{"id":72091,"date":"2019-03-27T17:02:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T23:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=72091"},"modified":"2019-03-27T17:02:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T23:02:57","slug":"mostly-on-christchurch-and-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/mostly-on-christchurch-and-islam.html","title":{"rendered":"Mostly on Christchurch and Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Waitangi,<\/a>
New Zealand, or Aotearoa, is so idyllic in so many ways that the brutal massacre at the two mosques in Christchurch came as an almost wholly unexpected and especially horrific shock. \u00a0This is one of my friend Louis Midgley\u2019s favorite places: the Bay of Islands, as seen from Waitangi, on New Zealand\u2019s North Island. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My friend Mike Davis shared this story with me over the weekend, about archaeological findings in Israel\u2019s Negev Desert (which doesn\u2019t look very much like the Bay of Islands or New Zealand generally):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c1,500-year-old garbage dumps reveal city\u2019s surprising collapse: Archaeologists thought Elusa, a popular Roman wine center, collapsed with Islam\u2019s arrival. Its trash reveals a very different\u2014and alarming\u2014reason.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another account:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Garbage Heaps Show Fading Byzantine Empire Was \u2018Plagued\u2019 By Disease and Climate Change\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has long been assumed that Islam came roaring out of the desert in the early seventh century, armed and militant, and sorely damaged the thriving Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. \u00a0Now, though, it\u2019s apparent that climate change and disease had already done considerable damage \u2014 as anybody familiar with the lethal plagues of the Emperor Justinian\u2019s day should already have suspected.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do so many Egyptian statues have broken noses?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some stories that you might enjoy \u2014 or, at least, find meaningful \u2014 related to the recent mass murders in Christchurch, New Zealand:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHamilton Latter-day Saints Welcome Muslim Neighbours\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This one-man performance of the traditional Maori haka has been viewed by nearly a quarter of a million people. \u00a0Be advised that it takes a while before the man is actually shown:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand shooting: Man performs emotional Haka dance at Christchurch attack site\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I found this clip quite moving:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMuslim News Anchor Reacts to Christchurch Attack\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand students honor shooting victims with haka dances\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Terrorism has no religion\u2019: Perth Imam\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAuckland\u2019s St Paul\u2019s College Sing \u2018No Maria\u2019 at Ponsonby Mosque\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Muslim boys enacting a Maori tradition:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAl-Madinah Boys Perform Emotional Haka\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I don\u2019t have any grudge\u2019: Husband of victim says he forgives terrorist: Farid Ahmad, whose wife Husna Ahmad was killed in the New Zealand terrorist attack says he harbours no hatred toward terrorist Brenton Tarrant, insisting forgiveness is the best path forward.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve posted previously about the brazen, unashamed appearance of tyrannical religious bigotry in San Antonio:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Antonio and the rise of anti-religious tyranny in the United States\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the Alamo!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This odd notion of exclusion as a way of enforcing inclusion, of intolerance as the royal road to tolerance, of openmindedness requiring the suppression of dissenting opinions, is surprisingly common in certain circles \u2014 and, in at least one case, it\u2019s now being justified on the basis of . . . well, the mass murders in Christchurch:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand Bookstore Bans Jordan Peterson Bestseller:\u00a0Following mosque attack still sells Hitler\u2019s \u2018Mein Kampf'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCambridge Rescinds Its Offer to Jordan Peterson\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I recently read a book by Jordan Peterson, and I confess that I\u2019m still not quite understanding his immense appeal. \u00a0But I certainly<\/em> don\u2019t undertand the need for him and his views to be silenced.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 My friend Mike Davis shared this story with me over the weekend, about archaeological findings in Israel\u2019s Negev Desert (which doesn\u2019t look very much like the Bay of Islands or New Zealand generally): \u00a0 \u201c1,500-year-old garbage dumps reveal city\u2019s surprising collapse: Archaeologists thought Elusa, a popular Roman wine center, collapsed with Islam\u2019s arrival. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMostly on Christchurch and Islam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    My friend Mike Davis shared this story with me over the weekend, about archaeological findings in Israel's Negev Desert (which doesn't look\" \/>\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\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/mostly-on-christchurch-and-islam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mostly on Christchurch and 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