Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A Libertarian Addresses the Steyn-Influenced Right

From 2006, right here.

Islam is not a monolith, Muslims are not some sort of hive mind, and too often discussions of Islam devolve into bigotry.

For the record, 

A. I vigorously OPPOSE all efforts to suppress Mark Steyn's freedom of expression.
B. I think Steyn's views on Obama and the Muslim world are absurd, dishonest, and those of a borderline hysteric.
C. I despise Islamic Fundamentalism, but then again, I can't stand ANY religious fundamentalism of any variety.


ADDENDUM: A discussion of sharia law in Britain may be found here.

1 comment:

Wakefield Tolbert said...

Yes indeed.

The author makes a valid point or two.

The problem is this fine line of distinction is lost on most of the Left.

To them, merely mentioning immigration issues and migrant problems (the better term) in Europe and America is akin to racism and bias. They fret over what "we" have done to "them", and forget that the issue is about ideology and demographics.

They complain about "xenophobia" and "bigotry", but forget that the problem is not so much Islam as some kind of monolith (which neither I nor Steyn nor most people would claim) but rather that many (if not most) Muslims have been cowed into silence, and this is painfully obvious judging by the quite sound of crickets when Muslims see their own countrymen blown to hell on 911 and in other times too numerous to detail. They get the benefits of Sharia by default---someone more violent is doing the legwork of jihad. Why should they speak up when that only yields danger?

The practitioners of Islam who serve as the "gatekeepers" of the faith have made it clear that jihad is a violent doctrine core to their faith, and have pursued policies to this effect. There are moderate Muslims, yes.

Alas, there is not a moderate Islam itself, and the Wahhabe sect that is now spreading the world over has no "reformation" on the horizon so far as anyone can tell. Curious that in this "diverse" atmosphere of Islam, those areas of the world that have been touched by the Wahhabe strain as exported by Saudi Arabia and some other "dear friends" seems to be quite popular and is given a more stern form of Islam (like the wearing of the hijab) to areas where previously this was unknown. Indonesia comes to mind, as one example. Iran is another.