Free speech is vital for democratic and republican societies to thrive. Trying to stop people we disagree with by the use of violence only comes back to haunt us later on when our own views are opposed by others. Every religion known to man has been misused by extreme believers to silence dissent, and the best of political and moral beliefs can be misused as well, with the true believers convincing themselves that their violent acts are on behalf of a greater good.
Wonderful article but you are wrong. Islam is not as powerful and dangerous as much as Judaeo-Christian theology has become feckless, cowardly and otiose. The last theologian who had the courage to oppose Muslim theology was Pope Benedict. God is dead for the Western Intellectual, but Allah is very much alive for the Muslim Intellectual. In the West we confuse God, Religion and Theology. Muslims do not. God and Religion are based entirely on faith. But theology is based on reason. We cannot defeat faith, but we certainly can defeat the bad logic that leads to bad religion that in turn leads to misunderstanding Allah/Hashem/Christ to the point where we forgive Muslims for beheading a school teacher. If the West does not reinvigorate its theologians Islam will indeed wreak havoc on the West. They know their God; we do not understand ours, and the great irony of this is Abraham is the father of all three Western Religions. He had two sons Isaac and Ishmael. Theologically Ishmael, the oldest, is beating the daylights out of Isaac. Let's help the followers of Isaac stand up to his bully of a big brother, Ishmael. Time for the Western theologians to stop cowering and apologizing, and instead start doing Apologetics. Why should Ishmael stop beating up Isaac? I pray the war of theologians will soon eclipse the massacres of the innocents by theologically ignorant "Ishmaelians". God is not illogical, but people are, and deeply so at that.
Free societies cannot have blasphemy laws, nor should their citizens behave as if they do. France best defends what it treasures as laïcité, upheld by President Macron and the excellent Minister of the Interior, Gérard Moussa (sic) Darmanin, whose middle name commemorates his Algerian NCO grandfather who fought the Nazis in the army and then in the Resistance. Vive la France’. Vive les Lumières!
Anglo-sphere handles all this much less well but readers should note that the President of Hamline who thought snowflake sensibility should supersede academic freedom will be retiring in June 2024. Of course trustees should have fired her but she was permitted to announce forthcoming resignation.
The issue is not which religion does the comparatively least damage. The issue is that religious belief systems, themselves, don't deserve any special exemption from ridicule and doubt. There is no legitimate basis for claiming that assertions about the intent and will of a supernatural being automatically entitles such claims to special insulation from the verbal and written attacks that can be lobbed at other types of belief systems and ideologies..
Rights must be enforced. That anonymous teacher would be in a better place psychologically if they had weapons and knew how to use them. Unfortunately the UK banned guns.
Free speech is vital for democratic and republican societies to thrive. Trying to stop people we disagree with by the use of violence only comes back to haunt us later on when our own views are opposed by others. Every religion known to man has been misused by extreme believers to silence dissent, and the best of political and moral beliefs can be misused as well, with the true believers convincing themselves that their violent acts are on behalf of a greater good.
Wonderful article but you are wrong. Islam is not as powerful and dangerous as much as Judaeo-Christian theology has become feckless, cowardly and otiose. The last theologian who had the courage to oppose Muslim theology was Pope Benedict. God is dead for the Western Intellectual, but Allah is very much alive for the Muslim Intellectual. In the West we confuse God, Religion and Theology. Muslims do not. God and Religion are based entirely on faith. But theology is based on reason. We cannot defeat faith, but we certainly can defeat the bad logic that leads to bad religion that in turn leads to misunderstanding Allah/Hashem/Christ to the point where we forgive Muslims for beheading a school teacher. If the West does not reinvigorate its theologians Islam will indeed wreak havoc on the West. They know their God; we do not understand ours, and the great irony of this is Abraham is the father of all three Western Religions. He had two sons Isaac and Ishmael. Theologically Ishmael, the oldest, is beating the daylights out of Isaac. Let's help the followers of Isaac stand up to his bully of a big brother, Ishmael. Time for the Western theologians to stop cowering and apologizing, and instead start doing Apologetics. Why should Ishmael stop beating up Isaac? I pray the war of theologians will soon eclipse the massacres of the innocents by theologically ignorant "Ishmaelians". God is not illogical, but people are, and deeply so at that.
Free societies cannot have blasphemy laws, nor should their citizens behave as if they do. France best defends what it treasures as laïcité, upheld by President Macron and the excellent Minister of the Interior, Gérard Moussa (sic) Darmanin, whose middle name commemorates his Algerian NCO grandfather who fought the Nazis in the army and then in the Resistance. Vive la France’. Vive les Lumières!
Anglo-sphere handles all this much less well but readers should note that the President of Hamline who thought snowflake sensibility should supersede academic freedom will be retiring in June 2024. Of course trustees should have fired her but she was permitted to announce forthcoming resignation.
The issue is not which religion does the comparatively least damage. The issue is that religious belief systems, themselves, don't deserve any special exemption from ridicule and doubt. There is no legitimate basis for claiming that assertions about the intent and will of a supernatural being automatically entitles such claims to special insulation from the verbal and written attacks that can be lobbed at other types of belief systems and ideologies..
Rights must be enforced. That anonymous teacher would be in a better place psychologically if they had weapons and knew how to use them. Unfortunately the UK banned guns.