Faith and Hope in Our Way of Life
H.W. Crocker III has an excellent piece at TAS about cultural confidence and what is needed to deal with Islam. He touches on many themes I`ve touted here at Birdblog; Western ennui, the importance of pride in our cultural heritage, strength as a virtue to the Islamic world, etc.
The key to this was that while the British were happy to leave traditional arrangements (tribal leaders, religious affiliations, and so on) standing, they insisted that Muslims accommodate themselves to British law, custom, government, and civilization.
The pressure today, after the collapse of the European empires and the not coincidental rise of moral relativism and multiculturalism, is the reverse. Danish cartoonists, German operatic productions, the pope, and European law and foreign policy are expected to accommodate militant Islam. Militant Islam is not expected to accommodate the West -- even when the Islamists live in London or Berlin or Paris -- because the West lacks confidence that it has a civilization worth promoting over, or even defending against, the Islamists.
TO WIN THIS BATTLE, Americans (and preferably Europeans too) need to recapture a bit of civilizational confidence. We might begin by reminding ourselves that we have every right to act freely in the world, that we are Britain's heirs of empire, and that that's nothing new. The Founders knew that.
The key to this was that while the British were happy to leave traditional arrangements (tribal leaders, religious affiliations, and so on) standing, they insisted that Muslims accommodate themselves to British law, custom, government, and civilization.
The pressure today, after the collapse of the European empires and the not coincidental rise of moral relativism and multiculturalism, is the reverse. Danish cartoonists, German operatic productions, the pope, and European law and foreign policy are expected to accommodate militant Islam. Militant Islam is not expected to accommodate the West -- even when the Islamists live in London or Berlin or Paris -- because the West lacks confidence that it has a civilization worth promoting over, or even defending against, the Islamists.
TO WIN THIS BATTLE, Americans (and preferably Europeans too) need to recapture a bit of civilizational confidence. We might begin by reminding ourselves that we have every right to act freely in the world, that we are Britain's heirs of empire, and that that's nothing new. The Founders knew that.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:32 AM
2 Comments:
Great article - this is the sickness of the West -- we are so attuned to seeing the other fellow's point of view that we have lost sight of the fact that our own point of view is worthwhile as well. And as a matter of fact is superior (horrors!) There were those even in the leadup to WWII who saw Hitler's point of view vis a vis the Sudetenland. There is a point where that becomes suicidal.
Great point (as usual) Aussiegirl; the curse of Christian mercy (oh how the liberals have twisted that to their own ends) and Western concensus politics is the desire to get along-even at the expense of one`s own ways. ``Who are we to judge`` is the predominant modern viewpoint (or, to quote that brilliant philosopher Katie Couric ``to quote my daughter `who made us the boss of them```).
We`re the boss of them because of clear moral superiority, that`s why! We have not just a right, but a duty to judge people who kill innocent women and children, who cut off heads and hijack airplanes to crash into buildings. If we do not have the moral duty to judge such things then we have no right to stop any sort of crime. Who are we to judge Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, etc.? Do we have a right to stop thievery? For that matter, what right do we have to say what Mark Foley did with those pages was wrong? Without a moral compass society quickly collapses.
I fear America is in for a world of hurt in the not-so-distant future, and then she will either awaken from her slumbers or face the punishment meted out by God and the forces of history for the decadent and morally obtuse.
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