A man, an off-duty soldier is set upon by two others and hacked to death with knives and cleavers in a suburb of Greater London.
A right wing activist and historian commits suicide at the altar of Notre Dame in symbolic protest to recent law changes.
News breaks out that a U.S. government department unfairly targeted conservative groups in scrutinizing their organizations.
A pro-family conservative lobby group in New Zealand is in the process of being forcibly de-registered from its status as a charitable group.
Is there a common denominator to these seemingly disparate events?
While murder and mayhem differ widely in terms of shock impact from the far more mundane acts of government agencies throwing their weight around, there is- at least in this writers view- the potential to do far more damage of a wider scale in the latter two incidents than that which first meets the eye.
'Horrified witnesses told last night how the off-duty soldier beheaded by two Islamic terrorists yesterday was hacked at “like a piece of meat”.
The unnamed serviceman, wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt, was brutally butchered with knives and meat cleavers after a car mounted the pavement and ploughed into him.
The barbaric killing that has shocked the nation happened at 2.20pm on a busy main road just 50 yards from a primary school and 200 yards from Woolwich Barracks in South East London.
The two attackers, who also had a gun – believed to be a revolver – were later shot and wounded in an apparent “suicide by cop” attempt after waiting at the scene for 20 minutes – then lunging at anti-terror squad officers.
They were both taken to hospital, where one was said to be in a serious condition last night.
Earlier it emerged that the pair filmed themselves moments after the killing – with one of them delivering a hate-filled warning to the people of Britain.
In the chilling mobile phone video, one is shown with his hands covered in blood as he clutches a cleaver and knife, the body of the soldier lying in the street behind him.
Speaking with a London accent, he rants: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”
Bizarrely, he apologises to women who saw the slaughter, but adds: “In our land our women have to see the same.
“You people will never be safe. Remove your governments, they don’t care about you. You think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? You think politicians are going to die?
“No it’s going to be the average guy, like you and your children. So get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so we can all live in peace.”
Speaking on a visit to France, Mr Cameron said the whole country would condemn the “absolutely sickening attack” – and vowed that Britain would not “buckle” in the face of it.
The PM warned:
“The terrorists will never win because they can never beat the values we hold dear, the belief in freedom, in democracy, in free speech – our British values, our Western values.
They are never going to defeat those.”
He said: “It is the most appalling crime. and our thoughts tonight must be with the victim, his family and friends.
“People across Britain in every community will condemn this attack. We have had this kind of attack before and will never buckle in the face of it.”
He added: “In a free country like ours the best way to defeat terrorism is to go about your life and live your life and show terrorism can never win.” ' (Emphasis mine)
In The Independent, JOHN LICHFIELD, PARIS TUESDAY 21 MAY 2013 filed this story about the recent suicide at the altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in the 850th anniversary of its existence :
'A far-right French historian shot himself in the head beside the altar of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris today apparently in protest against the legalisation of gay marriage in France.
Dominique Venner, 78, a former member of the nationalist terrorist movement, OAS, placed a pistol in his mouth and shot himself dead in front of scores of tourists inside the most visited building in France.
Mr Venner, a presenter on a Catholic-traditionalust radio station and controversial historian and essayist, posted an essay on his website earlier in the day calling for "new, spectacular and symbolic actions
to shake us out of our sleep, to jolt anaesthetised minds and to reawaken memory of our origins".
His long essay was a tirade against gay marriage but also a warning that the "population of France and Europe" was going to be "replaced" and brought under "Islamist control" and "sharia law".
Mr Venner placed a sealed letter on the altar of the cathedral before shooting himself. His choice of the altar - associated with religious marriage ceremonies -appeared to be a symbolic gesture of protest against the law permitting civil gay marriages in France which took effect last weekend.
The leaders of the protest movement, including
most but not all leading centre-right politicians, have pilloried the law as politically-motivated attack on family and religious values and the imposition of a "new civilisation". (Emphasis mine)
In the last few days the news has come to light that the Inland Revenue Service of the United States has been targeting conservative groups that are critical of various policies of the Obama administration. Many are suspicious this has emanated from the White House.
The following excerpt comes from CBN News, Thursday, May 23, 2013In a reversal from its previous claims, the Obama administration now admits the IRS did inform a top White House lawyer last month about its investigation into improper scrutiny of conservative groups.
'But according to the administration, that lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, stopped short of sharing any information with President Obama.
"She made the decision on the judgment that it was not necessary or appropriate to inform the president of this, and that didn't happen," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
That top White House officials didn't know is a notion Republicans and a lot of Americans find highly suspect.
The IRS scandal has angered and revitalized the Tea Party movement, which began, supporters say, to fight this very thing.
"It's ungodly, it's un-American and it's just plain wrong to target Americans because of what they say about the government," Paul Johnson of the Grassroots Tea Party of Boone County said.
"What the IRS did to conservative Tea Party and pro-life groups starting in 2009 was not just wrong;
it wasn't just bad; it was criminal and it was the behavior of a tyrannical government,"
Ulysses Arn, co-coordinator of the Rockford Tea Party, said.
In Cincinnati, hundreds of protestors marched on IRS headquarters, demanding an end to this abuse of power.'(Emphasis mine)
In an email I received this morning Bob McCoskrie, National Director for Family First draws attention to a similar plight facing his organization, a lobby group that advocates traditional family values and a Judeo/Christian ethic. Don't be surprised if the link doesn't work or the website is unavailable, this website and others associated with Family First have been the target of so many cyber attacks that they have had to move them (no doubt at some expense) offshore to a service that offers the same encryption services as those used by credit card agencies!
'Today we are lodging an Appeal in the High Court at Wellington against our de-registration as a charitable organisation. The role of marriage and families is an important public good, and groups who research and advocate on these issues should be encouraged, not muzzled.
