QED

Islam’s Cavalcade of Pliant Cowards

dhimmisThe Charlie Hebdo murders followed a perverted logic. No unprecedented, out-of-the box act, it was the work of cultural aliens to whom we in the West have already partially awarded the right to crimp and intimidate our civil society and its heritage, not least in Section 18C-style efforts to gag free speech. The “endarkenment” is what columnist Brendan O’Neill calls the movement to erase the gains accrued since the Enlightenment, and he is not guilty of exaggeration.

The recent great march in Paris, led by leaders from around the world, may have appeared impressive at first glance. Yet, many of the political leaders, who led that parade, are hypocrites of greater or lesser degree. Barrack Obama has been severely criticised for preferring to watch a football match, rather than participate in a spectacle supposedly dedicated to free speech. He compounded his indifference by failing to ensure that any member of his administration attended in his stead.

As it happened, Eric Holder, the US Attorney-General, was in Paris. Somehow, he managed to excuse himself from representing the administration at the march. Perhaps, his participation might have stimulated uncomfortable reminders of the First Amendment, for which he and fellow members of the Obama administration have scant regard. Unlike David Cameron and his fellow Europeans, we may in a perverse sort of way give the US Radical-in-Chief and his administration credit for relative honesty when it comes to freedom of speech. After all, was it not Obama who addressed the General Assembly of the UN and vowed, “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”?

In this context, those dead cartoonists and journalists at Charlie Hebdo had it coming. In the aftermath, sending John Kerry to Paris — a visit conducted to the limp musical accompaniment of give-the-world-a-hug folkie James Taylor — was a farcical reminder of the Obama administration’s disregard for traditional democratic allies. By Obama’s reckoning, making nice with freedom’s enemies (Cuba and Iran come immediately to mind) rates a higher priority on the diplomatic scale.

It would have inspirational if the democratic leaders who did turn up, such as Britain’s David Cameron, had refused to associate — march shoulder-to-shoulder, no less — with the likes of Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas. The presence of thugs, opponents of free speech and kleptocrats rendered the entire exercise hollow, pointless and, ultimately, shameful.

Even the most cursory glance at the actions of various member countries of the European Union makes clear the extent of the retreat from freedom since the West’s victory over the USSR’s strain of totalitarianism.

Let a few examples out of many will suffice:

(1)          Article 266(b) of the Danish Criminal Code was invoked by the Danish Crown Prosecutor in 2010 in an effort to lift the parliamentary immunity of Jesper Langballe, allowing him to be charged for publishing an article about the creeping “Islamisation of Europe” and the subjugated status of Muslim women.

(2)         In February, 2011, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff was convicted of “hate speech” in an Austrian court, found guilty of, “denigrating the teaching of a legally recognized religion”. In December, 2011, the appellate court rejected her appeal, noting that her statements constituted “an excess of opinion”, punishable under Austrian law. In December, 2013, the verdict was upheld by the Austrian Supreme Court.

(3)         On May 30, 2014, the Spanish Supreme Court upheld the ruling of a lower court revoking the refugee status of a Pakistani ex-Muslim named Imran Firasat. His crime? We read that:

“Firasat obtained political asylum in Spain in October 2006 because of death threats against him in both Pakistan and Indonesia for leaving the Islamic faith and marrying a non-Muslim. Spanish authorities, however, took measures to deport Firasat in December, 2012, after he released a one-hour amateur film entitled, ‘The Innocent Prophet: The Life of Mohammed from a Different Point of View.’ The movie, which can be viewed on YouTube, purports to raise awareness of the dangers of Islam to Western Civilization.

The film shows images of the Muslim terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, on double-decker buses in London and on commuter trains in Madrid. The movie, which features many passages from the Koran that threaten violence against non-Muslims, promises to answer the question: “Was Mohammed an inspired prophet of God, or was he a madman driven by his own demons, thus producing a religion of violence and tyranny?”

The willingness of European authorities to provide cover for Islamic totalitarianism is illustrated by the Dutch public prosecutor’s 2009 indictment of Geert Wilders for for his public comments about Muslims and Islam and release of a short film documenting inflammatory, bloodthirsty passages in the Qur’an.

I could go on citing examples, all of which would bare the unctuous humbug of political leaders who have the unmitigated gall to present themselves as dedicated defenders of free speech even as they betray it.

