Posted on 10/08/2001 3:03:39 AM PDT by Sabertooth
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's comment that Western civilization is superior to Islamic culture, while obvious to all whose minds aren't locked in a prison of political correctness, took guts to say.
That Europeans reacted to Berlusconi -- a bright light on a continent of dim bulbs -- with outrage and horror is symptomatic of the malaise afflicting the West.
"We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilization, which consists of a value system that has given people widespread prosperity ... and guarantees respect for human rights and religion," Berlusconi told a group of journalists. "This respect certainly does not exist in Islamic countries."
"I can hardly believe Mr. Berlusconi made such remarks," wailed Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who assured us the European Union "is based on values such as multiculturalism and the meeting of different civilizations."
For Europe's elite, it is a matter of faith that all cultures are created equal.
Thus, a civilization that gave the world democracy, civil liberties and the industrial revolution and computer age is judged no better than a culture where democracy is unknown, rights non-existent, tribal bloodshed the norm and a few live in palaces while most inhabit hovels.
Democracy is as alien to the Islamic world as Jimmy Dean's pork sausage.
There are one-party regimes (Syria, Libya, Iraq, the Sudan, Afghanistan), oligarchies with parliamentary facades (Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, the Palestinian Authority), military dictatorships (Pakistan) and traditional Islamic regimes (Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Gulf states).
In the West, the opposition is represented. In the East, it's interred. In 1970, Jordan's King Hussein crushed PLO forces, killing 20,000 in a week. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad of Syria liquidated the entire city of Hama, center of a Sunni revolt. In 1998, the Taliban systematically slaughtered thousands of ethnic Hasara -- some had their throats cut, others were suffocated inside metal containers. An estimated 100,000 have died in Algeria's decade-old civil war.
The Taliban judge presiding over the trail of Western aid workers accused of Christian proselytizing says they'll get a fair trial. Would that be before or after he hangs them?
In our new ally, Pakistan, a professor is on death row for contradicting orthodox Moslem teaching. In Egypt, Saad Eddin Ibrahim was sentenced to seven years hard labor for "defaming" the nation by documenting persecution of Coptic Christians. A friend of mine, a Pakistani lawyer, was asked to lecture to an American audience on religious tolerance in the Islamic world. "I told them it does not exist," he laughingly informed me.
On this point, you won't get an argument from Christians and animists in Sudan, Jews and Bahais in Iran, Serbs in Kosovo, Hindus in Afghanistan or Christians in Indonesia (subjected to a campaign of forced conversion).
Diversity and tolerance aren't the only things in short supply in this part of the world, which has little of value except oil -- a resource discovered and developed by Westerners.
Egypt doesn't give America $2 billion annually in foreign aid. Italians don't enter North Africa illegally seeking a better life. One reason fundamentalists loathe Western capitalism is the vivid contrast it provides to their backwardness.
Islam made significant contributions to science and mathematics -- roughly a millennium ago. More recently, it has enriched humanity with such concepts as jihad, fatwa, clitorectomies, "honor killings" (of female relations accused of sex outside marriage), amputating limbs as punishment for various offenses and suicide bombings. The 19 men accused of perpetrating the horrors of Sept. 11 all had names like Ahmed and Muhammad. Would you believe it, there wasn't a Shawn or Seymour among them.
If the Arab League is offended by this assessment -- well, I don't see any paeans to our culture penned by the mullahs or imams. They're too busy denouncing Western decadence, economics and political
Only the West is afflicted with self-doubt. Only we have succumbed to the doctrine of cultural equivalence.
When America went to war with Nazism and Japanese militarism, it was with the unshakeable conviction that Judeo-Christian culture was superior to these throwbacks to the Dark Ages. Those who would defend civilization must first acknowledge that it is preferable to the alternative.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
In what way were his remarks "dumb"? I didn't see a single wrong word in his whole statement. If it was so "dumb",it should be easy for you to point out the stupidity to all of us.
BTW,ALL organized religions are evil,and Islam is the MOST evil. It is a evil religion ran by ignorant fools who are psychopaths,and whose followers make the ignorant rednecks who follow tv fundamentalist Christian "preachers" in this country look like good-natured rocket scientists who are stand-up comedians on weekends.
goldstategop calls the hardline leftists .........Saddam Left!
Frothy, isn't he?
Check out:
Four Articles on the Relation between "Moderate" Islam and Islamic Fundamentalism
Could you provide a link? All I found is a link to "Corriere" article about bin-Laden's attempt on King of Jordan's life. No linkage to "Fallaci"
Answer from "Wyborcza" search engine: Szukales: Fallaci Nie znaleziono odpowiedzi spelniajacej zapytanie. (You were searching for "Fallaci". No such item on our site.)
Sabertooth and valin: Both are excellent articles. Thank you for your research.
As more people begin to understand the nature of the beast that we are at WAR with...they may wake up....(or, so reasonable people can hope)
Regards,
Berlusconi tells ambassadors that he respects Islam (Berlusconi agli ambasciatori: rispetto l'Islam)
Corriere della Sera - Europe; Oct 3, 2001 .... http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=011003004865
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi met with the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia and Palestinian representatives yesterday, in order to clarify the recent remarks he made on the "superiority" of western civilisation, which caused great offence among many Islamic nations. Mr Berlusconi maintains that there was "a plot, a conspiracy to discredit me in the eyes of my Arab friends".
The three hour face-to-face meeting was Mr Berlusconi's way of trying to close once and for all a chapter, which has caused widespread controversy in international circles. The ambassadors had asked explicitly that he either apologise or retract his statement. The Italian prime minister concluded by saying that he has a "deep respect for Islam".
World Reporter All Material Subject to Copyright
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Italian PM says civilisation row a conspiracy of left-wing press
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Oct 2, 2001 ...... http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=011002007902
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told Muslim ambassadors in Rome on Tuesday that he is a victim of the left-wing press in the furore over his comments about civilisation, Italian TV reported.
Berlusconi met with the ambassadors to Italy of Senegal, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the Palestinians in an attempt to heal the rift opened by his statements in Berlin on 26 September.
Berlusconi gave the ambassadors a transcript of his speech and repeated that he "was a victim of a plot of the left", the TV said.
He said that words he never uttered were ascribed to him, the TV reported, adding that "he used the same line of defence today in an interview" with the Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat.
Source: Rai Tre TV, Rome, in Italian 1700 gmt 2 Oct 01
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.
KEEP TOOTING IT!LOL! And BTTTT to the conservative Berlusconi.
Brilliant.
I realize, however, that begs the question:
If "the vast majority of Arabs and Moslems are peace loving and moderate," then why do they need the West to clean their house of this virulent "tiny fraction" of murderous, evil savages?
As more people go to bed wondering what they'll wake up to (ala 9/11, Florida Anthrax), THEN maybe they'll wake up.
Stoppa that! You're making me hungry. Making a good fish soup is difficult. The biggest sin is to overcook the fish.
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