The real concern is - where does this lead?
If they're willing to go after us because of our views on marriage and families, who will be next?
You only need to look overseas in the US and the actions of the IRS towards conservative groups to see that this is not just a New Zealand issue - this is a blatant attempt to muzzle groups that you and I hold dear, and who represent our values.
In just one example from overseas, IRS officials refused to grant tax exempt status to two pro-life organizations because of their position on the abortion issue, according to a non-profit law firm, which said that one group was pressured not to protest a pro-choice organization that endorsed President Obama during the last election. And the National Organisation for Marriage (whose President I met in Australia last week) had confidential tax documents stolen from or by the IRS and leaked to the pro-gay marriage groups whose President at the time was the national co-chair of Obama's re-election campaign!'
'It's about freedom of speech, traditional values, and abuse of government power.' (Emphasis mine)
But is there anything that these four events have in common?
Well, yes I believe there is, and the common denominator is multiculturalism and the erosion of Western civilization. In an article on multiculturism in Wikipedia:
'Multiculturalism centers on the thought in political philosophy about the way to respond to cultural and religious differences. It is closely associated with “identity politics,” “the politics of difference,” and “the politics of recognition.” It is also a matter of economic interests and political power. (Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Despite the fact that multiculturalism has mainly been used as a term to define disadvantaged groups, including African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, and the disabled, many theorists tend to focus their arguments on immigrants who are ethnic and religious minorities, minority nations, and indigenous peoples.
Harvard professor of political science Robert D. Putnam conducted a nearly decade long study how multiculturalism affects social trust. He surveyed 26,200 people in 40 American communities, finding that when the data were adjusted for class, income and other factors, the more racially diverse a community is, the greater the loss of trust. People in diverse communities "don’t trust the local mayor, they don’t trust the local paper, they don’t trust other people and they don’t trust institutions," writes Putnam. In the presence of such ethnic diversity, Putnam maintains that
[W]e hunker down. We act like turtles.
The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us.' (Emphasis mine)
Some of the themes common to multiculturalism include the ideas of tolerance and relativism, ideas which I have addressed in their respective posts. This breakdown of trust in our communities will have far reaching implications, not the least of which will be the continued and escalating feeling of isolation and marginalization of various groups. This fragmentation and the ensuing development of a siege mentality will further undermine the glue that holds these societies together. Up until recently the delicate balance between tolerance of various minorities and respect for human rights and the rule of law has been relatively assured in Western civilization- but is that a chapter in our history becoming more tenuous as these various factions explode into fresh forms of expression? As I have said elsewhere, tolerance without limits, tolerance without a guiding moral framework leads to intolerance, tyranny and irrationalism.
There never has been a civilization so successful and enduring as that which we broadly call- Western Civilization, what has been the cause of its unprecedented success?
Why, as a culture, has the West enjoyed such singular success? Let me answer by asking some questions: If you were to do a survey of human migration over the last decades what countries would you expect these migrants to come from? And what countries do you think these migrants are going to? Now if you investigated the reasons for these movements what do you think would be behind them? I venture to say that people move from poverty, oppression, disenchantment and fear- and they move towards wealth, opportunity, security and hope- to give a few examples. If you wanted to find a common denominator as to those countries that represent opportunity, wealth, security I think if you scratch the surface you will find that Western Culture is the key. And what does Western culture value? (Western culture has nothing to do with race) Since Western culture is based on objective reality and universal human nature, it is open to everyone, transcending both geography and race. But if one digs deeper, it becomes clear that
the truly fundamental basis for the rise of the West was an extraordinary faith in reason.
Western culture inculcates the value of "reason". "The Victory of Reason" explores a series of developments in which reason won the day, giving unique shape to Western culture and institutions. The most important of these victories occurred within Christianity. . . . While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition,
Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth. . . .
Encouraged by the Scholastics and embodied in the great medieval universities founded by the church, faith in the power of reason infused Western culture, stimulating the pursuit of science and the evolution of democratic theory and practice." [see the letter re. separation of church and state] Rodney Stark- "The Victory of Reason"
There is a very strong compunction in me to associate the breakdown of Western culture with the denigration of, and the systematic programme for the removal from any sphere of relevance and influence of the Christian voice. Multiculturism is strongly associated with philosophies of relativism and the denial of exclusive truth. Relativism, especially in a moral setting, provides no firm context for right and wrong and perhaps more importantly undermines reason and logic, that which has underpinned the West for centuries.
It is a never ceasing marvel how much is comprehended in those immortal words:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
It is no accident that this all important "Word" capital "W" is in the opening verse of the Gospel of John. This "Word" refers to Jesus the Christ who- according to Christian theology- came down from heaven where he existed from all eternity as the second person of the trinity- the eternal Word of God. In the language of the Greeks in which this was first written some two millienia ago, this "Word" is the "Logos"- the reasoning word, from which we get logic and reason. Is it any wonder as more and more people in the West appreciate reason and logic less and less, and a well reasoned Christianity along with that, that we are in a spiralling descent into irrationalism and nehilism?
However the news isn't all bad. In certain circles thanks to the unstinting effort of a significant number of highly trained and mobile group of Christian apologists there has been a revival of interest and a heightened sense of credibility in arenas of traditionally strategic areas of cultural influence. These people of the Christian academy are having a big impact in Universities, government, media and other spheres all over the world.
While the world at large observes through the media the shock content of extremist factions of Islam and other pressure groups, including aberrant forms of Christianity- these people are quietly at work in the centers of Islam and other cultural forums having an unprecedented access to conduct respectful and important dialogue with regard to the diversity of these two mono-theistic religions and other worldviews like secularism.
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