Human Wrongs: Are The Most Vulnerable Voices To Be Silenced? Why? And By Whom?

(Brunette here.) Tyranny heralds its arrival first through confiscation of speech — via Orwellian inversion of language, and/or suppression of undesirable voices ‘by any means necessary,’ whether subtle or brutal or BOTH. If you want to determine who the aspiring tyrants are in a given society, and who they intend to oppress, look around to see A) Who’s being told to shut up, (take note of what they’re trying to talk about!) and B) The ones telling them to shut up (take note of what speech they object to.) That’s why the first amendment precedes the second, no?

Minorities Within Minorities: Muslim Minorities

The infamous Southern Poverty Law Center has done a damnable thing (imagine my shock): They’ve gone and put Maajid Nawaza Muslim reformer — on an “anti-Muslim extremist” list. From a Daily Beast article by Maajid, published last fall:

In a monumental failure of comprehension, the SPLC have conflated my challenge to Islamist theocracy among my fellow Muslims with somehow being “anti-Muslim.” The regressive left is now in the business of issuing fatwas against Muslim reformers.

It’s not as if there’s any shortage of Muslim extremists who want me dead. They exist in numbers so plenty that former jihadists have even taken to calling in to my live LBC radio show to confess to once having made plans to assassinate me. Europe has witnessed around 6,000 of our fellow Muslims leave to join ISIS. Here in Europe, amid jihadist assassinations and mass terror attacks planned with military precision, we truly are in the thick of it. Meanwhile, from the comforts of sweet Alabama comes this edict that liberal Muslims working to throw open a conversation around reforming Islam today are somehow to be deemed “anti-Muslim extremists.”

To be forced to defend oneself—again—is an inherently undesirable position to be in. Many have already admirably come to my defense, and more are no doubt forthcoming. (Read the rest here.)

Maajid is the founder of Quilliam International, and is seeking crowd-funding support “To action a civil claim against SPLC and extremism” (legal jargon, aargh) — those who wish to do so can support Maajid’s effort here. And/or help spread the word . . .

It’s interesting, and encouraging, to see that many of the comments on Maajid’s Twitter timeline are from people (presumably well-to-do liberals) who’d supported the SPLC in the past — and are now throwing their support behind Maajid instead, in his fight against the SPLC. As one commenter said, Maajid “is an anti-extremist Muslim, not an anti-Muslim extremist.”

Now, I’ll admit to having been a bit cautious regarding Maajid in the past; he’s an incredibly articulate, knowledgeable and passionate man, and (keeping ‘Taqiyya’ and ‘Tawriya’ in mind) I decided to adopt a wait-and-watch, listen-and-learn posture. I’ll also admit to being sympathetic with many of the sentiments expressed by people like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who also made the SPLC’s list — along with Aayan Hirsi Ali, Brigitte Gabriel, and some other more-or-less familiar names. Maajid claims to be the only Muslim on the list (Aayan is an ex-Muslim; I gather she and Maajid have become friends.)

I’ll confess that I rather enjoy Katie Hopkins, and Tommy Robinson — they’re entertaining — but I can also (I think) grasp why a Muslim reformer like Maajid might not; they’re effective at turning western sentiment against Muslims, and maybe aren’t as clear in drawing the distinction between Muslims and Islamism. Human individuals, vs an ideology that — while it might be OK, viewed as a religion in Western terms — also has an aggressive, intolerant political side that directly conflicts with Western values & culture. That seems to be precisely the angle that Maajid is addressing . . . it may appear to have a slim chance of success, but so did Donald Trump. Sometimes the slim chance is also the brightest hope, and I’d like to see Maajid succeed. 🙂

Maajid finally won me over with his recent Rubin Report interview. The link is here (I’ve set it to begin at the 20 minute mark, as the most relevant segment in regard to this post runs roughly from 20 min. in to around 30 min. — the whole thing is worth a listen, if you’ve got the time.) For those who don’t enjoy video for whatever reason, Maajid talks of the minorities within minorities; to give you some idea, here are some quotes I scribbled down:

The gay Muslims, the ex-Muslims, the feminist Muslims, the liberal Muslims, the dissenting voices, the minority sects . . .” “imagine how it feels to be a gay Muslim.

