Free Speech in Europe? Not a Chance
In my blog Free Speech & Blasphemy European Style, I wrote about Denmark considering a blasphemy prosecution for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten on account of publishing the Prophet Muhammad cartoons. A reader pointed out that the government had declined to prosecute and thus there was no danger to the newspaper. The reader asked if I was challenging the right to file charges. Yes indeed, I am.
Blasphemy charges and trials are nothing new for Europe. Take the case of Oriana Fallaci who has endured blasphemy trials for two of her books, The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason. The judge determined that the second book had eighteen statements that were “unequivocally offensive to Islam and Muslims.” Read about it here and here.
Experts posit that Islamofascism is an ideology as opposed to Islam, which is a religion. Given that only one to two percent of Muslims are thought to be Islamofascist, it is presumed that that the threat to the Western world is restricted to the one to two percent. Conservative columnist Max Boot points out that there are two tolerant Muslim countries, Malaysia and Qatar, and they are examples of moderate Muslim regimes. Boot states that we are not at war with an entire civilization. I tend to agree with that statement though I am disquieted by the fact that the so-called moderate Muslims are not standing up to be counted in opposition to the Islamofascism.
Oriana Fallaci feels quite differently and she does not mince words:
There is a message to America from Europe: It will take longer to accomplish, but if you follow in the footsteps of Europe you will suffer the sword of Allah’s warriors again and again.
Free speech? The Europeans who support the blasphemy laws don’t have a clue what free speech is all about.
Hat Tip: All Things Beautiful
Blasphemy charges and trials are nothing new for Europe. Take the case of Oriana Fallaci who has endured blasphemy trials for two of her books, The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason. The judge determined that the second book had eighteen statements that were “unequivocally offensive to Islam and Muslims.” Read about it here and here.
Experts posit that Islamofascism is an ideology as opposed to Islam, which is a religion. Given that only one to two percent of Muslims are thought to be Islamofascist, it is presumed that that the threat to the Western world is restricted to the one to two percent. Conservative columnist Max Boot points out that there are two tolerant Muslim countries, Malaysia and Qatar, and they are examples of moderate Muslim regimes. Boot states that we are not at war with an entire civilization. I tend to agree with that statement though I am disquieted by the fact that the so-called moderate Muslims are not standing up to be counted in opposition to the Islamofascism.
Oriana Fallaci feels quite differently and she does not mince words:
During a speech in Washington in 2002, Fallaci said: “The hate for the West swells like a fire fed by the wind. The clash between us and them is not a military one. It is a cultural one, a religious one, and the worst is still to come.” The suit against her is just one hint of that terrible denouement.
There is a message to America from Europe: It will take longer to accomplish, but if you follow in the footsteps of Europe you will suffer the sword of Allah’s warriors again and again.
Free speech? The Europeans who support the blasphemy laws don’t have a clue what free speech is all about.
Hat Tip: All Things Beautiful
posted by Paul Coambs | 11:43 PM
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