
Atlas Shrugs' Pamela Geller says: "I wonder how the religion of peaceniks will react...in their usual tolerant and pacifist manner?" No extrapolation of the behavior of the Swiss onto that of Americans', as in: "Can Americans behave like the Swiss?"
Jihad Watch's Robert Spencer predicts (quoting a Times Online article): "Vengeance, boycotts, retaliation ... this clash with Islam could cost dearly." Don't resist Islamic supremacism! It might make the Islamic supremacists angry!
Why this focus on the negative sensationalism? Why not learn from this small country which took a stand for itself against many odds?
I think many of the counter-jihad groups have become so consumed by the negative stories of Islam they write about, that when something refreshingly positive such as the Swiss decision occurs, they cannot pull themselves out of their habitual pessimistic view which underlies much of their writing. This is not a good frame of mind for developing solutions to these problems.
I once thought, and I have to return to that view again, that their lives are so intertwined with Islam and its negativity, that if the definitive solution to Islam were produced, they would have nothing left to do, nothing left to write about. Sub-consciously (am I being too generous here, and is their behaviour actually much more deliberate?), they are sabotaging the counter-jihad movement for the sake of their continued activity.
