Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Revel revisited
I have never much enjoyed reviewing books, but a few passages should whet your appetite for more.
On the essence of anti-Americanism:
The principal function of anti-Americanism has always been, and still is, to discredit liberalism by discrediting its supreme incarnation. To travesty the United States as a repressive, unjust, racist -- even fascist -- society was a way of proclaiming: Look what happens when liberalism is implemented!
On the tolerance and toleration of Muslims:
The dominant idea in the Muslims' worldview is that all of humanity must obey the rules of their religion, whereas they owe no respect to the religions of others. Indeed, showing such respect would make them apostates meriting instant execution. Muslim "tolerance" is a one-way street: they demand it for themselves but rarely extend it to others.Whether or not Revel's analogy is evidence to support his proposition, I would be interested in reading a principled rebuttal.
Anxious to show tolerance, the Pope permitted -- even encouraged -- the erection of a mosque in Rome, the city were Saint Peter was buried. But no Christian church could be built in Mecca, or anywhere in Saudi Arabia, for that would profane the land of Muhammad.
On the reaction of the Japanese cultural elite to September 11:
The daily newspaper Asahai Shimbun, interviewing Japanese writers and philosophers after September 11, recorded not only political attitudes leaning more towards the jihadists than their victims, but literary judgments imbued with condescension and assurance of superiority....
Most of the intellectuals consulted did not failed to make ritual denunciations of American "arrogance," adding that the very wealth of America disqualifies her from speaking in the name of human rights. Everyone knows that Japan has always been deeply respectful towards the latter, as Koreans, Chinese and Filipinos can amply confirm. In fact, we find no mention in Japanese textbooks of any atrocities that might have been committed by the imperial armies before and during World War II. (Patriotic discretion demands that they be passed over in silence.) Thus do Japanese scholars, in their distinct fashion, serve the cause of truth in the discipline of historiography, with the dignified modesty that has always graced Japan.
Did I tell you that Revel is sarcastic?
1 Comments:
By 
John Burgess, at
Fri Jan 21, 01:07:00 AM:
The Pope's "permitting a mosque to be built in Rome" shows as much "tolerance" as the Saudis' "permitting a church to be built" in Rome.
The Pope is the head of a state called "Vatican City". That state exists within the city of Rome, but is not part of Rome, nor even a part of Italy.
It is a theocracy, whose officials must follow one religion, whose laws are based on Catholic doctrine. By law, its highest officials cannot be women.
He has not yet authorized the construction of a mosque, synagogue, or Protestant church in the Vatican City.
I'm not saying the Saudis are doing any better in this regard--in fact, they're doing considerably worse--but by the standard established in that sentence, the Pope is no paragon of virtue, either.
