AN OBJECTIVIST'S RESPONSE TO THE MUHAMMAD CARTOON CONTROVERSY

 
 
Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death....Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

Bertrand Russell

 
 
If ever there was a time for the voices of Objectivism to step forward, that time is now. At its core, the violence surrounding the Muhammad cartoon controversy represents more than an attack on freedom of expression and the press, it constitutes an all-out assault on the fundamental Enlightenment values of Individual Freedom and Reason. The nauseating spectacle of dhimmi Western leaders and pseudo-intellectuals prostrating the Free World to the totalitarian edifice of Islamism is no less shameful than Neville Chamberlain's capitulation to the Nazis at Munich in 1938. As Winston Churchill observed of Chamberlain's folly, "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor, and you will have war." Such is the case with the cartoon controversy. Surrendering freedom of thought, conscience and expression to appease Muslim mobs and the Organization of the Islamic Conference will not bring us "peace in our time", it will only encourage more aggression. For that we will be rewarded with more violence and more demands at the expense of our ever-eroding freedom and security.

Throughout history, the eternal enemies of Individual Freedom and Reason have been people with pretensions to Absolute Truth. It is they who have destroyed entire civilizations and enslaved countless millions of human beings in the names of their gods, prophets and ideologies. It is to them we owe the infamous machinations of the Inquisition, the Dhimma and the Gulag. Today, the Islamist assault on freedom of thought and expression in the West reveals that we are once again fighting the 17th and 18th Century battles of the Enlightenment against the tyrannies of religious totalitarianism. Once again, we find ourselves struggling to thwart the violent attempts of the Faithful to impose their beliefs on the Non-Believer, and preserve the individual's right to determine what is Truth for themselves. It is an act of naked intellectual aggression to state that a person is obligated to revere and respect the figures and articles of another person's faith. One is no more required to honor the person and teachings of Muhammad than they are that of David Koresh or Marshall Applewhite. Deference to religious dogma is a matter of individual choice, not a right owed to the Faithful. The rights of Believers begin and end at their individual selves, just like everyone else - religion entitles no one to any special treatment or status. Anyone who claims otherwise is either a supremacistic bigot or an ignorant fool.

In addition to the groundless philosophical arguments that freedom of thought and expression should conform to the dogmas of religious groups, the reprehensible contention that the exercise of these rights should be curtailed on account of the potential for lawlessness only illustrates the rampant moral vacuity and irresponsibility of those who advocate rewarding violence with appeasement. What these people are actually proposing is the surrender of Civilization to Barbarity, in the vain hope that discarding the Rule of Law for the caprices of the Mob will bring the world peace and order. Furthermore, the individuals who parrot the claim that individual freedom should be stifled to maintain public order only echo the propaganda of totalitarian dictatorships whose illegitimate existences are directly threatened by freedom of thought and expression. In free and civilized societies, the maintenance of order is predicated on the defense of the individual against the forcible deprivation of their rights by other individuals and groups. When the State entertains and accommodates threats of violence, it abdicates its fundamental responsibility of enforcing the Rule of Law and becomes an instrument of Anarchy, thus ceasing to exist as a legitimate government that can be entrusted with maintaining public order.

Clearly, the philosophical and practical reasons for defending Individual Freedom and Reason have been lost on all too many people in the Free World, most notably the so-called political and intellectual "elite". Having enjoyed the free exercise of our human rights for so long, we have become intellectually and morally atrophied to the point where we struggle to properly defend the principles that ensure not only freedom of thought and expression, but freedom of religion, as well. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, acknowledgeing "the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world", declared the revolutionary idea that "...our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry...". It was this revolutionary, some say blasphemous, idea, encoded in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, that shattered the chains that bound the hands and minds of Man to a violent, intolerant and ignorant past. Far from being a gratuitous assault on the eternally aggrieved sensibilities of Islamists, the production and publication of the Muhammad cartoons constitute a reaffirmation of the ideals that form the foundation of the Free World itself. The day we willingly surrender these ideals is the day we abandon all honor and embrace cowardice and slavery with open arms.
 
In parting, I leave you with the words of the great American patriot and orator, Patrick Henry. May they guide and inspire us through the troubled times ahead.

 
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
 
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
 
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
 
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
 
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
 
Patrick Henry
March 23, 1775