The western world is withering under the burden of its own contradictions. This is causing serious concern among western intellectuals, the elite and politicians, and also negatively affecting public opinion in the non-western world.
Now what are these recent contradictions of sorts?
For almost a month Muslims across the globe, Asia in particular, have been protesting against the irresponsible attack on their religious values and sanctities following the publication of insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in several western newspapers.
As the tense climate of the past weeks starts to cool, we can explore this ominous development with more calm and concentration.
A Danish newspaper first published the insulting drawings and had the cheek to defend the reprehensible move under the banner of “freedom of expression.“
This is one instance of the West’s contradictions that has infuriated believers of different faiths other than Islam.
Freedom of expression means freedom in disseminating thoughts that help improve transparency and open minds. No person of integrity will ever accept that such freedoms be allowed to impinge on those of others or insult their religious values and sentiments.
Some western journalists and politicians supported the drawings as a manifestation of their freedom of expression. But if and when they or their dear ones are accused of nasty things or insulted for that matter, will they embrace it as a package that comes along with freedoms? Or will they do everything possible to punish those responsible?
Take another case. The killing of Jews recognized as the holocaust during World War II. In the past few decades, westerners of various stripes have claimed that during WWII some six million Jews lost their lives in gas chambers or died in ovens built by the Nazis and their European allies.
If this crime was actually committed, it is indeed a disgrace for the “civilized Europeans.“
How can they be civilized and at the same time commit such inhuman crimes? There are a few questions here. The people responsible for the atrocities committed during WWII on both sides are mainly Christian Europeans. Can anybody single out Jesus Christ (PBUH) or Christianity because of those war atrocities?
During the two world wars tens of millions of people were murdered for which Christians are largely responsible. But is Jesus, the prophet of peace and benevolence, responsible for the heinous crimes committed by western war-mongers who kneel at his altar? But when a few narrow-minded Muslims are perceived to be involved in terror attacks, Europeans rush to denounce the entire Islamic world, make contemptuous remarks about our faith and insult the founder of the divine religion and the prophet of mercy and kindness.
Strangely enough, in the modern western society one can insult divine prophets or even reject the whole concept of prophecy or the existence of God. But nobody dare raise doubts about the holocaust and the tons of controversy surrounding it.
Moreover, nobody in the ’free west’ is allowed to engage in scientific or historic discussions about the holocaust. Those who do so face the full force of the law. This is what happened to a prominent British writer in Austria recently.
Isn’t this a blatant contradiction in the attitude of westerners who persistently claim to be free from religious and social constraints of the type that may violate their much prized and publicized human rights?
Why can a historic development not be analyzed from different dimensions? How is it that freedom of expression does not count in this case? Reflecting on the diverse aspects of the holocaust is beyond the scope of this column. But what is intended is to focus on a small area of contradictions in the western attitude and thought.
There is no shortage of such double standards in the west, especially when its politicians, particularly in America, seek to promote their brand of military and political interests.
When this happens, westerners themselves ignore their own twisted versions of rights and freedoms. Imprisoning hundreds of people on flimsy charges of cooperating with Al-Qaeda in Guantanamo without trial or right of defense contradicts basic norms of human rights, the universal charter guiding these rights, and laws governing the West. But this inhumane attitude is routinely defended as necessary in the interest of security!
The good omen is that many respected citizens in the West have realized that such contradictions exist and they themselves react to them. This has helped people in other parts of the world to also demonstrate their frustration and anger over the outrageous western double standards.
How much longer do western politicians and their minions think they can continue on this destructive path?