Islamic Fundamentalism's Latest Attack on Western Civ: Freedom of Speech

The Hackett Review ^ | Feb 27 2006 | Benjamin Hackett

[BenjaminHackett]

The body count continues to rise in fundamentalist Islam’s latest attack on a Western ideal: freedom of speech. Rioters have taken to the streets holding signs saying “Death to Freedom” and “Freedom go to Hell.” While the offending cartoons, depicting the prophet Muhammad, originated in Denmark, any other Western embassies or innocent bystanders in the way have been attacked at will.

Those that argue that this is a fundamentalist hijacking of the religion are absolutely correct. Yet, when the hijacking argument expands to include the phrases “just a small percentage” and “not very representative,” this is where reality and rhetoric part ways.

The violence has not been limited to one region of the world. Riots have spread throughout the globe from India to Nigeria to Denmark to Afghanistan. Just like traditional peaceful demonstrations in Western nations, many people took to the streets to air their grievances. Unfortunately, the destruction of property and lives soon followed.

The death toll continues to rise. Eleven are dead in Afghanistan. Three people, including an eight-year-old child, are dead in Pakistan. Ten people are dead in Libya. In northern Nigerian territories, where the resident Muslims refuse to live by the Western-style law governing the rest of the country, over 45 people are dead, including a Catholic priest.

Remember, this is over an editorial cartoon published in September of 2005. Supposedly, the depiction of the prophet Muhammad is fueling these riots. However, the Islamic law regarding depictions of the prophet is, by its very definition, not applicable to Western institutions practicing freedom of speech. The prohibition is only restrictive concerning renderings produced by Muslims.

There are those more interested in fueling the fire and destroying Western institutions than in defending the honor of Islam. In one instance, up to $1 million was offered to anyone who kills an artist of one of the Muhammad cartoons. Other offers include lump sums of money and material goods such as cars. The traditional offering of 72 virgins is, as of yet, nowhere to be found.

There is another alarming element in this latest breakout of anti-Western violence. Some of these protests are not simple individual displays of ignorance: They are state-backed, or sometimes state-incited, ignoramuses on parade.

At a recent news conference, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice denounced those governments that have attempted to exploit this controversy for ideological gain. “Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes, and the world ought to call them on it,” she said. The evidence is strong enough for these governments to be called out on a world stage.

Many of these alleged protests are directed by states with political investments made in removing Western influence in their region. Threatened by the promises of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and representative democracy, these states sponsor unrest to divert attention from their own actions.

If the enemy of fundamentalist Islam is Western civilization, then freedom and the ability to choose the direction of one’s life are adversaries of fundamentalist Islam as well. Freedom of speech would loosen the grip of those radical clerics seeking to promote their interests by stoking the flames of these riots.

An objective lens in the region would expose the inequities and gaps between the leadership and their willing flock of suicide sheep.

Uncle bin Laden wants you. Radical clerics call dying in holy war martyrdom, noble, and worthwhile. Yet, in his latest VH1 terrorist pop-up video, Osama bin Laden vows never to be captured alive, wanting never to “find the bitter taste of death.” Hypocrisy?

The command and control structure of both terrorist organizations and fundamentalist political groups, with terrorist wings, requires extensive indoctrination from an early age. Propagandizing the populous is a necessary tool to reign in dissent. Censorship, such as the Iranian blocking of Western entertainment, is a necessary tool to keep recruitment levels high for organizations such as Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the multinational terrorist actor al-Qaeda.

The cartoons’ allegedly offensive content includes renderings of violence. Ironically, the protests over the associations of the prophet Muhammad with violence are both violent and deadly themselves.

As in past instances, condemnations of the violence have been slow in coming. In the rare case that an Islamic cleric does condemn the killings, the censure is preceded with some indignant form of the phrase “We are saddened by the choice to anger one quarter of the world’s population, but we also condemn....”

The base fact is that freedom of speech, of the press, and of the people are directly detrimental to the fundamentalist goal of establishing a worldwide Islamic state, a state ruled by Islamic law.

Kudos to all dedicated journalists and fans of Western civilization, who, whether with good or bad taste, continue to defend these precious institutions. Suppress freedom of speech in a holy war for only 72 virgins? Start me at 73, and then we’ll talk.

[metmom]

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