One tries to be tolerant of different points of view, certainly.One understands that not everyone see the world as one does. You say tomato, I say evolution. But one does expect certain standards to be consistent across Western democracies. But then one finds out he can be wrong, very wrong, in holding such a belief. Wrong and very sad.
Because Michel Houellebecq said Islam is “the most stupid of all religions” in an interview, the French writer faces a blasphemy trial out of the 17th century. Four French Muslim organizations have brought criminal charges of racism against Houellebecq. I have no understanding of French law, to be sure, but how do you get a statement about a religion to squeeze into a charge of racism? And–again, I know this is France, not America–but don’t they have freedom of speech there? Houellebecq has gotten so many threats against his person and his family for his statements and writings that he has said he will never write again.
In the discussion of this article at MetaFilter, one poster suggests that if a similar comment had been made substituting Judaism for Islam the reaction would be quite different. I suggest to him that such comments are made quite frequently in, for example, the Arab news media, where recent articles claim that Israeli Jews kidnap and kill Palestinean babies to get blood for use in baking bread. And that the Mossad is responsible for the 9/11 atrocities.
I have previously posted about Houellebecq and his notoriety. I still look forward to reading his coming novel. And remain convinced that France has fallen into a rut, no, make that a hole, from which it will be very difficult to climb out. Expect to see increasing levels of violence from Islamic residents/citizens, not only against Jews and writers, but against the general population. Sad, very sad.
BillSaysThis 