[whiteperil] Sean: "You know there isn't one"

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Posted by Sean:
"You know there isn't one"
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1171553291.shtml


   Via [1]Bruce Bawer (13 February 2007 post), who really needs someone
   to show him how permalinks work, [2]this priceless exchange on CNN.
   Glenn Beck is the CNN interviewer; Irshad Manji is a lesbian Muslim
   who lives in Canada:

     BECK: OK. Real quickly, we have about a minute. What -- who is
     standing with you as a woman's organization? Who -- what National
     Organization of Women is coming up and saying I'm with you?
     MANJI: You know there isn't one.
     BECK: Why?
     MANJI: Fear. Fear of offending. So many people today in America
     come up to me to say, "Irshad, I wish I could support your call to
     reconcile Islam with human rights, but if I do, you know I'll be
     called a racist for sticking my nose in somebody else's business."

   Bawer's comment: "Against people who are willing to die in the cause
   of destroying freedom, people who are unwilling to stand up for
   freedom for fear of being called a name don't stand much chance of
   victory."
   Beck and Manji focused on women's groups, but of course the gay
   organizations are mostly just as bad. And a lot of rank-and-file gays,
   too. Plenty of gay men and women who "don't care what people think"
   when they're having a noisy good time at brunch or giving conservative
   relatives a heart attack with their views about social policy will
   turn into the most craven protocol-followers alive when it's time to
   venture, even gingerly, the opinion that maybe there are strains of
   thinking in non-Western cultures that are incompatible with human
   rights and are not the fault of Western imperialism. Or that gay
   advocacy groups often choose cheap partisan expediency over gay
   interests.
   Something Bawer and Pieter Dorsman, whom he [3]cites, didn't quote,
   gives a little bit of perspective:

     BECK: And everybody is crying out, where are those Muslim voices?
     You and people like you are in so much danger. How much -- how much
     does fear play a role in silencing the voices of Islam?
     MANJI: Huge. And fear of many things. Fear not just of being
     ostracized in your community, but obviously fear of violence, as
     well.
     You know, Glenn, I speak at university campuses right across not
     just North America, but around the world. And invariably, young
     Muslims come up to me afterwards to whisper thank you in my ear.
     And when I ask them, why are you whispering? They say to me,
     "Irshad, you know, you have the luxury of being able to walk away
     from this campus two hours from now. I don't, and I don't want to
     be stalked for supporting your views." And if they're women, a lot
     of them say, "I don't want to be raped for supporting your views."
     So this is happening in America, and I don't want to suggest,
     Glenn. Let me just be clear. I don't want to suggest that every
     Muslim feels this kind of fear. But every Muslim does know that, if
     you take on the most mangled aspects of our faith today, you will
     be subject to such a vitriolic smear campaign that it will bring
     shame and dishonor upon your family. So there is huge pressure to
     say nothing.

   It isn't just from women's groups dominated by non-Muslims that Manji
   isn't getting support. Moderate Muslims who think Islam needs reform
   are going to have to speak out eventually, or it's not going to
   happen. As Manji herself [4]said a few years ago, "Society needs
   people who offend, otherwise there will be no progress." (She's also
   [5]addressed gay activists' problems with Islam and Israel.)

References

   1. http://www.brucebawer.com/blog.htm
   2. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/09/gb.01.html
   3. http://www.peaktalk.com/archives/002587.php
   4. http://www.whiteperil.com/posts/1122085199.shtml
   5. http://www.whiteperil.com/posts/1118237218.shtml