Jan 6, 2008

Of Lionhearts and Bloody Cowards

Our good friend Shane Borgess, co-conspirator at http://www.politicalvindication.com/, has penned a masterpiece I simply must share with you all, not merely for its lyrical prose, but for its profound and disturbing subject matter as well. For now, I shall let Shane's words speak for me, as I have ripped the majority of plummage from my hind quarters and must now seek medical attention, so enraged did I become upon reading this. Best you take more care, eh? Nonetheless, we WILL have more to say on this.

Cheers,

Charlie

http://politicalvindication.com/?p=1629

The Burden Of Freedom Takes The Heart Of A Lion
By Evrviglnt January 5, 2008

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” - Thomas Jefferson

We Americans are sensitive about our liberty - it was won at a high cost and throughout our history good men and women have died far from home to protect it. Some of the liberties we insist on keeping are used by the irresponsible to prey upon the civilized, like the right to bear arms or the first amendment right to express our political thoughts. Some ask why we pay such a high price for the right to enjoy such adult liberties? Our answer is that human history has taught us that no life is “so dear, or life so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery.” What the European has dismissed we cherish, asking ourselves “what infringement on our freedom are we willing to endure for promises of peace and equality? ” In America, such questions are answered by our willingness to endure ignorance and insult, we believe that to ban expression because it hurts feelings creates a standard so low that we are all soon in chains. There has been a movement to impose such a standard here, but we reject it as unbecoming of a free people, while believing that the relationship between a government and the citizen is built upon the belief that there is inherent dignity due every one of us. When our government begins to believe that its citizens are not worthy of the liberties of a free people - not worthy of the dignity afforded a living soul - then the relationship becomes one of the authoritarian to the child, and we are not free any longer. It is the legacy of the West that we have empowered the free man to direct his government to protect his rights, for in human history freedom is rare and the seduction of the tyrant draws a line of shame in blood unbroken to this very day. So we have learned only that freedom is fleeting.

There is a choice for the free man. A battle of civilizations has broken out; on one side Western values of individual liberties and equality, on the other submission and order. One claims to unburden mankind from its fetters of prejudice and poverty, the other claims to unburden man of his arrogance and greed. One offers a world free to express human aspirations and ingenuity, the other a world free from chaos and sin. The dichotomy is stark, and as the world grows smaller and these two visions collide, the debate rages about the rude influence of Western freedom on Islamic submission, or in grander terms, democracy versus totalitarianism. In America, Western values define us, and we will abide a Serrano’s crucifix in urine rather than legislate permissible expression pegged to the subjective reactions of those injured. It is another battle in the larger confrontation between cultures clashing, but a battle on the home front as important as the one the soldier faces in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Britain, home of the sagacious Winston Churchill, finds itself suppressing again his wisdom and faith in freedom. The birthplace of Western values finds today those values inconvenient in a multicultural environment, where the diminution of Western culture seems a small price to pay for peace and stability. Ayaan Hirsi Ali would tell you that a free society cannot trade away its freedom to accommodate immigrants who deny themselves such things - a state must teach freedom or soon the free will find themselves boxed into an argument pitting the chaos of freedom against the order of submission. Mother England finds herself there now, home to a growing insolence that mauls the hand that feeds it. Extremists argue that freedom breeds entitlement and arrogance, and it does, for all the reasons every slave, woman or minority might argue from a position of oppression. It was once deemed liberal to insist on such libertine avenues of expression - but today liberals argue for order over liberty, and collude in the deconstruction of notions that once freed a people. After banning the gun and the blade, they have now come to ban the word. Calling it the ‘Public Order Act of 1986‘, they have dropped to a knee in response to those who claim that the outrage directed at their efforts to undermine freedom ought to be silenced. Islamists in Britain are using the nation’s own laws to defeat any opposition to its home grown insurgency against British culture and Western values.

