Apologies for being very late on taking note of the judicial attempt to silence author and columnist Mark Steyn-but it’s a shocker that deserves attention here. As you may probably know, Steyne and Macleans magazine, which published a chapter from his terrific book America Alone, are being required to appear before two judicial panels in Canada. Five Muslim students are the plaintiffs.
The New York Post has a good summary:
“The plaintiffs allege that Maclean’s advocated, among other things, the notion that Islamic culture is incompatible with Canada’s liberalized, Western civilization. They insist such a notion is untrue and, in effect, want opinions like that banned from publication.”
The complaint goes before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. “As it happens, Canadian human-rights commissions have already come down hard on those whose writings they dislike, like critics of gay rights,” the Post reports.
“The lights are going out on liberal society – and it is the most liberal societies with their fingers on the ‘off’ switch,” Melanie Phillips writes on her (London) Spectator blog. Pessimistic. But I’m afraid I absolutely agree with her.