Terry Jones and Preemptive Capitulation
Posted By Roger Kimball On April 4, 2011
Years ago, I picked up a tattered but serviceable edition of the great
Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Published in 1910, the
twenty-eight-volume monument to human curiosity about the "arts, sciences,
literature and general information" is a testament to scholarly industry.
Compared to the mealy-mouthed reference works that clutter library shelves
today, which typically compete to outdo one another in the exhibition of
moral relativism, the Eleventh Edition (the common shorthand by which the
work is known) is also a testament to a neglected virtue: robust cultural
confidence. For a Westerner, it is refreshing to dip into its unembarrassed
pages and savor its masculine prose. Volume I, for example ("A" to
"Androphagi"), contains a most illuminating article about that once-far-away
mountain fastness, Afghanistan. After a few pages about the history,
climate, and geography of this Asiatic byway, the writer introduces us to
the people, "handsome and athletic" but treacherous.
The Afghans, inured to bloodshed from childhood, are familiar with death,
and audacious in attack, but easily discouraged by failure; excessively
turbulent and unsubmissive to law or discipline; apparently frank and
affable in manner, especially when they hope to gain some object, but
capable of the grossest brutality when that hope ceases. They are
unscrupulous in perjury, treacherous, vain and insatiable, passionate in
vindictiveness, which they will satisfy at the cost of their own lives and
in the most cruel manner.
That's in 1910. Does any of that need to be emended?
I have been thinking about Afghanistan again because of the riots that broke
out this weekend. So far about a dozen people, including U.N. and NATO
personnel, have been killed and scores injured. Why? Because Terry Jones,
the Florida "pastor" who made headlines last September when he threatened to
burn copies of the Koran
<http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2010/09/10/rabat-redux-the-ground-zero
-mosque-what-its-really-about/> [1], finally made good on his promise on
March 20th, when he presided over a "trial" and burning of the Koran.
The incident went largely unreported here, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai
got wind of the stunt and denounced it. Officials in neighboring Pakistan
denounced it, too, sending a letter to the head of Interpol
<http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/01/afghan-mob-kills-at-least-12-un-worke
rs-in-protest-over-terry-joness-koran-burning/> [2] demanding that Jones be
arrested for his "violent crime." Then the natives got restless and started
smashing up whatever there is to smash up in Afghanistan, which turns out to
be mostly other human beings, buildings and other emblems of modern
civilization being in short supply in that wretched country.
Well, once the rampage started, Westerners were quick to comment. From
Tweedledee to Tweedledum - from Harry Reid (D. Nev.) to Lindsey Graham (R.,
sort of, SC.) - American lawmakers fell over themselves to condemn Jones and
insist that his pyromanic exhibitions be "investigated." "I wish we could
find a way to hold people accountable," said Graham. "Free speech is a great
idea, but we're in a war."
The journalist Joe Klein, writing in
<http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/04/01/afghan-massacre/#ixzz1IYdhLUeD>
Time [3] (yes, it's still publishing), wants to hold Terry Jones
"accountable," too, big time. "Jones's act was murderous as any suicide
bomber's," Klein wrote, "If there is a hell, he's just guaranteed himself an
afterlifetime membership."
And then there is General David Petraeus, who, together with NATO Ambassador
Mark Sedwill
<http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/statement-by-isaf-commander-
general-david-petraeus-and-nato-scr-ambassador-mark-sedwill.html> [4],
condemned Jones
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576240643831942006.h
tml?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond> 's bonfire of the vanities [5] -
"hateful, intolerant, extremely disrespectful" - and "any disrespect to the
Holy Quran and the Muslim faith."
What's wrong with this picture? Let me count the ways.
First, let's look at the imputation of causal glue that links the events: A.
"Terry Jones presides over 'trial' and burning of Koran" and B. "Muslim
Afghans go on murderous rampage." The press reports typically tell us that
Jones's action "sparked" or "led to" the rampages, suggesting, without
quite asserting, a causal link between "A" and "B." But think about it. Some
Danish cartoonists draw some caricatures of Mohammed. Months later, Muslims
riot, torch Danish embassies, and murder several score of innocent people.
Did the cartoons "lead to" or "spark" the murderous rampages? In other
words, was there a sufficient moral connection between the activity of the
cartoonists and the actions of the homicidal Muslims to blame the
cartoonists?
Go back a few years. Osama bin Laden didn't like it that there was an
American presence in Saudi Arabia. On September 11, 2001, nineteen Muslim
fanatics working for bin Laden destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the
Pentagon, and killed some 3000 innocent people. Wahhabi Muslims thought it
provocative, outrageous, and intolerable that the United States was in Saudi
Arabia and other parts of the Muslim world. It was our presence there that
sparked, led to, etc. 9/11. Were we therefore responsible for 9/11? Some
<http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/susan.htm> [6] thought
<http://thinkofengland.blogspot.com/2010/01/mary-beard-historians-and-evil.h
tml> [7] so <http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html> [8].
I believe, on the contrary, that the responsibility for 9/11 lies with those
who planned and carried it out. As Jonathan Rauch memorably put it
<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1001/rauch092001.asp> [9] in the
aftermath of 9/11, the root cause of terrorism is terrorists.
Terry Jones is a pathetic, publicity-seeking buffoon. But, as a citizen of
the United States, if he wishes to burn a Koran (or Bible or Torah or
Bhagavad Gita) that is his prerogative. We may not like it. We may find it
offensive, sensationalistic, insensitive, etc., etc. And we may say so
publicly. But when U.S. lawmakers, speaking in their capacity as lawmakers,
threaten to launch an "investigation," hold Jones "accountable," and
contemplate clamping down on free speech because (quoth L. Graham) "we're in
a war," something has gone badly awry.
