Bawer, who is hyper PC on homosexuality, bridles at European PC on Islam
N. writes:
Mark Steyn at the Corner points to this article by Bruce Bawer, who as you recall moved in the 1990s from New York to Europe in order to escape the horrors of American “homophobia.” He found that Amsterdam was becoming less and less pleasant for homosexual men, so he moved to Norway. It appears that Norway is becoming less hospitable as well.
The irony in this posting is rich. Bawer does not seem to realize that he is threatened by the result of the kind of politics he once supported: progressive, “diverse,” welcoming to “the Other” and of course intolerant of “hate speech.”
Excerpt:
To sum up, two members of the NBCC think I’m a racist; I hold certain views about Islam; and I’ve deplored the fact that Geert Wilders is on trial for holding essentially the same views. These offenses on my part are sufficient, apparently, to qualify me officially as (to borrow the title of a play by Norway’s greatest playwright) an Enemy of the People.
Controversy is one thing. I’ve been a professional writer for three decades, and have long since become accustomed to controversy—accustomed to being criticized severely, to seeing my words misquoted and my views misrepresented, to being attacked in print and to answering back. But this is something entirely different. We’re talking about the government of a supposedly free country stepping in, tapping me on the shoulder, and telling me: You’re not supposed to say that. It’s a chilling development, and the more I think of it the more chilling it feels.
Comment: Bawer is feeling the chill that many traditionalist Americans, Europeans, Australians, etc. have been enduring for years. Now that it is his turn, he doesn’t enjoy it so much. Perhaps in time he will come to see what mistakes he has made.
LA replies:
I would say that there is little chance of Bawer coming to any self-recognition, given his florid bigotry against conservatives. See my May 2009 commentary, “Bruce Bawer denounces the anti-jihad movement,” about a Bawer article in which he says that any position short of unqualified support for the homosexual agenda, including homosexual “marriage,” makes you evil. Given his irrational hatred of any position on homosexuality that false short of total political correctness, how can he oppose the European criminalization of any position on Islam that falls short of total political correctness?
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 16, 2010 11:11 AM | Send