Freedom's Fidelity

Monday, January 19, 2004

More from Gimli

A few weeks ago I commented on an interview with actor John Rhys-Davies (Gimli the dwarf from Lord of the Rings). It seems that now he is coming under fire for some politically incorrect comments he made regarding the religious symbols ban in France. The whole story is here, and here are some excerpts from his defense of his opinions:

I BELIEVE in racial equality not racial discrimination. All I was commenting on was that there are cultural changes taking place in Europe that I consider to be unacceptable.

The fact that a minister of the French government has to fly to Cairo to talk with one of the religious heads in one of the mosques to get his approval for a ban on headscarves can be seen in two ways.

One, is how wonderfully culturally sensitive. The other, it seems to give an authority to a wholly unelected figure well outside Europe's jurisdiction.

I am really proud to be living in a society that accepts women as our equals, that accepts civilised discourse that allows people to hold different opinions without coming to any act of violence.

Here in America when that earthquake happened in Iran the reaction of everyone I knew was horror and dismay, the reaction of everyone when they heard that the old woman had been brought out alive long after they thought there was anyone there was absolute awe at the extraordinary capacity of the human spirit to survive. Contrast that with people jumping up and down and clapping at the 9/11 disaster in certain countries......

Most societies can benefit from a good stirring of genes, but most cultures are tolerant of each other. I do not see Buddhists throwing bombs into Christian churches, I do not see Christians blowing up Hindu temples, I do not see those sorts of challenges.....

I do not want to see a society where, should I ever have any, my granddaughters have their fingernails pulled out because they are wearing nail varnish.

It seems though that his fears are far from unfounded. For sure there is very little tolerance for outside views when it comes to fundamental Islam, and given the above, it looks as though tolerance for thoughts such as Rhys-Davies's is now beginning to wane in parts of The West.

(link via InstaPundit)

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