Edmund Pickett

 Say Anything About Islam

Days

By

Edmund Pickett

          The muslim campaign of violence against free speech in Europe, which began with the Danish cartoon riots, intensified recently with the firebombing of the home of a British publisher. His offense? He was planning to publish “The Jewel of Medina,” a novel about one of Mohammed’s wives. The fanatics who destroyed his house were not angry at the content of the book; it had not been published yet, and no one but the author and publisher knew what it was about. News reports since suggest that it is a historical romance which contains nothing critical of Islam or Mohammed. The author seems puzzled by the furor, which demonstrates her ignorance of present day Islam. Whether she knows anything about Arabia in the time of the founder of Islam is irrelevant. She and her book have been targeted by the fanatics because she is not muslim. To them the founder of their religion is off-limits to infidels. We are not supposed to say anything about him, and muslims can mention Mohammed only to praise him as the only totally perfect human being.

          After the bombing, the usual suspects popped up on TV– the supposedly moderate muslim leaders who said what they always say: “I do not condone violence of course, but naturally I understand the terrible pain that pious muslims feel when our religion is treated disrespectfully.” The muslims have got this one-two punch down to a perfect routine by now. First the violence, then the so-called moderates who always speak more in sorrow than in anger, who never condone violence, but always understand it. When police use this trick, it is called the good cop/bad cop routine and the dumbest crooks figured it out a long time ago. Unfortunately the progressive intellectuals of Europe are still falling for the bad muslim/good muslim charade. The muslims know that they have found a winning strategy and they’re going to keep using it.

           In reality, moderate muslims do not understand the thugs who commit violence in the name of Allah. They consider them evil or insane, but they are afraid to say that on TV or in print, because they don’t want their own homes to be firebombed. They have been frightened into silence, just as the media in Europe as a whole have been frightened into self-censorship. The newspapers, and even more so the TV networks, have been scared off the entire subject of Islam. No one wants to be the spark that sets off the next wave of riots, and since the muslims are so unpredictably touchy about their religion, Islam is considered to be too dangerous to write about. Silence is said to be more ‘respectful’ and the fanatics thereby win their battle against free speech.

          They win, but only because no one wants to be singled out as their enemy. That small newspaper in Denmark was vastly outnumbered when the fanatics whipped the whole muslim world into a frenzy, and that editor discovered that very few of his colleagues jumped to his defense. But, we don’t have to play this game on the fanatics’ terms. They can’t pick us off one by one if we don’t fight them one by one.

          When Benjamin Franklin signed the United States Declaration of Independence, he said to the other rebels who had also signed it, “Well, gentlemen, now we will have to hang together, or we will surely hang separately.” I think now is the time for all the news media of the free world to hang together to fight the muslim attack on free speech. I’m saying we’ve got to stop giving them one target at a time.

          I propose that four days per year be designated as “International Say Anything About Islam Days.” On those days every newspaper, TV station, website and blog should carry information and comment on Islam. I’m not suggesting that they should criticize or attack Islam. I’m saying that they should use their God-given freedom to say anything they want to say about Islam. Some commentators will criticize, others will praise, some will delve into dry history. The fanatics will be furious about a great deal of it, at least in the beginning, but they will be outnumbered and they will have no single target for retaliation, as long as everyone who believes in free speech takes part. The four days that suggest themselves to me are the two equinoxes and the two solstices: March 21, June 21, September 21, and December 21. They are all three months apart and they have the same non-ideological, non-religious meaning all over the planet. The equinoxes especially are a perfect symbol of equality. On those two days, in March and September, every spot on earth has twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness. To me this symbolizes all that we should be willing to grant to Islam: equality, and no more. They want the right to criticize other religions, but they want their own religion to get a free pass. Christians, Jews and Hindus long ago recognized the right of others to comment freely on their respective religions. I can say that I don’t believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and there are no Christians anywhere on earth who will want to kill me. But if I say that I don’t believe Mohammed was a prophet of God, there are plenty of muslims who will want to kill me. They want the freedom to say that Jews are the descendants of pigs and monkeys. They want the freedom to say that Christianity today is debased from the time of Jesus and therefore not worthy of respect, but they don’t want anyone to say that Islam is a fake religion on the same level as Scientology. They are trying to get laws passed in Europe that would make it a crime to show disrespect to a religion.

          I think Islam should get the same protection that all other religions get: none. A religion cannot be slandered. It will be respected if its followers lead respectable lives. I also believe that respect must be voluntary. It cannot be demanded under threat of violence. This is something that far too many muslims do not understand—the difference between respect and fear. They will learn the difference only if their threats fail.

          I think that International Say Anything About Islam Days could begin an educational process for muslims. Since the four days will come on the same dates every year, those muslims who do not want to read or hear anything controversial about their religion can simply avoid Western media on those days. However, there are moderate muslims. At present they are marginalized in their own communities by fear. They might look forward to four days per year when they could learn things that their own mullahs and imams would never tell them.

          Say Anything About Islam Days is not the program of any group or government. It’s my own wild idea and I will resist seeing it formalized, regularized or bureaucratized in any way. It will only flourish if it fills a real need. Participation is voluntary. However, for those newspapers, TV networks and websites who don’t see any need to get involved, I suggest that you enjoy your freedom while you still have it. When the Islamic Dome of Silence descends over your country, you will not have the right to say anything about Mohammed. You will only be allowed to say how much you love him.

Edmund Pickett

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