Friday, July 01, 2005
All quiet on the European front
Spanish men will be required to scrub toilets and change nappies as often as their harried wives under revolutionary reforms aimed at shattering the traditionally macho Latin nation's patriarchal division of labour in the home.I hope that in the interests of equality, the new law will also apply to gay marriages, which have been legalized in Spain yesterday.
Changes to the marriage contract supported by the Socialist Government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, along with conservative Catholic and right-wing politicians, will force men and women to promise not only fidelity but equal shares of housework, childrearing and care of the elderly until death they do part.
Personally, I think Spain has already done fine enough job shattering its macho image when it rolled over to terrorists in the aftermath of the Madrid bombing, changed the government and pulled out of Iraq. But if the Socialist government feels this trend needs to be further strengthened through legislation, well, who am I to argue?
For Islamists, the West is a Janus-like edifice, and they equally hate both its aspects - Christianity as well as atheism, military might and domestic libertinism. They hate us both for what they see as our strengths and for what they see as our weaknesses. If the United States is a mortal enemy because of its armed power, countries like Spain are mortal enemies, too - unwittingly - because of their perceived decadence like mandated housework and legalized same-sex marriages.
In related news, the tolerant Belgians finally snap:
Iranian officials on a visit to Belgium have upset their hosts by trying to ban alcohol from the lunch table and refusing to shake women's hands.Iranians were not obliged to drink alcohol or toast, but they decided that their hosts can't either. Speaking of himself in third person, De Croo said "Even for someone tolerant like Herman De Croo, that's going a bit far."
Belgium's parliament speaker, Herman De Croo, decided to cancel a lunch rather than hosting a meal with no wine.
Well, I for one, am glad that the Belgians have found some issues - even if it's just booze - worth dying for, or at least canceling lunches, in the fight against Islamism.
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