By Joram Van Klaveren
" The best among you are those who have the best manners and character."
- Prophet Muhammad
Painful, hurtful and insulting. These are just some qualifications we can give to the recent Quran-burning incidents in some countries, such as Sweden and the Netherlands.
Fringe politicians and obscure figures seem to have made it a sport for some time now to generate personal attention by kicking Muslims on their souls with the desecration of Islam’s holiest book.
That there are lunatics and antisocials is nothing new. That is something of all times and found in all countries and among all peoples.
What is relatively new is the fact that trampling on that which others hold most dear - faith - is cherished and even facilitated by some governments.
Under the guise of freedom of expression, everything seems to be allowed in some European countries these days. A totally one-sided interpretation of freedom of expression appears to have been declared sacrosanct.
In that context, we even see burning and tearing up the Quran - extra provocative around the corner at mosques - taking place under police escort.
Loss of faith
That this is not at all the historical norm is immediately apparent from a cursory glance at the criminal laws of the countries that permit Quran burnings.
Singular insult, group insult, libel, slander and sedition are all punishable offences. It is also not allowed to insult military and police officers. Insulting the King can even lead to four months in prison in the Netherlands. And until 2014, blasphemy was also a criminal offence.
These frameworks of freedom of expression show that there are limits and that we as a society have always wanted to see certain sensitivities sanctioned.
But times have unfortunately changed. The reason it is stated today that, among other things, burning the Quran falls under freedom of expression has to do with the ongoing so-called secularisation in the West.
Since the 1970s, the influence of religion on many European countries has declined rapidly. Where for centuries, religion was central to personal life, education, politics, legislation, media and culture, this has hardly been the case for the past few decades.
Entire generations are growing up without any knowledge of faith and without the norms and values that come with religion. The central place of faith in daily life has disappeared, and the importance of family, community spirit and conservative morality is no longer recognised.
In the Netherlands, this has led, among other things, to hyperindividualism, the normalisation of prostitution, the wide acceptance of the use of narcotics, the possibility of euthanasia without serious illness, the frequent use of swear words in movies, flat materialism, sexualisation of society and a great increase in perceived loneliness and purposelessness.
Morally dead
In other words, the moral compass of the West has been lost.
And with the loss of this moral and religious compass, the understanding of and for religious sentiments is no longer there either.
This is at the heart of why people think they can mock the Quran, among other things. After all, without awareness and empathy, social behaviour is not possible.
Today’s secular-liberal culture has become leading and ironically seems to be able to harbour and accept only their so-called liberal views.
After all, as soon as someone questions sex education in elementary schools, transvestites in classrooms, public parades with half-naked adults or if one states that marriage is something between a man and a woman, he is called old-fashioned or even accused of homophobia and hatred.
However, as soon as someone criticises Islam, ridicules Muslims or burns the Quran, he is suddenly a brave fighter for free speech. Much of Europe seems to have completely lost its way.
If the Quran burnings demonstrate anything at all, it is the moral decay in the West.
The author, Joram van Klaveren, is a former Member of the Dutch Parliament. An Islam critic earlier, he had a change of heart while writing an anti-Islam book and became a Muslim. He is the founder of the Islam Experience Centre, the first Islamic museum in the Netherlands.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of TRT Afrika.
