Tuesday, February 28th 2006
Manifesto against Islamic Totalitarianism
There’s a new wave sweeping the blogosphere.
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish paper that sparked the Muhammad Cartoons Controversy, is once again defending freedom against those that hate it. They have published a manifesto signed by a diverse group of high-profile figures. Blogs from all over the world are republishing the document as a show of solidarity.
It’s Islam Awareness Week on the Berkeley campus. Perhaps this is the perfect time to discuss this issue. Let’s prove the Daily Cal wrong: symbolic gestures can play an important part in this great debate.
Full text below.
MANIFESTO:
Together facing the new totalitarianism
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.
Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.
We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of “Islamophobia”, an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.
12 signatures
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn WarraqPresentations:
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, from somilian origin, is member of Dutch parliement, member of the liberal party VVD. Writter of the film Submission which caused the assasination of Theo Van Gogh by an islamist in november 2004, she lives under police protection.Chahla Chafiq
Chahla Chafiq, writer from iranian origin, exiled in France is a novelist and an essayist. She’s the author of “Le nouvel homme islamiste , la prison politique en Iran ” (2002). She also wrote novels such as “Chemins et brouillard” (2005).Caroline Fourest
Essayist, editor in chief of Prochoix (a review who defend liberties against dogmatic and integrist ideologies), author of several reference books on « laicité » and fanatism : Tirs Croisés : la laïcité à l’épreuve des intégrismes juif, chrétien et musulman (with Fiammetta Venner), Frère Tariq : discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan, et la Tentation obscurantiste (Grasset, 2005). She receieved the National prize of laicité in 2005.Bernard-Henri Lévy
French philosoph, born in Algeria, engaged against all the XXth century « ism » (Fascism, antisemitism, totalitarism, terrorism), he is the author of La Barbarie à visage humain, L’Idéologie française, La Pureté dangereuse, and more recently American Vertigo.Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji is a Fellow at Yale University and the internationally best-selling author of “The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith” (en francais: “Musulmane Mais Libre”). She speaks out for free expression based on the Koran itself. Née en Ouganda, elle a fui ce pays avec sa famille musulmane d’origine indienne à l’âge de quatre ans et vit maintenant au Canada, où ses émissions et ses livres connaissent un énorme succès.Mehdi Mozaffari
Mehdi Mozaffari, professor from iranian origin and exiled in Denmark, is the author of several articles and books on islam and islamism such as : Authority in Islam: From Muhammad to Khomeini, Fatwa: Violence and Discourtesy and Glaobalization and Civilizations.Maryam Namazie
Writer, TV International English producer; Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran’s International Relations; and 2005 winner of the National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year award.Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasreen is born in Bangladesh. Doctor, her positions defending women and minorities brought her in trouble with a comittee of integrist called « Destroy Taslima » and to be persecuted as « apostate »Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is the author of nine novels, including Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses and, most recently, Shalimar the Clown. He has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Germany’s Author of the Year Award, the European Union’s Aristeion Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Premio Mantova, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. He is a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Professor in the Humanities at M.I.T., and the president of PEN American Center. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.Philippe Val
Director of publication of Charlie Hebdo (Leftwing french newspaper who have republished the cartoons on the prophet Muhammad by solidarity with the danish citizens targeted by islamists).Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq , author notably of Why I am Not a Muslim ; Leaving Islam : Apostates Speak Out ; and The Origins of the Koran , is at present Research Fellow at a New York Institute conducting philological and historical research into the Origins of Islam and its Holy Book.Antoine Sfeir
Born in Lebanon, christian, Antoine Sfeir choosed french nationality to live in an universalist and « laïc » (real secular) country. He is the director of Les cahiers de l’Orient and has published several reference books on islamism such as Les réseaux d’Allah (2001) et Liberté, égalité, Islam : la République face au communautarisme (2005).
[…] California Patriot: "Manifesto against Islamic Totalitarianism" Patrick adds: Blogs from all over the world are republishing the document as a show of solidarity. It’s Islam Awareness Week on the Berkeley campus. Perhaps this is the perfect time to discuss this issue. Let’s prove the Daily Cal wrong: symbolic gestures can play an important part in this great debate. […]
Pingback by Agora :: Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali et al Slam Islamic Totalitarianism :: February :: 2006 — 2/28/2006 @ 10:10 pm
Any legitimate Christian conservative should be outraged by this manifesto. Seriously, “secular values?” Meaning: abortions for all, no more prayers in schools, and let’s start killing the embryos for reserach. I for one am with the theocrats, they know what’s in the people’s best interest: GOD.
Comment by Anonymous — 2/28/2006 @ 10:23 pm
You may not have noticed, but the only serious “Christian Conservative” here is HB.
Comment by Beetle — 2/28/2006 @ 10:27 pm
I’m still awaiting the Christian, Irish, Scottish, Hebrew, and German or French awareness weeks on the campuses of the medreses in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq? How about you?
Comment by what — 2/28/2006 @ 10:32 pm
Honestly, although this manifesto may appear like something Republicans/conservatives would support, it is actually contrary to conservative values most Republicans defend. “secular values for all” is exatly the kind of thing that justifiably alarms Muslims to the western world. I think real Christians and Muslims have more incommon than the people who want secular values for all.
