Opinion Forum

Multiculturalism in Action

February 22nd, 2010

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Of course, that was said back in the good old days, when people were simply oblivious to evil. Today I’m not sure that even Edmund Burke would quite understand the idea of a culture that, through the idiocy of multiculturalism and nonjudgmentalism, would actively shy away from calling out evil when they saw it because their judgment might merely be a reflection of their own bigotries.

Last October, Iraqi immigrant Faleh Almaleki in Arizona was accused of running down his daughter Noor Almaleki in his Jeep Cherokee for the crime of becoming “too Westernized.” Last Thursday, it was announced that the prosecution in the case would not seek the death penalty for fear that they would “wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim.”

Wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim? Give me a break. If you subsituted “Mormon” for “Muslim” the liberal left would undoubtedly be crawling out of the woodwork to denounce this decision. And that’s taking into consideration the fact that, if asked, most of the crawlers would probably say they disagreed with the death penalty on moral grounds. And while I recognize that there are those who truly do disagree with the death penalty on moral grounds, even they have to admit that so long as America does enforce the death penalty, they should enforce it on men like Faleh Almaleki.

The nonjudgmentalists and the multiculturalists may argue that we have to be more tolerant of other people’s cultures and that we can’t risk the possibility of criticizing other people’s customs and religions. It’s strange, though, how rarely that plea for tolerance is addressed to men like Faleh Almaleki. As for those who think I’m being unusually harsh or discriminatory, perhaps they should think about what their country might be like if a) America had a larger Islamic minority, and b) half of the non-Muslim population of America agreed with them.

Of course, the West wasn’t always a hotbed of cringing apologeticism. Once upon a time, we actually had the confidence to stand up for ourselves — and for others:

In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of “suttee” — the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. General Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural: “You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.” — Mark Steyn, America Alone

Compare this attitude with that noted by Prof. Allan Bloom

The students cannot defend their opinion [that the only moral way is to be open to everything]. It is something with which they have been indoctrinated…. If I pose the routine questions designed to confute them and make them think, such as, “If you had been a British administrator in India, would you have let the natives under your governance burn the widow at the funeral of a man who had died?,” they either remain silent or reply that the British should never have been there in the first place. It is not that they know very much about other nations, or about their own. The purpose of their education is not to make them scholars but to provide them with a moral virtue — openness. — Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

And the multiculturalists and nonjudgmentalists have the unmitigated gall to call themselves moral?

Like Mark Steyn (and unlike those students and relativists), I am of the opinion that the doctrine of “openness” should cut both ways. For in America, we too have a culture: liberty, religious freedom, and the rule of law. This means that when men unrepentantly murder their children for joining our culture, it is our custom not to be nice to them, but to try them, condemn them, and execute them. Muslims in America just need to be a little more tolerant of that.

Articles written by Brianna Aubin
Tags: culture, death penalty, justice, Law, multiculturalism, Muslim
Categories: Life, News, Politics | Comments (6) | Home

6 Responses to “Multiculturalism in Action”

larry | February 23rd, 2010 at 6:31 am

Brianna
BRAVO

Tom | February 23rd, 2010 at 7:55 am

I second Larry’s “bravo.”

There’s nothing exclusively liberal or conservative about being respectful of other cultures, sympathetic to the needs of other people, and “open” in terms of our minds and our purses (when we can afford it). But those who go so far as to be unable to recognize evil when they see it and react appropriately have truly lost their way.

There may be some question as to why the prosecution decided not to seek the death penalty in Almaleki’s case. However, they made the decision right after his lawyer asked the court to ensure that the death penalty wasn’t sought because of the defendant’s religion. They issued a statement that cultural issues had no bearing on the decision, but it certainly looks bad.

As I made clear in The Death Penalty, I’m firmly against it. But as long as it exists, I can’t think of many cases in which it would be more deserved. But who knows; maybe the prosecution had a problem with the evidence. It’s possible that by seeking the death penalty they thought they might get an acquittal or a hung jury, with a life sentence verdict more certain.

Just as a point of interest, the Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas, is a Republican and strong Christian who has a record of being tough on criminals and at odds with Democratic politicians. He’s also an ally of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, famous for tough treatment of prisoners, including making them wear pink underwear.

Brianna | February 23rd, 2010 at 12:32 pm

“There’s nothing exclusively liberal or conservative about being respectful of other cultures”

> No, there isn’t. But the people who go so far as to “lose their way” as you say, are usually found on the Left, not the Right.

“There may be some question as to why the prosecution decided not to seek the death penalty in Almaleki’s case.”

> It’s entirely possible, and I acknowledge that there could be legitimiate reasons why the prosecution would not have sought the death penalty (though I realize I didn’t specify that in my article). But the problem is not so much that the prosecution failed to seek the death penalty as that the defense thinks it’s OK to say, “be extra careful not to discriminate against the victim group.”

“Just as a point of interest, the Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas, is a Republican and strong Christian who has a record of being tough on criminals and at odds with Democratic politicians.”

> Maybe that means he truly thinks the seeking the death penalty would be a bad idea. Or maybe he wanted to seek it, but was overruled somehow. Reading his bio makes me think it’s more likely to be the latter, but it’s really hard to say.

d | February 24th, 2010 at 8:15 am

Why do they bring their children here,and then get furious when they conform to our ways? Shouldn’t that be their goal? This way of thinking is confusing to me,the Dad ought to be thrilled,that his daughter will fit in and be well rounded. He should have stayed in his country,if he wanted his family to stay the same. I agree,he should be executed,now we have to support him,for the rest of his life. Hope we don’t have to buy him any pink underwear.

Why are we so worried about Muslims rights,and not other religious rights? What makes them so special? The fact that they are so cruel and immoral in their treatment of wayward wives and children? Religion does not exclude anyone from our laws or give them a free pass to kill others,even their own children. No other religion is given this consideration. We have taken political correctness to the maximum stupidity now.

Tom | February 24th, 2010 at 9:20 am

I completely agree. One thing you can be absolutely certain of — if you move yourself and your family to a Muslim country, you will be forced to conform to their cultural and religious standards. Some are less stringent than others, but in countries like Saudi Arabia the penalities for non-conformance are severe.

Steve B | December 23rd, 2012 at 10:33 am

I think it is very important in the case of “honor killings” in our country, that we not only seek the death penalty, but that we stuff their mouths with bacon and bury them in a pigsty.

We also need to look deeper into accessories to the crime. Aside from the murderer, there are usually other family members pressuring them to act.