I have it on good authority that Channel 4's annual Easter prayer will be led by Robert MugabeI'm for diplomatic efforts toward Iran, but his is a tad over the top:
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will deliver an alternative Christmas message on British television to rival Queen Elizabeth II's annual address, broadcaster Channel Four said Wednesday.Bear in mind this "alternative world view" ranges from apocalyptic rhetoric directed at Israel and the west to the denial of Iran's gay population and subsequently, it's barbaric and medieval use of death by hanging to punish homosexuality. Indeed, by British measures that would seem to be a very alternative world view. I think Channel Four is taking the kumbaya, let's all get along bit to the level of absurdity.
Ahmadinejad will give a brief speech which will go out on 1915 GMT on Christmas Day.
A Channel Four spokesman said the message is a spiritual one and includes Ahmadinejad's wishes for seasonal goodwill.
Channel Four has invited a figure in the news to deliver an alternative Christmas message to the queen's annual broadcast every year since 1993 but Ahmadinejad is the most high-profile guest yet.
The channel's head of news and current affairs Dorothy Byrne said: "As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential.
"As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view."
3 comments:
The Puritans would take a hot poker and shove it through your tongue if you decided to quit being a Congregationalist. Do you think gays lived?
Look, the Iranians are pretty far behind us, but when their people, TWICE, elected the (relatively) pro-Western reform candidate, we upped the rhetoric and started calling them more evil than before.
Ahmadinejad was a completely rational candidate for the Iranians. He was religious, and yet not tainted by the corruption of the old guard, he was not pro-Western, and we'd already shown them that that was a worthless effort.
America has a 30% radical Christian voting block. 30% of Americans beleive in the literal truth of the Bible. That's why we support Israel while every other country on Earth votes against them in the UN General Assembly. It isn't a country, it is God's former home on Earth.
That's why we get candidates like Bush, and they get candidates like Ahmadinejad.
You sure aren't going to win any peace prizes _without_ showing that, when they feel like it, our "hated" "enemy" can spout the same fake platitudes as our own, corrupt leaders.
An old Iranian saying:
"We used to drink in public and pray in private,
Now we drink in private and pray in public."
Being an outwardly religious Muslim was not the norm in Iran, and it won't be again.
I bet you expect Pashtun tribespeople to be more sophisticated than the 7th century BCE Greeks. Well, they aren't!
Maybe this is easier for me because I know some quite primitive people, and I know saying "You are terribly gauche" won't help.
JSN, you seem to be under the impression that Iran's governmental candidates are free and clear to run a campaign.
You also seem to be under the impression that this post was aimed to malign Iran (you should venture down to my tag cloud and click Iran) as a whole rather than point out the ridiculous nature of Channel four's selection for this years Christmas message.
Love the Iranian saying (though I'd bet it's post 1979.)
As for the Pashtun tribes people, I'd suggest many would make the Spartan's look like Japanese schoolgirls by comparison. And old Pashto saying:
"It took me 100 years to exact my revenge and regain my family honor, my only regret is I acted in haste."
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