(Unintended) Benefits of the Paris Rally

When the rally in Paris happened after the Charlie Hebdo murders, I was curious: What was the purpose of this rally? What were they trying to show? To whom? Turns out it may have served a purpose after all. I say that after reading Andrew Sullivan’s blog:
“I was actually surprised and gladdened by the response to the slaughter – an overwhelming wave of revulsion and disgust, expressed with great dignity and courage.”
That dignified, non-violent response has robbed the liberals of the world the option of changing the topic on Charlie Hebdo. Their choice to never call a spade a spade is visible to all:
“Even now, many will not concede that religion was the root cause of the attack, and that the name of that religion is Islam.”
The usual weasel approach of the liberals flies in the face of the facts, says Sullivan:
“(They say) Islam has nothing to do with this. There are just a few loonies who are suffering from false consciousness, and their real motivations are economic or personal or secular or just purely violent. You can believe that, if you want. Or you can pretend to believe it because it might be more pragmatic to do so. Or you can open your eyes. This is not to say that most Muslims support this kind of mass murder – and the global Muslim response was particularly encouraging. But it is to say that it is not a coincidence that so much terror and violence all over the world is currently being committed in the name of Islam. Some core parts of it are, quite simply, incompatible with post-Enlightenment thought and practice. And those parts have all the energy right now.”

Can Islam change anytime soon on topics like religious liberty and free speech?
“It’s too great a cultural gulf. I have tentative hope that this vast gap on a fundamental question may take as long for Islam to arrive at as Christianity did. But that means a century at least of more bloodletting.”
The change-and-become-tolerant ball lies solely in the Muslims’ court. And the signs aren’t exactly encouraging. Take the famous Al Jazeera, a Muslim paper/site that is as good as any such news agency can be. Its English editor, Salah-Aldeen Khadr, sent a staff-wide mail that said:
“Insisting on the right to be obnoxious and offensive just because you can is infantile…Baiting extremists isn’t bravely defiant when your manner of doing so is more significant in offending millions of moderate people as well.”
That triggered angry responses from its English speaking (read Western) staff. One of the Muslim employees supported the editor (big surprise):
“I guess if you insult 1.5 billion people chances are one or two of them will kill you.”
Yes, guys, you have the right to be offended. But murdering as a response isn’t. Especially in another country. Step back for a minute and check how you treat people of other religions. But try telling that to the religion of peace and its liberal supporters…

Comments

  1. KumarJanuary 15, 2015 at 6:46 PM

    The quotes given are coming out well and the overview emerging from them is realistic.

    Regarding Sullivan's quote's second part, which goes as, "It’s too great a cultural gulf. I have tentative hope that this vast gap on a fundamental question may take as long for Islam to arrive at as Christianity did. But that means a century at least of more bloodletting" reflects on both the need for the Muslim community as a whole to mend their ways as well as a hint at the time duration in which not much can be expected. Considering the extraordinary depth and the darkness of the well in which the Muslims live, another century of massacres by the Muslim terrorists looks a realistic expectation, one can say.

    As far as broadening their outlook to the level of Christianity today (it may be an acceptable benchmark, and religious people other than Muslims may not find it unfair), knowing the core nature of their faith and the way their scripture induces them into violence, it may take some centuries longer. Here the word 'meme' coined by Richard Dawkins to describe sustained traits in groups of people generation after generation, induced just due to surrounding social behavior, which can can by means be traced to the genes, makes sense. For the Muslims, emerging from their dark world of violence will take many, many, many generations.

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