The author, Bouthaina Shaaban, likens the current trends against Muslims in Europe to the anti-Semitic feelings stirred up by the Germans (and Poles and more) in-between the first and second world wars.
Accusing the Muslims of violence and stripping Muslims of citizenship and rights is, as the article quotes, "the same taken against Jews in 1930s."
Shaaban is quite right. There is a strong anti-Muslim sentiment and, if it goes unchecked, it can escalate into something quite nasty. At some point, somebody will recommend putting them in camps for their own protection. It's not inconceivable.
However, the solution presented is not viable.
As Europe has recently passed a law that forbids doubting the Holocaust, today it should pass another law that bans racist insults against Muslims and Islam.
No. It should not. No law that abrogates freedom of speech can be allowed to pass in a liberal democracy. And the writer is comparing apples to oranges: Forbidding Holocaust denial is not the same as banning insults. They are in the same realm, but not in the same category. Denying the holocaust denies an actual, physical occurrence, which cost the lives of millions of people. Insulting a religion is the appropriate response to the superstition that religions are.
However, there is a very important point brought up in this article, that of the growing anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe. While we should not create laws that would prevent their feelings being hurt, we MUST ensure their safety and freedoms: otherwise what small headway we have made in liberalizing the world (and diminishing religion's influence in it) will be lost.
0 comments:
Post a Comment