In Human Events this morning, I discuss four recent Islamic supremacist assaults on the freedom of speech in the United States:
Four incidents recently showed anew how keenly Islamic supremacists want to shut down the freedom of speech–and how eager many Americans are to accommodate them.
The most notorious incident was Comedy Central’s censorship of a “South Park” episode lampooning Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Even Bill O’Reilly faltered when presented with an opportunity to defend free speech, telling “South Park’s” creators: “I would’ve advised them not to do it. If somebody came to me and said, ‘Look, O’Reilly, I want to do a little satire of Muhammad on “The Factor,”‘ I would say I don’t think so, because the risk is higher than the reward.”
The risk of defending free speech against violent threats and intimidation is higher than the reward? If the Founding Fathers had thought that way, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now. If the enemies of free speech, such as those who threatened “South Park’s” Matt Stone and Trey Parker over their Muhammad episode, see that death threats will frighten their victims into silence, they will only issue more death threats. Unless free people stand up and defend the right of free discourse no matter what the risk, we will surely lose that right–and any ability to stand up against the tyranny of a powerful group whose word and status cannot be questioned.
And that chastened silence before a privileged class is certainly the goal of Islamic supremacists in the United States. Besides threatening “South Park,” they also compelled the Pentagon to withdraw an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to participate in its National Day of Prayer event on May 6. Graham’s crime? Calling Islam “evil,” a comment he explained in this way: “If you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women.”
The plight of women in the Islamic world is real. The Army should have given Franklin Graham’s explanation of his remarks thoughtful consideration–just as they should have considered the implications of the fact that the chief group complaining about Graham’s appearance at the event was the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas jihad terror funding case.
Instead, now the Army is abetting the whitewashing and cover-up of the institutionalized mistreatment of women in Islamic law. The Graham invitation could have been, as Barack Obama might say, a “teaching moment,” and an opportunity to stand up for the human rights of those women and other groups oppressed by Sharia. Instead, it is just an occasion for more submission to Islamic supremacists….