In Human Events this morning I discuss the firebombing of the Charlie Hebdo offices and its dhimmi aftermath:
[...] Yet already there are calls for free people to surrender. Calls for self-censorship and greater “sensitivity” toward Muslims have already begun. Bruce Crumley wrote in Time magazine in the wake of the bombing that “it’s obvious free societies cannot simply give in to hysterical demands made by members of any beyond-the-pale group,” and that “intimidation and violence must be condemned and combated for whatever reason they’re committed,” but that “it’s just as evident members of those same free societies have to exercise a minimum of intelligence, calculation, civility and decency in practicing their rights and liberties—and that isn’t happening when a newspaper decides to mock an entire faith on the logic that it can claim to make a politically noble statement by gratuitously pissing people off.”Certainly a decent person doesn’t go around gratuitously angering people. But when it comes to censorship or even legislation, who is to decide what angers people gratuitously? The people in power, of course. Time is essentially calling for restrictions on the freedom of speech and the creation of a special, privileged class that is beyond criticism. That is the death of free society and the road to tyranny, for the class that is beyond criticism will have a free hand to do whatever it wants, and what will anyone be able to say?
Unfortunately absent from the public square are the voices telling the Muslim community in Paris, and Muslims all over the West, to grow up, and to stop reacting with firebombs and threats and murder to everything that offends them. The fact that it is virtually certain that such voices will be less numerous than those calling for “sensitivity” in the face of violent intimidation and thuggery is as good an indication as any that Western society is desperately ill, and that when it comes to Islam, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have lost all sense of perspective. Before they regain it, we are certain to be in for some very rough days ahead—days that will make the firebombing of Charlie Hebdo look like a gesture of mild disapproval.
Crumley, of course, like so many other enlightened liberals, camouflages his slouch toward totalitarianism in the guise of “sensitivity” and resistance to “Islamophobia.” The gaping hole in his argument, however, is that he is making it after Muslims reacted violently to satire. Judaism and Christianity are lampooned on a regular basis, but Bruce Crumley never lifted a finger to call for “sensitivity” toward the religious feelings of others when Piss Christ was being displayed as a serious work of art. So Time’s argument boils down to saying that we should capitulate in the face of violent intimidation. This is not really about being sensitive at all. It is about doing what the thugs want so they won’t hurt us again.
I’d rather die first.
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Brilliant article, Mr. Spencer. On a cautiously hopeful note, the comments after Crumley's disgusting little piece were almost all against him, and in favour of Charlie Hebdo.
I've also noted in the comments section of the guardian (worst dhimmi, cowering rag in the UK), that more and more people are calling into question the whole concept of placating islam and muslims, and are starting to get really angry. Not before time, of course, but I'm continuing to be cautiously optimistic.
And, like you, I'd rather die first. Molon labe !