Why do liberals detest Ayaan so much?
Trump, Modi and the Saudi prince provide a clue
Some of these musings might end up as subchapters of a book – a non fiction and likely my analysis of the goings on around the world, only some of which I understand or can write about. Some I do not understand and will be hard pressed to explain let alone analyse. Now I am trying to hone my writing and analytical skills here, and treading through uncharted waters. Same time, storing some of the writings.
So, why so much of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and why so much of Islamic terror or intolerance? Well, more I observe the global goings on, most of it coming out skewed through a highly biased press system and media outlet, appears to me to be tell tale signs of various kinds of impending doom that might synchronise and unsettle human civilisation as we know it.
Climate change, and food security, and a tsunami of ill-health will combine with incessant war mongering that brings the conflict out of the TV screen and closer to everyone’s home. And finally, an assertive Islam faces and equally assertive resistance, where the resistance if a mind set that wishes to retire all religions to the museum, and Islam tries to establish one religion and one god for all.
This super conflict, all of it man made, is going to wrench the world. The first and second world wars were about Europeans jostling for right to control more of the world. There has been a long time without conflict of that scale. Instead we have had continuous low level warfare in specific regions far away from the west, but with active participation of the west – for almost three generations now. Having a war somewhere far off, has become acceptable to the western mind set. Most do not think about it at all in their day to day work.
But, the war is going to change shape and get a lot closer to western homes in my analysis.
Back to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Christopher Hitchens wrote –
“Here is the story of a young African woman, born into Islam, who was given every possible occasion to feel grievance, resentment and humiliation yet who has employed her own life as an example of internationalism, tolerance, multiculturalism and the redemption of others. Her humour and irony and fortitude constitute the finest counterpoint to the surly cult of death that presses itself against us. For me, the three most beautiful words in the emerging language of secular resistance to tyranny are Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Secular resistance?
What did Hitchens mean by secular resistance ? I cannot help but try to superimpose that term over say what is happening in Europe with regard to Muslim immigrants, or what is happening in India with regard to protesting CAA.
In India, those that are protesting are mostly the Muslims. Those that are supporting them on main stream and social media – are leftists and liberals. They seem to tout the term “secularism” like a mantra, and accuse the BJP government of moving away from it and towards some sort of religious totalitarianism.
But, though Hitchens is now dead and cannot be asked to clarify, I do believe that what he meant by secular resistance is the opposite of what the liberals are saying in India. This “secular resistance” is supposed to be against Islamic intolerance, not Hindu totalitarianism. In fact, from Hitchens’ point of view, what BJP and the government is doing in India is actually representing secular resistance to Islamic intolerance.
This probably is a good example of how the same text can be conveniently used by parties on opposite sides of the line in the sand, to their advantage. So much for Secular resistance.
Do liberals hate Ayaan Hirsi Ali ?
I have developed a sort of bad habit. Instead of typing liberal, my fingers seem programmed to type pseudo-liberal, although the new term involves far more key strikes. Anyhow, I see a lot of scathing attack on Ayaan Hirsi Ali from the liberal clan in the US. I am not certain of all the reasons, but can identify at least three of them.
1)
Liberals actually hate Trump more than they hate almost anyone or anything else. Except if you are an Indian liberal. In this case, you replace Trump with Modi. You hate Modi than anybody ever born anywhere.
But back to Trump – the problem here is really sticky. Ayaan Hirsi Ali supports some actions of Trump. In particular, she supports Trump’s ideas of keeping intolerant, militant type that reek of Islamic terror – away from USA. In the process, if the US institutions are unable to separate a good Muslim from a bad one in some countries, then Trump prefers to ban all Muslims from those countries. This is the policy that Ayaan Hirsi Ali supports about Trump. And she has walked the walk on Islamic terror, before she talked the talk.
And since the liberals, some like to call them Neoliberal, hate Trump more than anything and anybody else, and since Ayaan Hirsi Ali supports what these Neoliberals think and absolutely unacceptable side of Trump – painting all Muslims with the same brush as long as you are from certain suspect countries – the liberals have a powerful reason to hate the guts of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Point number one of why they hate her so much.
2)
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince young Mohammed bin Salman. Well, Saudi Arabia is the epitome of Islamic intolerance and highhandedness, isn’t it? They did not even allow women folk to drive till very recently, and possibly only with a male escort present.
Anyhow, Saudi Arabia represents the worst example of male chauvinism and intolerant Islam that denies women any rights above being a pet animal. A husband can slap a wife in front of their children – this is to teach the children that women need to be kept in their place. Liberals hate this stuff. So they have reason enough to hate Saudi Arabia.
But Ayaan Hirsi Ali threw a spanner into this logic, by actually supporting the young prince Mohammed bin Salman, for starting the process of reforming not only the Saudi society and regulations, but also perception of Islam with regard to people of other religions and women folk. Saudi Arabia has a long way to go – but the young prince has made the first steps towards taking the country to meet up with the rest of the world somewhere in future. Ayaan Hirsi Ali appreciates and publicly supported that.
So what do the liberals do now? They decided to hate Ayaan Hirsi Ali some more. Go figure.
3)
The most serious crime that, according to the liberals, Ayaan has committed is that she asks USA to ban Islam till it can be proven that the religions has been reformed and has learned to treat every human, including women and including those of other faiths and those that are atheists and do not at all believe in God, are all treated absolutely equally and the texts about needing to convert or kill or harm nonbelievers are removed from its text and all preachers reprogrammed.
Result ? Liberals absolutely hate Ayaan Hirsi Ali now.
Again – go figure.
But as one of my friends asked on social media, do all supporters of Trump actually like him for specific policies or do they like him because he so pisses of the liberals.
Pissing off the liberals is a quality that Trump seems to have in the US, and Modi seems to have in India.
And now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is touted as becoming an anti-Muslim mouthpiece and a despicable Trump follower.
Well – go figure.
I wonder if this deserves to be a subchapter – why the liberals so hate Ayaan Hirsi Ali?