Comment by Yuriy Pasko — 3/1/2006 @ 12:22 am
The Manifesto Against The New Islamic Totalitarianism…
Freedom of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it or it will die from totalitarian attacks….The manifesto below will be published in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo today. Philippe Val @ Charlie Hebdo has urged other papers to print…
Trackback by All Things Beautiful — 3/1/2006 @ 5:31 am
A secular society does not mean an atheist society. Secular rule means that the government operates seperately from religious principle, an atheist government would act to suppress religion.
Our Constitution is firmly secular. It both declares that there will be no religious test for public office and that the right to practice religion is protected. At the same time the document lays out all the principles of the governemnt without making a single reference to a particular diety (or dieties).
The common values handed down to our society in religion are made to compete freely on the market of ideas, not excluding them but not giving them special status either.
Secular rule is worth defending, because in the end, the ability to debate political points on grounds other than the word of divine ministers is far better.
Comment by mickeyk — 3/1/2006 @ 8:06 am
If secular values are a reason some aboniable practices such as gay marriage or abortion become legal then there is no reason to call yourself a conservative for the sake of secular values. Of course there should be freedom of speech and ideas, thats what liberals or conservatives , democrats and republicans will agree upon. Whether most of these ideas will be allowed to materialize in our society and culture is where secular values become the downfall of our society.
Comment by Yuriy Pasko — 3/1/2006 @ 5:03 pm
If conservative values cannot stand up to secular values in a culture of freedom of speech and ideals, that is a cause for introspection, not a cause to demand non-secular rule. Non-secular rule is a reason many other far more abominable practices take place.
Comment by Beetle — 3/1/2006 @ 5:37 pm
Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims may share a bit in common when considering what they would do if they had total power, but it’s clear that the Muslims would rule with a harder fist. In Iran, for instance, you can be stoned to death for being a homosexual. Whereas the proper “Christian” method of dealing would merely be prison time and perhaps forced hormone injections. We clearly prefer a Christian theocracy…
Actually, let’s have neither. We can have a moral society without bringing religion into the picture. You don’t need to believe in the Ten Commandments to know that murder is wrong. It’s an easy principle the religious and non-religious can accept: don’t purposely harm people or their property. Likewise, if an act is personally against your religion but does not harm anyone else, then you have no basis to ask for that act to be made illegal. As in my example above: homosexual acts. A more trivial example: dietary prohibitions. I’m Catholic, and Lent started today. I’m not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. I don’t want the government to be enforcing that, one way or another. It offends me that the government can regulate what adults put in their bodies, even if whatever it is is a religious no-no. Individuals can enforce their own moral codes separately from society’s.
Finally, abortion and gay marriage. There are perfectly good secular arguments against abortion. We can argue that a human life is being harmed against its will, especially in the latter trimesters. I personally don’t support abortion, but I haven’t done much research into it or consider it one of my top political issues. Hopefully someone will figure it out. As for gay marriage, we don’t need the government involved in marriage at all. Adults should be able to marry through their churches or through other private organizations. If church X doesn’t want to marry gays, then fine. If they do, then fine too. I couldn’t care less. But if we are going to have government involved in marriages, then it seems pretty discriminatory not to let them marry. Just my opinion.
Comment by patr — 3/1/2006 @ 7:31 pm
Manifesto Against Islam…
Solidarity. The 12 people who wrote and signed this document know very well the risk they take. We need to send a clear message that they don’t stand alone….
Trackback by Blue Star Chronicles — 3/1/2006 @ 9:02 pm
Support the Manifesto online by signing this petition….
The Manifesto I covered in this post can now be supported online at this site. Don’t wait. Sign today. It’s target audience is the White House and the United Nations. I now ask all those bloggers who reposted this Manifesto to spread …
Trackback by Agora — 3/5/2006 @ 4:18 pm
The Quran reported to the Police…
It seems the Quran is under indictment in Germany. This entry will be updated. The article below is from Jyllands-Posten today:
The Quran reported to the Police
By Kent Olsen, correspondent to Jyllands-Posten
A broad alliance of grass-roots movemen…
Trackback by Agora — 3/8/2006 @ 6:06 am
The Manifesto of Freedom…
Though I disagree with the leader of the Danish People’s Party on many points, I must say that there is more sense in her than in all the Social Democrats in Denmark put together. I bring to you here her weekly newsletter, translated from Danish…
Trackback by Agora — 3/8/2006 @ 6:09 am
Qu’ran goes to court.
NGO’s in Germany wants the Koran tested by courts if it is unconstitutional -
Bundesverband der Bürgerbewegungen (BVB) in Germany (NGO’s) has turned cases over to the police in several states in Germany to test at several courts if the Koran is against the constitution.
They have done it in Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bayern and probably more states.
Koranen anmeldt til politiet i Tyskland Af KENT OLSEN Jyllands-Postens korrespondent.
Comment by what — 3/9/2006 @ 11:11 pm
Death Threat against signers of Manifesto…
I have covered the Manifesto here. Here the leader of the Danish People’s Party adds her signature. Here I link to a petition where you can sign the manifesto.
Are you daring enough to do so?
Death Threat against signers of Manifesto
By Jørg…
Trackback by Agora — 3/14/2006 @ 3:58 pm