Lights Out on Liberty

In its Opinion section today, the Arkansas Democrat~Gazette published a reprint of an article on the loss of liberty that the West is experiencing due to the growing influence of Islam. The article was writtn by Mark Steyn and adapted from a lecture he gave at Hillsdale College in March 2008. The article originally appeared in the college's publication Imprimis. For those of you without access to Democrat~Gazette articles you can find the original version here.

Here are a couple of snippets that I found interesting.

"Last month, in a characteristically clotted speech followed by a rather more careless BBC interview, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that it was dangerous to have one law for everyone and that the introduction of Sharia to the United Kingdom was “inevitable.” Within days of His Grace’s remarks, the British and Ontario governments both confirmed that thousands of polygamous men in their jurisdictions are receiving welfare payments for each of their wives."

The assumption that you can hop on the Sharia Express and just ride a couple of stops is one almighty leap of faith. More to the point, who are you relying on to “hold the line”? ... The Western world is not run by fellows noted for their line-holding: Look at what they’re conceding now and then try to figure out what they’ll be conceding in five years’ time. The idea that the West’s multicultural establishment can hold the line would be more plausible if it was clear they had any idea where the line is, or even gave any indication of believing in one."