Sunday 19 February 2006

Letter: The West has been tested

A great letter to the editor here by libertarian Richard Wiig. Its subject should be self-explanatory.

Sir,
The West has been tested, and it seems New Zealand passed with flying colors - freedom of speech is ripe for the plucking, and Islam is out to pluck it.
The cowardly calls for sensitivity and understanding that followed, in the wake of cartoon rage, amounts to little more than a call to give up free-thought and expression, and replace the vibrancy of the market-place of ideas with a guarded stultification, lest we offend Islam. Well, if you will allow me this expression in your paper - stuff that! Islam can get knotted.
With the advent of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, the West rose from the Dark Ages to surpass anything that had gone before. It made great strides in technology, the Arts, the Sciences all because of the freeing of the human mind from the constraints of oppressive religious dogma. Islam is out to shackle it again.
The editor of the Danish paper was asked if he regretted publishing the cartoons. He replied, "That is like asking a rape victim whether she regretted wearing a short skirt."
Make no apologies; do not give a single inch. It is for Islam to rise to us, not for us to stoop to Islam.

RW

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear. All the violence following this debacle has just proven that the Danish cartoonist was right - Islam at it's core is violent in nature. Trying to appease Islam for injury/offence, is siding with violence and moving yourself backwards - best of luck to you, just don't take the rest of us with you.