[lit-ideas] Re: Ideology vs Experience
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:32:34 -0400
>>the idea isn't to turn honey bees into hornets.
Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, the Pope -- Who's Next?
By Claus Christian Malzahn in Berlin
The pope has apologized for the outrage amongst Muslims
sparked by his recent comments. But the episode proves once
again that criticizing Islam is dangerous.
Twenty years ago in the German city of Bremen, Dutch
comedian Rudi Carrell's life depended on police protection.
His offense? In a satirical program on German television, he
let fly with a lewd joke about the then leader of the
Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini. Mass demonstrations
in Iran -- orchestrated, no doubt, by the government -- were
the result. The threats of violence led to an apology by
Carrell, and he never again made a joke about any Muslim --
at least not on television.
In February 1989, the Ayatollah then released a fatwa
calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie for his novel "The
Satanic Verses." The book, he and other Muslim leaders
claimed, was a grave misrepresentation of Islam. Rushdie's
Japanese translator lost his life as a result of the fatwa
and Rushdie himself went into hiding, though the Iranian
leadership distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998. There
remain, however, a number of fanatical Muslims who yearn to
see Rushdie dead.
Feminist and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch
parliamentarian who recently left Holland, also lives under
threat of murder. In addition to a number of interesting
books about the oppression faced by women in the Muslim
world, she also wrote the screenplay for the short film
"Submission." In one scene, a verse from the Koran --
demanding that women bend to the will of their husbands --
is projected onto a woman's naked body. The film was
provocative, and the filmmaker Theo van Gogh paid for it
with his life. He was killed on the streets of Amsterdam by
a Muslim fanatic.
And then there's Flemming Rose, the Danish editor who a year
ago published a series of Muhammad caricatures in his
newspaper. Months after they originally appeared, the Muslim
world erupted in protest against the drawings. He too must
fear for his life.
One thing should be kept in mind, however: The often violent
protests that erupted in the Muslim world in the wake of the
cartoon controversy have often been manipulated and fuelled
by Islamists. The bile currently being flung at the pope is
no different.
But the attacks against the pope are especially grotesque.
The severe criticism -- often coupled with threats of
violence -- directed at the speech held last Tuesday by
Benedict XVI is not just an attack on the head of the
Catholic Church. The malicious twisting of the pope's words
and the absurd allegations made by representatives of Islam
represent a frontal attack on open religious and
philosophical dialogue.
That so many in the Muslim world joined the protests against
the pope merely show just how influential Islamist extremist
groups have become. The political goal of the Islamists is
clear: any dispute between Christianity and Islam must obey
the rules handed down by political Islamism.
Bending to this demand would be a mistake -- indeed it would
be tantamount to turning one's back on freedom of expression
and opinion. What will come next? Perhaps a complaint that
Allah feels insulted by the numerous European women who don
bikinis during a summer trip to the beach. It could be
anything really -- militant Islamists will always find
something. But the response needs to be firm. Freedom of
speech, after all, is a vital value and needs to be
defended. Any attempt to make political speech hostage to
some imagined will of God must be resisted.
There are -- few -- critical voices that should be taken
seriously when it comes to the pope's comments. Shouldn't
Benedict XVI have known that the quote he included in his
speech -- a passage he himself described as "brusque" --
might be misunderstood? Couldn't he have made his meaning a
bit clearer? Even if he had, it should be welcomed by all,
including leftist atheists and agnostics, that we now have a
pope who can pose challenging academic questions. In any
case, a close reading of his speech reveals not a single
insult directed at a single Muslim.
And there's no reason to respond to every presumed insult.
Consider an example from Denmark. Recently, a paper there
published a number of rather tasteless Holocaust cartoons
which had been shown in Tehran. The reaction of Copenhagen's
rabbi was instructive when considered against the bloody
response to the Muhammad cartoons -- outrage which ended up
costing lives. When asked if he would call for protests, the
rabbi merely said: "You know, I've seen worse."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/1,1518,437684,00.html
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