R.P. BenDedek
Sweden's Hate Speech Law
By R.P. BenDedek
Sep 25, 2004 - 8:29:00 AM

This week I have read many interesting articles delivered to me courtesy of the Internet MailPerson otherwise known as the 'subscriber newsletter'. I would like to draw your attention to some of them, for although they come from different parts of the globe, and deal with different issues, there is within them an inherent 'commonality', best described by the title I have given this article; Sweden's Hate Speech Law.

The first article I want to draw attention to, comes from Tech Central Station, entitled, "Future Shock, for America?" By James Pinkerton

The article commences with a discussion of two recently released films, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," and the Japanese, "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence". Using the films as a platform for the examination of society, the author goes on to draw some conclusions. For instance he states that, "A culture which prefers the languorous comfort of a quasi-mythic past to the rigors of confronting the hard-edged future is complacent, maybe even decadent -- and out of decadence comes defeat. He maintains further that, 'Americans seem immersed in a culture that looks backward to the bygone Bijou days ... that, 'Instead of looking ahead, to new challenges, cultures in decline look behind, to past glories..(and).., someone else is always gaining'.

The article was interesting enough, and I decided to look at what feedback it had received. It was filled with the usual stuff (which usually sounds like it is written by 14 year olds), except that I noted that one person was reasonably nasty in his view of Asia's future, as being nothing when compared to that of America. So I typed off the following (deliberated) feedback of my own.

• Come live in China - see - feel the bristling wind of desire to conquer the west. Forget about technology and money - POWER - is the word - one way or another - you westerners don't know how blind you are. And all this from a white guy who lives in China, and laughs as the comfy western world pontificates about what will and ought to be. Ah but I do enjoy reading all this BS.

As I say, it was a deliberate feedback, for I knew it would spawn a reply upon which I could feast. That reply was fine, but concluded with a notation about my disdain for the west, and it was exactly this type of response that I was hoping to elicit.

Here then is my response:

I don't disdain the west - I pity it for as the original article pointed out, it is blind to its own future. That was my point. Someone said something disparaging in this feedback section about the possible future of Asia, but the comment demonstrates what the author of the article was saying. Lack of imagination causes one to fail to 'see' or perhaps believe what is going on around them.

Western society, whether it be in the USA, Europe or Australia where I come from, is falling apart, fragmented by so many minority interest groups that will inevitably fight to fill the vacuum created by the absence of 'generic' western culture. The demise of 'religious' faith, out of which sprang (or perhaps developed concurrent with) western society and culture, is playing a large part in the disintegration of western society.

Western culture is under attack in so many ways, most notably through 'multiculturalism'; a term which suggests 'oneness' through diversity, but in fact results in 'separateness' by refusal to assimilate, thus the result will be fracture. The Asian countries see the word 'racist' as a term to be manipulated by them for the benefit of controlling stupid westerners who, unlike Asians, take no pride in their traditions, society or culture. (Flag flying doesn't count).

The west is being weakened from within by its internal policies, and from without, by its external policies, and at the same time, all around the globe (including the E.U.) the vultures are ready and waiting to feast on the carcass of the USA. The dream of every Chinese citizen is to live to see the day the China will crush the USA. That is also the dream of every Middle Eastern orthodox Muslim, and so many Muslims within western countries.

The point of the article was that the politicians and the people, saturated with their own 'self satisfaction', and bolstered with their own power, have no insight into the future awaiting them.

These thoughts only reflect the statements made by so many 'interest groups' in so many places in the world, and western societies can only remain, can only self sustain, while they have ability and power to prevent outside influence. Iraq (alone) is demonstrating the USA's failure in this regard.

The point of the Future Shock for America article, was that people are looking backward and not forwards, and today I want to do both, for we must look at what our societies were, are and will be, for I see the day coming, when our Western Societies will be utterly fractured from Within.

The Fractured Society:

As stated in my feedback reply at Tech Central, I believe that 'multiculturalism' is a term which suggests 'oneness' through diversity, but in fact results in 'separateness' by refusal to assimilate. As an example of this let me draw you to an article published in the Herald Sun and written by an Australian Writer named Andrew Bolt. This is the Title as it appears online: A culture in crisis - We thought we were being so wonderfully progressive by spurning assimilation. The result? People who respect nothing. 15sep04: http://tinyurl.com/3s7ex

Mr. Bolt talks about his friend who received an unanticipated shock when he went to speak at a particular school.

• 'In the classroom, my colleague - who does not want me to name him - faced some 22 girls and boys, most of whom clearly did not want to be there. One kept his back turned, another pretended to doze... The class erupted, and a boy at the back - of Middle Eastern appearance - stood up and growled how he'd like Ellis to have a piece of . . . this. And he unzipped and exposed himself.'

Proceeding from this particular issue, Mr. Bolt goes on to comment upon the fate of another school, and to address certain issues that arise from that examination.

• 'Moreland' he states, 'was a fashionably multicultural school, just like the school my colleague visited (let's call it School X), so that the increasing number of Middle Eastern children who went there were made to feel at home - their parents' old home, that is, and not their new Australian one. Islamic preachers addressed assembly, Arabic and Turkish became the main foreign languages taught, Islamic head scarfs were common. Again, much like School X ... Is the same true at School X? I don't know, but two years ago a student at its previous campus reported on his school trip to the Australian War Memorial, and told how disappointed he was to find it wasn't flying his flag -- the Turkish flag. Never mind: he and his classmates marched behind one of their own. Have such students yet learned to call Australia home? How successful have we been in assimilating them, so that they share our most important values and feel as responsible for this wonderful land as do you?'

