January 26, 2007
Enlightenment fundamentalism or racism of the anti-racists?
From Sign and Sight:
Pascal Bruckner defends Ayaan Hirsi Ali against Ian Buruma and Timothy Garton Ash, condemning their idea of multiculturalism for chaining people to their roots.
"What to say to a man who tells you he prefers to obey God than to obey men, and who is consequently sure of entering the gates of Heaven by slitting your throat?" - Voltaire
"Colonisation and slavery have created a sentiment of culpability in the West that leads people to adulate foreign traditions. This is a lazy, even racist attitude." – Ayaan Hirsi Ali
There's no denying that the enemies of freedom come from free societies, from a slice of the enlightened elite who deny the benefits of democratic rights to the rest of humanity, and more specifically to their compatriots, if they're unfortunate enough to belong to another religion or ethnic group. To be convinced of this one need only glance through two recent texts: "Murder in Amsterdam" by the British-Dutch author Ian Buruma on the murder of Theo Van Gogh (1) and the review of this book by English journalist and academic Timothy Garton Ash in the New York Review of Books (2). Buruma's reportage, executed in the Anglo-Saxon style, is fascinating in that it gives voice to all of the protagonists of the drama, the murderer as well as his victim, with apparent impartiality. The author, nevertheless, cannot hide his annoyance at the former Dutch member of parliament of Somali origin,Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a friend of Van Gogh's and also the subject of death threats. Buruma is embarrassed by her critique of the Koran.
Garton Ash is even harder on her. For him, the apostle of multiculturalism, Hirsi Ali's attitude is both irresponsible and counter-productive. His verdict is implacable: "Ayaan Hirsi Ali is now a brave, outspoken, slightly simplistic Enlightenment fundamentalist." (3). He backs up his argument with the fact that this outspoken young woman belonged in her youth to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. For Garton Ash, she has merely exchanged one credo for another, fanaticism for the prophet for that of reason.
More here.
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 04:13 PM | Permalink
Comments
What happened to Ms Ali in her personal life is indeed regrettable. However I would like to ask her if she truly believes that the Quran is the work of a man, then where in the Quran does it say that it is OK to do female circumcision and force females into arranged marriages.
The biggest dis-service to muslims is labelling people like Ms.Ali , Mr Rushdie, Ms Manji as experts/authorities on Islam when they all have their own personal axes to grind.Do any one of them have any training/ credentials to be passing judgements on Islam or the history of Islam??? Calling Ms Manji an expert on Islam is like calling Rosie O'Donnell an authority on Catholicism!
Posted by: Krsuty | Jan 27, 2007 11:37:51 AM
I hope that anyone who reads this article also reads the Timothy Garton Ash article that this one criticizes and which is really very good. If you read Timothy Garton Ash first and then read this criticism, you should become too depressed to continue by the time you're halfway done with the criticism. Garton Ash wrote a really levelheaded article, and then here comes this Pascal Bruckner, who according to his bio is "among the best-known French 'nouveaux philosophes'" (who knew?), and with every sentence Bruckner shows that he has no idea what it would be to have an honest intellectual debate. It would be pointless trying to point out the flaws in Bruckner's criticism to someone to whom the flaws aren't obvious after just reading Garton Ash's essay.
And forget about paying attention to what Garton Ash said ... Bruckner can't even string together his own thoughts in a clear way; he's more interested in trying to come up with a ridiculous La Rochefoucauld-style maxim with every sentence. Sadly, it confirms Garton Ash's worst fears for Europe. And it makes you want to cry for France if this Bruckner character gets any respect there for this kind of sophomoric writing.
Posted by: too depressed from reading Bruckner | Jan 28, 2007 11:20:30 PM
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