"It’s
no coincidence that since political correctness began, politics have become
more extreme. When problems are dogmatically ignored, two things occur. For
one, small problems develop into big ones and for another, political fringe
groups capitalize on the situation and gain power."
Protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in London set a U.S. flag and a picture of Pastor Terry Jones on fire, Sept. 11. Did political correctness contribute to leading us to this?
At the top of this week’s
idiot hit parade is probably Quran-burning (or not) Pastor Terry Jones, whose
announcement that he intends to oxidize (sounds much less objectionable than
“burn”) 200 copies of the Muslim holy scripture generated a massive media
response and sparked worldwide outrage.
Here, one might well ask what
all the fuss is about, especially in light of the fact that God - if there’s
any truth to the claim that there is a God and that he's all-powerful - has just
apparently allowed tens of thousands of copies of the Quran to be lost in the
floods of Pakistan.
But these are rational
objections that no one listens to, just as little as Jones himself probably understands
that he could set fire to a whole warehouse of Qurans without pushing back
even one millimeter against militant Islamism.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Now, the fact is that a lack
of rational thought is a fundamental evil of almost every religion. Unchecked
emotion sweeps away the truth just as a tsunami washes away a beach chair. And
you don’t even have to go as far as Florida or Afghanistan. For another recent
example, we need look no further than Berlin.
The very recent departure of Thilo Sarrazin from the Bundesbank
board of directors followed an incredible campaign of outrage - a smear
campaign, in fact - that had already been launched before the Mr. Sarrazin's book
was published.
[Editor's Note: Thilo Sarrazin's book called Germany Does Itself In [Bild am Sonntag] is
about integration and Muslim immigration. According to media accounts, Sarrazin
writes that Germany is being made "more stupid" by poorly-educated
and unproductive Muslim immigrants and their many offspring, and that Turkish
and Kurdish “clans” have a “long tradition of inbreeding,” leading to higher
rates of birth defects, and he ponders whether this might be a reason for
immigrants’ poor school performance. According to AFP, he writes,
"If I want to hear the muezzin's call to prayer, then I'll go to the
Orient," saying that allowing in millions of "guest workers" in
the 1960s and 1970s was a "gigantic error."]
Any mention of “heretical
ideas," or “intolerable ideas," should instantly perk up our ears. Was he inciting anyone to
genocide? No. All of his
theories, whether you like them or not, are within the scope of civilized
debate. The public is definitely aware of the problems that he’s
addressing. Perhaps we could talk about them, argue over them, seek the facts
and then through open debate, find solutions.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
But we cannot allow that, because
in the meantime, we're not guided by Sharia, but rather “political
correctness,” or “PC” for short. Religions are not required to have to do with
God, gods, angels and demons. It's enough to establish a belief system that
glorifies certain ideals and condemns others. It began sometime in the 1980s
with laudable efforts to ban from everyday use, certain expressions that were
used in a discriminatory way.
So every time a particular
word was used in a negative way, it was banned. At some point it went beyond banning
language itself to banning entire discussions, in the hopes that the problems
associated with such discussions would also be banished from the world.
The world's populists express
their heartfelt gratitude. For it’s no coincidence that, since this phenomenon
began, politics have become more extreme. When problems are dogmatically
ignored, two things occur. For one, small problems develop into big ones and
for another, political fringe groups capitalize on the situation and gain
power.
In fact, “PC” is just as
devastating as radical Islam or the crude religiosity of the American right. Under
the pretext of tolerance, people like Hani Ramadan, who
continues to defend stoning, are provided with a work permit and a forum in the
media. Meanwhile over the years, Germany missed the opportunity to tackle
immigration issues which are absolutely real.
“PC” represents a danger to
democracy precisely because it pretends to protect it by suppressing awkward
debates, all the while threatening those that it pretends to protect. When
problems involving minority groups, welfare fraud and similar hot button issues
are excluded from public debate, then these dormant problems and their causes
aren't addressed, which provides populists with even more ammunition.
We must - and this also
concerns the press - learn to argue in our democracy, instead of just pointing
at pre-defined boogiemen and pretending that everything is fine. Particularly because many voters have long since had it “up to
here” with ever-celebrated pretend-harmony.
Against this backdrop, the
announced Quran burning is actually an absurdity in a class by itself,
especially when you consider that even in Western media, more attention is
being paid to the 200 books than to SakinehAshtiani, who is
still in danger of being stoned [by Iranian authorities] for murder and adultery.
