If you haven’t discovered him yet, you should start paying attention to Pascal Bruckner, a French philosopher deeply involved in our current struggles. His recent book, The Tyranny of Guilt; an Essay on Western masochism, is a first-class analysis of how Western guilt over presumed past crimes has paralyzed us in the present, preventing us from doing the good works our instincts would normally produce. He’s quite right, and although much of his subject matter is European, his insights are as important for us as for his fellow Europeans.
He’s written a very important essay on “Islamophobia,” in which he calls for the word to be banned. He notes that the term was coined by Iranian Islamists, as part of their campaign against the modern Western world, which was the point of the 1979 revolution that brought down the shah. And he goes on to analyze the several ways in which the word is used. First, it equates secularism with fundamentalism, by branding critics of Islam as intolerant fanatics, even when they criticize Muslims for intolerance. Second, it masks the jihad, using “Islamophobia” to deny the accuracy of their critics.
Those two tactics are aimed against us, non-Muslims who criticize the doctrines and practices of the Islamists. “Islamophobia” is deployed in the culture war in order to silence us. It fits seamlessly with the broader strategy of political correctness, which famously criminalizes free speech that offends the followers of favored ideologies.
We are not the only ones that the forces of radical Islam have targeted with “Islamophobia.” Above all, this pernicious concept is aimed at Muslims who want to debate their own doctrines, and perhaps even change them. This point is very often missed by the great majority of pundits, many of whom view Islam as something intrinsically unchangeable. Bruckner does not make this mistake, and his words are as accurate as they are eloquent:
…it wants to silence all those Muslims who question the Koran, who demand equality of the sexes, who claim the right to renounce religion, and who want to practice their faith freely and without submitting to the dictates of the bearded and doctrinaire.
…young girls are stigmatized for not wearing the veil, as are French, German or English citizens of Maghribi, Turkish, African or Algerian origin who demand the right to religious indifference, the right not to believe in God, the right not to fast during Ramadan…they are delivered up to the wrath of their religions communities in order to quash all hope of change among the followers of the Prophet (my emphasis ML).
Since our traditions of free speech are unlikely to be abandoned if there were an open debate, the would-be censors resort to legalistic maneuver; they try to make criticism of Islam or of most any radical Muslim illegal. Bruckner again: “On a global scale, we are abetting the construction of a new thought crime, one which is strongly reminiscent of the way the Soviet Union dealt with the ‘enemies of the people.’”
The establishment intellectuals and the other members of the ruling class don’t want to fight on the side of the opponents of “Islamophobia.” It’s so much easier to simply go along, taking refuge, as we have seen in the post-Tucson diatribes, in calls for “civility” that play directly into the hands of the enemies of free speech. As Bruckner warns, “our media and politicians are giving it their blessing. … Every objection, every joke becomes a crime.”
The latest battle in this very important war is now taking place in Copenhagen, in the vicious legal case brought against Lars Hedegaard, the head of the Free Speech Society. In the upside-down Orwellian prison being erected around free speakers, Hedegaard is charged with racism and “hate speech” for criticizing Islamists’ persecution (and sometimes murder) of Muslim women. That such a case should be admitted into a Western courtroom is an outrage and a threat to all of us; that any Western intellectual fails to rally to Hedegaard’s side is a badge of shame.
It’s a tough and nasty fight. Most Americans, most Europeans, and indeed most Muslims, are on our side. But few are willing to fight it out. Pascal Bruckner is one of those who is fighting, and he warrants our attention and our embrace.
Faster, please.
The problem with the West is the fact that it does not understand the tactics real Islamists and radicals use in the West. Khomeinists Islamists and radicals do not believe on western laws. They only abuse the wester laws and particularly the free speech laws to their own benefits. In the other hand and in the most of the Muslim world and even in Arabic countries most of the people are against Islamists. But they can’t exercise their real and sheer power since they are being crushed with terrorist acts, every time they try. This is Islamist policy that said crushed hard any dissident voice and as fast as you can. Now, they are implementing the same policy in the West. For example, they sue a TV station who said something about their abuses. Or sue the countries who shut down their broadcasting of Sharia laws. Now if islamists being ask about media not being free in say Iran, they say this court is not about that issue but about closing the station here in the West. Khomeinists now not only have TV stations in places like UK (Press TV), in Iraq (Al-Alam), and in Lebanon, but scores of satellite stations in Cable TV mostly with huge budget where no one can compete with them. Still, they have many representatives in places like DC, and different foundations and so-called researchers in the best possible institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon directly paid by Khomeinist regime. Now if anybody objects to their propaganda and let the people know who the author of a particular pro-khomienist article is, he / she will be sued big time. This is going on particularly in places like DC and LA. This means the Islamists and Khomeinists with their money and their attorneys, silent their opposition who has no money to defend themselves and I must say very effectively.
If I should look outside and see the sun shining I will be correct in deducing that it is daytime (North Pole excepted). However should there exist powerful forces who wish to benefit from having night be the norm around the clock they will invent a word and call me Lunaphobic. With their control of the tools of propaganda this new word will become a part of the vernacular. Therefore I will be portrayed as someone with mental illness afflicted with this odd phobia who will need PC intervention for my own wellness. One can think of many kinds of such false phobias that have now become the norm, only because they were never challenged and the masses allowed themselves to be swayed by powerful propaganda. It will take courage to stand up to this peer pressure and say out loud “I am not sick, you are”.
Dr. Bruckner is correct; the term ‘Islamophobia’ should be abolished, and along with it the term ‘Islamofascism.’ Both are wildly inaccurate, so inaccurate that they easily fall under the category of anti-intellectualism.
