{"id":493,"date":"2007-01-13T17:08:02","date_gmt":"2007-01-13T17:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/13\/little_mosque_o\/"},"modified":"2013-05-07T18:47:29","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:47:29","slug":"little_mosque_o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/","title":{"rendered":"“Little Mosque on the Prairie”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In his Defense of Poetry<\/em>, Shelley famously declared poets the \"unacknowledged legislators of the world\".\u00a0 Today, those most able to lay claim to the mantle of behind-the-scenes leadership of the world would be filmmakers rather than poets.<\/p>\n

Hence the importance of popular culture.\u00a0 Whether or not one approves of this state of affairs, you can be sure that \"The Cosby Show\" had more impact<\/a> on racial attitudes than every enlightened book, article or sermon of its time combined.\u00a0 Some would argue that its legacy there is mixed\u00a0 (e.g., Sut Jhally & Justin Lewis\u2019 fascinating media study Enlightened Racism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream<\/a><\/em>), but that\u2019s another discussion.\u00a0 Its influence on popular attitudes as arguably the first major unambiguously positive portrayal of an African-American family in TV history in simply beyond question.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

It gets progressively harder to hate or stereotype as you watch heartwarming stories of another group that remind you of their humanity, however much they may differ from you.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure that many a raging gay-basher has been slowly been dragged in spite of his best efforts to a more balanced and compassionate view of gays by daily exposure to sitcoms like \"Will & Grace\".\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n

So the groundbreaking new Canadian sitcom \"Little Mosque on the Prairie\"<\/a> is cause for celebration for Muslims and all people who value tolerance and peace in North America.\u00a0 Its creator is\u00a0 Zarqa Nawaz, who made a gem of a documentary a few years back called\u00a0 \u00a0\"Me and the Mosque\"<\/a> .<\/p>\n

At the moment, you can watch its the first episode <\/a>on YouTube.com.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve watched it and was very <\/strong>impressed.\u00a0 It\u2019s such a breath of fresh air on multiple levels.<\/p>\n

And you can be sure that the Muslim-bashing crowd is watching this series\u2019 reception with baited breath.\u00a0 Were a show like this to be a big hit, it would be a disaster for their agenda and the lazy sound-bytes it depends on to sound reasonable.\u00a0 As anyone who tried to shout down \"Fahrenheit 9\/11\" or \"The Da Vinci Code \" knows, the conventional means of manufacturing consent<\/a> (a crucial component of which is discrediting your political opponents through negative portrayals in other arenas, such as pop culture) are quite useless against pop culture juggernauts.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Hurry and catch it before it gets yanked off YouTube.<\/p>\n

Exciting things happening up north.\u00a0 \u00a0As usual, when it comes to open debate and multiculturalism, Canada is leading the way in North America.<\/p>\n

Will continue on this topic later.<\/p>\n

Update (2007-01-13) \u2013 A few stylistic tweaks.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the “unacknowledged legislators of the world”.\u00a0 Today, those most able to lay claim to the mantle of behind-the-scenes leadership of the world would be filmmakers rather than poets. Hence the importance of popular culture.\u00a0 Whether or not one approves of this state of affairs, you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-muslims-in-the-melting-pot"],"yoast_head":"\n"Little Mosque on the Prairie" - Akram's Razor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Little Mosque on the Prairie" - Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-01-13T17:08:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-07T23:47:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=akrsraz-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0813314194\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Little Mosque on the Prairie\\\" - Akram's Razor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-01-13T17:08:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-07T23:47:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\"},\"description\":\"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Little Mosque on the Prairie”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\",\"name\":\"Akram's Razor\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\",\"name\":\"Svend White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Svend White\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Little Mosque on the Prairie\" - Akram's Razor","description":"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Little Mosque on the Prairie\" - Akram's Razor","og_description":"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/","og_site_name":"Akram's Razor","article_published_time":"2007-01-13T17:08:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-07T23:47:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=akrsraz-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0813314194"}],"author":"Svend White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Svend White","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/","name":"\"Little Mosque on the Prairie\" - Akram's Razor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-01-13T17:08:02+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-07T23:47:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040"},"description":"In his Defense of Poetry, Shelley famously declared poets the "unacknowledged legislators of the world".  Today, those most able to lay","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2007\/01\/little_mosque_o\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Little Mosque on the Prairie”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/","name":"Akram's Razor","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040","name":"Svend White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Svend White"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}