No Backbone

Submitted by Gautieri (United States), Jun 28, 2007 at 10:02

I, like many other westerners, would love to say that we honor the proud history of freedoms (Thought, Worship, Speech, Assembly etc) and are willing to fight to protect them. The truth is that we don't, and we aren't yet.

We (including; The Man on the street, The Media, Academia and even the Artistic community) will gladly rally and rail in an incessant rage against; Christians, Western Government, Racial inequality (In the West) - But we uniformly refuse to peep when it comes to the violent ideology and acts of Islamists around the globe. The common targets are all open for criticism because they are institutionalized faces of our open culture, while Islam and the lunatic fringe that acts on and/or allows and praises extraordinary violence in its name is left unscathed by these "bold" critiques. Where is the REAL outrage?

We as a culture have allowed the beautiful concepts of tolerance, forgiveness and empathy to soften us into those who would fear a fight against the very enemies of those ideals. These ideals an umbilical cord that pumps the very life into our modern civilization now encircling our necks and starting to squeeze. By shrinking in fear we only empower our enemies and speed our demise.

As much as the Islamist rise and rage is powered by religious fanaticism it, in my belief, is equally emboldened and even strengthened by an insipid disrespect for its weak impotent enemy.

As a recent Islamist sign read on a Karachi street read (in English) "Democracy Go To Hell"

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