Muslim community offended by Apple's Fifth Avenue NYC Cube
Ok... we've already seen how ridiculous some of this stuff can be. If we look for insult in everything, we will most certainly find it. The Wiccans "insulted and offended" by portrayals of witches on Halloween don't get my sympathy. Christians "insulted and offended" by the Goddess of Justice, Justitita (or Ma'at, or whomever) in front of our courts get my ridicule as well. Please....can we just get over being offended for just a little while and get on to something IMPORTANT like world hunger or the War in Iraq or whatever?
Muslim community offended by Apple's Fifth Avenue NYC Cube:
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Retail, Cult of Mac
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports that the glass Cube Apple erected earlier this year on New York's tony Fifth Ave, dubbed Apple Mecca by many of the Mac faithful, is offensive to Muslims due to the Cube's resemblance to the Ka'bah (aka The House of Abraham). The report goes on to say that there's a genuine belief that the design of the store was specifically meant to provoke Muslims and cites other contributing insults such Apple housing "bars" that sell alcoholic beverages within the Cube structure and it being open 24/7. 
I'm speechless. But, as you know, that rarely stops me from speaking anyway. I'm hesitant to get into this territory for obvious reasons and I truly mean no disrespect to anyone, but... you and I both know that the design of the 5th Ave store has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, Muslims, Mecca, Abraham, the Kaabah or any religious icon, affiliation or idol whatsoever. It has everything to do with Steve Jobs' affinity (fetish?) for the design of the Power Mac G4 Cube (a fetish of mine also), as well as his pet NeXT Cube. We also know that the "bars" in question don't sell anything resembling alcohol.
It's unfortunate when anyone gets offended by wholly innocuous things that were never intended or designed to offend, and much more so in the current world climate, but seriously... there's nothing there.
The MEMRI report is dated October 10, 2006, though it clearly was written before the 5th Ave Cube was completed, based on the references to stopping the project before it progressed. I'd like to think that now that the black panels have come down, the clear glass Cube that is NYC's flagship Apple Store is recognized to be nothing more than a den of iPodolatry, rather than Idolatry.
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