by
Justin Darr
After
more than two weeks of nightly violence, the rioting of Europe’s Muslim
minority has finally begun to subside. While the French government and
Main Stream Media may be eager to pretend that the events of the last
month were an anomaly, or persist in the notion that the underlying issues
that incited the violence are now being addressed, the current lull in the
violence in Europe is just that; a lull. The violence is doomed to return
in the future. Europe is fast becoming ground zero in clash of
civilizations between two equally intolerant cultures, radical Islam and
Liberalism.
If
American Liberalism has an Eden, it must be somewhere in France. France
has positioned itself in the world as the self appointed “Liberal
Paradise.” Large scale social programs, crippling controls over business,
the complete eradication of expressions of faith in public schools,
year-long prison terms for anyone who might utter a word deemed to be
“offensive,” euthanasia for invalids, no death penalty, abortion pills,
and a compulsive anti-Americanism, has made France the envy of liberals
world-wide.
While
liberals may be quick to try to point out some perceived benefits of
France’s Socialistic programs, they are equally quick to ignore the dark
side of liberalism that is also very apparent in France: a crippled,
uncompetitive economy, high unemployment, and an overwhelming arrogance
and intolerance toward those who do not share their beliefs.
In the
post World War II era, Europe has followed the standard liberal plan
toward its immigrant communities. First, welcome them as long as they are
elitist intellectuals like themselves, or poor and willing to do the
menial jobs liberals feel are below them. Second, force them into social
programs designed to make them dependant on the state (and liberal
political parties) and indoctrinate their children into the “proper”
values in the public schools. Then third, after a generation or two, urge
them to completely set aside silly little cultural traditions and
religious beliefs and join the larger Socialist polity. Hey, there is no
law saying they cannot enjoy their cultural heritage and values, just as
long as they confine it to “Celebrations of Diversity Parades,” and
watching them on PBS.
For
decades, this plan has had some success. Many of the issues surrounding
values, freedom of speech, the environment, and religion that define the
most contentious of American political debates are nonexistent in Europe.
The liberals have already won. However, the liberal plan in Europe has had
one large stumbling block, Muslim immigrants.
Islam, in
and of itself, is not an intolerant faith. The values and beliefs that
constitute Islam may be different many regards to Christianity, but the
average Muslim is not necessarily predisposed toward intolerance. However,
the reality of Islamic fundamentalism cannot be ignored. And, the reality
of Islamic fundamentalism is that it is one of the most intolerant and
militantly aggressive beliefs on the planet.
Islamic
fundamentalism exhibits several dangerous tendencies. Self-exclusion,
Islamists see the western world as sinful and corrupt, and refuse to
intermingle with it. Militancy, Islamists feast on the numerous suras of
the Koran endorsing and regulating violence. Intolerance, people of some
differing beliefs are tolerated, but all must submit themselves to second
class citizen status under the religious apartheid of “Dhimnitude.”
Arrogance, no law applies to Muslims but Islamic law and the Koran. And,
aggressive territoriality, once Muslims have control of an area, then they
must always have control over that area, holding it by whatever force they
deem necessary (this is the rational behind the Islamist desire to destroy
Israel.)
For years
liberals have tried to portray the spread of Islamic fundamentalism across
the Muslim world as a result of poverty. This is not the case. The basis
of Islamic fundamentalism is a sense of inferiority due to the decline of
Islamic civilization.
Islamists
see the decline of their civilization as a consequence of the corruption
of Islam through the sinful influences of the world around them, and the
aggressive intrusion of foreign powers to steal their wealth, resources,
and land. To them, there is only one answer. Fight back and destroy the
enemies of Allah where ever, or who ever they may be. There can be no
compromise, no peace, only total victory or total defeat.
In
Europe, the Muslim population is not fundamentalist in nature, but is
being pushing in that direction by the liberal societies in which they
live. In traditional fashion, the liberals of Europe have chosen to
attack, mock, and regulate the elements of the Muslim community that
refuse to give up their beliefs as being uneducated and stupid.
For
example, in 2004, Cheryl Benard of the RAND Corporation stated in “The
Christian Science Monitor,” “Ironically, France's new secular dress code
may end up taking Islamic society a step forward by sending Muslims back
to their own religious texts for review,” in regard to French legislation
banning school girls from wearing the “hijab,” or Muslim head scarf in
public school. In other words, Muslims in France are too stupid to
understand their own faith, so they must be forced by the state to do so.
Who cares that the “hijab” is a cultural norm for many Muslims and not
wearing it in public the equivalent to a sexual assault on a young girl.
But liberals do not like it, so away it goes. “Take your scarf off, your
welfare check home and shut up,” is how Europe has dealt with the
differing beliefs of its minorities. Over decades the Muslim community has
refused to fall into line, so the liberals have systematically ostracized
them to the fringes of society.
This
should be no surprise to Americans. This is how liberals deal with anyone
who disagrees with them here. The only difference is there are fewer of
them and they have not, yet, managed to gain completely control of the
Courts.
After
years of mockery, oppression of their beliefs, and discrimination, the
Muslim minority lashed out. The riots are far more an expression of
frustration and hopelessness than any form of religious extremism. But
they are the raw emotions from which radical Islam can spawn. And the
incompetence of the French government has ensured that it will.
The first
response in Europe to the riots was one of shock, inaction, and insults.
The people in the street where called “scum,” Liberals were perplexed at
the immigrants hostility after all the programs they created for them, and
the police stood by and helplessly watched. The second response was
complete oppression. A state of emergency was declared, curfews imposed,
agitators threatened with deportation, and the right of public assembly
severely curtailed.
The
message the Muslim community received was that when they were fighting,
they had Europe on its knees, and when they stopped things became worse
than they were before. This is the worse case scenario for Europe. For the
first time in their lives, the immigrant population of Europe felt
powerful. Then when they stopped the violence, the power was pulled away
and replaced more social programs, more regulations, and even less freedom
and respect. There is no more fertile soil for radicalism to bloom than
the one created by the French.
Islamists
might ask why did the Muslims of Europe stop fighting? Soon, Europe’s
immigrants might be asking the same question. Out of liberalism’s
arrogance and inability to accept any ideas but their own, they have set
the stage for jihad in Europe.
© 2005 Justin Darr
Justin@justindarr.com
www.justindarr.com
Justin Darr is a freelance
writer living in the Philadelphia area with his wife and twin children. He
can be read widely on the Internet and in publications across North
America and Europe.
Justin Darr is a proud
member of the MoveOff Network.
The opinions expressed in
this column represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions, views, or philosophy of TheRealityCheck.org, Inc.
