Insults
It was painful to hear, on CBC radio (February 3rd) , an interview with a collection of representatives of Canadian muslim communities about the Danish cartoons. There was a Turkish born comedian (Ennis Esmer) who had the good sense to point out that one needs a thick skin and that there are many ways to respond to insults. The others, to my great dismay, began the conversation by saying that while they did not approve of the volent actions of their co-religionists in other countries, they could understand it. They did not condemn the actions but sought to defend them as an unbearable insult. As the interview progressed, the good sense of the Mr. Esmer seemed to prevail on the group, and they gradually lightened up to a less reflexive cultural defensive approach.
The defense of many muslim groups was that Western societies would react in a similar fashion if is some sacred image of the Christian faith were displayed in a highly insulting fashion. It was claimed that jokes about the holocaust would provoke similar reactions in the West. While the point is well taken that people are offended by contentions that the holocaust did not occur and that jokes on the subject are offensive to most. You will not find any demonstations or violence related to such postings. There are profound reasons why this is so.
Theocracy and demogoguery were once universal elements of all societies' traditions. In the middle ages, Europe was a substantially a poorer mirror image of Muslim culture, with different traditions, but the same approach to the sanctity of religious orthodoxy as many modern islamic societies. For hundreds of years, the tolerance of Muslim societies preserved the knowledge of the ancients, and were the technological innovators. That time is well known to muslims, but the other side of the time that followed that golden era is less well understood. European religious intolerance lead to the expulsion of the Arabs (and Jews) from Spain, but also hundreds of years of religiously motivated conflict in Europe ( a good summary is here: ).
Those wars spawned the Scientific Revolution (here too.) Freedom of speech was first and foremost about liberating discussion about scientific ideas from religious sensitivities (conflicts between science and religion). Obviously, all the protestant reformers were very interested in freedom of speech: John Calvin, Martin Luther (both condemned as Heretics by the Catholic Clergy)
Galileo Galilei published on helio-centrism and was tried and convicted for heresy and condemned to house arrest for the remainder of his life by the Catholic church. René Descartes, who lived outside France most of his life, for fear of persecution by Catholics. In the Netherlands, he was considered a Papist, and at the sametime assailed by Jesuits, eventually going to Sweden to be further removed from religio/political disputes. in the words of this source:
Descartes set himself a dual task: (1) Show that Galileo was right about how to seek knowledge; and (2) Avoid getting imprisoned or executed for this.
After his death, his works were banned by the Catholic Church.
Speakers for Science, and not necessarily against religion, but certainly not being ruled by religion, were the central innovation of the Scientific Revolution.
By the end of this period: The Earth was round, instead of flat, the Earth turned around the sun, instead of the opposite. These things came to be believed in opposition to prior Church doctrine.
It was only after scientists paved the way to respect for reason that freedom of speech in other domains could arise. They set the stage for Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Voltaire & Smith who argued against the divine right of Kings (formerly universal Church doctrine) and the for rule of reason and law in societies. These are the ideas from which western democracies and capitalism sprang.
Only in the Enlightenment was freedom of speech extended to the political realm. That innovation led to directly to democracy. This is a lesson the west learned over hard centuries and is the primary cause of the rise of the west.
When newcomers to Western societies complain of ''insults'' to their faith, they are demonstrating a singular insular ignorance of the history of the culture in which they are situated. According to many protestant sects today, the Pope is the Antichrist. ( more, even more ) People of different religions say very insulting things about people of other religions on a basis so regular that it is banal. A prominent evangelical reverand states that the AntiChrist is a Jew. A Jewish writer thoughtfully responds with a visit to the reverend, and a detailed explanation of why this could make folks (particularly jews) rather uncomfortable.
The islamic world's violence is often excused as a form of victimization caused by past imperialism. The muslim world has not been subject to particular persecution. The muslim world fell from prominence around the time of the renaissance not because of some singular failure of the muslim culture, but because Europe went through the Scientific Revolution and changed the rules of culture in a fundamental way. The new rules were first discovered by Europeans, but no more created by them than the law of Gravity was created by Newton. All other cultures of the world were affected by the change. Many other cultures were mistreated in the early centuries of the revolution by westerners. Some cultures were eliminated by the change, Many others have adapted to the new rules, and now florish.
