Pandering
will sink us, will weaken our foundations and our unique culture; a
culture of tolerance yet of logic, of equality but also of independence.
It
is our behavior (and not our thoughts) that should be the real issue.
How we treat each other, whether we abuse or respect each other, whether
we acknowledge all people with equality and fairness. That is the
American way.
It
is not the American way to become more like Saudi Arabia or Iran.
There they have public dress codes, Shariah law and other niceties like
stonings, beheadings and honor killings. Ours is a modern society based
on humanistic behavior, on accommodating the individual - not serving
the Sheik, the Imam, the police or local thugs.
Here
we protect and nurture the individual, not subvert our freedoms in the
service of the "greater good" as defined by Allah's unblemished
representatives here on earth, or by a dictator's goons, as the case may
be.
When
the Irish, the Jews, the Indians and the Hindus applied for jobs, they
chose their workplace and accommodated to the rules accordingly. When
was the last time a Hasidic Jew with full length black coat and fur hat
demonstrated outside Miami City Hall for the right to wear their
preferred dress in any job of their choosing? When did Hindus demand
new cafeterias to accommodate their dietary needs? When did Mormons
require separate prayer facilities or Buddhists their temples? What of
vegetarians, anorexics, Rastafarians?
Now
Disney must accommodate the Hijab. And what if these Hijabs morph into
the Taliban style Burkas? Why do the needs of the wearer, to hide all
but the eyes, trump the sensitivities of the paying public, the
understandable focus of the employer? Why does the Islamic disdain of
certain Minnesota taxis for dogs and alcohol take precedence over the
cab rider's normal and standard needs? Why install at our universities
footbaths, Shariah compliant toilets, Hallal cafeterias and private
prayer areas for a vociferous minority when every other minority (and
there are many indeed) managed for decades in peace and mutual tolerance
without demonstrations or violence? How many businesses can afford 5
prayer breaks a day? The religious Jew prays comfortably before and
after work. Christians, Bahai, Buddist and the majority of Muslims meld
rather than seek to dominate or separate?
I suspect the difference is either insecure or exaggerated victimization or possibly an imperialistic belief in religious and
cultural domination. The truth is that whether a Muslim is a radical
fanatic or merely strongly Shariah compliant and traditionally
observant, many committed Muslims today would prefer Sharia law to have a
stronger role in our laws, our mores and our social structures. They
would prefer Islam to become the dominant or the sole World religion,
for the Muslim Caliphate to once again reign supreme. They believe, as
their dominant version of the Koran is clearly interpreted across the
Muslim world, that their God is the only God, that their way is the only
way and that domination is their right and their goal, whether by
creeping Shariah, by internal change of their adopted country or by
violent Jihadism. This is not personal conjecture - this is the current
predominant Wahabi view as exported by much of the mosques and
madrassas worldwide, courtesy of our Saudi friends who have spent more
than 2 billion dollars annually on their outreach program.
Ahmadinejad's version of his own Shia caliphate (world domination) is
not difficult to discern. This essential difference of our time is not
well understood by the West. In the past, various cultures and
religious expressions were happy to share the world with all others, a
certain "live and let live" tolerance, where multiple paths lead to God,
many lifestyles to happiness. Just honor my boundaries and I will in
turn honor yours. No longer.
The
new imperialism is no longer British riflemen marching into the Punjab,
or Catholic missionaries and Spain's armies devastating the Indians of
the South and Central Americas. No, the new imperialism is as insidious
as it is subtle. It uses our laws, our freedoms, our delicate
tolerances and passionate fair play to open our societies to all, to
endlessly accommodate all, even those who would subvert, dominate and
abuse our world and all its largely moderate citizens.
We should draw a line in the sand and say, enough. Why allow
our hard earned freedoms and unrivalled refinements to be subverted by
the fundamentalisms of the 7th century Middle East? For those who love
and respect our freedoms we welcome you, members of all faiths, all
religions, all cultures - for those who wish to push us back into the
Dark Ages, we invite you to return to those dozens of countries, those
nonexistent democracies, that practice these inanities, that specialize
in the subjugation of women, the subversion of the individual.
We
have freedoms worth fighting for, worth preserving. And many,
hopefully more with time, are prepared likewise to do so. We should be a
beacon for all the unfree, the abused, the disenfranchised. We already
have a surfeit of tolerance in the West - we need to ensure our
privileges are preserved and then shared more freely, more visibly
amongst all those countries where freedom remains just a distant mirage.
Published on Sullivan CountyPublished on Slant Right
Leslie J. Sacks
No comments:
Post a Comment