RBM
CAGiversary!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4688111.stm
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to deport any Muslim cleric preaching violence. Speaking after meeting his Spanish counterpart in Madrid, Mr Sarkozy said he would seek the expulsion of imams in France "whose sermons are radical".
"The [French] republic is not a weak regime and it does not have to accept speech which on the pretext that it is happening in a place of worship calls for hate and murder. "Those who persist in this way will systematically be the object of an expulsion procedure."
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Is this a sound approach? Yes, it seeks to remove the basis for the "brainwashing" of young, explosive-laden adherents to religious radicalism, but it raises a host of questions regarding implimentation and enforcement.
On this side of the Atlantic, we have looked back with regret on detention centers used to sequester sub-populations of our own public during times of war, and outright deportation is only one step further along that path.
For every 9,999 Muslims working, recreating, shopping, living in America, there may be 1 impressionable youth who embraces extremism. What could I be expected to do if I were one of the 9,999? Quit my job and spend my days tracking down possible culprits among my own community, so that we would not be collectively judged by his lone example? Or, should I accept curbs upon my personal freedoms as a citizen, with the fatalistic acceptance that it is unavoidable? How would they impliment such a policy here (or in France, for that matter)? Post an auditor in every mosque? Dedicate a portion of the national budget for pay-outs to those who are willing to phone in anonymous tips on their neighborhood clerics?
I know it's always easier to criticize the solutions others put forward, and I'm not certain whether this move by the French Interior Minister will prove effective or not. Still, precedent is a significant guiding force in any community, international or otherwise, and this approach is too reminiscent of past mistakes for comfort (in my opinion, obviously.) An obvious rejoinder would be: well, what would I suggest? That we do nothing and watch our people suffer continued attacks? ...sadly, I have no alternative to suggest, but I would still voice concern over this approach.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to deport any Muslim cleric preaching violence. Speaking after meeting his Spanish counterpart in Madrid, Mr Sarkozy said he would seek the expulsion of imams in France "whose sermons are radical".
"The [French] republic is not a weak regime and it does not have to accept speech which on the pretext that it is happening in a place of worship calls for hate and murder. "Those who persist in this way will systematically be the object of an expulsion procedure."
*******
Is this a sound approach? Yes, it seeks to remove the basis for the "brainwashing" of young, explosive-laden adherents to religious radicalism, but it raises a host of questions regarding implimentation and enforcement.
On this side of the Atlantic, we have looked back with regret on detention centers used to sequester sub-populations of our own public during times of war, and outright deportation is only one step further along that path.
For every 9,999 Muslims working, recreating, shopping, living in America, there may be 1 impressionable youth who embraces extremism. What could I be expected to do if I were one of the 9,999? Quit my job and spend my days tracking down possible culprits among my own community, so that we would not be collectively judged by his lone example? Or, should I accept curbs upon my personal freedoms as a citizen, with the fatalistic acceptance that it is unavoidable? How would they impliment such a policy here (or in France, for that matter)? Post an auditor in every mosque? Dedicate a portion of the national budget for pay-outs to those who are willing to phone in anonymous tips on their neighborhood clerics?
I know it's always easier to criticize the solutions others put forward, and I'm not certain whether this move by the French Interior Minister will prove effective or not. Still, precedent is a significant guiding force in any community, international or otherwise, and this approach is too reminiscent of past mistakes for comfort (in my opinion, obviously.) An obvious rejoinder would be: well, what would I suggest? That we do nothing and watch our people suffer continued attacks? ...sadly, I have no alternative to suggest, but I would still voice concern over this approach.
