Back to the travel archive page
27 July 2007
The battle lines have been drawn
Lois sent me pictures from a "London Peace March." I can forward these if anyone is interested, but here are the words from some of the placards:
Slay those who insult Islam
Europe. You will pay. Demolition is on its Way.
Butcher those who mock Islam.
Europe. You will pay. Extermination is on its way.
Behead those who insult Islam.
Europe is the cancer. Islam is the answer.
Exterminate those who slander Islam.
Islam will dominate the world.
Freedom go to hell.
Europe. Take some lessons from 911.
Europe, you will pay. Your 911 is on it's [sic.] way!!
Be prepared for the real holocaust!
Massacre those who insult Islam.
Exterminate those who slander Islam.
I think these words more or less sum up the global confrontation. While at home in the US (where I am currently), unauthorized eavesdropping, no fly lists, the possibility of one's possessions being seized without being first convicted (the 1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act), the barring of Rep. Peter DeFazio (Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security) to examine classified material in the Whitehouse concerning its plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack, and the supposed Bush administration's declaration that any protest against the war effort is now to be classified treason (http://www.rense.com/1.imagesG/newlog_o.gif); Phoebe's reference to Ian Welsh's explanation on the assault on due process and civil liberties does not really answer this) remain virtually daily concerns. But on a more global level we are now more clearly locked into a clash of civilizations.
It is unfortunate that the term currently being used is 'Islamic extremism'. I believe that expression is unfair to Islam itself since the extremists do not speak for Islam as a whole. Rather, the rabid self-interest orientations and real enemy spring from an 'anti-humanity' sentiment – a disparate presence in the world of today that uses religion and ideology for its own ends and is united only in its anathema to any bona fide dignity whatsoever for the human enterprise qua human. Individual self-interest can be greedy and Machiavellian, but anti-human self-interest is an enemy of a different breed. The placard words from the "London Peace March" draw the battle lines into sharper focus. If there is yet a viable way through them or around them, let us welcome such, but otherwise let them keep us clearly focused on what is at hand and on that for which we stand.
Michael