snapped shot

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From the Who saw that coming? file, it would appear that the pulpit we mentioned a few days ago is now being targeted by outraged Turks. [Ed.:—Okay, maybe not "Turks," so much as they're "Practitioners of the Religion of Peace."] Of course, rather than dealing with the problem (i.e., people who constantly rage against inanimate objects), Belgian authorities have decided that treating the symptoms is sufficient:

Since Friday, we have received threats while the authorities in Belgium, which has a large population of Turkish immigrants, fear that the pulpit and the church may be attacked. The Belgian press reported today that the police is guarding Dendermonde’s Our Lady church to prevent vandalism to church and pulpit.

While it's good to see that the Belgian government is taking steps to protect an historic church, it is genuinely heartbreaking to see Europe so afraid of actually confronting the root of the problem—A complete and utter inability to speak out against the destructive tendencies of the Religion of the Perpetually Offended. Notice, however, that the Belgian government has plenty of time to speak out against the "real" aggressors here:

According to the Belgian press the pulpit controversy has been deliberately caused by [the Brussels Journal], which is being described as “pretending to be neo-conservative” but run by “neo-fascists.” Piet Buyse, the mayor of Dendermonde, told the media that he deplores that the pulpit “figures on websites which aim to provoke negative reactions from Muslims.” The mayor said that the depicted man represents an unbeliever and may also be Luther or Calvin.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of negative reactions:





Update: If you'll allow me, here's a really brief summary of what's going on. I would've said this earlier, but it hadn't occurred to me yet. (I know, I can be a real slowpoke sometimes.)

• Church and pulpit built shortly after Crusades Battle of Vienna
• Church sits largely unnoticed for centuries, until
• Tourist runs across "interesting" pulpit, takes picture of it, and posts picture to his blog
• Picture on blog sits idly by, largely unnoticed for 2 years
• Blogger receives hate mail for daring to post the picture, then posts and ridicules letter (once a blogger...)
• Photo and a long-winded condemnation are printed in the front page of a radical Turkish newspaper
• Death threats ensue, leading to
• Inanimate object protected by police, who
• Lay the blame for all of this outrage at the foot of our poor tourist.

Seriously—why bother with comedy, when reality is so much funnier?

Update 2: For all of the serial outrageists that are demanding the removal of this pulpit, I present a gift.

See Also:

Ace of Spades HQ, Atlas Shrugs, DogfightAtBankstown, Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Tizona's Weblog, Stable of Zionist Hore #2, This Goes to 11, Pat Dollard, QubeTV, FreeRepublic, Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar, A Fine Mess, Born Again Redneck (Awesome!), Jihad Watch, The Bellicose Augur