He sums up his article linking two undeniable issues. The first is that immigrants are not assimilating, and secondly, that given the demise of 'moral standards' in Australia, is it any wonder that religious immigrants, particularly Muslims, would want to keep their children 'separated' from the prevailing culture both within Australia generally, and within schools particularly. In other words, migrants should assimilate, but our degenerate culture is not worth assimilating with.

I use the word 'degenerate' here quite deliberately, but not in the way one might expect, for I do not refer to any other cultural value here save one, 'POWER'.

Western society is fracturing under the weight of 'activist groups' seeking power, and one weapon in this power war to date has been the use of the word 'racist' to silence anyone who says anything about you that you don't like, or something about someone else whose culture is also different to the generic version. I have written before about various cultural values in China, which some would certainly not want to be adopted in the West, but the mere stating this fact, can, and for me personally has, resulted in accusations of Racism.

Along these same lines now, there is another weapon. The 'Hate Crime' legislation. As I have said before, 'anti-vilification' laws are not meant to stifle the free expression of thought or opinion, they are meant to punish those whose hatred is real, obvious, threatening, and often physical. Such is the push today however, that in Canada and the USA (not sure about Australia), lines have been drawn in the sand, in much the same way as has occurred in Sweden.

I would like to draw your attention to excerpts from the following two articles:

1. Apologetics Press Inc. The First Amendment, Free Speech and Religion by Brad Harrub, Ph.D.

For the first time in history, preachers in Pennsylvania are considering liability insurance to protect themselves against prosecution for speaking out against homosexuality in the pulpit�an action they are taking in reaction to Pennsylvania's recent addition of 'sexual orientation' to the state's hate crime laws. On June 30, 2004, the Traditional Values Coalition noted: In Canada, for example, a recently-passed hate crimes law (C-250) criminalizes speech if it incites hatred against any identifiable group. This law added 'sexual orientation' to its hate crime law and left this term undefined. In Sweden, Pentecostal preacher Ake Green was sentenced to a month in prison after being found guilty of having offended homosexuals in a sermon, according to Ecumenical News International. In a 2003 sermon, Green had described homosexuality as 'abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society'. At some point, people must ask: what happens if a preacher offends a polygamist, pedophile, adulterer, murderer, rapist, or an individual who participates in acts of bestiality. Should the preacher also be punished (or jailed) for such 'hate speech?'

2. Criminalizing Christianity: Sweden's Hate Speech Law by R. Albert Mohler, Jr. August 6 2004: http://tinyurl.com/63x7s

The prosecution of a Christian pastor for the crime of preaching a biblical sermon sets a new low for the culture of political correctness. Evangelical Christians--and all those who cherish civil liberties--should observe this case with great interest and concern. Those who reject biblical truth are now set on silencing Christian pulpits--all in the name of tolerance, acceptance, and diversity.

As stated earlier in this article, the demise of religious faith is adding to the demise of society. I am not espousing any religion let alone 'religion'. Nor am I opposing anyone's sexual orientation or right to pursue their own 'legal' agendas. However, I am truly against any and all sectarian interests whose sole objective is to force society to 'bend the knee' in homage and service to their sectarian interest.

The Nation comes first, and personal freedoms come second. This was always the standard of all nations, but today seems to remain only in those 'backward Asian countries.' Muslims in the West come in all shapes and sizes, by which I mean religious persuasion, but irrespective of their personal levels of orthodoxy, one thing they all have in common, is the rejection of all those 'activist' values that exist in western society.

While such personal freedoms remain just that, 'personal', the immigrants can remain comfortable and assimilate into western society. But when those values are 'forced' by political means, to be accepted as 'societal norms', and furthermore, 'punishes' those who do not accept those 'personal' freedoms as societal norms, society becomes fractured, and in time, the 'push back' will see an open slather grab for power by all those who see themselves as being the inheritors of the 'power vacuum' that exists.

The greatest immorality in existence today in the West, is that which takes the form of 'silence'. Power is gained by those who will fight for it, and those with power who will not fight will lose their power.

Every person has the right to follow their own personal, social, religious or political agenda, as long as it is permitted in law, and does not harm any other person. There are many people in society however, whose desire to follow their personal agenda, extends to 'forcing' their agenda onto others. Immigrants MUST assimilate, but how can they do that in societies which force unwanted agendas on them. Well of course they could jolly well just pack up and go home. But what about the rest of us? Those whose families have lived here for generations? Where can we go? And frankly, do we really want to assimilate with cultures that denigrate men, rob them of their children, punish people for expressing their thoughts and opinions, criminalise us if we stand up to some activist agenda? Do we really want to assimilate with this type of Western Culture?

Where will such legislation take us? Well for one thing, anyone who goes on a street march in protest of the Government had better watch out what they say and what they write on their posters. Gay activists better watch out when they open their mouths about heterosexual society. Feminazis will soon find themselves in courts for their derogatory remarks about men. Migrants who disparage 'our' culture will find themselves in court.

It's time that 'we' as a society, valued our generic society, and gave immigrants something worthwhile to assimilate into. If we don't, we will ultimately find ourselves 'powerless' as a nation to do anything, and most probably will have less to fear in being attacked by some external enemy, as facing the prospect of 'civil war' within.

We have to stop looking backwards. We have to stop being complacent. We had better start looking forward to see what road we are on, where we are going, and whether we really want to go there.

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and he is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. King's Calendar Social Commentaries

"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.