Ibn Warraq, author of Why I Am Not A Muslim and a member of the Jihad Watch Board of Directors, explains in Der Spiegel why the terrible cartoons of Muhammad are just what the Islamic world needs today:
...The cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten raise the most important question of our times: freedom of expression. Are we in the west going to cave into pressure from societies with a medieval mindset, or are we going to defend our most precious freedom -- freedom of expression, a freedom for which thousands of people sacrificed their lives?A democracy cannot survive long without freedom of expression, the freedom to argue, to dissent, even to insult and offend. It is a freedom sorely lacking in the Islamic world, and without it Islam will remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress; ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. Without this fundamental freedom, Islam will continue to stifle thought, human rights, individuality; originality and truth.
Unless, we show some solidarity, unashamed, noisy, public solidarity with the Danish cartoonists, then the forces that are trying to impose on the Free West a totalitarian ideology will have won; the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. Do not apologize.
This raises another more general problem: the inability of the West to defend itself intellectually and culturally. Be proud, do not apologize. Do we have to go on apologizing for the sins our fathers? Do we still have to apologize, for example, for the British Empire, when, in fact, the British presence in India led to the Indian Renaissance, resulted in famine relief, railways, roads and irrigation schemes, eradication of cholera, the civil service, the establishment of a universal educational system where none existed before, the institution of elected parliamentary democracy and the rule of law? What of the British architecture of Bombay and Calcutta? The British even gave back to the Indians their own past: it was European scholarship, archaeology and research that uncovered the greatness that was India; it was British government that did its best to save and conserve the monuments that were a witness to that past glory. British Imperialism preserved where earlier Islamic Imperialism destroyed thousands of Hindu temples.
On the world stage, should we really apologize for Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe? Mozart, Beethoven and Bach? Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Breughel, Ter Borch? Galileo, Huygens, Copernicus, Newton and Darwin? Penicillin and computers? The Olympic Games and Football? Human rights and parliamentary democracy? The west is the source of the liberating ideas of individual liberty, political democracy, the rule of law, human rights and cultural freedom. It is the west that has raised the status of women, fought against slavery, defended freedom of enquiry, expression and conscience. No, the west needs no lectures on the superior virtue of societies who keep their women in subjection, cut off their clitorises, stone them to death for alleged adultery, throw acid on their faces, or deny the human rights of those considered to belong to lower castes.
Read it all. So help me, if you read anything, read this.
Warraq is a giant.
'Why I'm Not a Muslim' was one of the first anti-Islamic tracts ever I read. I had formed my judgments of Islam over the previous decade based on reading between the lines of the mainstream press (and talking to Muslim neighbors), but his book provided a valuable source of validation for my views.
In some respects, it was poorly organized. For example, I wouldn't have begun such a book with a Chapter on the Rushdie affair, which was a telling enough episode to deserve mention but certainly not top-billing. All-in-all, it was truly perspective-enhancing read and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Anyway, it's nice to know such a man is still out there fighting the good fight.
Sadly, America has chosen to run away from the conflict, and the media are pouncing on the chance to show what good little dhimmis we are:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States backed Muslims on Friday against European newspapers that printed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a move that could help America's battered image in the Islamic world.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1576751
Right. Just like the gratitude we got for helping out in Kosovo. I'm expecting Denmark to replace the USA as the Great Shaitan any minute now.
Ahmalittledespot, are you listening?
Isn't it interesting that the two nations that have been steadfast in pursuing the war in Iraq--the U.S. and the U.K.--are running scared over the 'toon controversy. Or perhaps that's precisely why they're ducking out of the fray--because of all the flack they've been taking over the war.
Don't be showing your infidel 'toons. You'll only incite the terrorists: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-02-03T142639Z_01_L03716846_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-RELIGION-CARTOONS-SECURITY-COL.XML&archived=False
Claude Moniquet is a microencephalic fool..
..if this will complicate release of the german engineers or serve as a pretext for Al Qaeda..
..what does he suggest, that our entire civilization become hostage to the sensibilitys of muslims?..or they will blow something up or saw some infidel heads off? feh!
A wonderful article. And, of course, there is more to say. The attack on freedom of speech is simply one form of Islamic aggression apparent in the cartoon rage: the division of the world into believer and non-believer, the morally corrupt nature of the non-believer, the acceptability of violence against the non-believer, the Infidel, to subdue, subjugate, or even kill, to defend and promote Islamic values and law. All these tenents of Islam operate against the Danes, Europeans, or any Infidel who dares to insult Mohammad, or do or say anything that conflicts with Islamic belief.
that comment was for the jerk in scaraMOUCHES LINK..
Scaramouche: You're probably right. The State Department is taking sides against Europe as part of their utterly futile "hearts and minds" policy.
OT: Just out of curiosity is your monkier from a Queen song?
Check this out:http://www.coxandforkum.com/ see "Image Problem"
Jade Dragoness--To answer your query: Nope. My name is derived from the first line of the novel "Scaramouche" by Raphael Sabatini. To whit: "He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad." But I do do a pretty good fandango.
Bravo Mr. Warraq!
Seeing Muslims call for our beheading and for a total genocide against all Europeans, and then watching them get a free pass from our governments and from the media (are they asleep; are they on drugs?), well, that can be disconcerting.
But not for long.
We're exposing them. This is Islam and it is not moderate. It is a ferocious imperialism that consumes and destroys the souls of its adherents and seeks to destroy all non-Muslim humankind. When Muslims surrender to Islam, they surrender their hearts, minds, and souls. Islam is the worst and most inherently hateful and destructive force ever known in the history of humankind and by any measure--total number of innocent human beings slaughtered, total number of minds destroyed, total number of women's lives ruined, total number of rapes, total number of enslaved lives, total number of voices silenced, total number of thoughts suppressed, total amount of hate, pure intensity of hate...yes, the worst thing ever concocted no matter which way you look at it.
But for all that, this monster is pathetic; it cannot handle some cartoons. It cannot muster the intelligence to refute them on substance. It does not even grasp the substance but only perceives a slight against itself. It cannot muster the compassion to forgive.
Mohammad's fatal flaw: Enormous self-importance combined with a complete psychopathic lack of empathy, plus insatiable narcissism. And the more fervent the follower, the more like Mohammad. Gleefully behead people, but then be seized by uncontrollable rage at an off-key joke. Without mental discipline, anger is all-consuming. Without empathy, there is no morality. The reason Islam will fail, ultimately, is that it goes fundamentally against the better qualities of human nature. Intellectual curiosity, creativity, tolerance, goodness, love, compassion--Islam oppresses and segregates all of these aspects of our humanity.
A passionate motivational speech is just what we needed. Thank you Ibn Warraq for defeating Islam from within yourself. You did not surrender. And thank you for working toward its defeat in society. Thank you Robert and everyone at JW/DW for your intelligence, passion, and moral conviction. Islam is appropriately named, because it will surrender by the time we're through with it!
ARCHIMEDES-
Well put!
And Mr. Sina, kudos as well!
A free mind is a joy forever.
If a few mild lampooning cartoons can cause this worldwide Mus-lunacy, what will they do when Michael "Farenheit 911" Moore initiates an expose on the unsavory aspects of Islam in his next documentary: "Barium Enema 2006-or what Mohammed and 9 year Aiyesha played on their 'wedding' night".
And Ibn Warriq, as well, of course!
And Ali Hirsi!
Let the Cartoon Jihad bloom!
Bravo!!!
This is a wonderful article which I will print and disseminate to may acquaintances.
Also.....GO ITALIA!!
Il Toscano