Michael Copeland examines the Koranic basis for the violent response to Koran-burning.
Landesmuseum, ZurichEurope’s William Tell Moment
by Michael Copeland
Everybody knows of the story of the crack crossbowman William Tell, and how he shot an arrow that split an apple on his young son’s head. What fewer people know is how that event came about. It resulted from Tell’s independent spirit, as he courageously defied an unacceptable demand from the disliked foreign authorities. It was in the very early 1300s that Tell’s town of Altdorf was ruled by a tyrannical reeve, Gessler, of the Austrian Dukes of the House of Hapsburg. Gessler had a pole erected in the town with his hat atop, and commanded the people to bow to it when they passed. The penalty for not doing so was death.
The townspeople, taking the easy way out, complied. The ace crossbowman William Tell, however, courageously and defiantly refused. Gessler, knowing of his marksmanship, sadistically offered him a hideous way out of the death penalty: to hit an apple on his young son’s head. In the story the boy was confident and encouraged his father. As we all know, the shot was accurate. Tell, however, revealed that if he had not succeeded he would have shot Gessler. In consequence Gessler had him imprisoned. Later Tell escaped. His example encouraged the population to open rebellion and a pact against the foreign rulers, marking the foundation of the Swiss Confederation.
Complying with the demands of powerful forces is the easy way, but the downhill way: it is how to lose freedoms. Standing up against tyranny takes courage and fortitude. Freedom is not free.
“In this kind of situation, we must stiffen our backs and stand up for our society.”
Who said that? Tell? No. That is Richard Jomshof, Chairman of the Swedish parliament’s Justice Committee. Some high-ranking Muslims in Sweden claim they want to see a “broader dialogue” about Islam. Jomshof accurately divines that they really seek to limit freedom of expression and democracy in line with Islam’s rules. Jomshof approved of their suggestion of a broader dialogue about Islam:
“I agree that we need a ‘wider dialogue’, a dialogue about how we democratize the Muslim world. Or why not a dialogue on Islam, this anti-democratic, violent, and misogynistic religion/ideology, founded by the warlord, mass murderer, slave trader, and robber Mohammed?”
Every claim he makes is easily verified from Islam’s trusted sources. This, however, is of no consequence to the Social Democrats in Sweden, who, self-evidently and most reprehensibly, have failed to inform themselves about Islam. They are horrified that their comforting fantasy, Nice Peaceful Islam, is being disturbed. “Triggered” by this shock, the Social Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesman, Morgan Johansson, resorts to typical Leftist strategy — mischaracterising and blackening. Jomshof, he says:
Continue reading →
Yet another Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow targeted the same high-rise building that was struck yesterday. In the wake of this latest attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it is completely fair for his military forces to strike inside Russia itself.
Member of parliament Johannes Wagner was outraged that the Germans did not want to give up their wealth. “We can still give so much. And we also have a moral obligation to do so,” 
