A lot of people are talking about the recent vandalism of two liquor stores in Oakland. The reports are identical: a group of “well-dressed vandals” entered the stores, smashed the hell out of their inventory and displays, and told the clerks to “stop poisoning our neighborhoods, then left.
What very few are doing, however, is pointing out the obvious facts:
1) The “well-dressed vandals” are all young black men in dark suits and bowties — the “uniform” of the Black Muslim movement.
2) Alcohol is strictly forbidden to devout Muslims.
3) The stores targeted so far are owned by Arabs — mostly “mainstream” Muslims.
4) There has long been tension between “mainstream” Muslims and the Black Muslim movement.
The conclusion seems obvious, even from the other side of the country: the Black Muslims are apparently looking to assert their influence in their community, and have decided that the liquor stores are a bad influence on the neighborhood. The fact that the owners call themselves “Muslims” yet still sell booze is a special affront to them, and they have decided to take matters into their own hands.
Again, that’s just speculation. But check out the stories and accompanying videos here and here, and see if you can draw another conclusion.
Very odd bit of news.
Chris
Want odd information? Go rent the movie ‘Malcolm X’ and then do some Google searches on the ‘Nation of Islam’ and make sure you read up on the Wikipedia entries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islam#The_Mother_Plane
Or cease wondering why Michael Jackson is now living in Bahrain http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,10221,17359595-7484,00.html
Better yet, watch the last South Park episode where they pick on Scientology if you want to raise your eyebrow in amazement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapped_in_the_Closet_%28South_Park%29
American Black Muslims are not generally recognized as “true Muslims” by, say, Arab Muslims. There are far too many heterodox beliefs in the Nation of Islam to make traditional Muslims comfortable. This may be a bit of payback.
The video is chilling, especially as the “well-dressed vandals” don’t seem to give a flying fig that they are being taped. Some of them look directly at the survellience camera then go about their business of destroying the store.
Anyone hear anything from Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown (former CA Gov and perennial Dem Presidential candidate)?
Nice to see something where Arab Muslims and most Christians can agree: Neither of us agree with the Nation of Islam.
Looks like Louie the Lip’s boys are making their ‘influence’ felt by detractors from their ideals. I imagine one could now paint their movement with the ‘faschist’ label now that their militeristic nihlism is becoming a ‘problem’ for the general public.
Thats nothing some ‘controled pairs’ can’t fix. Funny how you dont hear of this stuff happening in Texas.
Actually it is not a schism per se necessarily, but under Islamic law, Muslims are required to set another Muslim right when they are doing wrong: this duty is derived from the Qur’anic command to “Command Right and Forbid Wrong” (Q3:104). This essentially turns Muslims into what we would consider “busybodies” going around telling people not to drink, smoke, dance and so forth. Since early Islamic times, bands of youth have gone around pouring out wine and destroying containers of wine since alcohol is forbidden, and these Black Muslims are only continuing Islamic tradition as they see it. That said, therein lies the problem, where Islamic law and tradition conflict with good old American values of freedom and choice.
Wait. This is a serious issue, yes, but should people be encouraged to use motion pictures, wikipedia entries and cartoon characters and their comic featrues as references?
I guess we could then allege that liquor store robberies are works of theatre.
As to the serious…consider who the largest importer and manufacturer (and purveyor) of alcohol in the U.S. is.
Figure it out.
I lived in an area of LA where Black Muslims were often encountered. They are courteous (coldly so), disciplined and in general pose no problems at all. But the merit in their daily behavior stems from unfortunate tenets; whites are evil and non-muslims of any color aren’t much better.
It is their believe that Jews, Koreans, and pretty much merchants of all ilks, have kept the black man enslaved either literallyl or economically.
History teaches us that such disiplined cadres will exert as much force as they dare. And the leaders are always testing the climate for a protest or fracas that risks little and spreads the message.
Yup, definitely looks like Calypso Louie’s foot soldiers. The “Nation of Islam” strikes me as being a protection racket, which means that maybe these liquor store owners were behind on their “payments”.
Well, I have to point out that the willingness to force their dogma on non-believers is a characteristic of all religions, particularly the fundamentalists in those religions.
The religious right in this country will go as far as it can to stuff its views down the throats of the rest of us, so we better start resisting.
maybe just maybe there is a whole lot more than just selling alcohol and pig is going on at crackmarkets?
That’s possible, el malik. Or perhaps the local Nation of Islam is looking to assert his power (after all, it certainly can’t be a woman; that’s against the rules) before he has to order some outright killing, like Malcolm X. Or maybe the local head of the NoI is actually a pedophile, and looking to get attention away from it.
Yet another possibility: el malik is one of those thugs and goons caught on camera, and he’s trying to set up a defense.
For the record, all of those are rampant speculation, without a shred of evidence to back them up — much like el malik’s insinuation above.
J.
‘The religious right in this country will go as far as it can to stuff its views down the throats of the rest of us, so we better start resisting.’
You’re a fucking idiot. You tell me when someone tells you to go church.