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Discussion Membership
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Courage to stand up to thugs
[Note: Editorial for the Rome (NY) Daily Sentinel for April 6, 2006.] The saga of the Danish Mohammed cartoons took a disquieting turn when Borders Bookstore decided it could not risk selling a small magazine containing the cartoons. A spokesman said that Borders places a priority on the safety and security of its customers and employees. Unfortunately, Borders addresses a short-term risk in a way that invites long-term damage. Borders' action is far more dangerous than fatwa-declaring imams, embassy bashing rent-a-hordes, or deluded bomb-wearing zealots because it rusts society's resolve silently from within. We publish newspapers, Borders sells books, but we are all citizens who have to find the courage to stand up to threats. Sometimes even publishers and booksellers leave behind day-to-day responsibilities to join the front lines. In 1775, Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller volunteered to help George Washington, a farmer and surveyor, transport artillery to end the siege of Boston. Citizens wield enormous strength when they unite in common cause. Until Borders -- and some universities, national newspapers, and infotainment networks -- understand just how critical this freedom is, the rest of us will have to rise in their stead. The courage to stand up comes from understanding that to give in to thugs who murder people for what they say tears the fabric of all society. In the end, terror is a weapon used to mask weak ideas. Terror divides and deflects those who are gullible, unschooled in history, or who have not learned to think critically. Fortunately, so long as people speak up, terror cannot win. Silence one speaker and the original idea blossoms on the lips of others. Intimidation cannot win so long as people have the gumption to listen, think, and speak. Civilization is only at risk if good people stand idly by while a deluded and dangerous minority murders others for the words they say. Booksellers like Borders provide for the common defense, passing on all kinds of ideas -- good and bad, tolerable and offensive. To be sure, the original Danish cartoons don't apply to much of Islam. Popular Islam can be treated with reverence because it returns the courtesy. Popular Islam, like other major religions, requires equitable treatment for others. The Qur'an, the word of Allah, explains that mankind, not God, is responsible for caring for the physical world [Al Baqara 2:30] and the Muslim Sunnah adds that "None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" [An-Nawawi's Forty Hadeeth: No. 13]. While only a few American newspapers originally published the cartoons, many newspapers, like ours, strongly condemned the threats. In successful societies nobody gets a free pass because they claim holy dispensation. No protective shell shields religion from challenge or possible offense. Let's clear any confusion about the newspaper[Apostrophe]s willingness to publish. Here are two of the Danish Mohammed cartoons, an Iranian cartoon drawn in response, and, last, Israeli cartoons poking fun at themselves because, as cartoonist Amitai Sandy said, "we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published.[Close Quote] Laughter unmasks the strongest villainy. Find courage by understanding that thugs who try to hijack religion threaten all of us. Society stands on individual shoulders -- starting with Borders, with newspapers, and with you.
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