Interesting if true department. A British tabloid is reporting that prime exemplar of Western values Madonna is now being targeted for terror by groups unhappy over the current battles in Gaza. Madonna has two strikes against her: first, while she once sang a song called “Like a Virgin,” she’s made no bones about her lack of virginity and has been marketing her sexuality in musical form for over a quarter century. Second, she’s one of the more prominent dabblers in Kabbalah, a Jewish sect. Some of the fanatics apparently think the proper method for dealing with the international superstar is to give her the Daniel Pearl treatment.

Not surprisingly, this is plenty upsetting. From the article:

Last week The People uncovered the hatred aimed at Madonna when we infiltrated secret fundamentalist Muslim websites. Our investigator posed as a British extremist to gain entry to the password-protected sites.

On the notorious Islambase site, a Palestinian terror leader says: “If I meet these whores I will have the honor to be the first one to cut the head off Madonna if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam.”

The vile threat was made by Muhammad Abdel-Al, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees – a fringe group of Palestinian militia who have launched thousands of rocket attacks on Israel.

Another misspelt rant on Islambase says: “What can be done to stop kuffars like maddona supporting the killing in Gaza?”

On another site called Ummah a fanatic naming himself Hammed10 writes: “Madonna is a disgrace.

“She insults us with her slutty behaviour and then she insults us further with her love of the Jewish kuffar non-Muslims.

“Some brothers were talking about what to do about this the other day on another site. I don’t want to say too much on here. But you can pm me send a private message.”

 

I don’t spend a lot of time on Islamist chat sites, and this one appears to be some sort of (Don’t Show Your) Facebook for chatty terrorists, so I can’t independently verify the reportage here. But it rings true. It’s simply not a good idea to get on the bad side of people who have shown the propensity to make good on threats. Reading between the lines, it’s hard to tell if the grievance is with Maddona’s 25+ years of flouting conventional norms, her dabbling in Kabbalah or that she’s apparently not especially interested in dating “the brothers.” In any event, there’s reason for Madonna to worry. Because she has been able to parlay her gifts and her impressive ambition into international fame and fortune, she’ll be able to protect herself and her children, most likely. That’s the good news.
Still, I suspect that the lesson here is not that fanatic Muslim extremists are still about. Of course they are. What I think is more noteworthy is that Madonna and her pals in the entertainment industry are typically a lot more exercised with Rick Warren’s involvement in the Obama inaugural than with the existential threat that radical Islam poses to the West and a way of life that allows entertainers like Madonna to operate in freedom. I’m a Catholic boy and I always watched with interest and amusement how Madonna, a not so good Catholic girl, spent a large portion of her career using the symbols of the Church in ways that were, well, blasphemous. I know that it always bothered people like William Donohue and other devout Catholics. That said, never once did it ever occur to anyone that she should be beheaded. There was a time when the Church would take a dim view of blasphemy and it usually didn’t go very well for the blasphemer. Thankfully, we’ve left that behind. Madonna can dangle her crucifixes and her marital aids and anything else she wants and it doesn’t threaten my faith. Perhaps this news might give some of the more silly celebrities pause and make them realize where the real threat lies. But I’m not holding my breath.
(H/T: Captain Ed)