Albanian Statue Controversy

Finally got around to reading Saturday's edition of the Taipei Times, and my jaw hit the floor when I saw a one paragraph piece on Albania.  WTF?  Muslim groups in Albania are opposing plans to erect a statue in honor of their country's most famous daughter: Mother Teresa.

You heard me.  Mother-freakin'-Teresa.

(Image via Nobelprize.org.)

At this point, I'm thinkin' it's one of those April Fool's Day stories.  Gotta be.  But no, Reuters reported it as well:

...Muslim groups in [the Albanian city of] Shkoder rejected the local council plan for a Teresa statue, saying it "would offend the feelings of Muslims."

[...]

"We do not want this statue to be erected in a public place because we see her as a religious figure," said Bashkim Bajraktari, Shkoder's mufti or Muslim religious leader.

...men in one Shkoder bar said they would prefer a monument to an Albanian fighter who blew himself up in order to avoid being captured by enemy Serbs...

So, Muslim clerics are opposed, as are the faithful.  At least, the pub-crawling beer-drinkers among them, anyways.

Now, what's wrong with this picture?  Democratic Taiwanese can't TAKE DOWN down statues of dictators, while Muslim Albanians can't PUT UP statues of saints?*

This one's filed under 'Islamofascism', although I realize that's a bit of an exaggeration.  What I SHOULD do is create a new category called, "Muslim Lack of Graciousness Towards Other Religions," and put the post there.

But I'm much too lazy to do all that.  Sue me.

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* My first post on the failed efforts to remove Chiang Kai-Shek and Chiang Ching-Gwoh statues from Taiwanese military bases can be found here.  The second is here.

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UPDATE:  ABC News places a more positive spin on the story, stating that the city's largest Muslim group has given the proposed bust of the Roman Catholic nun their blessing, despite the objections of three smaller organizations.  Still, the other groups ARE busy doing their best impression of communist China, warning everyone that social peace could be shattered by green-lighting the "provocative" memorial.

Comments

[ahmdo]

of course jorge w bush send poors americans to irak to protect israel and dominate and occuppy islam land to stop any development , the west wante a weak islam , this will never happen , we will fight until free our land of zionism , the stupide bush is a christian , he think that god is a jew human called jesus , therfore he need to send americans to irak to protect jews !!! , jesus is god , jesus is a jew , this mean sharon is a broder of god !! , christians are retardeds pagans , listen to me : god is not a jew human , god is greater then universe no thing like him , has no son no father no wife , god is not a jew fammily !!! , he is allah the only god , see terrorism in bible www.answering-christianity.com

[The Foreigner]

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Not sure what any of that had to do with statues of Mother Teresa in Albania, but here goes...

The way I see it, Saddam Hussein has killed more Muslims than anyone in the 20th Century, so Muslims ought to be THANKING George Bush for deposing him. Moreover, I await the day Muslims protest against Al Qaeda's sending of suicide bombers into Iraqi mosques to slaughter Muslims at prayer.

Naw, that's all hunky-dory. GEORGE BUSH is the bad guy.

Your rant against Christians and Jews proves my point entirely. Muslims seem to be utterly incapable of seeing the good in other religions, or peacefully coexisting with them. Do Muslims get along with Jews? Nope. With Christians? Uh-uh. Hindus? What, are you kidding? Orthodox Christians? Does Beslan ring a bell? And Buddhists? Well, let's just say that right now Buddhist monks are getting their heads lopped off in southern Thailand.

By benevolent members of the "Religion of Peace".

(You say you want Isreal destroyed because it's "occupying" Muslim land. Would you mind too much then if Western countries began expelling Muslims, too? I mean, as far as Christians are concerned, Muslims are nothing more than heretics living on CHRISTIAN land. Fair's fair, isn't it?)

Here in Taiwan, there's a Buddhist nun (named Su Chee, I think), who has set up one of the biggest charitable organizations in the world. Not a Muslim-type charity, which funnels funds to would-be terrorist bombers of civilian aircraft in London, but a real charity, which gives to the needy.

Now, I'm not a Buddhist. I'm not familiar with their doctrines, and I suspect that if I was, I might consider certain elements of their faith to be a bit silly. Despite that however, I would have absolutely NO problem if someone wanted to build a statue of Su Chee right next door to my house. Right next door. Because religious tolerance helps me appreciate the good that people of other faiths can do, even if I subscribe to a faith other than theirs.

Unfortunately, there are too many Muslims who would react just as they did with Mother Teresa. Su Chee, they would say, is an infidel (a pagan, in your words), unworthy of being honored, despite all the good she does upon the face of this earth.

So let me tell you this, unequivocably: Su Chee and Mother Teresa bring more credit to their respective religions than a milion Muslim shoe-bombers, a million Osamas, or a million Nasrallahs. Unlike those other pieces of shit that I've mentioned, Su Chee and Mother Teresa DESERVE statues in their honor.

(BTW, I notice that your e-mail address is "seeker of paradise virgins". Since you're so kind as to give me unsolicited information about the nature of God, allow me to return the favor. First, God didn't put heaven in place in order to be anybody's whorehouse. And secondly, the creator of heaven and earth doesn't choose pedophiles to be his prophets.)