Western Self-Hatred

Fjordman recently posted an excellent essay at the Gates of Vienna, "I'm a Terrorist Groupie, Hear Me Roar!" In this article, Fjordman explores thephenomenonm of Western self-hatred.

Ironically, it seems as if some of the chief defenders of democracy and Western civilization now are immigrants. Britain'’s first black Archbishop made a powerful attack omulticulturalsm, urging English people to reclaim their national identity. The Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said "“that too many people were embarrassed about being English.multiculturalalism has seemed to imply, wrongly for me, let other cultures be allowed to express themselves but do not let the majority culture at all tell us its glories, its struggles, its joys, its pains," he said. He said that the failure of England to rediscover its culture afresh would lead only to greater political extremism. "“What is it to be English? It is a very serious question,"” he said. "“When you ask a lot of people in this country, "‘What is English culture?"’, they are very vague. It is a culture that whether we like it or not has given us parliamentary democracy. It is the mother of it."”

Writing about the Muhammad cartoons controversy, author Ibn Warraq quoted the great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, "“Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being "‘pushed to an extreme"’; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good for any case."”

"“The west is the source of the liberating ideas of individual liberty, political democracy, the rule of law, human rights and cultural freedom. It is the west that has raised the status of women, fought against slavery, defended freedom of enquiry, expression and conscience,"” Ibn Warraq stated. "“How can we expect immigrants to integrate into western society when they are at the same time being taught that the west is decadent, a den of iniquity, the source of all evil, racist, imperialist and to be despised? Why should they, in the words of the African-American writer James Baldwin, want to integrate into a sinking ship?"

These are encouraging words, but they cannot conceal the fact that there is a very powerful undercurrent of self-loathing and guilt-obsession in the West at the beginning of the 21st century. Where does it come from?

Lars Hedegaard'’s view seems to mirror that of French philosopher and cultural critic Alain Finkielkraut, who thinks that "“Europe does not love itself."” Finkielkraut says that it'’s not forces from outside that are threatening Europe as much as the voluntary renunciation of European identity, its wish of freeing itself from itself, its own history and its traditions, only replaced by human rights. The European Union thus isn'’t just post-national, but post-European. What characterizes Europe today is the will to define itself, not from an ideology, but by dismissing any sense of identity. Europe is now built upon an oath: Never again. Never again extermination, never again war, but also never again nationalism. Europe prides itself in being nothing. According to Finkielkraut, Auschwitz has become part of the foundation of the EU, a culture based on guilt. But this is a vague ideology saying that "“We have to oppose everything the Nazis were for."” Consequently, nationalism or any kind of attachment to your own country, including what some would say is healthy, non-aggressive patriotism, is frowned upon. To remember is to regret. Europe rejects its past. "“European identity"” is the de-identification of Europe. Of the past, we are only to remember crimes. This didn'’t just happen in Germany, but in all of Europe. "“I can understand the feeling of remorse that is leading Europe to this definition, but this remorse goes too far. It is too great a gift to present Hitler to reject everything that led to him."” This is said by the Jewish son of an Auschwitz prisoner.

Finkielkraut says that Europe has made human rights its gospel, to such an extent that it threatens European history and culture. This creates a Europe without substance. "“When hatred of culture becomes itself a part of culture, the life of the mind loses all meaning."” Finkielkraut reminds us that the multiculturalists'’ demand for "“diversity"” requires the eclipse of the individual in favor of the group. The abdication of reason demanded by multiculturalism has been the result of the subjection of culture to anthropology. "“Under the equalizing eye of social science,"” he writes, hierarchies are abolished. The disintegration of faith in reason and common humanity leads not only to a destruction of standards, but also involves a crisis of courage. "“A careless indifference to grand causes,"” Finkielkraut warns, "“has its counterpart in abdication in the face of force,"” and weakens the commitment required to preserve freedom.

Yes, we have been sold out by our elites through the creation of Eurabia and the wiping out of our own cultures through Multiculturalism. But this is only half of the story. In democratic societies, even if sometimes flawed ones, this would never have been possible if there wasn'’t a profound undercurrent of self-loathing present in the general public already. The trauma caused by the events of 70 years ago is clouding our judgment this time, since any talk at all about the threat posed by Muslim immigration or about preserving our own culture is being dismissed as "“the same rhetoric as the Nazis used against the Jews."” Europeans have been taught to be so scared of our own shadow that we are incapable of seeing that darkness can come from the outside, too. Maybe Europe will burn again, in part as a belated reaction to the horrors of Auschwitz.

It is almost fascinating to see how self-loathing and West-bashing make scores of people in the media and the academia misunderstand and misrepresent the threat we are facing. The good guys become the bad guys and vice versa, or alternatively, we'’re all equally good and bad, since all cultures are equal. Some would say that I am reading too much into a few simple movies. Perhaps. But these are the same people that claim that popular culture will destroy Islam.

Pop culture matters. It both reflects and shapes the values of a civilization. Judging from the message in too many films, almost five years after 9/11 we have hardly even begun to understand the scale of the Islamic challenge. On the contrary, many Westerners are busy demonstrating "understanding,"” even sympathy, towards the enemies of civilization.

Commentary

The West cannot long survive the rot engendered by the nihilism of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism has drained the West of its vitality and confidence. It has robbed us of our belief that our Western Christian culture represents the pinacle of human achievement. Self doubt has been replaced by a malignant self loathing. And as our weakness grows it only attracts the rapacious appetites of the Islamic barbarians - both outside, and more alarmingly, within our gates. We no longer enjoy a common consensus as Westerners. Where we once shared common goals and only differed in our approach to our commonly perceived problems, we now no longer view the world similarly. We have different irreconcilable goals. And even attempts at rational discussion of those differences have become increasingly more difficult because of the constraints of political correctness.

War with Islam is inevitable and far preferable to our only other option, capitulation. Islam must be Islam and as such will continue its attacks on the West. It will not be subdued peacefully. It never has been in its 1400 year history and never will be. Liberal pluralistic democracy increasingly seems incapable of defending itself against Islam. But the West will not go down without a fight. Finally, with our back against the wall we will fight. But it will be a two front war: one against the fifth column of traitors within and the other against the Islamic barbarians. The Reconquista will not be pretty.

Slobodan Milosšević will be posthumously vindicated as his "atrocities" will be seen as small potatoes against the measures that will be forced upon those fighting to survive in Europe and the United States. And none of this would have been necessary had our elites not been poisoned by the cancer of a virulent anti-Western multiculturalism whose adherents refuse to acknowledge that some ideas, cultures, people and values are better than others. That our Western Civilization is inherently and inescapable superior to others. That we in the West have devised an astoundingly liberating civilization.

Islam is a civilizational perfect storm. Islam is not a religion but a fascist supremacist ideology that must be eradicated. Short of that, the only possible solution is absolute containment and separation. That will entail the forcable removal of all Muslims from Europe and the United States. As utterly impossible as this may seem, it will come to pass, hopefully sooner rather than later.