Liberalism is an ideology that promotes equality of opportunity, freedom consistent
with the like liberty of all (as mentioned in our textbook), pluralism and
consent. However, the extent to which liberalists exercise this freedom and
tolerance is questionable and has spurred many debates.
I have tried to analyze one of the recent situations where
there was an attack on the office of Charli Hebdo. People around the world
condemned the act saying that the attack was against liberalism, that it was
against the freedom of speech. I definitely agree that war is against the principles
of liberalism, individualism is promoted and debate is encouraged to resolve
differences rather than violence. However, who determines what kind of
individualism is justified? What kind of freedom should be practiced?
individualism where a person acts according to his will,
where his will allows him to insult others, is this kind of individualism
justified ? Also, where liberalism recognizes that one person's liberty might
be a threat to another person's liberty, what measures are taken to insure the
protection of such rights? Why was this principle ignored when the western
liberals were bashing the 'self-proclaimed' Muslim extremists? When liberalism
appreciates pluralism and the existence of diverse groups such as religious and
ethnic groups, why was one particular religion harassed and no one budged an
eye ?
This excerpt is taken from an article that shows how
misguided liberals exist in the world, how freedom to offend is accepted but
freedom to practice religion is not 1)
"Nor does it support the right to protest in favour of
Palestine, banned for a period last summer in France. Or the right of Muslims
to pray in the street, now illegal in France."
Isn't
freedom of expression the freedom to express their regilious beliefs ? or is it
the freedom to offend others publicly ? The so-called western liberals have
again, ignore how charli hebdo fired a French cartoonist,Maurice Sinet, in 2008
for making an anti-Semitic remark (2)
The western double standards and hypocrisy is eroding the
very concept of liberalism. The abuse of freedom of speech in a liberal world
must be taken in to consideration and a line must be drawn between freedom of
speech and hate speech in order to keep the liberal theory alive.
2 comments:
such a thought provoking post! You have highlighted a very important issue and presented a quite valid argument. I totally agree with you on double standards of western community and the way they try to interpret everything according to what suits their own situation. And how recently they have used the theory of liberalism and freedom of speech to justify their acts.
I agree. There was a lot of blatant hypocrisy surrounding the Hebdo attacks, which highlight the current tension within Western liberal thought about how to deal with Muslims in the West. While freedom to hate is championed as a defense of free speech against Muslims in France, hateful anti-Jewish remarks are denounced and prosecuted in France. This episode highlights the blatant hypocrisy that undermines liberalism.
Post a Comment