Just as contemporary Islamism and Jihadism has increased dramatically since the 1970’s, this movement of the Regressive Left has grown with it to defend and explain away every form of oppression they indulge in. from 9/11 to 7/7, or from LGBT rights to women’s rights in the Muslim world, there is no excuse this community will not give for the violence and oppression, and there is no group they will not blame, other than the terrorists themselves.
These regressive leftists are a large and vocal community of western liberals who act as hand-holders of Islamism and, as a result, attack the people to point out injustices in the Muslim world, rather than condemn an obvious affront to liberal values. They are both culturally reductive in how they see Islamic culture, and culturally deterministic in attempting to freeze their ideal of it to appease some sort of ethereal image. Additionally, many vocal members of this group question every imaginable micro-transgression of their own culture in the name of progressivism and political correctness, yet they censure and slander liberal Muslims who attempt to do the same within their own culture, choosing to side instead with every regressive reactionary in the name of cultural authenticity and anti-imperialism.
This site will illustrate that the regressive left is extraordinarily damaging to the protection of both liberal values and marginalized communities within the Muslim world, due to this group’s condemnation of moderate and liberal Muslims, and ignorant perception of Islamic culture and its destructive capabilities.
These regressive leftists are a large and vocal community of western liberals who act as hand-holders of Islamism and, as a result, attack the people to point out injustices in the Muslim world, rather than condemn an obvious affront to liberal values. They are both culturally reductive in how they see Islamic culture, and culturally deterministic in attempting to freeze their ideal of it to appease some sort of ethereal image. Additionally, many vocal members of this group question every imaginable micro-transgression of their own culture in the name of progressivism and political correctness, yet they censure and slander liberal Muslims who attempt to do the same within their own culture, choosing to side instead with every regressive reactionary in the name of cultural authenticity and anti-imperialism.
This site will illustrate that the regressive left is extraordinarily damaging to the protection of both liberal values and marginalized communities within the Muslim world, due to this group’s condemnation of moderate and liberal Muslims, and ignorant perception of Islamic culture and its destructive capabilities.
The Regressive Left: A Case Study
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia in 1969, where she (along with 98% of Somali girls) was subjected to female circumcision and an unfortunate context of cultural oppression. She escaped to Hollande, served in the Dutch parliament, and in 2004 made a film called Submission, detailing the treatment of women in the Muslim world. Her partner in this film, Theo Van Gogh (a relative of the great painter and pictured below), was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam; a promise for the death of Ayaan was written in a letter on his chest that bore eight bullet holes. Ayaan was forced to move to America, due to the utter incompetence of Dutch society to care for her exquisite security concerns. More significantly, and most unjustly, she is a frequent target of “feminists” and “liberals” who object to her criticism of Muslim societies. To re-state the situation plainly: one of the most courageous people on earth, championing the rights of women, and paying an upsettingly vociferous price for doing so is derided by individuals on the left as a bigot.
This is the regressive left in action. Take Nicholas Kristoff, the stultified New York Times Columnist who, in his review of Ali’s autobiography and memoir Nomad, reverts to the most disgraceful and childish tone. “Hirsi Ali denounces Islam with a ferocity that I find strident. … Her memoir suggests that she never quite outgrew her rebellious teenage years… that’s partly because she is by nature a provocateur, the type of person who rolls out verbal hand grenades by reflex.” Kristoff’s language implies both a disrespect for Ali’s story and personal suffering, and a profound ignorance of the need to point out injustices in the Muslim world. Ali discusses her personal oppression at the hands of her culture, and Kristoff deflects the claim by saying Ayaan is a natural provocateur who never outgrew her rebellious teenage years. This is piffle. What is more, a response of this kind is a manifestation of an entire army that attack liberal Muslims and others like Ayaan for pointing out oppression in the Muslim world.
The regressive left is anything but crepuscular, they operate right out in the open, and watch as the ratchet gets turned against free societies at the hands of Islamists. If the West decides to continue to abnegate the seriousness of Islamism and jihadism, while eviscerating the few individuals that do so, these serious threats to liberal values will continue to both oppress the minorities and the marginalized and creep up on the freest societies on earth. As it stands, one is currently witnessing the suicide of a civilization, and if the West does not get serious about Islamism and the regressive left, this society will continue to sleepwalk its way toward Armageddon.
The Silencing of Theo Van Gogh. Digital image. Salon. N.p., 24 Nov. 2004. Web. 8 Dec. 2016.