The manufacture of an "expert"

First, a little background. The man who composed the score for Slumdog Millionaire also composed a piece of Islamic devotional music, called Zikr, or "Remembrance" in Urdu, which due to being (unlike much of the genre) actually sing-able, and moreover, actually appealing to people who don't spend most of their time in the mosque. The piece was picked up by a choir director in a school in Somewhere State, USA and . . . action!



Naturally, my favourite hatemonger picked up the story.

Now, who is this "Expert," Steve Hagerman?

Well, googling "World Turkish Organization" didn't help much. That's because Mr. Hagerman (and "Steve Hagerman" is a curiously un-Turkish sounding name) is not actually associated with any such organization.

He is, however, the president of "Turkish World Outreach." Outreach for what? The beautiful Turkish culture that he wants to share with the world?

Let's check the website, shall we? Oh, here's Mr. Hagerman himself:



So there you have it. The "expert" on Islam is a Christian missionary, whose conception of Muslims is that they are ignorant little children, who sit around the wise white man as he tries to sell them on the idea that the Almighty God needed an innocent upon whom to unleash unspeakable cruelty in order to avoid having to do it to everybody else for a sin committed by Adam.

The kid who quit the choir, is, incidentally, indulging in a little self-righteous attention-seeking. I have been in choirs (baritone/bass, thank you very much) and even sung Christmas carols. I just close my mouth during the bits about divine progeny. This kid could have done the same, but he wanted to be the poster boy for oppressed Christians, and so he got his wish.