Strip away the pretense and we find a de facto agreement between Islamists and the political-cum-legal establishment, a concord acknowledging that criticism of Islam is not legitimate and cannot be allowed, even if the legal system and the West’s traditions must be twisted pretzel-like in order to silence it. Cowards but not fools, they have absorbed the persistent message of those in the vanguard of Islam’s hegemonic ambitions:

Either you take legal action to prosecute and silence Islam’s critics, or we will take direct action. You can choose to impose fines or imprisonment, or we can impose death. Because you allowed Charlie Hedbo to offend us, we took that direct action.

Don’t let it happen again.

Message received loud and clear.

3 thoughts on “Islam’s Cavalcade of Pliant Cowards

  • en passant says:

    Unfortunately there is no hope for Oz while the three or four major political parties, the MSM, academia and the legal profession (using their lawfare weapon) continue to suppress free speech, free thought and freedom to placate a ruthless, murderous cult that is intent on destroying the West and its culture. Quislings all as they construct a façade that criticism of hate as a threat to peace, but not the real hate that is embedded in the DNA of … dare I say it? …. Islam.

    • bemartin39@bigpond.com says:

      The vast majority of western leaders are cowards, as are most journalists and commentators. Either that or they are stupid beyond belief. Those few who fearlessly speak the true facts about Islam, such as Geert Wilders, are ostracised and denigrated by the cowards/fools. It is not unreasonable to fear that Islam will succeed in conquering the world, considering the legions of “useful idiots” enthusiastically advancing their agenda.

  • denandsel@optusnet.com.au says:

    Below is my reply to Pete Smith on the same topic – the threat to freedom/western way of life.

    It is the totalitarian nature of Islam that makes it such a threat to freedom everywhere, and to the Western way of life, much more so than any theological considerations.
    In past times Theistic religions were the intellectual and philosophical foundation stones of most societies. Almost all were, and mostly still are, philosophically of the left, and were frequently authoritarian. Even Christianity. Some were authoritarian to the extent they were totalitarian, especially Islam. It still is.
    Fortunately for the Western world, most especially the English speaking parts of it, Christianity underwent an intellectual renaissance. Much of it was due to the efforts of Martin Luther, and even Henry VIII. Albeit that much of Henry’s contribution was accidental and did not have a substantial intellectual base. This renaissance had substantial and lasting influences on the Catholic Church.
    One of the unfortunate affects of the renaissance was that the churches ‘authority’ was weakened to the extent that it no longer set the ‘moral compass’ for much of society. Modern secular ‘authorities’ in Academia, the judiciary and the media now have their ‘moral compass needles’ attracted to Marxist magnetic fields rather than those of the church. This being despite that Marxism is basically a ‘godless’ religion.
    On a personal basis, although I am an atheist I regard the LACK of values and standards inherent in Marxist ‘theology’ to be more harmful to humanity than religious beliefs and values. This being despite that to my mind most religions are based on myths and fairy tales.
    Many secular leftists have the mistaken belief/confidence that they can somehow use Islam to weaken/debilitate Western society/Capitalism to the extent that they will then be able to pick up the pieces of what is left of civilisation to establish their mythical socialist utopia. To me that notion is nothing more than a masochistic suicidal death wish. Islam is totalitarian.
    Secular totalitarian would be dictators in most cases can be bargained with, even those with nuclear weapons. The lack of a belief system and objective values of the secular totalitarians, most specifically that of an ‘afterlife’ was a huge factor in the successes of Reagan and Thatcher, and to a lesser extent Karol Woijtyla [Pope John Paul 11] bringing down the Berlin Wall and helping to reduce communist totalitarianism [even if not Marxism as such] to a level of political and philosophical impotence.
    Islamic totalitarians, be they theologians [mad mullahs] or terrorists will not be as easily bargained with or deterred from undertaking precipitous and aggressive actions because believing in afterlife and ‘rewards’ in heaven they do not fear death to the extent that the secular despots do. Some even welcome it.
    The ‘fight’ both intellectual and physical against Islamic totalitarianism has been going on since the seventh century. It contributed greatly to the last ‘dark ages’. It will not be ended quickly or easily and is made more difficult by the actions of the ‘useful idiots’ of the secular left, but it must be fought. If the Islamic totalitarians armed with nuclear weapons are not stopped then the next ‘dark ages’ will be very long, if not eternal.
    Dennis

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