I believe in letting an invader in and then setting a good example. That is the reply Benjamin Britten gave to a tribunal for the registration of conscientious objectors in 1942 when asked "What would you do if Britain was invaded?" I was reminded of it when researching my recent article on Marco Pallis , who was an authority on both Tibetan Buddhism and early music, and, together with Britten, a champion of Purcell . In his best-selling book Peaks and Lamas , which was written in 1939, Pallis tells this story about the Sakyas , the ethnic group of which Gautama Buddha was a member which inhabited the foothills of the Himalayas. News was brought to them of an impending attack by a hostile tribe and it was debated anxiously whether resistance should be offered or not. Eventually they decided that, as followers of [Buddhist] Doctrine, they were debarred from offering armed resistance, but must welcome the invaders as friends, so they threw down their arms... The Tibetans, how...
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Maybe we should start a fund to give Mr. Sarkozy some geography lessons!
Except for Constantinople, a traditionally European/Chrsitian city until capture by Turkish/Muslim imperialists in 1453, the vast majority of Turkey is indeed in Asia, and it is wishful thinking - culturally, politically, and economically - for fashionable multi-culti leftists to pretend Turkey is as "European" as any of the EU states.
And Dennis, comments are very welcome on the path, name calling isn't - and I'm very strict on that one.