Tolerance's Double Standard

Outstanding piece by Jeremy L. England from Stanford Review:


not long ago on the scale of human history, European societies were, by and large, backward, xenophobic, violently imperialistic, fervent in their religious intolerance, and plagued by twin dementias of misogyny and anti-Semitism. This generalization certainly glosses over many details of Europe’s rich and fascinating past, but it is nevertheless a true and informative statement that helps one get one’s bearings when trying to make sense of Western civilization.
Equally true, but far more likely to attract accusations of racism and bigotry, is the following thesis: throughout its history, the Islamic world has, by and large, been xenophobic, violently imperialistic, fervent in its religious intolerance, and plagued by misogyny. More recently, it has additionally become backward and crazed with Jew-hatred. In thousands of mosques serving millions of congregants, imams incite the murder of Jews and gays and extol the virtue of perpetual war against America and Christianity. Countless Arabic television programs feature panel discussions on the finer points of beating your wife according to Islamic law, and fathers and brothers strangle their daughters and sisters because of transgressions of sexual honor. Even more disturbingly, many of these same things happen within immigrant communities in Europe and North America, which in some cases are even more radically anti-Western than parts of the Middle East.
I am aware that much of what I have just written will seem shocking and upsetting to many readers, which is why I prefaced it with a little detour by the ugly side of European history. What we need to be asking ourselves is: why are we so willing to accept one of these generalizations, but not the other? Why should the West’s willingness to examine itself critically prevent it from pointing out extremely worrisome social and political trends in other parts of the world? And, most pointedly, how can the United States prevent future attacks on its citizens unless it recognizes how entrenched hatred of America and the West has become in the Arab and Muslim world, and how implacably so many people there work towards forcing a violent confrontation with the infidel enemy?
These questions, and many others like them, should be the topic of constant, vigorous debate and discussion at our country’s top universities. Instead, few people are willing to ask them for fear of being castigated for their “Islamophobia” by enforcers who attack and discredit the “intolerant,” and by doing so wind up defending some of the most intolerant, hateful people on the planet. That is why I applaud the bravery of the students here at Stanford who recently sponsored a screening of the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam’s War against the West. I hope that their presentation of this controversial film, which documents the violence and hatefulness of burgeoning radicalism in the Muslim world, will spark the kind of discussion about history, religion, and the limits of tolerance that is so desperately needed on our own campus, and on many others around the country.