Sunday, January 7, 2007

Oriana Fallaci - Heros of Freedom Part I

"We suffer[ed] the sad loss of an icon [on September 15, 2006] in the passing of Oriana Fallaci in her native Florence. This passionate and powerful voice of the 20th Century was forever bold and brazen in her dissection of politics, power and ego, and their devastating effects on democracies everywhere. She wrote with an integrity and force of character that defined her life's work up until the very last days. Fallaci was perhaps my greatest inspiration as a journalist. Her dynamic, dramatic and distinct point of view on the demise of democracies, especially in her latest works that evoked death threats against her, did nothing to silence her conviction or her writings. She died as she lived -- with passion, conviction, purpose and power. They don't make writers like her anymore. "
-Giselle Fernandez, journalist and filmmaker

Citizen of the World - Prophet of Decline
WSJ, June 23, 2005

NEW YORK--Oriana Fallaci faces jail. In her mid-70s, stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids--so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview--one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."

In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year--and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe--called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs--which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment.

...The impending Fall of the West, as she sees it, now torments Ms. Fallaci. And as much as that Fall, what torments her is the blithe way in which the West is marching toward its precipice of choice. "Look at the school system of the West today. Students do not know history! They don't, for Christ's sake. They don't know who Churchill was! ... Europe needs a Cavour."

Ms. Fallaci describes herself, too, as "a revolutionary"--"because I do what conservatives in Europe don't do, which is that I don't accept to be treated like a delinquent." She professes to "cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics somehow."

..."You cannot survive if you do not know the past. We know why all the other civilizations have collapsed--from an excess of welfare, of richness, and from lack of morality, of spirituality." ...

"The moment you give up your principles, and your values . . . the moment you laugh at those principles, and those values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period." ...

"I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI ]." ... "I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It's that simple! There must be some human truth here that is beyond religion."

Ms. Fallaci, who made her name by interviewing numerous statesmen (and not a few tyrants), believes that ours is "an age without leaders. We stopped having leaders at the end of the 20th century." Of George Bush, she will concede only that he has "vigor," and that he is "obstinate" (in her book a compliment) and "gutsy. . . . Nobody obliged him to do anything about Terri Schiavo, or to take a stand on stem cells. But he did." ...

John Paul II--"Wojtyla"--was a "warrior, who did more to end the Soviet Union than even America," but she will not forgive him for his "weakness toward the Islamic world... The scant hopes that she has for the West she rests on his successor. As a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI wrote frequently on the European (and the Western) condition. Last year, he wrote an essay titled "If Europe Hates Itself," from which Ms. Fallaci reads this to me:

"The West reveals . . . a hatred of itself, which is strange and can only be considered pathological; the West . . . no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure."
TUNKU VARADARAJAN, WSJ

"Humanity owes its freedom to its heroes. A hero is an ordinary person who does extraordinary things, which affects the lives of others in a positive way. We must recognize our heroes and acknowledge their bravery and courage. Today, Mankind is facing, perhaps one of the biggest threats to its peace. There is a great danger looming over our heads that could destroy millions of lives. This danger comes from an ideology of hate that is mindlessly and uncritically believed by a billion people to be the only true religion. They believe that anyone who does not share their irrational views is hated by God and consequently should be hated by them too. The proponents of this ideology of hate are menacing mankind with terror. Many of them are ignorant of the inhumanity of their cult. They would leave it if they come to see the truth. However, left on their own, they see sheer evil as divine. They cherish in the pains of others and yearn for the blood of the innocent people whom they don’t know. ...

Oriana was a true heroine. She was an indefatigable enemy of tyranny since she was an adolescent until she closed her eyes to this world for ever. She will pass to history and will be remembered mostly because of her fight to save Europe from Islamofascism. Beatrice Siccardi, the judge who ordered Oriana to stand for trial will also be remembered as the result. Oriana will be remembered as a heroine, that other woman, for something else. "
-Ali Sina, Founder of FaithFreedom.org

Charles Johnson of LittleGreenFootballs.com recently started an annual award called the "Anti-Idiotarian" also known as the "Fallaci" in honor of the wise Oriana Fallaci.

Eventually the timorous and rudderless flawed souls among us will grasp the wisdom and humanity of the noble giant named Oriana Fallaci.

As the great Oriana Fallaci passes into the next life, lovers of freedom throughout the world mourn, but we find hope and courage for the future.

23 comments:

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Good article FF. I didn't know much about Ms. Fallaci, but have heard you extoll her virtues. Wish I'd known more about her while she was still living.

If you need any ideas for your next expose' you should check out Sweetness & Light. They have a new article about Cindy Al-Sheehani and her commie bud Medea Benjamin in Cuba protesting Gitmo. Check out their archives, Sheehani's group has been responsible for much criminal activity including scamming Katrina victims. And ALL her compatriots have DEEP communist roots.

Your gonna be on your own quite a bit this week, as my vacation is over and I gotta get back to my day job tomorrow morning. Still gotta get the 4th Q fuel taxes done too.

Freedom Fan said...

Thanks, Volt.

Hey why don't you do the post on Cindy Sheehan? That sounds interesting; I heard something about Cindy goo-gooing over Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Johnny moo moo said...

"Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah."



Many months ago my offspring was telling me about this girl from school who was real snotty.

Not particularly concerned, I was instantly stunned when she indicated the girls name was Allah......she was in fact a Muslim.

One has to wonder/ponder what Ms. Fallaci is attempting to convey.

Johnny moo moo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Johnny moo moo said...

Hey Volt...

Remember this oldy but goody?

Although her face looks like a can of smashed assholes, its definately a cool jam.

The guy leaning against the lockers reminds me of myself during high school.....big time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsJHtzdvfKg

Freedom Fan said...

