Tory minister slams Islamic Congress complaint against journ

[Connie Fournier]

Stifling Mark Steyn, continued: Tory minister slams Muslim censors

By Michelle Malkin
December 13, 2007
<a href=http://michellemalkin.com/2007/12/13/stifling-mark-steyn-continued-tory-minister-slams-muslim-censors/>MichelleMalkin.com</a>

A Conservative cabinet minister says the Canadian Islamic Congress is attempting to undermine basic Charter freedoms by filing complaints against a journalist who wrote a book on the Muslim world.

Jason Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism, weighed in Wednesday on the controversy surrounding columnist Mark Steyn’s bestseller America Alone. The Canadian Islamic Congress has filed complaints with federal and provincial human rights commissions based on an excerpt of Steyn’s book that appeared in Maclean’s Magazine in October.

“To be attacking opinions expressed by a columnist in a major magazine is a pretty bold attack on the basic Canadian value of freedom of the press and freedom of expression,” Kenney said in an interview. “I think all Canadians would reject that kind of effort to undermine one of our basic freedoms.”

The Congress has argued that the article in Maclean’s “subjects Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt,” and is “flagrantly Islamophobic.” Maclean’s has refused the Congress’ request to publish an unedited, multi-paged rebuttal to Steyn’s commentary.

The excerpt from Steyn’s book, headlined “The Future Belongs to Islam,” outlines how the Islamic world is becoming more powerful with robust population growth versus the dwindling birth rate in the Western world. He argues that western democracies have failed to reinforce their own traditional values and identity to such an extent that radical and violent Muslim groups are allowed to flourish unchecked within their borders.

Other Muslim organizations and commentators have also criticized the Canadian Islamic Congress for its complaints against Maclean’s.

In a commentary posted Thursday on the magazine’s website, members of the Muslim Canadian Congress said Steyn’s arguments are all wrong, but taking him to tribunals in the wrong approach.

OK, I like Jason, but I am kind of disgusted with him right now.

When we were attacked by the CHRC last summer, Jason was silent.

When Paul Fromm was to speak in the Parliamentary Press Gallery about the injustice of the CHRC, Jason initiated a vote to ban him from Parliament Hill.

But now Jason is suddenly a heroic defender of free speech. I guess he just had to wait for a popular enough victim to come along before his principles could kick in.

[Dacre]

It's not like we come to expect that from politicians. He must see an advantage here. Better late than never picking up the cause but I agree in a way it stinks.

[fourhorses]

Tory minister slams Islamic Congress complaint against journalist

Published: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 | 6:07 PM ET
Canadian Press: Jennifer Ditchburn, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - A Conservative cabinet minister says the Canadian Islamic Congress is attempting to undermine basic Charter freedoms by filing complaints against a journalist who wrote a book on the Muslim world.

Jason Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism, weighed in Wednesday on the controversy surrounding columnist Mark Steyn's bestseller America Alone. The Canadian Islamic Congress has filed complaints with federal and provincial human rights commissions based on an excerpt of Steyn's book that appeared in Maclean's Magazine in October.

"To be attacking opinions expressed by a columnist in a major magazine is a pretty bold attack on the basic Canadian value of freedom of the press and freedom of expression," Kenney said in an interview. "I think all Canadians would reject that kind of effort to undermine one of our basic freedoms."

The Congress has argued that the article in Maclean's "subjects Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt," and is "flagrantly Islamophobic." Maclean's has refused the Congress' request to publish an unedited, multi-paged rebuttal to Steyn's commentary.

The excerpt from Steyn's book, headlined "The Future Belongs to Islam," outlines how the Islamic world is becoming more powerful with robust population growth versus the dwindling birth rate in the Western world. He argues that western democracies have failed to reinforce their own traditional values and identity to such an extent that radical and violent Muslim groups are allowed to flourish unchecked within their borders.

Other Muslim organizations and commentators have also criticized the Canadian Islamic Congress for its complaints against Maclean's.

In a commentary posted Thursday on the magazine's website, members of the Muslim Canadian Congress said Steyn's arguments are all wrong, but taking him to tribunals in the wrong approach.

"The reaction of the CIC has only given credence to his premise - that Muslims in the West cannot accept the values of individual freedom, a free press and the right to offend," wrote Tarek Fatah and Farzana Hassan. "How ironic and how unfortunate. For Steyn's thesis could as easily have been disproved by the traditional means of rational debate."

In the United States, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has campaigned against radio talk-show hosts who made incendiary comments about Muslims on the air. In one case, a host in Washington, D.C., was fired after calling Islam a "terrorist organization," among other comments.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/media/071212/X121211AU.html

[WestViking]

Hello Mr. Kenney - your government presides over the tribunals that makes this attack on our constitutional freedoms possible. Provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act that deal with hatred must be rescinded forthwith.

[concan]

The Congress has argued that the article in Maclean's "subjects Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt," and is "flagrantly Islamophobic."

Isn't that an oxymoron?

Islamists terrorize the world to create an atmosphere of fear. So Islamophobia is actually the calculated result of Islam's agenda in general. Fear Allah and submit is the rule du jour for muslims.

There's no relationship to their so called god (small g) and no freedom through believing or living the faith outwardly.

Islam is putting its own in shackles and the shackled followers terrorize the rest of the world in order to please the slave master.

How sad.

Our light needs to shine alot brighter !

[drummer]

Hello Mr. Kenney - your government presides over the tribunals that makes this attack on our constitutional freedoms possible. Provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act that deal with hatred must be rescinded forthwith.

