By Diane Weber Bederman —— Bio and Archives February 28, 2016
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"Zion shall be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, The Temple-hill a mere wooded height."
"But I see some of these well-intentioned young people undermining the First Amendment; spitting on people with whom they disagree; using stigma and "call out" culture rather than persuasion against non-bigoted speech; physically intimidating members of the press; bullying students who disagree with them; shredding newspapers because they disagree with an article; and calling for dissent to be punished."In Germany and Sweden we have seen the attempts to prevent freedom of speech for fear of offending people from other cultures. Swedish journalists have edited their reports on refugee rapes and the police do not mention skin colour or ethnicity. "Stockholm's Chief Press Officer had written that the police might be perceived as racist, and therefore should not report physical descriptions to the public. Ironically, it is journalists who have more or less forced the police to stop using descriptions such as skin color, by labeling the police "racist" every time a person of color appears on a wanted list." German authorities attempted to keep quiet the rapes and assaults that took place New Year's Eve. "The news took four days to get out. Inexplicably, Cologne's police initially reported "relaxed" festivities. (On January 8th Wolfgang Albers, the local police chief, was suspended for this and other failings.) The public news networks were also slow to pick up the story, providing grist for the conspiracy mills of populists who denounce the mainstream media as a politically correct 'liars' press.'" http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21688418-ultimate-victim-sexual-assaults-migrants-could-be-angela-merkels-liberal-refugee Our Culture is under attack from people who live by a different Culture, with a different ethic; one that is diametrically opposed to ours and we are being bullied into silence for fear of offending, of being accused of racism or Islamophobia. Offending is part of our Culture because we have free speech. Not hate speech or speech that incites hate, but the right to speak to truth -- no matter whom it offends. And the operative word here is TRUTH as in facts. Let's take back our freedoms from those who wish to whittle them away. Let's stand up for Western Culture; the one that protects freedom to speak. Let us remember the messages form our world leaders who stood up for Western Culture and now are missing in action. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, recently lamented (2014): "For too long we have been self-conscious and even ashamed about British identity. By embracing multiculturalism and the idea that every culture and belief is of equal value, we have betrayed our own traditions of welcoming strangers to our shore. Multiculturalism ... has led to [honor] killings ... and Sharia law. In September 2104 David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, stated this: "We are an open, tolerant and free nation. But we cannot stand by and allow our openness to be confused with a tolerance of extremism. Adhering to British values is not an option or a choice; it is a duty for those who live in these islands. It is only by standing up for these values that we will defeat extremism, protect our way of life and keep all our people safe." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, in 2010, "We feel bound to the Christian image of humanity--that is what defines us. Those who do not accept this are in the wrong place here." In 2013 Charles, the Prince of Wales, cautioned that Christian communities that trace their history back to the time of Jesus are under threat. "We all lose something immensely and irreplaceably precious when such a rich tradition dating back 2,000 years begins to disappear."
Diane Weber Bederman is a blogger for ‘Times of Israel’, a contributor to Convivium, a national magazine about faith in our community, and also writes about family issues and mental illness. She is a multi-faith endorsed hospital trained chaplain.