Saturday, March 04, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Manifesto Against Religious Totalitarians
A manifesto, originally published in France, and republished here in the Danish gallants-Posten calling "for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all."
Ira sent me a link to the manifesto on thegallants Posten, which she found on the Dagengs Nyeter, Sweden's largest daily newspaper. I was disappointed to learn that the Swedish paper only featured an article about the manifesto and a link to the reviled Danish newspaper. This gesture suggests perhaps that the Swedish editors want to distance themselves from the manifesto by reporting on it rather than endorsing it. In my opinion, they may be assuming the position of what Hegel dubbed the 'Beautiful Soul.' I'm wary of such efforts to position oneself above the frey. Sweden did this in World War II, when they remained neutral. I've heard that the Danes had a saying about this: "Swedes are Germans with a human face."
Lately I've been reading essays written by Salman Rushdie after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued the fatwah calling for Rushdie's life. Rushdie's writings which have increased my conviction that Western governments, institutions, publishers, and citizens must defend Enlightenment principles and refuse to cave in to pressure from religious fundamentalists who would reduce or eliminate our civil liberties. One of the most disgusting things that Rushdie writes about is the way Western governments - including the United States and Britain - would issue statements in support of free speech that condemned the Iranian theocrats but then, caving in to corporate pressures, refuse to follow through with the economic sanctions that would show Iran that they didn't want to do business with a totalitarian regime.
Ira sent me a link to the manifesto on thegallants Posten, which she found on the Dagengs Nyeter, Sweden's largest daily newspaper. I was disappointed to learn that the Swedish paper only featured an article about the manifesto and a link to the reviled Danish newspaper. This gesture suggests perhaps that the Swedish editors want to distance themselves from the manifesto by reporting on it rather than endorsing it. In my opinion, they may be assuming the position of what Hegel dubbed the 'Beautiful Soul.' I'm wary of such efforts to position oneself above the frey. Sweden did this in World War II, when they remained neutral. I've heard that the Danes had a saying about this: "Swedes are Germans with a human face."
Lately I've been reading essays written by Salman Rushdie after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued the fatwah calling for Rushdie's life. Rushdie's writings which have increased my conviction that Western governments, institutions, publishers, and citizens must defend Enlightenment principles and refuse to cave in to pressure from religious fundamentalists who would reduce or eliminate our civil liberties. One of the most disgusting things that Rushdie writes about is the way Western governments - including the United States and Britain - would issue statements in support of free speech that condemned the Iranian theocrats but then, caving in to corporate pressures, refuse to follow through with the economic sanctions that would show Iran that they didn't want to do business with a totalitarian regime.
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