Maajid says after he appeared on British television and spoke in defense of gays during a panel debate, “The number of gay Muslims writing to me, saying, ‘We’ve never heard a Muslim man defending us [. . .] on television.’ And the emotional responses I got — it tells me the sheer level of vulnerability and isolation that they feel.”

We’ve got to allow for human error . . . also, evolution” (of views) . . “people move and mature and change” . . . “You’ve got to be able to disagree with somebody, and recognize they’re a lovely human being.” . . . “Even if after you allow for human error, and allow for human evolution, you’ve also got to allow for humanity.”

In essence, Maajid (as I understand him) is saying that it’s human to have made past mistakes (haven’t we all?), then to have learned from them and evolved as individuals in the process, but still be human and prone to making new missteps. People will be people, and if we wish for others to understand us, we should be prepared to understand them. I applaud what he’s doing, and wish I’d paid more attention to him sooner.

Lesbian & Gay Minorities (In addition to Muslim)

Jewish lesbians were apparently unwelcome at the Chicago Dyke March. Or at least, their Pride flag (rainbow flag with the Star of David) wasn’t welcome, per LegalInsurrection.com:

“Detached from reality: Anti-Israel activists demonize the most LGBT-friendly society, and exalt the most homophobic.

Claims of anti-Semitism are being made over actions yesterday by organizers of a ‘Dyke March’ in Chicago to remove certain Jewish participants from the event because they carried a Jewish LGBT Pride Flag that had a Star of David in the Middle of a rainbow flag. The flag was alleged to be ‘triggering’ to ‘pro-Palestinian’ participants.”

One of the banished Jewish participants asked, “The Chicago Dyke March Preaches Inclusion. So Why Was I Kicked Out for Carrying a Jewish Pride Flag?”

“You have to leave because you are making people feel unsafe. You are putting them in danger by being here.” I was told this by Chicago’s Dyke Collective organizers, volunteers, and even other marchers. Why? Because I was carrying a rainbow flag with a single Jewish star.”
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.797845

Gay police officers, too, and Republicans (Trump supporters) may also find themselves excluded from Pride celebrations, by the regressive left. Reports Candice Malcolm for Rebel Media, “They’ve abandoned everyday people and embraced a divisive, far left social justice warrior attitude. They’re pushing their own form of bullying, harassment, exclusion, and bigotry. The new left’s intolerance is intolerable. It’s driving away traditional allies, in pursuit of much more radical and more unpalatable causes.” (See video here.)

And elsewhere, Turkish Authorities Ban LGBT Pride in Istanbul. At least Turkey isn’t one of the twelve or so countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.

Children: Actual Minors, If Not Technically A Minority

As much as I support lesbian and gay rights, presuming the parties are adults capable of informed consent, it’s disturbing to witness children exposed to what is essentially sexual propaganda at a young age. Drag queens visiting elementary schoolsand library story hours — seems a bit questionable, however well intended. And what precisely is “age-appropriate content” for teaching nursery school children about sex? Does anyone else’s mind boggle at that question? It can’t just be me . . . 🙁

Sorry, but I think even second grade is awfully early to be teaching children an LGBT Curriculum, as California is doing . . .

Jane Robbins, attorney and senior fellow at American Principles Project, reacts to Breitbart News about the forced LGBT history curriculum for students.

“California has decided to include people in the curriculum and celebrate them (no criticism allowed, apparently) based solely on their sexual behavior,” she asserts. “Especially after the Obergefell decision, it’s only a matter of time until this propaganda spreads to the public schools of other states.” (Read the rest here.)

Hat tip to /pol/ News Forever — for a larger version of the above pic, click here. The expression on that kid’s face says it all . . .

Oh, and here’s another, if you care to see a video of a young girl who appears to be about three, seemingly mesmerized — she’s watching a man (who is wearing next to nothing) dancing in a doorway; I had to re-play it once or twice, because I was puzzled there was no sign of her parents . . . until I realized the dancing man is her FATHER. (Disturbing, but short video.)

Pride means different things to different people, I guess, but for shame. That thing the regressive left seems so eager to burden everyone else with, but will never shoulder it themselves: Shame. BTW, thanks to Maajid Nawaz (above) for coining the phrase, ‘regressive left.’ It’s starting to seem not just useful, but (sad to say) indispensable. Get used to hearing it . . .

 

 

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