So said an Islamofascist, or something very similar, a couple of years after 9/11. Islamofascists have assiduously used the Constitution, combined with fear, to further their ultimate goal of establishing a world-wide caliphate for the greater glory of Islam. Americans should be very wary of this.
Recently, a documentary called Honor Diaries that details the twisted Islamic approach to women has been denied showings at the University of Michigan and, sadly, my alma mater, the University of Illinois, because of the supposed disrespect is conveys toward Islam. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been protesting the release of this movie, allegedly not because of its content but because the distributor, Clarion, is run by Jews who have an anti-Islamic mission. The movie, of which I've only seen clips, is said to portray an unflattering picture of Islam's treatment of women.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a naturalized citizen originally from Somalia and a Muslim herself was about to get an honorary degree from Brandeis University until CAIR protested loudly enough to have Brandeis withdraw the honor. On The Kelly Files, Megyn Kelly tried to discuss this with Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR:
Note the combative style Mr. Hooper employs while stating his case.
The issue for me is this: If moderate Muslims are so concerned about radical Muslims and the bad light in which they are casting Islam, why are they so ready to defeat efforts to show what radicalism is doing to their religion? Why are they not able to disagree in a civil matter and allow the other side, with which they have a bitter disagreement, to air their views? What's more, why are moderate Muslims not more vocal about what radical Muslims do around the globe? Keeping silent doesn't lend much credibility to their cause.
More troubling to me is that these so-called moderate Muslims feel empowered to subject anyone with whom they disagree to a barrage of negative publicity, including veiled threats. The argument that a movie shouldn't be seen because of who distributes it is insane. If the essential truth about the movie is fairly presented, who cares who the distributor is? José Canseco was vilified by many people for claiming that there were PED's in baseball, but it turned out he was speaking the truth. Sometimes the canary in the mine isn't exactly what we envision it to be. What matters, however, is the truth of the message.
So long as Honor Diaries and Ms. Ali are not cooking up a story, their views deserved to be aired. Whether they make certain people uncomfortable isn't the point. To bring pressure on schools to ban the movie or withdraw an honor is senseless and un-American. I'm saddened that my alma mater didn't have the testicular fortitude to tell CAIR to take a hike. Michigan, too, is a fine school, and the freedom of thought should be championed, not shuttered. By trying to impose time, place and manner restrictions on outlets that air anti-Muslim speech is, first of all, improper, as the First Amendment forbids government infringement of speech, and against every American tradition, second.
This country has to find a way to allow Muslims their way in this society at the same time that it maintains as many of its rites and traditions as our laws will allow. Moderate Muslims, if indeed they are moderate, need to compromise a tad. But trying to use our laws against us to insinuate sharia law into this country should not be tolerated.
What's perhaps sadly ironic is that Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote that sunlight is the best disinfectant. For a school named after such an august and learned man to take this action is both antithetical to the man's philosophy and an invitation to other schools to act similarly.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
No comments:
Post a Comment