Free Piglet!

I know this story is a little older, but then again I am slow and old myself. Winnie the Pooh was a childhood favorite of mine, and the Tigger in my soul required me to comment on it even at this late date in the defense of my friends from the 100 Acre Wood.

Muslims Win Toy Pig Ban: Workers in the benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, were told to remove or cover up all pig-related items, including toys, porcelain figures, calendars and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

And it isn't just there;

School Bans Pig Stories: A West Yorkshire head teacher has banned books containing stories about pigs from the classroom in case they offend Muslim children.

Porcelain Pigs offend Muslims: LEICESTER -- Police here in central England seized a collection of porcelain pigs from a house's window sill after Muslims complained that they were offensive.

How can a story about an anthropomorphic fictional character be offensive? Or little figurines someone collects? Practicing Jews have the same dietary restrictions and don't find "Three little pigs" offensive. I can understand the restriction, but it isn't as if Winnie Pooh is stuffing a pork roast under anyone's nose, or the woman was hanging out of her window taunting them with sausages.

I wonder where the tolerance has gone? Has it always been gone? I suppose if I could answer those questions Homeland Security would write me a large check. One of the podcasts I find very interesting is History according to Bob. Over the past few weeks he's done short lectures on the life of the Prophet, Islamic sects, the crusades, etc. And I've been listening to an interesting audio book on the crusades from the Islamic point of view.

One of the things he pointed out is that the early Muslims considered people of Jewish and Christian faith to be 'near brothers'; or believers in the same one God. Infidels were originally those who did not believe in the one God. He pointed out that the Prophet even had a Jewish and Christian wife. In doing some web research on that fact, the Jewish wife is listed in many places, and a Christian named 'Mary' is listed as a concubine. However, some of these sites contradict themselves on other facts, so I can't determine their accuracy.

So where did the intolerance, hate and fanaticism come from? Or issues like the one below, listed on Dhimmi-Watch:

Dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians. Dhimmis, "protected people," are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, is part of the law that global jihadists are laboring to impose everywhere, ultimately on the entire human race.

Those do not sound to me like the teachings of the Prophet? But then again, I don't suppose Christianity has done much better at remaining true to their ideals. They've caused as much, if not more, war, death, assassination and hatred. I suppose we can just chalk it all up to the phenomenon of social dynamics; following the masses, no matter what path they are walking down.