Naema's Treasure Trove

The Pakistani-British-Dutch author Naema Tahir is a gem!

Dutch being her second or even third language, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, she chooses her words carefully. Some of her truths are truly gems, which she couples to a few noteworthy contradictions

Naema has had a Catholic education. It's clear she has insight into Aristotlean (non-contradictory) philosophy, possibly through the scholasticism of  St. Thomas van Aquinas on which that is based.

She has read the Bible from cover to cover and clearly appreciates its teachings. She has also read the Koran in Arabic, a language she has no command of. It is therefore unclear in how far she's been influenced by Islamic thought.

Praiseworthy in relativist times is her logical orthodoxy. She builds her sentences very carefully and uses hierarchy in argumentation. Get this:

The problem of multiculturalism is the equivalence of cultures. 

There aren't that many people who have are on to that. The loose definition of multiculturalism propagated by its proponents, is that of a society made up by multiple cultures. This has the added advantage that it can be presented as accomplished fact (it's already upon us, get used to it!). But if that were the case, the result would be 'melting pot', which regrettably it is not.

The result of multiculturalism is balkanization and sectarianism. Advocates and propagandists fondly call it 'archipelago'. The composing cultures are clustered in imaginary islets in an ocean of moral neutrality that made up by the state.

That defines the relationship between the citizen and the Government: the citizen loses his sovereignty and becomes something in the order of a ward of state. It's a form of collectivism that is contrary to democratic values. And amorality is a fiction in the minds of relativist thinkers: only a sociopath can be said to be morally neutral.

Naema is right: the essence of multiculturalism is the moral equivalence of all cultures: from the finest Jeffersonian republican to the vilest cannibal. This is an illusion held by Leftist, wishful thinkers. The war on reality is based on the makeability of Utopia, whereas it ignores reality as it is. We'll see in a minute why this more than a little misguided.

Naema is a universalist. It is also in that respect that she clashes with the multicultis. They have chopped up humanity in inequal group identities, that must be compensated in rights and privileges for their perceived inequality. But direct action is still discrimination, in reverse.

Universalism on the other hand is based on individual equality. Here we see that Leftist thought, far from propagating equality, is actually rooted in unequal collectivism.

And again the Left is furnishing the state with a quality it does not have: the doling out and redistribution of rights. But those rights are already inherent in man, endowed either by God or by nature. This is why they are inalienable. But what the State giveth, the State can taketh away.

Even better, these are in essence negative rights, governmental 'no go areas'. If granted by the State, these are by definition no longer human rights.

Naema concludes from universalism that Islam is subordinate, since it teaches gender inequality. I sincerely hope she'll get round some time to reading the Koran in a familiar language, but so much is clear, she's on a collision course.

These pearls of wisdom are accompanied by the Koh-i-noor for postmodern, mentally confused human beings.

As a girl she liked sports, but her parents prohibited this. Apparently physical exertion can be detrimental to ones chastity. The Catholic school respected the parents' wishes and gave Naema dispensation from swimming and gymnastics.

But now she wishes the school would have supported her. This just goes to show that giving in to regressive practices in Islam, is actually supporting the forces of darkness. A child can understand this. Give your support to moderate Muslims and true progressives, not to the beard men and their backward notions.

Of course banning the burqa may result in some men keeping their wives indoors. So be it. Some values are simply absolute. In this type of ethics 'a little pregnant' doesn't exist. Just like you can't negotiate with Hitler or Pol Pot how many victims would be acceptable and what would be over the top. Free human beings do not keep slaves, period!

We are in Naema's debt for reminding us of our values; with the onslaught of relativism we tend to forget what in essence makes us who we are. Human equality and individual freedom are not negotiable, ever. Everything else stems from it.

Related

- "Racism"
- "Socialist Causes Explained"
- "The Dialectics"
- "Postmodern Ravages"
- "In Defense of Liberty"