The Assault from Within

The extent to which Western nations are undermining its own fundamental values of press and speech freedom to appease the primitive and barbaric Islamic totalitarian movement is one of the most depressing and dangerous trends of recent years. The Danish Mohammed cartoon saga is perhaps the most infamous example of Western journalists and politicians kowtowing to Muslim demands to stifle our own free expression.

Now comes the case from France, where Brigitte Bardot was convicted for expressing a political opinion…critical of Muslims! According to an ARI press release;

“Bardot was fined $23,325 on Tuesday--barely escaping a jail sentence--for a statement made in a letter to France's interior minister, protesting Muslims' refusal to stun animals before slaughtering them during religious holidays. The fine was levied for the following statement: ‘I've had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, (and) destroying our country by imposing their ways.’ ” (emphasis added)

And for that, a criminal conviction!

Unfortunately, these kinds of episodes are becoming all too common…especially in Europe. In a modern-day version of Communism’s 20th century subversion attempts, this may all be part of a deliberate strategy by Islamic leaders to undermine Western Culture from within. In a very disturbing article called An Anatomy of Surrender, Bruce Bawer writes;

“What has not been widely recognized is that the Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie introduced a new kind of jihad. Instead of assaulting Western ships or buildings, Khomeini took aim at a fundamental Western freedom: freedom of speech. In recent years, other Islamists have joined this crusade, seeking to undermine Western societies’ basic liberties and extend sharia within those societies.

“The cultural jihadists have enjoyed disturbing success. Two events in particular—the 2004 assassination in Amsterdam of Theo van Gogh in retaliation for his film about Islam’s oppression of women, and the global wave of riots, murders, and vandalism that followed a Danish newspaper’s 2005 publication of cartoons satirizing Mohammed—have had a massive ripple effect throughout the West. Motivated variously, and doubtless sometimes simultaneously, by fear, misguided sympathy, and multicultural ideology—which teaches us to belittle our freedoms and to genuflect to non-Western cultures, however repressive—people at every level of Western society, but especially elites, have allowed concerns about what fundamentalist Muslims will feel, think, or do to influence their actions and expressions. These Westerners have begun, in other words, to internalize the strictures of sharia, and thus implicitly to accept the deferential status of dhimmis—infidels living in Muslim societies.

“Call it a cultural surrender. The House of War is slowly—or not so slowly, in Europe’s case—being absorbed into the House of Submission.” (emphasis added)

Playing right into the hands of the “cultural jihadists,” the road to destruction of our cherished free speech rights are being paved by our very own “hate speech” and "hate crimes” laws, which criminalize thought. Edward Cline writes;

“In a not so coincidental dovetailing of events, a bill to regulate “hate speech” is at present being debated in the British parliament that would make it a criminal offense to publicly disparage any creed or set of religious beliefs, in addition to “inciting” violence via words or pictures against members of any race or religious sect. Ostensively, the bill is aimed at Muslims who call for Jihad in Britain; in effect, it will silence anyone who questions or criticizes any creed or system of beliefs. The bill aims to suppress the provocation of thugs and rioters by gagging those who would call them thugs and rioters.

“It will silence everyone but the Muslims.” (emphasis added)

America is not immune to this creeping Sharia (Islamic Law). Onkar Ghati writes;

“It appears that we should now begin to get used to a similar climate in America.

“Borders and Waldenbooks stores have just announced that they will not stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because the issue reprints some of the cartoons. Is the decision based on disagreement with the content of the magazine? No, not according to Borders Group Inc. spokeswoman Beth Bingham. ‘For us, the safety and security of our customers and employees is a top priority, and we believe that carrying this issue could challenge that priority.’

“Borders Group's capitulation to Islamic thugs is understandable given the pathetic response of our and other Western governments.”

America and the West must reaffirm…indeed, rediscover…the principles of press and speech freedom, the vehicle vital to the defense of our other basic rights.

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