A Judgement on Paris
Beirut – once Paris of the East,
Until Mohammed’s flock increased.
Soon Paris, as the fiends infest,
Will be the Beirut of the West.
It seems that when it comes to human nature, the greater fear will always win out. One would think that the recent bombing in Manchester, added to the long list of Islamic terrorist atrocities over the past decades, would be enough to make people in the West afraid of the rise of radical Islam in their countries, and vocal about it, but the majority it seems still have that much greater fear – the fear of not being thought of as good and virtuous or even worse. (but then, is there anything worse than that these days?) And of course this is a well-founded fear: If you wish to keep your job, particularly if you work in the public service or for a large or perhaps even small corporation, then you had better not hit the “like” button on that anti-Islamic terrorism Facebook post, or even worse, actually “share” such a post or – horror of horrors – post a supporting comment! You may get away with that sort of behaviour for a while but eventually one of your workmates who happens to be a Facebook “friend” will snitch on you to the boss, or word will just get around. If you are lucky you will get carpeted and receive a good dressing down and instructions to alter your online behaviour and to keep your bigoted opinions to yourself – more likely you’ll get the sack. And what about your friends? Expressing your distrust of some Muslims and anger about Islamization is almost as bad as admitting that you support Donald Trump or that you think Anthropogenic Climate Change is a scam. So this “Greater Fear”, although being illogical in the long run, (inaction against the threat will obviously end in copious tears) is in many ways perfectly rational in the short term. So what will it take for the fear that should be perceived as by far the greatest – Islamization preceded by terror, to actually become the greatest in people’s minds and therefore acted on by the powers that be? How many more Manchesters will it take? Perhaps the recent French election gives us some clues: The French have been battered from pillar to post by Islamic terror for decades, and are seeing the gradual but certain disintegration of their nation and its social structure, but still managed to elect someone who will do absolutely nothing about it – except probably make things worse. If the French are any guide, then it seems that in the West the instinct of self-preservation has surrendered to what is now a much greater force – the fear of being socially isolated.