Exactly.

[Connie Fournier]

Maybe I'm being too hard on him, but the way I see it is that he deliberately silenced this message a few weeks ago.

He has not merely failed to act, he acted in a way that was destructive to the freedom of speech cause...and he is guilty of aiding and abetting the CHRC in their attack on Canadian citizens because he protected them from exposure.

If Jason really cares about free speech for everyone and not just popular columnists, this is wonderful news and I will eat my words. But, I'm cynical.

[Eddy]

to be fair to Maclean's, though, does the magazine even claim that very many people read it any more?

[homer1969]

Kenneys just another hot air filled, bs-ing political blowhard who looooves the power.

Harper and his gang are not to be trusted in regards to free speech issues. At least the Liberals and NDP are upfront with their wishes to censor people, and not fence sitters like the so called Conservatives.

Hey Kenney and Harper, where do you people stand?

[WestViking]

Islamophobic:

Islam = a monotheistic religion based on the word of God as revealed to Muhammad during the 7th century

Phobic = having or showing an intense fear and dislike of something

My observation is that there is nothing wrong with being Islamophobic. It is a matter of belief and opinion. No Canadian is required to embrace Islam, or to like Islam. How then can Islamophobia be wrong, let alone illegal?

Advocating genocide of Muslims is illegal. Advocating assaults on Muslims is illegal. Assaulting or threatening Muslims is illegal. Stating our beliefs and opinions respecting Muslims is our right as citizens and is not illegal.

Individuals and groups of individuals spend decades creating a good reputation that can be seriously or damaged by one intemperate and illegal act. Groups can suffer ongoing damage by the actions of some of its members. A classic illustration is scandals involving the Catholic Church. The actions of some members have damaged the worldwide reputation of the Church. Islam's reputation is not above criticism. The actions of some members have seriously damaged the reputation of Muslims worldwide.

Catholics initially resisted and stonewalled criticisms, but ethical and honest members understood they had to face up to and deal with errant members publicly and go through the painful process of making apologies and restitution. Salvaging a reputation is a difficult and painful process.

We must not allow Muslims to escape responsibility for the actions of their radicals. Muslims have no entitlement to an assumption that they are above reproach. When some Muslim members illegally beat their wives or commit murder citing their religious beliefs as justification, Muslims as a group suffer the consequences.

Muslim sanction of barbaric acts, illegal in the nation in which they are committed, seems to me to be a valid reason for Islamophobia.

[fourhorses]

My observation is that there is nothing wrong with being Islamophobic. It is a matter of belief and opinion. No Canadian is required to embrace Islam, or to like Islam. How then can Islamophobia be wrong, let alone illegal?

WV


Islamophobia has been redefined, according to Wikipedia postings.

Islamophobia is a controversial term that refers to prejudice or discrimination against Islam or Muslims. The term dates back to the late 1980s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 1997, the British Runnymede Trust defined Islamophobia as the "dread or hatred of Islam and therefore, to the fear and dislike of all Muslims," stating that it also refers to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life of the nation. It includes the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ideology rather than a religion. Steps were taken toward official acceptance of the term in January 2001 at the "Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance", where Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside Xenophobia and Antisemitism

The Runnymede Trust describes itself as a think tank devoted to research and advocacy on the subjects of ethnicity and cultural diversity. The Runnymede Trust has the stated aim of challenging racial discrimination, influencing legislation and promoting multi-ethnicity in the United Kingdom, thus bearing some characteristics of an action committee or lobbyist group.


Forget that the real meaning of phobia (Greek) means fear. It was changed after you used the term, while you weren't paying attention, so you are all now guilty of hate crimes.


PS> Wikipiedia is locked up right now at this definition pending a dispute on the definition. The CHRC is calling in experts from Palestine and Saudia Arabia for definition clairification. You will be informed of the CHRC decision and how much you must pay in hurt feelings costs.

[styky]

As I see it it has become the custom for politicos to not speak up on behalf of Christians. It's almost appears to be out of fear that they will be deemed as to be playing favorites with that of there own religion whem an MP is a Christian. So what does this mean? That it now has become acceptable in fact expected that if you are Christian that the Human Rights Commision will strong arm you and you have no representation out of fear for doing so.

God bless this free country

[WestViking]

In that even, I will turn to the Oxford English Dictionary definition:

Islamophobia:

Hatred or fear of Islam, esp. as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims.

1976 Internat. Jrnl. Middle East Stud. 7 124 What makes the task difficult, perhaps impossible, for a non-Muslim is that he is compelled, under penalty of being accused of Islamophobia, to admire the Koran in its totality. 1985 E. W. SAID in Cultural Critique 1 99 Take the connection{em}explicity made by two of the authors I cite in Orientalism, Renan and Proust{em}between Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. 1994 Times 28 June 21/5, I suspect that Islamophobia, under the guise of fundamentalist scaremongering, is being deliberately promoted in the overseas media. 2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 22 Feb. A9/1 Vandals daubed swastikas on an outside wall of the Grand Mosque of Paris... [The] director of the mosque, termed the attack ‘an intolerable act of Islamophobia’.

Obviously, the term in current usage is intended to be used as a club to stifle any criticism of Islam and Muslims, valid or not. It is an epitaph spit out to demean a critic rather than make a reasoned counter-argument. As Shakespeare commented in 'Hamlet': "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

I look forward to the call from the CHRC. I suspect I am better prepared than they are.