JMM,

It's fascinating that liberals, who profess to be the champions of saving mankind, are AWOL when it comes to even mildly criticizing the oppression suffered by those crippled by a belief in Islam.

Of course it takes more courage to criticize someone who may decide to kill you.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Well, methinks it's time to either purchase or build a new computer...LOL

Having a few problems on my current machine. It's a 20th century model HP Pavilion with a smoking fast 333mhz celeron...

Should I build or buy?

I have a Abit IC7-max3 mobo I bought a couple of years ago, supposed to be the ultimate overclockers board for the socket 478 processor, AND the dual core northwood processors are coming WAY down in price. (northwood chips run cooler than the prescotts since they don't have level 3 cache - better for overclocking)

However in the long run it is still probably cheaper to just buy a new one...

Any suggestions?

Anybody wanna buy a 333 celeron machine?

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Johnny, no offense but when I'm at my boys house I sometimes watch your videos, (he's on broadband) but here at home I don't because I'm on dialup and the download times are a bee eye tee cee h.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Oh, speaking of Al-Sheehani, did you guys see Sean Hannity's interview with her?

I don't think the libs will have anything to complain about. He was WAY MORE than fair with her.

If I understand correctly you guys in Canada now have access to FOX after many years of your gov. banning it....LOL

IrOnY RaGeD said...

AND should you guys not see me for a span of more than a day or two, see my first post above. (Just in case the ole puter takes a dump before I can do anything about it...LOL)

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Did I say it was "smoking fast"?, perhaps I should've just said 'smoking'....

Freedom Fan said...

Volt, I like Dell. I have had some disappointments with Dell, but the support is superb.

Johnny moo moo said...

Volt

Dial up is for the birds; its time to get with the program. And, with that hunk of junk your using, Im surprised you can post at all?

Like FF, I too have a nice Dell computer......Im very pleased with its performance!

However, dont listen to FF when he says Dell support is "superb;" he probably works for them or something? Theres only one word to describe Dell support.....

GHASTLY....

Johnny moo moo said...

Volt said

"If I understand correctly you guys in Canada now have access to FOX after many years of your gov. banning it....LOL"

Well, to be honest Volt, the only shows I get on my cable service are Colbert, Stewart, etc...

Maybe the Canadian government thinks you repubs are a bad influence or something?

All I know is, I dont get O'Reilly on Rogers Cable. Perhaps other areas of the Great White North do?

Did you mean Fox News or all Fox Channels in general?

If you are right, I had no idea Fox was banned. Ive always intended to call Rogers and ask them about their discrepancy in airing conservative shows, thus enhancing my viewing pleasure. I thought I just needed to upgrade my cable or something to get these shows.


If true, allowing only one point of view is nothing short of communism......period! I dont need a bunch of meatheads deciding whats best for me......I like to think/judge for myself.

Perhaps Harper lifted this illegal ban..... kudos to him if he did!

I really am not aware of this ban you mention. Do you have a link?

Canada does have a ban on hate speech though......always a good debate!



Long live "Freedom of Speech."

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hell Johnny my previous computer was a Macintosh power pc with a 500mb hard drive. And the OS took up half of that....LOL

Near the end of it's life, I had to operate it from a floppy boot disk and use AOL 2.5...(and that was when they were all the way up to AOL 5.0)

At least I'm not still on AOL.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Just FOX news Johnny. It's not banned anymore. I think the CBC didn't want the competition.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Gotta take off for awhile. Be back later.

Freedom Fan said...

Canada does have a ban on hate speech though......always a good debate!

JMM can you elaborate? What's illegal in Canada?

Johnny moo moo said...

FF

Bill C-250


"The bill was given royal assent by the Queen's representative in Canada on 2004-APR-29. It took immediate effect. It is now part of the legal code of Canada. Some propaganda directing hatred against persons of any sexual orientation, heterosexuals, homosexuals and/or bisexuals, is now a crime in Canada. Sexual orientation has now joined four other groups protected against hate speech on the basis of their "color, race, religion or ethnic origin." 1 However, a "not withstanding" type clause allows hate speech if it is religiously motivated. In essence, the law states that the freedom of one person to express religiously-motivated hatred is given higher priority that the freedom of another person to be free of hatred expressed against them."

Johnny moo moo said...

Who can be convicted.

Section 318 deals with genocide. Section 319 deals with hate speech:

1. If it can be shown that the speech was so abusive that it was likely to incite listeners or readers into violent action against an identifiable group, and if the the speech was made in a public place, then a person could be convicted.

2. If the speech promoted hatred against an identifiable group, but was not likely to incite a listener to violence, then a person could still be convicted. However there are many safeguards that could give that person immunity. A person could not be convicted if:

The hate speech was expressed during a private conversation.

If the person can establish that the statements made are true.


If, "in good faith, he expressed or attempted to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject." This would give clergypersons immunity from conviction for a hate-based sermon, for example.

If the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, and if, on reasonable grounds, the person believed them to be true. This would give additional protection for the clergy.

If he described material that might generate feelings of hatred for an identifiable group "for the purpose of removal" of that hatred.

If the provincial Attorney General refused to give permission. The Attorney General's consent is required before charges can be laid..

Johnny moo moo said...

Volt said

"500mb hard drive"

:|

My RAM memory is more than that...LOL!

Johnny moo moo said...

Volt said

"I think the CBC didn't want the competition."

Makes sense........I was worried there for a minute.

Its a good thing this wasnt some kind of stupid political ban otherwise certain individuals would suufer the verbal wrath of Johnny moo moo...LOL!

Johnny moo moo said...

Please feel free to pick on our politics FF, afterall Im always nosing in yours.

Dont be to harsh though or we'll attack on a wide, three pronged front, steamrolling the U.S into submission.....were tougher than we look ya know!