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10/12/2006
The Debate over Islam...continued
In the ongoing debate over the tenets of Islam, French
philosophy teacher Robert Redeker weighed in last September 19
in response to Pope Benedict XVI’x own analysis. Redeker’s
comments, entitled “In the face of Islamist intimidation, what is
the world to do?” appeared in an op-ed for France’s Le Figaro
and caused another stir in the Muslim community, sending
Redeker and his family into hiding. And what did he write?
In part:
“The reactions aroused by Benedict XVI’s analysis of Islam and
violence are an attempt by that Islam to destroy that which is
precious in the West and doesn’t exist in any Muslim country:
freedom of thought and of expression. Islam tries to impose on
Europe its rules: opening swimming pools at certain hours
exclusively for women, forbidding the caricaturing of this
religion, demanding a special diet for Muslim children in school
cafeterias, fighting to wear the veil in school, accusing free-
thinkers of Islamophobia .
“Islam wants to force Europe to bend to its vision of man. As
once with communism, the West is under ideological
surveillance. Islam presents itself, like defunct communism, as
an alternative for the Western world. It asserts a legitimacy that
troubles the Western conscience, which is attentive to other
people: It claims to be the voice of the poor of the planet.
Yesterday, that voice claimed to originate in Moscow, today it
comes from Mecca! You are excommunicated for Islamophobia,
as once for anti-communism. As then, Islam sees generosity, the
openness of spirit, tolerance, sweetness, the freedom of women
and morals, democratic values, as signs of decadence .
“Where Judaism and Christianity are religions whose rites
forsake violence and remove its legitimacy, Islam is a religion
that, in its very sacred text, as much as in some of its everyday
rites, exalts violence and hatred. Hatred and violence dwell in
the very book that educates any Muslim, the Koran. As in the
time of the Cold War, violence and intimidation are the methods
used by an ideology with hegemonic ambitions, Islam, to
suffocate the world.” [Wall Street Journal Europe]
Mr. Redeker was immediately attacked. The Egyptian
government banned editions of Le Figaro and Germany’s
Allgemeine Zeitung because of stories it carried deemed
insulting to Islam; even though Egypt rarely takes this action.
Tunisia banned Le Figaro.
But the worst part were the threats that immediately appeared
against Redeker on Islamic web sites. His home address was
published with calls to murder.
“You will never feel secure on this earth. One billion, 300
million Muslims are ready to kill you,” one message said. One
web site that threatened Redeker has historic links to al-Qaeda.
So Redeker was forced into hiding where at last word he is
receiving police protection.
“I cannot work, I cannot come and go. I have to hide,” he said.
“So the Islamists have succeeded in punishing me on the
territory of the Republic as if I were guilty of a crime of
opinion.”
A group of French teachers and supporters rallied around him
and issued a statement:
“A handful of fanatics are brandishing supposed religious laws to
throw into question in our country the most fundamental
liberties.”
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin described the
threats as “intolerable.”
“We are in a democracy, everyone has the right to express his
views freely – of course while respecting others. This is the only
restriction that is acceptable on this freedom.
“This shows to what extent we live in a dangerous world and
how vigilant we must be to ensure people fully respect one
another in our society.”
Reporters Without Borders said the choice not to publish Mr.
Redeker’s article would have represented “a defeat for freedom
of thought.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, expressed his disappointment that more European
leaders had earlier failed to defend Pope Benedict XVI over his
own controversial remarks. Barroso said that while Europe must
take the threat of Islamic extremists “very seriously,” it must not
confuse tolerance with “a form of political correctness” that puts
others’ values above its own.
“I was disappointed that there weren’t more European leaders
who said, ''Of course the pope has the right to express his point
of view. We must defend our values'' .The problem is not the
comments of the pope, but the reaction of the extremists.”
But Gilles de Robien, the French Education Minister, in
expressing “solidarity” with Mr. Redeker warned that “a state
employee must show prudence and moderation in all
circumstances.”
To which Redeker said, “If Robien is correct, then we would
never have had any intellectual life in France. The function of
politics is not to tell us what we are allowed to think, but to
defend our freedom to think and speak out.”
Sources:
BBC News
The Times (of London)
International Herald Tribune
Hott Spotts will return Oct. 19.
Brian Trumbore
[I will be commenting on North Korea on an ongoing basis for
my “Week in Review” column.]
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