Totalitarian Islamism

In the wake of the Muhammad cartoon threats, twelve writers and intellectuals issued a manifesto this month condemning the "new totalitarianism" of Islamism. Christopher Orlet in the American Spectator:

The Manifesto 12 are quick to point out that the threat is not from Islam per se, but from what they call "Islamism," defined as a "reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism." Countering Islamism means rejecting "cultural relativism, which consists of accepting that Muslim men and women should be deprived of their right to equality and freedom in the name of their cultural traditions," an extraordinary admission from mostly liberal intellectuals and scholars, who have for so long tolerated intolerance and endorsed a radical multiculturalism that refused to condemn any evil save that committed by one's own country (i.e., America).

If I have one problem with the Manifesto it is the Twelve's contention that the world is undergoing a "global struggle between democrats and theocrats," instead of a conflict of civilizations. Theocracies are not by definition anti-modern nor anti-Western. There are many and have been many benign theocracies, i.e., Tibet before the Chinese communist invasion. The Twelve also suggest that "despair" is the rationale for totalitarian states like Iran and Afghanistan under the Taliban, which is a bit like saying despair was rational for the Holocaust.

TO NO ONE'S SURPRISE Muslim assassins have begun mobilizing, drawing up and disseminating a hit list containing the names of the Manifesto 12, even though many of them are already marked men (and women).

As we know, it's not just Salman Rushdie any more. The more people who stand up to these terrorists the more difficult it will be for them to attack us all. Abdul Rahman is now safe in Italy, but in the meantime more Christians have been arrested for their faith in Afghanistan. Michelle Malkin here. And Investor's Business Daily has some tough questions for CAIR here. (Via Michelle Malkin) A must read.