Pat Condell is a well-known YouTube ranter. He does this very well. One doesn’t have to agree with everything he says to admire his method, and to heed his more persuasive points. In this video he very forthrightly charges his nation with caving in to bullying by the violent amongst the Muslim population in Britain.
It is not quite so bad in America as it appears to be in Britain, but we catch whiffs of it here. Even now, liberals scornfully laugh at conservatives who worry about the establishment in America of Sharia law. But it is simply the case that, in Europe and elsewhere, the Muslims who easily take offense and threaten violence are successfully bullying others into silence and worse. It is something to worry about, and consider:
There are points in the above rant where Mr. Condell lashes out at Islam in general. He talks about “secular Muslims” (whatever they may be) so he is obviously not trying to imply that all Muslims are violent. But that is perhaps too easily inferred by some of his rants. I know that not to be true.
And I find it offensive.
Indeed, caving in to the violent threats and trumped-up umbrage of some Muslims does harm to the vast majority of Muslims who are peaceful. That, alas, is not Condell’s message. But the one he delivers is, still, worth thinking about.
We must not be cowards about our freedoms. And one of the most important is: civilized people have free speech, not ears and eyes protected from any perceived slight by state or private terror. Taking offense is not an excuse to undermine freedom. It is “Harm to others” that gives us standing to consider a lawful process to abridge a person’s freedom; not “offense to others.”