A Norwegian politician is under fire for “anti-Muslim” remarks. From Aftenposten, with thanks to the many who alerted me to this:
Populist Norwegian politician Carl I Hagen has a long track record of provocation in Norway. His latest frontal attack on Muslims at a Christian gathering this week may set a new record for the degree of reaction he’s getting.
Rival politicians are blasting remarks made by Progress Party boss Hagen that compared Muslims to Hitler, poked fun at Mohammed and raised fears that Muslims are trying to take over the world.
Local theologists say they’re shocked, a university professor claimed Hagen went way too far this time, and at least one anti-discrimination organization is threatening to sue him.
Hagen’s outbursts came during a speech he made at a Christian festival in Bergen on Tuesday.
“The Islamic fundamentalists, along the same lines as Hitler, made it clear a long time ago that their long-term plan is to ‘Islamify’ the world,” Hagen claimed. “They’re well underway, they’ve come far in Africa and are on their way into Europe, and then we have to fight it.”
Hagen also talked about children being used as suicide bombers. “We Christians are very concerned about children, ‘Let the children come to me,’ said Jesus,” Hagen declared. “I can’t see Mohammed saying the same.”
That remark spurred laughter and applause from his Christian audience, perhaps encouring Hagen to add: “If he (Mohammed) did say such a thing, it must have been: ‘Let the small children come to me, so that I can exploit them in my effort to make the world Islamic.”
The article goes on to quote Norwegian politicians and Muslim leaders who are outraged that Hagen criticized not only “Islamic fundamentalists,” but Muhammad himself. Yet I suspect that if Hagen had said similar remarks about Jesus Christ, those politicians would be in the forefront of his defenders, explaining that he was only exercising his freedom of speech.
Those who live in a free society, you see, have to accept criticism of their beliefs as part of the societal landscape. If I demand that such criticism be silenced, then I too can be silenced on some other pretext. Muslims, if they wish to live in free societies, have to accept peacefully that some people are going to criticize Muhammad and Islam, just as people criticize every other religious tradition with great verve and enthusiasm — do a Google search for “Jesus” and you’ll see. If they, in turn, respond to the criticisms with reasonable answers, they will have embarked upon the great debate that has characterized Western society for centuries, and which is a hallmark of free society. If, on the other hand, they simply demand that critics be censured, they have not grasped one of the first principles of life in the Western societies in which they have settled.