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February 13, 2006
Weakness begets violence
I've been saying for the last week that the failure of the American media to publish the cartoons that have driven Muslim protestors to violence has an unintended consequence: more violence from more people.
Here's the problem. The newspapers and TV news networks who cite "sensitivity to our Muslim viewers" are lying. They're not interested in avoiding offending their readers/viewers. If that were the case, they'd have refused to publish pictures of rapper Kanye West as Jesus; embargoed the elephant-dung-encrusted picture of the Madonna; and nixed Andres Serrano's urine soaked crucifix, "Piss Christ."
No, the MSM is refusing to publish the cartoons because they're afraid. Afraid of angry Muslims resorting to violence to express their unhappiness with a secular corporation refusing to follow the dictates of a reactionary religious movement.
Two lessons may be drawn from this. First, Muslims know that for many media outlets, freedom of speech is subordinated to a fear of violent protest; therefore, more violence will lead to greater willingness on the part of the media to surrendur to the requirements of the Muslim mob.
Second, Christians and Jews see that their faiths are subjected to blasphemous mockery only because the fearless purveyors of satire, art and media believe they may impugn these peaceful faiths without fear of violent opposition.
Question. Is it possible that some followers of the heretofore peaceful Christian community assimilate this lesson?
Am I saying that we're going to see Christian mobs buring down embassies? Of course not. I think it's far more likely that we'll see more Muslims using these tactics to try and silence criticism from non-Muslims.
But it's possible that some people may begin wondering what advantage lies with avoiding forceful confrontation with those who mock their beliefs.
This weekend, law professor Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame spoke to this issue, giving CNN a swift kick in the pants for their cowardice.
REYNOLDS: I think you guys have blown it and I think by not publishing the cartoons, what you've done is let people imagine the worst. The actual cartoons are not that [outrageous]. And in fact, one way we know they're not that [outrageous] is the Danish imams had to add fake cartoons when they did their little tour to try to stir up trouble, because the real ones weren't bad enough. And I think when you cover things up, you let peoples' imaginations run wild and the result is worse that if you expose things. The press is there to tell us things, not to hide things from us.
TATTON: You mean the images themselves are not that severe?
REYNOLDS: They are not nearly as bad as the fake ones the Danish imams felt like they had to add to stir things up.
TATTON: Some of them though very offensive to people.
REYNOLDS: Everything is offensive to somebody. In the modern world, we all have to put up with some degree of offense. If fundamentalist Christians were rioting because of "Will and Grace" would you take it off the air?...
TATTON: Now this has been a subject of discussion on the left and on the right, but particularly among conservative bloggers. Why do you think that is?
REYNOLDS: Because I think conservative bloggers hear a lot of talk about free speech in other context. But it seems like people are willing to go to the mat to protect free speech when it's free speech irritates people on the right. But when it is free speech that irritates Muslims, they're more concerned about not offending…
TATTON: One thing Glenn can comment on also, is the fact that whatever we're deciding about whether to publish these images or not, they are out there. They're online. You can find them. How is the Internet contributed to the story?
REYNOLDS: I think it's helped people find these images they couldn't find through the mainstream press, which as always helps people bypass the gate keepers. But, look, my beliefs are offended when gangs of ignorant thugs burn embassies. Where is my respect for my beliefs? Do I need to burn embassies to get respect for my beliefs? Because that's the message CNN sends. The message they send is we will reward violence. And you're going to get more of what you reward. That's how it works.
The video of Reynold's appearance is available here.
Posted by Mike Lief at February 13, 2006 07:50 AM
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