patrick.net

Islamic fundamentalists are using woke tactics to crush free speech
The recent ‘Lady of Heaven’ protests show how extremists can tap into progressive fixations like victimhood and fragility

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. Generations of children have been taught this mantra, to remind them that even potentially hurtful or offensive views are just words and do not cause physical harm.

... Rather than trying to instil in young people a robust sense of personhood, giving them the tools to engage with other views, society increasingly encourages offence-taking, feelings of “trauma” and “vulnerability”.

In this context, it is hardly surprising that some Islamic fundamentalists have begun borrowing the language of victimhood and sensitivity to demand the censorship of ideas they view as “blasphemous”. Yet rather than challenge such dogmatic impositions, our institutions are giving them legitimacy by promoting fragility and identity politics.

Intense debates resurfaced this week about freedom of speech, blasphemy and Islamism, after a group of hard-line Sunni Muslims protested Lady of Heaven, a new film about the life of Mohammed’s daughter Fatima. ...

The protests have partly succeeded; Cineworld cancelled all its showings of the film across the country (though levelling-up secretary Michael Gove responded by sacking a Government adviser who supported the protesters).

But while the cinema chain’s capitulation is unsurprising, the activists’ justifications are astonishing. An online petition accused the film of being “deeply racist”. In one video, a protestor asserts “We have the right not to be offended”.

These statements sound more typical of a left-wing campus protest, than of a mob of middle-aged religious men. But, like self-righteous students, the objectors know that citing victimhood and mental fragility is an increasingly successful strategy in a society where simply accusing someone of racism is often enough to get them fired or cancelled. Of course, the true racism here lies in the notion that religious or ethnic minorities are less robust and cannot be held to the same standards as everyone else. ...

“Woke” ... narratives are increasingly providing Islamists with moral justification.