When muslims riot over a cartoon, and others defend them, it demonstrates that the Scientific Revolution has yet to be understood in the Muslim world. Canadian Multi-culturalism means tolerance of other cultures, and to value other traditions, but within the framework of the western liberal democratic traditions which are the source of western societies' values and strengths. Muslims in societies touched by the Enlightenment have a duty to work to understand where they have arrived, and bring the benefits of the enlightenment to their culture. To explain, excuse, or defend the darkness that has shackled some societies for centuries in the guise of tradition does no good to anyone.
The defense of many muslim groups was that Western societies would react in a similar fashion if is some sacred image of the Christian faith were displayed in a highly insulting fashion. It was claimed that jokes about the holocaust would provoke similar reactions in the West. While the point is well taken that people are offended by contentions that the holocaust did not occur and that jokes on the subject are offensive to most. You will not find any demonstations or violence related to such postings. There are profound reasons why this is so.
Theocracy and demogoguery were once universal elements of all societies' traditions. In the middle ages, Europe was a substantially a poorer mirror image of Muslim culture, with different traditions, but the same approach to the sanctity of religious orthodoxy as many modern islamic societies. For hundreds of years, the tolerance of Muslim societies preserved the knowledge of the ancients, and were the technological innovators. That time is well known to muslims, but the other side of the time that followed that golden era is less well understood. European religious intolerance lead to the expulsion of the Arabs (and Jews) from Spain, but also hundreds of years of religiously motivated conflict in Europe ( a good summary is here: ).
Those wars spawned the Scientific Revolution (here too.) Freedom of speech was first and foremost about liberating discussion about scientific ideas from religious sensitivities (conflicts between science and religion). Obviously, all the protestant reformers were very interested in freedom of speech: John Calvin, Martin Luther (both condemned as Heretics by the Catholic Clergy)
Galileo Galilei published on helio-centrism and was tried and convicted for heresy and condemned to house arrest for the remainder of his life by the Catholic church. René Descartes, who lived outside France most of his life, for fear of persecution by Catholics. In the Netherlands, he was considered a Papist, and at the sametime assailed by Jesuits, eventually going to Sweden to be further removed from religio/political disputes. in the words of this source:
Descartes set himself a dual task: (1) Show that Galileo was right about how to seek knowledge; and (2) Avoid getting imprisoned or executed for this.
After his death, his works were banned by the Catholic Church.
Speakers for Science, and not necessarily against religion, but certainly not being ruled by religion, were the central innovation of the Scientific Revolution.
By the end of this period: The Earth was round, instead of flat, the Earth turned around the sun, instead of the opposite. These things came to be believed in opposition to prior Church doctrine.
It was only after scientists paved the way to respect for reason that freedom of speech in other domains could arise. They set the stage for Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Voltaire & Smith who argued against the divine right of Kings (formerly universal Church doctrine) and the for rule of reason and law in societies. These are the ideas from which western democracies and capitalism sprang.
Only in the Enlightenment was freedom of speech extended to the political realm. That innovation led to directly to democracy. This is a lesson the west learned over hard centuries and is the primary cause of the rise of the west.
When newcomers to Western societies complain of ''insults'' to their faith, they are demonstrating a singular insular ignorance of the history of the culture in which they are situated. According to many protestant sects today, the Pope is the Antichrist. ( more, even more ) People of different religions say very insulting things about people of other religions on a basis so regular that it is banal. A prominent evangelical reverand states that the AntiChrist is a Jew. A Jewish writer thoughtfully responds with a visit to the reverend, and a detailed explanation of why this could make folks (particularly jews) rather uncomfortable.
The islamic world's violence is often excused as a form of victimization caused by past imperialism. The muslim world has not been subject to particular persecution. The muslim world fell from prominence around the time of the renaissance not because of some singular failure of the muslim culture, but because Europe went through the Scientific Revolution and changed the rules of culture in a fundamental way. The new rules were first discovered by Europeans, but no more created by them than the law of Gravity was created by Newton. All other cultures of the world were affected by the change. Many other cultures were mistreated in the early centuries of the revolution by westerners. Some cultures were eliminated by the change, Many others have adapted to the new rules, and now florish.
When muslims riot over a cartoon, and others defend them, it demonstrates that the Scientific Revolution has yet to be understood in the Muslim world. Canadian Multi-culturalism means tolerance of other cultures, and to value other traditions, but within the framework of the western liberal democratic traditions which are the source of western societies' values and strengths. Muslims in societies touched by the Enlightenment have a duty to work to understand where they have arrived, and bring the benefits of the enlightenment to their culture. To explain, excuse, or defend the darkness that has shackled some societies for centuries in the guise of tradition does no good to anyone.
posted by philobyte at 7:07 AM
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