Tonight I was privileged to be at the Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts, listening to Mark Steyn giving a speech entitled, “Relighting the Lamps of Liberty: Standing Up For Freedom in a Darkening World.”
Mark Steyn is the author of the book America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. He was introduced by Michael Graham of Boston Radio Station WTKK (96.9).
Mr. Steyn’s opening remarks dealt with the fact that security concerns are being used as an excuse for government authorities to control public discourse. He pointed out that Ann Coulter had been prevented from speaking at a university in Canada due to ‘security concerns’ and that he had been prevented from speaking at a public forum in Canada due to ‘security concerns.’ He praised the Rabbi of the Ahavath Torah Congregation for refusing to bow to the pressure of ‘security concerns.’
Mr. Steyn described the current events in the Middle East as the ‘Palestiniazation’ (I suspect he coined the word–it’s a great word) of the Middle East. He pointed out that the events in the Middle East are the result of what former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to in 2005 as ‘the pursuit of stability at the expense of democracy.’ Mr. Steyn predicted that the new rulers in the countries where the dictators are being ousted will not be friendly to the West–the new leaders will be friendlier to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Iran. He also pointed out that Anti-Semitism is already prevalent in the protests. Mr. Steyn reminded us that in 1923, Egypt’s first full year as a sovereign state, the Egyptian Minister of Finance was Jewish. Unfortunately, that is not possible today. As the Middle East unravels, America, supposedly the world’s superpower, is a spectator. This is not about America. It is about people in the Middle East who want freedom being used to usher in governments that will not give them that freedom.
Mr. Steyn cited four ways to relight the lamps of liberty:
1. Stop out-of-control spending now and roll back government regulations and intrusion into our lives.
2. Put an end to one-way multiculturalism. It is amazing that a pastor in Florida who threatened to burn a Koran drew a visit from the FBI and a call from President Obama. President Obama has never spoken out about either honor killings or female genital mutilation. Why was burning the Koran worth a comment and not the other items? We need a President willing to stand up and defend Western Civilization.
3. We need to regain our individual liberty. Our government’s response to Islamic intimidation has been to find ways to limit the free speech of people who are telling the truth about Islam. Islam wants to use hate speech rules to make it a crime to criticize Islam. Public discourse can be controlled and limited by setting up the state as the sole arbiter of acceptable discourse. The group who applies the most muscle to the government will be the group who wins the concessions.
4. We need to spread the risk of speaking out against Islam. It is time for an “I am Spartacus” moment. If an artist who drew a cartoon or the newspaper who published a cartoon is threatened, that cartoon should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Until we are willing to share the risk of speaking out, we will lose our freedom incrementally.
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
It was an inspiring speech. There were between four and five hundred people there. It is encouraging to know that there are that many people in Massachusetts willing to come out on a cold winter night because they love their country and its freedom.