Muhammad: The "Banned" Images Blog Free Speech at Risk

Veil of Ignorance

No, not John Rawls's veil -- the ignorance of attempting to combat the Islamic infiltration of Europe and Great Britain (or of the U.S.) by banning cultural icons such as the veil. French president Sarkozy said that the veil is “not welcome in France because it is contrary to our values and contrary to the ideals we have of a woman’s dignity.” Or Switzerland's banning of the minaret.

Europe and Britain should be concerned about the Islamic invasion. (For details on this, see Oriana Fallaci's The Force of Reason.) However, one does not counter an ideological invasion by outlawing the concrete consequences of that ideology. That is like trying to cure skin cancer by putting makeup on the lesions.

The only cure for a false and evil ideology is a rational one. But to see that point, the cultural leaders in those countries would need to grasp the meaning and power of philosophy. They might want to start with Ayn Rand's essay "Philosophy: Who Needs It," and with Leonard Peikoff's book The Ominous Parallels (Meridian). The first will give them an introduction to the nature and purpose of philosophy; the second, a powerfully comprehensive understanding of the role of philosophy in shaping history.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/europe/27france.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/europe/27france.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/europe/30swiss.html

Blame Obama Not Comedy Central

A recent episode of South Park satirized Muhammad. Predictably, Islamists threatened violence. (A decades-long, comprehensive list of such Islam-driven aggression can be seen on the tab "Murder & Mayhem" at www.muhammadimages.com.) In a follow-up episode, Comedy Central (CC) sanitized the Muhammad references. (See the article in today's NYT: www.artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/south-park-episode-is-altered-after-muslim-groups-warning/?scp=1&sq=south park&st=cse)

The ensuing outrage against CC is misplaced -- just as it was misplaced to criticize the bookstores who refused to carry Rushdie's book. The government is defaulting on its responsibility to defend free speech and property -- and it is unreasonable to expect a company to endanger its employees, or risk bankruptcy trying to protect itself, while the government dithers.

The outrage should be directed at the Obama administration. While this president trashes our economic liberties by demonizing and controlling financiers, he fails to defend political liberties such as the right to free speech. Just as he remained silent during the infamous Yale University Press case, so he has not used his office for the noble purpose it was intended: to enforce the First Amendment to the Constitution.

And this is no accident. The Old Left at least paid lip service to free speech. But Obama was "educated" by neo-fascist academics who spread free-speech destroying ideologies such as multiculturalism, political correctness, and speech codes.

Faith and Force: Islam Style

As the Obama administration sidles up to the ideological wing of Islam, its military wing continues to terrorize innocent writers, intellectuals, and (this time) the creators of South Park -- for their satirical portrayal of Muhammad.

"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."

Words Alter Reality ………………. So Claims Obama

"President Barack Obama's advisers plan to remove terms such as "Islamic radicalism" from a document outlining national security strategy and will use the new version to emphasize that the U.S. does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terrorism . . ." Just as Obama believes that his wish can magically provide quality health care for all, so he believes that his wish can vanquish the fact that militant Islam is behind world-wide terror. For an overview of the actual facts, see the tab: "Murder & Mayhem" at muhammadimages.com.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_terrorism_rhetoric

Police Power Versus Dissenters and Free Speech

Orlando, FL urologist Jack Cassell publically expressed his disagreement with ObamaCare, by posting the following note on his office door: “If you voted for Obama,” seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now. Not in four years.” Shortly thereafter, Florida Congressman Alan Grayson made an official request to Florida Department of Health and the Florida Medical board to punish Dr. Cassell.

Oops. Sorry. Meant to reference the following story from the People’s Republic of Venezuela:

“When Judge María Lourdes Afiuni issued a ruling in December that irked President Hugo Chávez . . . the [dictator], contending on national television that she would have been put before a firing squad in earlier times, sent his secret intelligence police to arrest her.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/us/03doctor.html?scp=1&sq=urologist&st=cse

“Since Judge Afiuni’s imprisonment, a dizzying sequence of other high-profile arrests has taken place . . .” [A]ttorney General Luisa Ortega [said] the most recent arrests were necessary to suppress conspiracies or to prosecute people whose comments were deemed offensive to Mr. Chávez. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/world/americas/04venez.html?hpw

The Alternative World of the Moscow Bomber

A teenage Muslim woman was one of the two bombers who killed 40 people at the recent Moscow subway massacre. (In case she experienced a last-minute desire for self-preservation, the belt-bomb she wore was detonated remotely by an accomplice.)  In a perceptive comment on the connection between Islam and such mayhem, Zaur Gaziyev (editor in chief of Svobodnaya Respublika) said: "'These religious ideas are very attractive, because they give a kind of alternative to the world that exists.'" Undoubtedly. Though in a manner far deeper than what this editor understands.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/world/europe/03moscow.html?hpw