How Long Will Freedom Stay Free? |
by Angelise Anderson |
The West prides itself on a foundation of freedom. Since medieval times, the West, led by the Christian Church, has recognized and fought for the freedom of mankind (check out Gina's blog post from last week on the Acton Institute documentary The Birth of Freedom). Though at times the West has failed to recognize the equality of all men (and women), she still shines for much of the world as an example of freedom -- recognizing each person as someone, not just something, and each individual's right to freedom of speech. However, the growing strength of Islam in the West threatens to overthrow those foundational principles and ideals.
Less than a month ago, three Muslims were arrested in London for firebombing the home offices of the publisher of the soon-to-be released novel The Jewel of Medina. The sensationalized novel depicts the marriage of Muhammad to the child Aisha (Muhammad was in his fifties, while his child-bride was only nine, when the union was consummated).
While the novel itself portrays the marriage in a "favorable" light, some Muslims, particularly the three arrested, still found the novel offensive, and many publishing houses have moved in a direction seeking to appease such cultural preferences.
However, restricting freedom of speech to suit the whims of any group, defies the principles of freedom. The tenets of free speech must allow for free discussion and debate. We can not allow political correctness to undermine the values we hold most dear. The book's publisher, Martin Rynja, argued:
In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate.
My fear, and that of many others, is that this incident is just the beginning of a fight for our freedom of speech. In the past 20 years, publishers, theaters, opera houses, and art galleries have been dropping and censoring material in the name of "cultural sensitivity." But this small affair shows that much more is at stake. Robert Spencer depicts the the threat in his column "Jihad Watch." He writes:
Although The Jewel of Medina is a silly, stupid book, the prospect of its being deep-sided by bullying Muslims and cowering infidels doesn't bode well for the future of freedom in the West. The legal protections of free speech were developed to protect speech that some groups may find offensive, so as to prevent the creation of a privileged class that is beyond criticism. But that is just what the three men who firebombed Martin Rynja's home and the Global Square offices were trying to create, by frightening non-Muslims into conforming to Islamic sensibilities...If they continue down this road, how long will we continue to be able to dissent from the Islamic perspective on the world?
Even Spencer's own life has been threatened for speaking out against the clamping down on our freedom of speech. Spencer reminds us that
The jihadists are willing to go all the way -- to give up their very lives -- in their quest too control ours. For them, no price is too high. If [the citizens of the West] are not willing to stand up and fight for their freedom to hold views that differ from views that Muslims wish us to hold, then all is lost.
May we live our lives and fight for our freedom in such a way that our forefathers would not have died in vain.
Read Spencer's full article here.
I wonder just how long freedom of speech, particulary as it is practiced by conservatives, will last should Obama win. This article indicates that one of the first things a Left-leaning Congress and President will do is muzzle the right by enforcing the "fairness doctrine."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10202008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/dems_get_set_to_muzzle_the_right_134399.htm
I don't know if it will happen, but if it does, we can't say we weren't warned ahead of time.
Posted by: Diane Singer | October 20, 2008 at 12:58 PM
You don't have to look far.
Look what happened when "Joe the Plumber" a voting citizen asked candidate Obama a question.
He has been skewered, laughed at, and vetted better than Obama. We now know enough about him that he could run for office.
Even Obama made funny remarks.
The scary thing here is someone else will think twice before they ask a question.
Obama personally owes him an apology for his attitude. But I guess he will do anything to get people's focus off of "spreading the wealth."
Posted by: dennis babish | October 20, 2008 at 02:33 PM
Sony just delayed the publishing of a extremely anticipated video game for the PlayStation 3 - LittleBigPlanet.
Apparently a song in the game contains music with lyrics from the Koran. Apparently the combination of music and Koran lyrics is deeply offensive to Muslims.
Sony has delayed the game for about a week, worldwide, to fix the problem.
I, for one, am very glad they are so culturally sensitive. I, for two, find my self wondering if they would have had a similar reaction to an offensive description of Christianity. I figured out the answer. No. The game would not have been delayed and the objectors, those deeply offended would have been castigated for trying to "stifle free speech" and told "it's just a game" and mocked for being "so sensitive." "It's artistic and if you can't see the merit of it, doesn't mean others don't."
We aren't fighting for the freedom of speech here. We are fighting for our very existence.
Posted by: salt.racer | October 20, 2008 at 05:16 PM
Hold on a second. Did no one else notice the firebombing? This isn't a matter of being overly sensetive or politically correct. This is people who don't want to die because they published a book. I don't blame any given publisher or novelist or video game creator for this. How can you. The question is live slightly poorer, or produce your product, make a little money, and, oh yeah, risk being incinerated. Some people aren't willing to die for the cause of freedom of speech just to publish a novel.
No, I think the problem here lies with the government. National security needs to be maintained in this instance to promote freedom of speech. Better law enforcement, I say, not suicidal book publishers.
Posted by: Sy | October 21, 2008 at 11:37 PM