Together facing the new totalitarianism
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.
Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.
We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of “Islamophobia”, an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.
12 signatures
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq
03/01/2006
Against Islamic totalitarianism
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Spreading the Word
With a Hat Tip to Gail and to Meryl, I’ll do my small bit to publicize this Manifesto: Together facing the new totalitarianismAfter having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism. We,…
Trackback by Somewhere on A1A... — 03/01/2006 @ 8:45 am
[...] Yourish.com: "Against Islamic totalitarianism" Meryl adds: Count me in. [...]
Pingback by Agora :: Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali et al Slam Islamic Totalitarianism :: February :: 2006 — 03/01/2006 @ 9:52 am
Lots more here:
http://www.somebodyhelpme.info/RIGHTEOUS_MUSLIMS/righteous.html
Comment by Lover of Zion — 03/01/2006 @ 4:37 pm
Manifesto Against Islam
Solidarity. The 12 people who wrote and signed this document know very well the risk they take. We need to send a clear message that they don’t stand alone.
Trackback by Blue Star Chronicles — 03/01/2006 @ 11:53 pm
The manifesto
Excellent work by the blue star Chronicles to have listed some of the very numerous blogs that have posted the manifest against islamism. I reproduce the list here. Just a notch in google’s popularity/ Others in support of the Manifesto Ag…
Trackback by Spoootnik — 03/02/2006 @ 1:06 pm
Support the Manifesto online by signing this petition.
The Manifesto I covered in this post can now be supported online at this site. Don’t wait. Sign today. It’s target audience is the White House and the United Nations. I now ask all those bloggers who reposted this Manifesto to spread …
Trackback by Agora — 03/05/2006 @ 7:21 pm
Death Threat against signers of Manifesto
I have covered the Manifesto here. Here the leader of the Danish People’s Party adds her signature. Here I link to a petition where you can sign the manifesto.
Are you daring enough to do so?
Death Threat against signers of Manifesto
By Jørg…
Trackback by Agora — 03/14/2006 @ 6:59 pm