There is a case in point I’d like to use. Those who blog and those who read our musings may not recognize it but what you see before you is proof of our freedom here in America. The ability to write and disseminate our thoughts without censorship is crucial to any functioning democracy. What do you call a society that censors its bloggers, or censors any free expression whatsoever? Authoritarian might be an apt description. An English blog has become a victim of the authoritarian state in its quest to enforce peace and tranquility. The blog is titled Lionheart, and its writer, who goes by the same name, writes forcefully about the growing Islamist threat inside Britain - doing so without threats of violence but vows of defiance. His site is loaded with history and outrage, and unabashed opinions about the appeasement approach his government has taken even after the 7/7 bombings by British Islamic terrorists that killed 52 people and wounded scores more. He certainly represents those Brits yet uncowed by Big Brother, and that might be why the multiculturalists have come after him. He has been alerted by Ian Holden of the Bedfordshire Police that based upon the complaint by an unnamed person he will be arrested upon arrival back to his home country. When he contacted the police for an explanation, they replied ” The offence that I need to arrest you for is “Stir up Racial Hatred by displaying written material” contrary to sections 18(1) and 27(3) of the Public Order Act 1986. You will be arrested on SUSPICION of the offence. You would only be charged following a full investigation based on all the relevant facts and CPS consent.” What has he written about that is worthy of imprisonment? They won’t tell him, they want to arrest him first then tell him. Here are the sections of the Public Order Act that the officer mentioned:

18. - (1) A person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if—
(a)he intends thereby to stir up racial hatred, or
(b)having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.
and:
27. - (3) A person guilty of an offence under this Part is liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding [ seven years ] or a fine or both;
(b)on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.

The blogger Lionheart is being hunted by his government not for threatening the life of another, or urging the death of British Muslims, but for expressing thoughts considered offensive by those he intended to offend. Had this law been in force when Sir Winston Churchill stood and denounced Nazism and the Nazis that practiced such depravity, the savior of Britain would have been at the mercy of British Nazis who, with one complaint, could have had him silenced and imprisoned for insulting them. Are you curious to see what chains sound like when put into words? Then read the Public Order Act of 1986 - and imagine yourself confined to the sensitivities of those you disagree with! It would be near impossible to escape harassment, and would certainly prove paralyzing to anyone who dared depart from main stream opinion.
But the blogger stands and fights, and bloggers in England must understand that Lionheart fights for them as well, regardless of what they may think about what he has written. It is said that freedom is won wielding swords and armor and lost wearing silk slippers and robes. The decadence of the West has led to its slow demise, and from across the ocean, where God granted liberty is a reflection of inherent dignity, we see the English have left themselves in a very undignified condition. What is it that they are thinking will come from abandoning the right to rise up in outrage? How can they not see that they put their freedoms in the hands of those who care nothing for it? We must always teach the value of freedom, for we see ironically those that have it often forget what it was like without it. Whether what inspires such self loathing in the English is guilt or insecurity, they have abrogated the responsibility they have as a free people to prevent tyranny for ever darkening the globe again. Thank God there are still a few there like Lionheart who will fight, and God willing, will serve to inspire once again the will to carry the burden of freedom.

By Evrviglnt
http://www.politicalvindication.com/

2 comments:

Roger W. Gardner said...

Thank you CP for reposting this splendid article. I am proud to consider Shane B. a friend and fellow warrior, but am embarrassed to admit that I had not actually read this piece till now. And you are absolutely correct, it is one of the finest articles of his that I have had the pleasure of reading.

This is a sad day for Britain, and a scary day for us here in the States.

It is almost like a nightmare, only it is really happening.

Please keep us up to date on your battles over there. They are of great interest to us all.

Keep up the good work.
We appreciate it.

Churchill's Parrot said...

My Dear Mr. Gardner,

It is an honor and a priveledge to have you grace our pages with your e-presence. A wise and worthy commentator are you on this and many other issues.

Yes our boy Shane is among the finest in the blogosphere. He and Frank run a bang up shop over there at politicalvindication.com.

Sad days indeed for Britain. But the battle is not yet lost! Britain, Lionheart, and like-souled individuals shall will out. Regardless, let this serve as warning to America - for as Britain goes, so (often but not always) goes America.

Cheers,

Charlie