Ponder, just for starters, Senator Graham's caviler demotion of free speech:
it's a "great idea," he said, but should be limited (he implies) because
"we're in war." Loose lips can indeed sink ships and few would dispute that
during war time certain speech must be limited. But what Terry Jones did had
nothing to do with military or governmental secrets. He was not publicizing
troop movements or detailing America's methods of catching up with its
enemies. For that sort of treasonous behavior you have to go to such organs
of enlightenment as The New York Times, which in 2006 blithely published
secret details
<http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?47502-Schoenfeld-Was-it-Treason-
(Long)> [10] of how the National Security Agency was gathering
intelligence.
No, what we see in the Terry Jones case is the latest outbreak of preemptive
capitulation in the face of Muslim incitement. When Yale University Press
declined, at the last minute, to include images of the Danish caricatures
of Mohammed in a book it was publishing
<http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/28/my-absolutely-positively-fi
nal-word-about-yale-and-the-danish-cartoons/> about the caricatures, [11] it
was engaging in preemptive capitulation (and possibly a little Middle
Eastern fund raising
<http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/21/my-final-piece-on-yale-and-
the-danish-cartoons-martin-kramer-connects-the-dots/> [12]). As I said at
the time
<http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/13/the-scholarship-equivalent-
of-yale-donning-a-burqa-to-suppress-the-temptations-its-immodesty-might-othe
rwise-inspire/> [13], I think the British journalist Charles Moore had the
right idea: in the face of intimidation, you should face it down. When the
Danish cartoon episode erupted, most newspapers refused to carry images of
the offending cartoons, lest the jihad that was over there should suddenly
be transported over here. But Mr. Moore had a better idea: every paper
ought to have published them. Moral: Don't give in to bullies.
Bottom-line question: What are we willing to give up in order to appease a
bunch of murderous thugs who approach the world with a pocket full of Semtex
and say, "Do - and don't do - what I want or I will blow myself and you to
smithereens"? There's the Lindsey Graham-Joe Klein-Yale UP-and (I very mush
regret to say) David Petraeus answer: "OK. You tell us no cartoons of
Mohammed: we won't draw or publish any. You say, no burning of the Koran, we
will prohibit that, too." The problem is, as I noted
<http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/02/17/that_root_youths_and_why_re
ute_1/> [14]about another incident of Muslim insanity some years ago,
the list of the things Muslims are offended by would take over a culture.
They don't like ice-cream that (used to be) distributed by Burger King
because a <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011556.php> decoration on the
lid [15] looked like (sort of) the Arabic script for "Allah." They are
offended by " <http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article102182.ece>
pig-related items [16], including toys, porcelain figures, calendars and
even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet" appearing in the
workplace. They take umbrage at describing Islamic terrorism as, well,
Islamic terrorism and have managed to persuade Gordon Brown to
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=508901&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490> rename it [17] "anti-Islamic activity."
But here's the thing: one of the features of living in a modern, secular
democracy is that there is always plenty of offense to go around. No Muslim
is more offended by cartoons of their Prophet than I am by their barbaric
reaction to the cartoons. But their reaction when offended is to torch an
embassy, <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214188,00.html> shoot a nun
[18], or <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_(film_director)> knife
a filmmaker. [19] I write a column deploring such behavior. You see the
difference.
As I said above, Terry Jones is a pathetic buffoon. But what we should be
alarmed about is not his stunt but the alacrity with which our leaders and
commentators rush to curtail free speech because they fear the reprisals of
barbarous people addicted to violence and intoxicated by a repulsive,
freedom-hating ideology. The spoiled child says, "If you don't do what I
want, I'll hold my breath till I faint." The overgrown spoiled children of
Islam require the same sort of medicine, though age adjusted, that little
Johnny does.
_____
Article printed from Roger's Rules: http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball
URL to article:
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2011/04/04/terry-jones-and-preemptive-c
apitulation/
URLs in this post:
[1] burn copies of the Koran:
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2010/09/10/rabat-redux-the-ground-zero-
mosque-what-its-really-about/
[2] sending a letter to the head of Interpol:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/01/afghan-mob-kills-at-least-12-un-worker
s-in-protest-over-terry-joness-koran-burning/
[3] writing in Time:
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/04/01/afghan-massacre/#ixzz1IYdhLUeD
[4] Mark Sedwill:
http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/statement-by-isaf-commander-g
eneral-david-petraeus-and-nato-scr-ambassador-mark-sedwill.html
[5] condemned Jones's bonfire of the vanities:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576240643831942006.ht
ml?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
[6] Some: http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/susan.htm
[7] thought:
http://thinkofengland.blogspot.com/2010/01/mary-beard-historians-and-evil.ht
ml
[8] so: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html
[9] put it: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1001/rauch092001.asp
[10] secret details:
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?47502-Schoenfeld-Was-it-Treason-(
Long)
[11] about the caricatures,:
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/28/my-absolutely-positively-fin
al-word-about-yale-and-the-danish-cartoons/
[12] Middle Eastern fund raising:
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/21/my-final-piece-on-yale-and-t
he-danish-cartoons-martin-kramer-connects-the-dots/
[13] said at the time:
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/08/13/the-scholarship-equivalent-o
f-yale-donning-a-burqa-to-suppress-the-temptations-its-immodesty-might-other
wise-inspire/
[14] I noted :
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/02/17/that_root_youths_and_why_reu
te_1/
[15] decoration on the lid: http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011556.php
[16] pig-related items:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article102182.ece
[17] rename it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=
508901&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490
[18] shoot a nun : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214188,00.html
[19] knife a filmmaker.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_(film_dire
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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