Manning the Ramparts Against an Existential Threat

When it comes to defending itself against the encroachments of sharia, an incompatible and alien set of relgious laws, the nation that gave the civilized world the Magna Carta has pretty much cried "Uncle" (or however you say it in Urdu). But that doesn't mean the Brits have become supine, gelded dhimmis: Far from it. As the Ceeb reports, they are ever more determined to remain steadfast and resolute in the face of an incipient threat (my blood reds):

Britain's first vampire conference at the University of Hertfordshire in southern England is putting the bite back into the undead.

Sam George, the English literature lecturer at the university who organized the event, contends the vampire myth has become "Americanized" in recent years. Modern vampires, such as those in the popular Twilight movies based on U.S. author Stephanie Meyer's books, are glamourous, sexy and have emotional sides, she says.

She told the Guardian newspaper that the conference, titled Open Graves, Open Minds: Vampires and the Undead in Modern Culture, on Friday and Saturday will turn the focus back to traditional vampire fiction, which is mainly English, and on what vampires say about modern-day society.

Seventy writers and vampire fiction scholars from around the world have converged at the university, which will launch a master's of arts degree in vampire fiction in September.

The writers and scholars will give presentations, discussing the portrayal of vampires in traditional and modern fiction and culture. Panel topics include Undead Victorians, Undead in the New Media and Gendering the Undead.

The best papers from the conference will be collected into a book, which will become a text for the graduate students.

It's the concepts behind vampires that George is interested in, not their physical reality.

"I know some people think vampires exist, but I don't," she told the Guardian. "The conference will be about thinking of vampires in a metaphorical sense, and how they mollify us by playing out our fears in literature."

Vampires help society come to terms with its darker aspects, she added. "In the 1980s, a lot of vampire films and books tackled disease and corruption — it was a way of talking about AIDS. Vampires are used to bring up things we don't want to talk about."...

Except, of course, when the subject is sharia, which, if you let it, will suck the life's blood out of democracy.