Exclusive: When is a Scarf Just a Scarf?

by RENEE E. TAYLOR June 5, 2008

Last week, my husband (and fellow FSM contributor) Mark and I got into a rather heated debate over an important issue - scarves. When Michelle Malkin released her article on the scarf worn by celebrity chef Rachael Ray and its possible ties to Islamic culture, I found the whole thing amusing and far-fetched. Yet Mark agreed wholeheartedly with Michelle: that the black and white fringed scarf could have hidden Jihadist meaning.The scarf, much like those I wore in my days as a legal secretary was, in my opinion, a nice accessory to a sweater or suit.Does a scarf bearing the same colors as keffiyeh worn by terrorist Yassar Arafat make it "evil" while the War on Terror rages on?It depends upon which side of the Taylor household you sit.

While we must be vigilant in recognizing the infiltration of Sharia law into American society, is a scarf worn by a celebrity chef in an advertisement as serious as Muslim cab drivers refusing to transport passengers with Seeing Eye dogs or alcohol (a legal substance in the United States)? At what point to we cross from serious discussion to pure paranoia?

This week, a friend of ours sent a link to Wikipedia's entry about the rock classic, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Many people still believe the Freddie Mercury operatic offering, released in 1975, is one of the greatest rock songs ever written.And who can forget Mike Myers' performance of the song in the movie Wayne's World? No one was seeking "hidden meaning" in the dark, brooding song when it came out (except maybe nerds living in their parents' basement like Myers' "Wayne."). In a quote on Wikipedia, Mercury explained the mysterious lyrics behind the song:

"It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them.'Bohemian Rhapsody' didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research although it was tongue-in-cheek and mock opera. Why not?^" (emphasis added)

When Mercury wrote the phrase "Bismillah, no, I will not let you go", was he referring to the word used in Islamic prayers? Was he referring to the alternative Christian meaning, in which Arabic speaking Christians use the work "Bismillah" in referring to the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Perhaps, like much of the song, it is "random rhyming nonsense," which could explain much of the music of that time.

There is no mistaking the threat of radical Islamic influence in the American way of life.Some school teachers, in the name of tolerance and understanding, are teaching our children about Islam in ways that, if the topic were Christianity, would have the public howling.Textbook publishers are either misrepresenting or omitting critical information about Islam and Middle Eastern countries. Our own government is banning terms that refer to Islamic terrorists as just that - Islamic terrorists.Our country is becoming watered down and "tolerant" of radical followers of a belief system that would destroy Western culture and followers of any religion - whether Christianity, Judaism or others - that will not accept dhimmitude.

Michelle Malkin could very well be correct in that a paisley black and white scarf wrapped around the neck of a celebrity in a doughnut ad might hold a terrorist message.Are we marketing iced coffee to Mohammed in a cave, hot after a hard day of terrorist training, or is the scarf just an accessory?Did Freddie Mercury, who was not Muslim, intentionally put the word "Bismillah" into "Bohemian Rhapsody" in an attempt to instill radical Islamic beliefs into rock fans throughout the world in 1975?While psychopathic dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's allowing the song's release in Iran in 2004 in part due to the reference to Bismillah doesn't help the discussion, one should remember that Mercury gave "equal time' in the lyrics to Beelzebub - a Hebrew term often used in reference to Satan.

While we cannot allow radical Islamic theology in any form to creep into our belief system - whether it be by allowing textbooks that misinform our children about the Middle East or allowing the election of a man with insufficient experience and overly idealistic foreign policy to the White House - we also must be mindful that not every black and white scarf holds a hidden Jihadist message.