Tiny points of light

Writing in today's LA Times with clarity and force, Sam Harris chastises fellow liberals for ignoring the grave threat posed to our civilization by islamic fanaticism. He has put into precise sentences something I've been thinking about for a long time but never wrote down: having ranted for so long about the ills and evils of the Western civilization, the liberals internalized their loathing to the point, where they will not defend this civilization against annihilation. How can a reasonable person respond to this death wish, except by saying, "Fuck you! And may you die a prolonged and horrible death, having your head sawed off with a dull knife by a masked islamic fanatic. On video. You can go to hell, if you so wish, but you're not taking me along."

For the biggest part of my life I considered myself a liberal, albeit in the "classical sense", that is a person who would like to see more freedoms given to individuals to make their own decisions, and fewer restrictions placed by government bureaucrats on the lives of private citizens. I abhorred religious fanatics of any kind and didn't like religions to begin with. But if Christian conservatists are the only people capable of recognizing the threat and willing to fight it, then sign me up. I will become a born-again Jesus freak, if that's necessary to defeat islamic fascism, because I know that our civilization will have a chance to emerge from the temporary darkness imposed on it by Christian fundamentalism - it has done so in the past, it will do it again. But if we lose this battle, if murderous islam turns up victorius, there is no chance for us. Christianity did go through very dark, cruel episodes, but it eventually reformed, adjusted, "civilized" itself. Islam never changed. If anything, it seems to be going backwards, toward barbarism, intolerance, fanaticism, madness.
It is so extremely rare these days to hear a liberal speak up againt the gravest threat our civilization has faced since Nazism, that it is impossible not run toward these tiny points of light, like a child chasing fireflies in a swamp.

Humiliation as a weapon

Are we still fighting "for the hearts and minds of the moslems?" Because if we are, than the pope's contrition for telling the truth means that we're having our assess whipped in this fight. Islamic is a patriarchal world, where the issue of honor is a very important one. The islamofascists know that they can't challenge the West on  science, technology, or culture, so they hit us where they can reach and where their victory will reverberate among their fellow moslems. They challenged us to a boxing match they know they can't win playing by the rules, so they are biting and kicking us in the balls. It doesn't matter that this is dirty fighting, what matters is that they have us squirming and covering our balls. They can say to the muslim audience who at some time might have been attracted to Western ideas and way of life, "This is what you covet? Look at them: a moslem will frown and the head of their church wil bow and ask for forgiveness. Do you want to be like them, or would you rather stick with us and have them tremble in fear of you?"

It's not hard to guess the answer coming from the islamic audience.Â

Message to the pope: convert to islam

Pope Benedict expressed regrets that his recent remarks offended muslim sensibilities. His offense? He dared to remind the world that early islam was spread largely by force. (The pope now says that his intention was to point out that it is wrong to use any religion as justification for violence.) Now he'll have to apologize, perhaps go to the muslim equivalent of Canossa (Would it be Peshawar? Tehran? Sadr City?), stand there barefoot, clad only in a potato sack, with ashes on his head, and wait for forgiveness. The followers of the "religion of peace" are already protesting on the streets and threatening violence. It could get out of hand, like with the Danish cartoons. Of course, it is nothing more than another test of Western cowardice, to see how quickly it will promise to censor its speech and apologize profusely.

My advise to the twit in papal robes: accept islam. You know it is going to happen eventually. Once eurabia is under sharia you won't be able to hold off for long, so why prolong the agony and suffer more humiliations? Chances are, the rest of europe will follow your example, and this way the US could finally disengage from the continent that has long ago ceased to be an ally, let alone a friend. Then it will just be a matter of waiting until they attack us, and respond with full force, perhaps liberating europe once again from the grip of yet another totalitarianism that grew on its decaying body.

Oriana Fallaci

Oriana Fallaci has finally succumbed to cancer she had been fighting for years. This is very sad news - with the passing of this incredible woman there is now a little bit less courage in the West vis-a-vis the dominant cowardice and dhimmitude. It is also good news: the assholes who were dragging her to court for daring to criticize islam will not be able to touch her. I hope they spent a lot of money on lawyers already.

I can't say that I knew much about her. (I read "The Rage and The Pride", of course). I was a teenager when I saw her for the first and last time on television, when Polish TV rebroadcast her interview with ayatollah Khomeini, in the midst of which she took off the face-covering hijab she had been forced to wear. I remember being floored by the courage of this woman. (This is what "talking truth to power" means - not some imbecile carrying sign "Bush=Hitler" at a demonstration in San Francisco, knowing full well that there will be no negative consequences for him or her.)

Today, in the "multicultural" world we are being brainwashed to accept as ours, such a gesture would be met with scorn by today's leftists as "insensitive". (In this worldview it is "insensitive" to criticize anybody and anything except Western values, countries, and cultures, especially the USA). Interestingly, Ms. Fallaci was a darling of the Left back then; in recent years she's become an enemy to them. She hasn't changed, always looking for the truth, always alergic to hipocrysy and tyranny. It's the Left that has become a sad caricature of itself.

P.S. A great tribute to Oriana Fallaci by Michael Ladeen at Politics Central. More tributes at Pajamas Media.

Quote of the season

"Republicans deserve to lose, but the Democrats don't deserve to win" - Professor Bainbridge.  (via InstaPundit)

Quote of the week

A commenter Rorshach under a post in Protein Wisdom on the death of Oriana Fallaci:

"Small blurbs in Reuters and AP about her. That’s all they have to say on the subject, of course. When Noam fucking Chomsky dies, though, they’ll be writing about him 24 hours a day for three weeks."

Indeed.

Muslim chutzpah

The Morning Edition interview with Sayed Badreya and Hesham Issawi reminded me why, after five years, I still can't stand NPR. (I used to be a great fan and member...) The interview went well enough and I listened to it with some interest, until, at the very end, Renee Montagne asked, "What about America's image problem in the Muslim world?". To which Mr. Badreya immediately, almost automatically responded, "Oh, it is terrible! It's horrible! It's just horrible". After that interview I turned the radio off - I was so upset I could not listen to it anymore.
So it always comes down to this, doesn't it: America is the greater evil. At the bottom of every depravity there is America to blame. Muslims are just victims. If Americans were to say that the image of Muslims in this country is terrible, because... - well, do you really want me to count the reasons? - this would be just another evidence of our ignorance and prejudice. Never mind the beheadings, the suicide bombers, the cult of death, the daily carnage perpetrated on Muslims by Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere... Muslims are just victims, we have no right or reason to dislike them, let alone hate them. They, on the other hand, have plenty of reasons to hate us. But if that's the case, at least we have plenty of company: the bombings and thwarted bombing plots suggest that they hate India, too. And Spain. And Canada. And Germany. And the UK. They hate other Muslims, as well. They have so much hate to dish out that there isn't any left for us.
The meek acknowledgment of Mr. Issawi, that there is "still bright side to America", because he was able to make a film here that he would not be able to make in Egypt, only added insult to injury. So this country had welcomed these guys, allowed them to realize their dreams, and yet they feel that the hatred of America in the Muslim world is fully justified.
Thank you NPR, for reminding me why I should continue to be very mistrustful of Muslims and you.