Tart Cider: This little piggy had roast beef

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October 04, 2005

This little piggy had roast beef

If Islam cannot "co-exist" even with Pooh or the abstract swirl on a Burger King ice-cream, how likely is it that it can co-exist with the more basic principles of a pluralist society?

(Background on this genuinely astonishing pig fracas here.)

This is an uncommonly stupid story, but it's being co-opted and blown out of proportion all over town. It's just one silly decision, after all, by one silly Council manager (name of Mike Williams) in response to one silly employee's silly complaint. I see no reason here to conclude that Islam can't or won't rest until A.A. Milne's porcine characters are eradicated from the public consciousness, and every reason to conclude — again, unfortunately — that there are a lot of petty jerks out there who get their jollies from shitting in other people's breakfasts.

"Piglet is deeply offensive and so's your chocolate ice-cream," writes Steyn, "but if a West End play opens with a gay Jesus, Christians just need to stop being so doctrinaire and uptight." Hmm — perhaps. But in both cases, the most salient point is that everyone just needs to chill the hell out. What distinguishes this story from others is its absurd triviality. It would be the same if a Jew had demanded that all bivalve-themed desk trinkets be banished from his workplace… except we'd never have heard about that, because jerks aren't news.

Muslim jerks are news — well, barely. The above-linked Express & Star (from the Midlands, where you'll find Dudley Council) and über-tabloid The Sun are the only British media outlets to have picked up on this as a news story. Other than that, it has mostly been championed by those in the blogosphere who are obsessed with the inferiority of Islam, the ongoing abandonment of our Judeo-Christian principles to appease Muslim extremists, or both — people, in other words, who believe that each silly little PC decision is a crucial surrender in the war against Islamic extremism. Personally I don't think that the enemy in that particular war is smart enough to pull off such a cunning subterfuge.

Dudley Council should not have granted this employee's request. (Dudley Council is an organization, of course, not a person, though my mind's eye can't help conjuring up some sort of profoundly defeated, Droopy-esque civil servant.) It's bad news for society when people think they can make such demands and have any chance of "success", such as it is, and therein lies the insidiousness of political correctness — it weakens character, allows policy to subvert common sense. This happens all around us, every day, in many non-religious contexts, and it isn't every Muslim's fault if one Muslim raises a stink about Piglet imagery in his office. Such decisions will take us — are taking us — a lot of unpleasant places, but I don't see Islamofascism on the itinerary.

Posted by Chris Selley at October 4, 2005 10:13 PM

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Comments

When set against the latter-day Monkey Trial presently unfolding in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, this incident is indeed trivial, and I believe that you have hit the nail squarely on the head regarding its absurd prominence in the blogosphere and elsewhere. Islam, not stupidly-executed PC pirouetting, is what is at issue here.

Could it be, though, that this piglet-fascination is not merely motivated by the opportunity to affront Muslims during Ramadan? I suspect something deeper, a kind of fearful projection. Here is the clinical text:

"By and by Piglet woke up. As soon as he woke he said to himself, 'Oh!' Then he said bravely, 'Yes,' and then, still more bravely, 'Quite so.' But he didn't feel very brave, for the word which was really jiggeting about in his brain was 'Heffalumps.' What was a Heffalump like? Was it Fierce? Did it come when you whistled?
And how did it come? Was it Fond of Pigs at all? If it was Fond of Pigs, did it make any difference what sort of Pig? Supposing it was Fierce with Pigs, would it make any difference if the Pig had a grandfather called TRESPASSERS WILLIAM? He didn't know the answer to any of these questions...and he was going to see his first Heffalump in about an hour from now!"

Posted by: Dr.Dawg at October 6, 2005 10:12 AM

"...people, in other words, who believe that each silly little PC decision is a crucial surrender in the war against Islamic extremism."

A guy was evicted from his home recently because he placed a sign, which could be seen by marchers in the Gay Pride parade, reading: "Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman."

These silly little PC decisions add up. And has anything happened recently to make you think that they're not going to keep coming?

Posted by: Darrell at October 11, 2005 09:54 AM

Darrell,

Is there some magic number of silly PC decisions at which a little-known clause in the Charter kicks in and militant Islam becomes the official state religion or all guys have to start making out with other guys? Silly things add up to zero, by definition.

Posted by: Chris Selley at October 13, 2005 10:40 PM