Courage

Husband back from the Gulf. He got in last night. I fed him a steak and baked potato dinner after he had a couple of cocktails then he was off to bed and snoring. He was a tired guy.

Do you know the name Ayaan Hirsi Ali? If not you probably will in the not too distant future. Ms. Hirsi Ali is a native Somali who immigrated to the Netherlands. She rose to the rank of member of the Dutch parliment and she is an outspoken critic of Islam, particularly of the Islamic attitudes toward women. She became an international person of interest when Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch film maker was murdred on the streets of Amsterdam in 2004. Van Gogh's film "Submission" was written by Ms. Hirsi Ali and the subject of this movie is the mistreatment of Muslim women. On Van Gogh's dead body was found a note, a five page note, titled "Open Letter to Hirsi Ali."

The thugs who murdered Mr. Van Gogh, a descendant of an acclaimed artist, declared that Ms. Hirsi Ali would be tortured and condemned to a life of agony. And the usual threats were made to the U.S. and Europe. She was already under police protection for publicly rejecting her Islamic faith and now she had to go into hiding for her participation in the film project. Her neighbors in the apartment building in which she lived mounted a campaign to get her removed from the building, mostly by stating that now their lives were in jeopardy as her neighbors and that she was lowering property value. They cited their "human rights" and the judge sided with them. He evicted her from the apartment building.

What happened to her human rights?

Ms. Hirsi Ali was under a cloud as to her original immigration into the Netherlands. She claimed on her application an incorrect date of birth and name. She came clean about this some years ago without any prompting from anyone. Last Monday, Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, on the liberal VVD party, stripped Ms. Hirsi Ali of her Dutch citizenship. Last Thursday she announced she would be moving to America. She has been offered a position as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

America will welcome Ms. Hirsi Ali and it is Europe's loss. Courage should be rewarded not penalized. This further highlights the difference in attitudes between Americans and Europeans. After the initial cries of outrage from Europe about the attacks of 9/ll in this country, the idea that somehow Americans were responsible for the attacks became the popular opinion. By the same token, the initial support of Ms. Hirsi Ali in her community turned into an attack on her for being too provocative. The liberal Dutch government accuses her of "Islam bashing".

The Wall Street Journal makes this statement: "Where the defenders of democracy have to flee while the enemies of free society roam the streets, not only real estate is bound to become very cheap. So will be life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

Were not the London subway bombings and the train bombing in Madrid a wake up call for Europe?

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? - Luke 9:25