Minatory Chorus

The Centre Will Not Hold

One puzzling thing about Islam is what we call the Rushdie Syndrome.  Whenever negative opinions or views are expressed about Muhammad, Islam, or the doctrine of Allah, the purveyor can end up with death threats--and in some cases, actual martyrdom.  In the West people are encouraged to hold some respect for the opinionated, even if one finds their opinions objectionable. Not so in Islam.  

We would argue that the Western tradition only abides if the centre holds.  The historical centre of the West has been the Christian faith.  We say "has been" because for over 150 years that philosophical and religious core has been gradually replaced by humanism (a doctrine of the ultimacy of man).  Humanism ends up proposing that some humans are more equal than others, and the abuse begins.  The centre no longer holds.  First to go are the most vulnerable--defenceless, silent babies in wombs which become death chambers, the aged, the infirm, then women trafficked into bondage as sex-slaves, and so forth.  In this devolutionary process  respect for one's ideological opponent dissipates.  One only has to spend a few minutes reading a mere fraction of the the vituperative rantings sizzling electronic communication devices to have the point both illustrated and demonstrated. 

But for Islam, the centre has always been wrong.
  Consequently, throughout most of its history, Islam has been characterised by hatred of opponents.  We say "characterised" because of course many individual Muslims may be easy-going and quite laid back when exposed to negative criticisms of their religion.  But an easy-going tolerance has not characterised Islamic theology and practice throughout the centuries.  One major reason is the Islamic concept of shame.  This doctrine is derived from the proposition that Allah must be respected by all; therefore, his people also.  To disrespect Islam or its followers is to blaspheme Allah and his prophet.  Such behaviour is not just offensive, it is intolerable and must be punished.  Devotion to Allah requires it. 

Patrick Sookhdeo comments:

Shame is to be avoided at all costs, and honour, which includes the concept of pwer [sic] for the Muslim community, is to be sought and safeguarded.  True faith--Islam--based on God's final revelation must be protected from insult and abuse.  (Other faiths, being false or incomplete in Muslim opinion, have no right to such protection.) [Patrick Sookhdheo, Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam. (McLean, VA: Isaac Publishing, 2007), p.331.]

All religions have a core which is regarded as holy, in contrast to the profane or literally, that which lies outside the temple.  For Islam, all of Islam is holy and the profane must be finally eradicated.  Therefore, it is the duty of every Muslim to take holy offence whenever and however Islam is defamed or disregarded.  It is the duty of Islamics to take revenge in Allah's name.

Shame and humiliation cannot be borne and are considered legitimate justification for a violent response.  Muslim statements of outrage concerning the imposition of non-Muslims on their territory or rights are often phrased in terms of "humiliation", with the unspoken assumption that this is the greatest grievance possible.  Many Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers see their task as contributing to the vital process of redeeming Islam's honour from the humiliation imposed on it by the West. 

In the words of Osama bin Laden,

The walls of oppression and humiliation cannot be demolished except in a rain of bullets. . . . Death is better than life in humiliation!  Some scandals and shames will never be otherwise eradicated.

[Sookhdeo, ibid., p. 331.]

This explains why when the planes smashed into the Twin Towers and innocent people died, observers in the coffee bars in Egypt and other Islamic nations cheered and celebrated.  Much to the consternation of the West, it was a sacrifice worth celebrating because it helped removed the shame of Islam arising out of Western "insults" to Allah and his followers.

The fatwa calling for the death of Salmon Rushdie fits into this perspective.  As does the outrage over the depictions of Muhammad by the Danish cartoonist.  As does the murder of Dutch film-maker, Theo Van Gogh.  All have been judged to dishonour Muhammad.  That is why it is perfectly accurate to characterise Islam as a religion of hate and bloodshed.  It cannot tolerate dissent.  It cannot tolerate unbelief.  If a conquered people will not convert, they must either be humiliated publicly and perpetually, or they must be killed.  Allah's honour requires it.  

Faced with such implacable fanaticism, the West's Commentariat usually quails in a supine, cowardly manner.  Do not offend them.  Do not upset them.  Do not publish those cartoons. 

Secular humanism has a soft centre. It cannot hold.  Men are weak--as Elrond observed in the Lord of the Rings.  Humanist man may strut the stage, proclaiming his momentous importance.  But when asked to die for such a belief, his faith cannot hold.  Beyond life there is nothingness.  Life on this planet is all there is.  Better one day of life, than an eternity of non-being and of nothingness.  "How deeply should I bow?" is the reflexive response of Western humanism to Islamic vengeance for shame and humiliation. 

Or--there is another possible--but less likely--secular humanist response to Islamic offence: kill them, all of them.  Make them go out of existence first, whilst we cling to the tenuous as long as we can.  And that response to Islamic aspirations for vengeance has certainly been voiced in "unofficial" circles in the West.  Not by the Commentariat, but in the pubs and the sports clubs and the neighbourhood barbecues.  Either way, the centre is lost, devolving into perfidy. Either way, secular humanist civilisation will progressively become an oxymoron in the face of Islamic militancy.  The secularist Ideal Man is not big enough to hold the centre. 

But the centre of Christian civilisation will hold.  Jesus Christ is its centre, and there is no doubt about Him holding, standing firm.  And so the West finds itself in the Valley of Decision.  The risen Christ or Idealised Man?  As we ponder that, let the words of Elrond echo like a minatory chorus.