As Dr. Bruckner mentioned in his brief article, there is no such thing as ‘Christophobia.’ But then, there is also no such thing as ‘Christofascism,’ or ‘Hindufascism,’ or ‘Judaofascism.’ If the ideological Left has a tendency to see ‘Islamophobia’ as the strawman misrepresenting an honest criticism of Islamic practices, so too the ideological Right has a tendency to see ‘Islamofascism’ as the term which best defines the murderous practices being criticized.
We cannot have it both ways. Either both terms are notoriously inaccurate because they stem from partisan ideology, or they both are acceptable terms to describe the behavior of ‘the other.’
‘Clerical fascism’ actually exists; it is real, regardless of which salvific religion gives it a home. ‘Theofascism’ exists. They are accurate terms to describe the evolution of Fascism in the 21C, and the fear of what Fascism will do is no ‘phobia’; it too, is real.
As I mentioned earlier certain words are created purely for their propaganda value by those who have an axe to grind. This is nothing new. The only novelty now is the speed with which these words enter the vernacular thanks to instant propagation via cyberspace and 24 hour cable news. Take the link I have posted below. Here Ms. Christianne Amanpour of CNN equates the political atmosphere prevailing today with that of the era of John and Robert Kennedy. A self avowed Marxist-Leninist murders a great supply sider president in cold blood. A Palestinian sympathizer with a redundant name murders the most effective organized crime fighter of his time and yet Ms. Amanpour tries to draw a parallel between those barbaric events with the sad massacre in Tuscon. What a despicable attempt. As an Iranian American I have to apologize for having exported Ms. Amanpour to the United States. I have sinned and I beg for absolution. Absolve me, Pater, quia peccavi. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.
http://tv.breitbart.com/abcs-amanpour-links-jfkrfk-assassinations-to-todays-political-atmosphere/
The single biggest group that is winning the war for Islam in America are the faceless bureaucrats who are legally transporting wholesale, the populations of the Third World into the U.S.
We don’t know who these people are, what there imperatives are, where there moral or legal mandate comes from, nothing. I’m talking about our immigration bureaucracy. Where are the legacy journalists on this one?
Who sets the quotas and how does legal immigration fit into the framework of our laws? Can I object legally? It’s career suicide for any Congressmen to touch this. Journalist will have to start the drumbeat on this one.
Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom of religion: As long as they are within the confines of what the Chinese see as the best of the Tao, or the early Hindis saw as the Rta, or the
pre-Socratic Greek philosophers saw as the Philosophy of the Logos, or the Jews see as the Torah (not the written version), or
the Christians as Jesus Christ – then all will be well.
why are gop tea party members white ,overweight and over 40? where is the youth in your movement? – look at iran’s green movement all are under 30 – tea party are old uneducated ignorant white fools let by an seditionist and child killer sarah palin
maliheh this rant is totally off topic. please try to address the subject we are talking about.
I just finished reading Edwin Black’s book, Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust. I know it is not my place to recommend to you, Dr. Ledeen, to read this book as I am sure your knowledge probably surpasses most scholars but it is a must read for those who may have fallen prey to the incessant propaganda about their “Islamophobia” disease and find their panacea in “I don’t hate the Jews but I sure hate the State of Israel and Zionism”.
agreed. i’m a friend and fan of Mr Black.
Eric Raymond penned this piece years ago on the source of our current ideological predicament. It still rings true today.
http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260
Here are the “truths” from the left that are designed to destroy us:
* There is no truth, only competing agendas.
* All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West’s history of racism and colonialism.
* There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor.
* The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable.
* Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.
* The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)
* For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But ‘oppressed’ people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors.
* When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist’s point of view, and make concessions.
The mullahs, for the most part, are the most perverted and deviant lot that has walked the earth since Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus yet they are obsessed with the exhibition of women’s body parts in public. Interesting picture and article about Baroness Ashton and her choice of an outfit to wear when talking to Iranian officials with a little help from Photoshop.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12289080
“Map” is a word representing a concept, used as a tool, portraying territory. The map is not the territory, and maps can be useful, but only if they are accurate and well-understood. Looking at a map is not walking the territory.
“Islamophobia” is clearly a useful tool for some, but I wonder what reality it actually relates to. As a word, it seems to say more about those using it that those accused of it.
better late than never, here’s my 2 cents about why islamophobia exists and why it should exist among freedom based western civilization
==========
islam is a horrible ideology for human rights
5 key things about islam
1. mythical beliefs – all religions have these (faith) because its part of being a religion: having beliefs without proof until after the believer dies. the problem is people will believe almost anything.
2. totalitarianism – islam has no seperation of church and state: sharia law governs all. there is no free will in islam: only submission to the will of allah as conveniently determined by the imams who spew vapors to feather their own nests. there are no moderate muslims: they all support sharia law.
3. violence – islam leads the pack of all religions in violent tenets for their ideology & history: having eternal canonical imperatives for supremacy at all costs and calling for violence & intimidation as basic tools to achieve these goals.
4. dishonesty – only islam has dishonesty as a fundamental tenet: this stems from allah speaking to mohamhead & abrogation in the koran which is used to explain how mo’s peaceful early life was superseded by his warlord role later.
5. misogyny – present day islam is still rooted in 8th century social ethics: treating females as property of men good only for children, severely limiting their activities, dressing them in shower curtains and worse.
conclusions ??
there really are NO redeeming qualities for this muddled pile of propaganda.
islam is just another fascist totalitarian ideology used by power hungry fanatics on yet another quest for worldwide domination and includes all the usual human rights abuses & suppression of freedoms.
graphics version
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5792/dangero.jpg
1 page pdf version – do file/download 6kb viewer doesn’t show fonts well, has better fonts header footer links, great for emailing printing etc
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_UyNP-72AVKYWNiNTFlYTEtMTA1ZC00YjhiLTljMDUtMDhhNDE0NDMzNmYz