Recently there have been a rash of attacks on the uniquely Western institutions of free speech and the separation of church and state. To inquire about the attacks on Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant, click the title of this blog. To learn of those against the Englishman named Lionheart go to http://lionheartuk.blogspot.com/2008/01/british-police-have-been-charged-with.html.
Ezra Levant has republished the Danish cartoons which caused riots and protest all over the Muslim world in Canada and is being prosecuted for it. While we are supposed to understand and tolerate Muslim culture, they do not try to do so for ours. Free speech is an essential part of Western culture that does not exist in Islamic nations. They should appreciate and tolerate it. The extreme shame of it is that it is a Canadian governmental body that is prosecuting Levant for exercising his free speech. The government complaint form allowed the plaintif to check a complaint of religious discrimination. Essentially the same thing is happening in England, with Lionhart, and America with Marc Steyn (using Canadian laws).
Multiculturalism says there is no main culture in Western nations. There is one; it celebrates separation of church and state and freedom of speech. These are not universal cultural characteristics, they are Western. The complaint against Steyn says it seeks to "protect Canadian multiculturalism and tolerance." But as some cultures do not celebrate free speech and separation of church and state, they are not Western. Some cultures advocate Sharia law and some are cannibals. Canada is not multicultural, it is Western.
Instead of multiculturalism, we must realize we are unique and practice culturism. That means that just as Islamic and Asian cultures protect, promote and privilege their cultures, Western governments should protect, promote and privilege Western cultural traditions. We have a unique tradition to protect or lose. It is not the default of world culture. In Islamic nations their laws can, and do, promote what they want. In Western lands freedom of speech and the separation of church and state must be held sacrosanct. If muslims do not like the promotion and practices of Western culture they are free to leave it.
My previous statement is not racist, it is culturist. In England Lionheart has been jailed on "suspicion of Stirring up Racial Hatred by displaying written material contrary to sections 18(1) and 27(3) of the Public Order Act 1986." First of all, they were factually true. But that aside, culture and race are different. Warning about a religion is not racist, it is culturist. Silencing discussion of culture under the guise of stopping racism is misguided, inaccurate and dangerous. Race is not a productive or rational basis of discrimination. Culture is a productive and rational basis of discrimination. This post is not racist, but it is culturist. This post defends some cultural precepts and denounces others. Unlike making racial distinctions, the freedom to make cultural pronouncements is essential to all societies.
Western culture is not universal. That this is not widely know is shown in the name of the commission prosecuting Ezra Levant: "Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission." Individual rights are not "human" or "universal" they are Western. If we do not protect them, as they do not exist elsewhere, rights will disappear.
All Canadians should post Ezra Lavant's offensive articles on their blogs. All Englishmen should post Lionheart's offensive articles. Will they jail all of you? Counter suits for publishing the hate filled Koran is also necessary.
9 comments:
John,
Thank you for posting about Lionheart. All these cases--Lionheart's, Steyn's, and Levant's--are indeed signs that Western rights are under attack.
Individual rights are not "human" or "universal" they are Western..
I agree. But I know many counterjihadists who wouldn't.
Counterjihadism is laudable. I myself use that term.
But what is more important--of the ultimate importance, IMO--is that we take up the cause of what we counterjihadists stand FOR.
The West has lost sight of what our very culture is and means. On the other hand, Muslims, particularly the militants, have not. Islam is their "life" (Nonie Darwish).
Westerners are obsessed with the idea that standing up for Western culture is racist. Decades of education (schools, home, churches) have drummed that into millions of Western minds. Undoing that mindset is a Herculean effort.
You are going to have to move in pretty mysterious ways to maintain that most of America advocates a church state separation.
A huge threat to American federalism is the belief by fundamentalists that America is an anointed nation. The fact that they believe America is a chosen nation prohibits all criticism.
As for free speech. Depends on media ownership. The west is funny. They trumpet free speech in America but dumb down content and graduate functional illiterates.
That's in contrast to say, Cuba where the strategy is to promote extensive literacy but deny access.
Either way you lose and in America you have a culture that is more conversant with Lindsay Lohan's latest rehab than what's being voted on the Senate floor.
You are right that most Americans know dangerously little. They have to fight an uphill battle against official propaganda for multiculturalism. Even if they follow television news they will hear Bush repeatedly tell them Islam is a religion of peace.
The separation of church and state is not an all or nothing proposition. Indonesia is muslim, but has much more separation than Saudi Arabia. Even here we have "In God we trust" on our money. And, yes, some Christians want creationism taught alongside evolution. But I think on a scale from 1 to 10, you'll find that Americans are quite sold on the idea of relative strong separation of c and s.
I discuss the sad state of media in culturism. Several ideas are presented for injecting American history into public television and theaters. This is accompanied by discussions of freedom of speech and what would and would not be constitutionally allowed.
I also advocate getting the FCC to follow its mandate and ensure that PUBLIC airwaves reflect traditional morality. People would still be able to get all the smut and celebrity rehab from cable, satellite and the internet. But an island where parents could send their kids would be created. Furthermore, this would show we have values and do not approve of that of which you complain. Culturism holds that the government should not be neutral when it comes to values and culture.
AOW,
Counterjihadists is an interesting term. As you know I would definitely adopt such a strategy domestically. When it comes to trying to reform other cultures, I am a little less enthusiastic for philosophical and practical reasons.
The transformation you speak of, this Frankfurt school brainwashing that has so many equating Western civ with oppression and racism, is an amazing and dangerous phenomenon.
Part of my reaction is on the January 13th post about celebrating our being the least racist nation on earth. The anthropology chapter in culturism is also dedicated to showing just what we replaced with our attempts to impose Western civ. The noble savage is a dangerous myth. Compared to it we look terrible. But, in reality, life was amazingly nasty, very very violent, brutish, sexist and short before us.
"My previous statement is not racist, it is culturist. In England Lionheart has been jailed on "suspicion of Stirring up Racial Hatred by displaying written material contrary to sections 18(1) and 27(3) of the Public Order Act 1986."
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Has he been arrested? Was there a perp walk?
My understanding was that he had been arrested. But check for details on the Always on Watch's radio program Friday night at http://alwaysonwatch2.blogspot.com/
John,
Part of my reaction is on the January 13th post about celebrating our being the least racist nation on earth.
I agree.
Most other nations have no real application of the principle of "the melting pot."
I'm glad to see that Duck is visiting here. Really.
Though he and I often disagree, Duck is intelligent and makes observations worth thinking about.
DRACONIAN ACTION against counter-jihadist bloggers in Britain is probably imminent.
One has to consider why there is limited or no publicity about Islamic gang-rapes, SJS incidents and other forms of 'street jihad' in the national MSM. If publicity and the press is controlled, which it is, local people in areas which are regularly affected will tend not to realise that there are many similar incidents across the country.
They will feel that the one they do know about, the local incident, is unusual and and consequently, they will not make too much fuss.
They may also think that their feelings about all the Muslim problems and spin-offs affecting them are not shared by many others across the country. They therefore do not react particularly strongly.
Suddenly though, through the blogosphere, they are now realising that they are not unique in their opinions and that many others feel exactly as they do.
When enough people find out that there are thousands, nay maybe millions, who think precisely as they do, then the counter-jihad will gather strength, exponentially, i.e.the more supporters gained, the faster supporters will be gained.
This gathering of support may begin to happen in 2008, and this is perceived by the Government and others as a major threat to their plans. Therefore it is possible that concerted and maybe draconian efforts could be initiated by the Authorities to control the influence of the blogs on public opinion.
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