See that in Paris the 'religion of peace' has drawn blood once again in the name of Islamist 'purity' - Tobin over at Commentary gets it right. As long as the liberal elite and its media cohorts continue to turn a blind eye to the true root and cause of Islamist extremism by apologizing for and refusing to defend Western values and thereby indulging the inherent dysfunction that drives Muslim culture this problem is never going away and will very likely get much worse.
There is no such thing as a 'religion of peace' - any religion - strike that - any absolutist belief system is vulnerable to the embrace of extremism in the name of safeguarding its 'sacred truths' unless it is acted upon by extenuating circumstances that mitigate and tame the threat. There are several key elements to the Western Tradition that allowed us to tame the excesses of Christianity and other absolutist claimants - but probably central to that development is fact that the Western Tradition was well on its way to being a thing of great value long before Christianity as an influential belief system mattered and the central tenets of Christian belief reflect that reality. Hell, Athenian democracy flourished almost a thousand years before Christianity did and I'd say facts like that are the reason why Christianity is inherently not political and therefore could be tamed - it has of course been used for political purposes and Western imperialism definitely had an evangelical side to it but Christianity's focus on personal revelation and its lack of access to political power during its developmental stage means it by nature, at its core is apolitical and not in need of a political apparatus in order to fully express and protect its values - or at least this focus on personal revelation make it a religion that would be very appreciative or accepting of a political system that encouraged freedom of conscience. None of that can be said of Islam which is why Muslim culture has utterly failed to tame the intolerant excesses of Islamist thinking.
As long as the West refuses to acknowledge this reality we will be hounded by the fallout from it. I mean look at the liberal elite's attitude towards Israel, it's completely detached from the reality that riles the region - here's a hint guys: Israel is not the problem in the Mideast - the country could disappear tomorrow and the region would still be an intolerant, backward, dysfunctional mess. Or look at the West's refusal to even comment on the Islamist tyranny our presumed ally Erdogan is slowly building up in Turkey. Or how 'bout England, so cowed by Islamist grievance that it has with astounding blindness indulged the flourishing of Sharia courts - this is the country that gave us the Magna Carta and John Locke and constitutional democracy for fuck sake! But in order to preserve the delusions of the liberal worldview it has planted a bomb under the very foundations of its culture and lit the fuse.
There are very good reasons why Western culture and Muslim culture have travelled such different paths over the last 1500 years - but look no further than the fact that it was several centuries ago that Elizabeth felt free enough to state that it was none of her business dictating to a man's private conscience what his god should be - try saying that today in a Muslim country, especially as a woman, and you're like to lose your life.
[Kevin Williamson makes my point better than me - culture matters because outcomes produced by cultural differences matter - and judging by outcomes for all its flaws Western culture is far superior to Muslim culture - which is why indulgence of Islamism at the expense of Western values is so idiotic - yet dare say such things and the left will beat you down as a racist when in fact race has absolutely nothing to do with culture - and then in turn outrage from the thought police of the left empowers the far right because it then sweeps up people discouraged by the pronounced idiocy of modern liberalism - as many have pointed out the big winner of todays violence is Marine Le Pen - and with that you're heading down a road that looks quite perilous.
There is no such thing as a 'religion of peace' - any religion - strike that - any absolutist belief system is vulnerable to the embrace of extremism in the name of safeguarding its 'sacred truths' unless it is acted upon by extenuating circumstances that mitigate and tame the threat. There are several key elements to the Western Tradition that allowed us to tame the excesses of Christianity and other absolutist claimants - but probably central to that development is fact that the Western Tradition was well on its way to being a thing of great value long before Christianity as an influential belief system mattered and the central tenets of Christian belief reflect that reality. Hell, Athenian democracy flourished almost a thousand years before Christianity did and I'd say facts like that are the reason why Christianity is inherently not political and therefore could be tamed - it has of course been used for political purposes and Western imperialism definitely had an evangelical side to it but Christianity's focus on personal revelation and its lack of access to political power during its developmental stage means it by nature, at its core is apolitical and not in need of a political apparatus in order to fully express and protect its values - or at least this focus on personal revelation make it a religion that would be very appreciative or accepting of a political system that encouraged freedom of conscience. None of that can be said of Islam which is why Muslim culture has utterly failed to tame the intolerant excesses of Islamist thinking.
As long as the West refuses to acknowledge this reality we will be hounded by the fallout from it. I mean look at the liberal elite's attitude towards Israel, it's completely detached from the reality that riles the region - here's a hint guys: Israel is not the problem in the Mideast - the country could disappear tomorrow and the region would still be an intolerant, backward, dysfunctional mess. Or look at the West's refusal to even comment on the Islamist tyranny our presumed ally Erdogan is slowly building up in Turkey. Or how 'bout England, so cowed by Islamist grievance that it has with astounding blindness indulged the flourishing of Sharia courts - this is the country that gave us the Magna Carta and John Locke and constitutional democracy for fuck sake! But in order to preserve the delusions of the liberal worldview it has planted a bomb under the very foundations of its culture and lit the fuse.
There are very good reasons why Western culture and Muslim culture have travelled such different paths over the last 1500 years - but look no further than the fact that it was several centuries ago that Elizabeth felt free enough to state that it was none of her business dictating to a man's private conscience what his god should be - try saying that today in a Muslim country, especially as a woman, and you're like to lose your life.
[Kevin Williamson makes my point better than me - culture matters because outcomes produced by cultural differences matter - and judging by outcomes for all its flaws Western culture is far superior to Muslim culture - which is why indulgence of Islamism at the expense of Western values is so idiotic - yet dare say such things and the left will beat you down as a racist when in fact race has absolutely nothing to do with culture - and then in turn outrage from the thought police of the left empowers the far right because it then sweeps up people discouraged by the pronounced idiocy of modern liberalism - as many have pointed out the big winner of todays violence is Marine Le Pen - and with that you're heading down a road that looks quite perilous.
To put it in its simplest terms the desire of liberals to try and frame Islamic extremism as an aberration from true Islam flies in the face of reality, common sense and history - we know from our own experience that when religion gets tied to political devices in the name of exerting power and control extremist behavior is to be expected - and the problem with Islam is that unlike Christianity it has a strong desire, a need for political devices - The Koran clearly enunciates the importance of a political component to Islam - you'll find elements of that in the Old Testament, sure, but not the gospels. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. Extremist behavior in the name of Islam is no more an aberration than witch burnings and the inquisition were aberrations of Christian theology - absolutist belief systems will tend towards extreme behavior if not acted upon by countervailing forces and given the strong political component attached to Islam countervailing forces in the Muslim world have been rendered virtually nonexistent. I mean wasn't there a poll done last year that showed a large majority of people in Muslim countries believe it is just that apostasy and blasphemy are against the law? And this nearly 500 years after Elizabeth claimed such things were none of her business. Seems to me that says it all. Think about it, taking such deep offence to a cartoon depiction of Mohammed or any depiction of Mohammed for that matter is a clear expression of Islam's need for political devices summoned in the name of protecting the 'purity' of the faith - that is why this extremism is not an aberration, it is in fact rather to be expected - and that is why Islam is fundamentally, not just provisionally, at odds with the core values that make up the Western Tradition - and the huge problem for Europe is they've imported this alien culture in large numbers without ever it seems considering the notion that it might not be a real good idea and therefore have only recently woken up to disturbing reality that many Muslims are not just failing to integrate into the prevailing culture but are increasingly hostile to the notion of integrating into the prevailing culture]
