By: Aeneas Lavinium
ICLA

The philosophy of the land of the free and its institutionalised protection of freedom of speech is obviously something the pro-sharia lobby fear greatly. Free speech and its ability to reveal truth is something that those with something to hide would prefer to do without. Those with power or an agenda have much to gain by ending public debate so they can maintain their power or push their agenda unhindered and with complete impunity.

The current wave of violence against American interests around the world is a direct result of US backing for the Sharia Spring that has put the Muslim Brotherhood into power across North Africa. The current US administration refuses to accept it culpability for the problems that it has caused and continues its ill conceived strategy. Instead of condemning the violence it makes excuses for it. The current US administration seems want to use these tragic events to continue its efforts to undermine the First Amendment rights of Americans and subvert the constitution that it is obliged to protect. It is now possible to actually watch in real time the decline of the United States as a great power. Just like the Roman Empire before it, it appears that America is being destroyed from within.

It is the apparent move to undermine the First Amendment that concerns ICLA as a human rights organisation. Freedom of expression is the number 1 priority in our mission statement and we cannot stay silent when it comes under threat. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the Danish Cartoons Crisis we witnessed new anti-free speech legislation in many countries around the word. Rather than stand up against rampaging mobs of religious zealots these governments instead decided to direct their condemnation towards the messenger. It now seems that history is repeating itself once again in the aftermath of the recent attacks on American sovereignty.

Of course such an approach is consistent with the OIC’s plan to expand the reach of sharia compliance and of Western government’s eagerness to be complicit in this process. It really comes down to a simple choice – you can have freedom of speech or you can have sharia compliance but you can’t have both. Western governments, for their own reasons, obviously prefer to have their populations muzzled. There appears to be an unholy alliance between Western governments and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Demonization of freedom of expression is the Western governments’ contribution to the Istanbul Process in response to which ICLA launched the 2012 Brussels Process. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of our way of life and is the basis of free societies. When it comes under attack from those who are elected to protect it reasonable people are right to suspect a hidden and sinister agenda. Just like after the Danish Cartoons riots, the latest violence in North Africa is likely to result in even more draconian anti-free speech legislation in the West.

If Arabic language broadcasters did not want to whip up their publics into frenzied mobs then they could have followed the example of Western news providers and buried the story, or at least downplayed it in the interests of interfaith dialogue. After all, freedom of expression in these countries does not exist so such censorship would not be as corrosive as it is in Western nations where freedom of expression is the basis of civil society. Of course it is quite possible that such broadcasters and news providers wanted to whip up such hysteria or in fact were ordered to do so.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has for many years being campaigning for a global blasphemy law. It claims that UN Resolution 16/18 which it pushed through the General Assembly will facilitate religious tolerance. However, the actual record of OIC member states in the regard speaks for itself. Many OIC member states turn a blind eye to religious persecution within their own borders. Those who don’t believe it should look at the website Persecution.org. The aim of the OIC is therefore clear – they don’t care about religious tolerance and don’t really practice it, their real aim is to spread sharia compliance. They want to use the concept of religious tolerance as a smokescreen to institutionalize religious intolerance. Sharia as a system is a system of institutionalised intolerance.

A world without free speech is a dark sharia compliant world, where creativity and progress is hindered and happiness is abolished.

More information about the conference where the Brussels Process was launched can be found HERE.