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Why Withdraw from the IAFT?
Posted By jean.meslier On 2018-11-16 @ 17:39 In | 2 Comments
In my opinion, the Fédération nationale de la libre pensée [1] (FNLP or National Federation of Free Thought, in France) which dominates the International Association of Free Thought [2] (IAFT) is an Islamoleftist organisation. Despite its left-wing political orientation, it displays an obvious prejudice in favour of Islam and refuses to criticize it fully, as all religions should be criticized, especially monotheisms. On what is this allegation based?
All that is required is to read the document To debate about Islam rationally [3] by Christian Eyschen, vice-president of the FNLP and spokesperson for the IAFT. (For those who read French, the original version Pour débattre rationnellement de l’Islam [4] is preferable, because the English translation is of dubious quality.) The document is part of the brochure Débattre rationnellement de l’Islam [5] published by the FNLP and available on its website. It begins with the observation that monotheism represents a “regression” with respect to polytheism, an assertion with which we are in complete agreement. However, when the subject turns to Islam in particular, we learn a number of very surprising things. The author, Christian Eyschen:
In summary, the document by Christian Eyschen is a shameless apology of Islam and, given that its author claims to be a freethinker, utterly inexcusable. What the author refuses to recognize is that his complacency with respect to Islam fuels the Catholic far-right. Given that many leftists who claim to be pro-secular, such as the FNLP, neglect to criticise Islam as it should be criticised, this necessary task is abandoned to the political right which thus attracts much support from a population disgusted by the inaction of the left.
Related to Eyschen’s document is an article recently published in Vol. 12, no. 3 (2017) of the on-line magazine Québec humaniste [7] concerning the IAFT. The article contains a commentary on the brochure “To debate about Islam rationally,” calling it a scholarly and thoughtful history of Islam in the world and in France. The article further claims that, instead of emotional vociferations, wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth about terrorist acts, the Eyschen document deals with the subject of Islam in a manner which is “rich, dense, expert, precise, broad, historical, factual, reasoned and militant,” concluding finally that “No one can accuse the FNLP of neglecting either the Muslim question or the issue of political Islam.”
The Québec humaniste article is signed by two individuals recently named (by the FNLP, of course) as spokespersons of the IAFT. Note also that the Association humaniste du Québec (AHQ, Quebec Humanist Association) which publishes the magazine, is also affiliated with the IAFT. So Eyschen’s analysis of Islam is, according to them, “expert, precise, broad, historical, factual, reasoned.” Really?? If this pitiful commentary, which naïvely endorses Eyschen’s apology of Islam, reflects the official position of the AHQ (we hope it does not!) then that fact would constitute yet another reason to withdraw from the IAFT.
If reading that astounding document by Christian Eyschen is insufficient to convince one of the Islamoleftist orientation of the FNLP, consider the following observations:
Islamisation is a reality, a phenomenon which exists. Political Islam is advancing, often very slowly, sometimes brutally. Is the threat from political Islam more or less serious, more or less immediate, than the threat of a Catholic reconquest of Europe, or the threat of Evangelical Christianity turning the USA into a theocracy? Reasonable people may come to different conclusions about the relative dangers which these various currents of obscurantism represent. But to say that Islamisation does not even exist, that it is nothing but deception, and, even worse, to rewrite history in order to sweeten or cover up the origins of this threat, that is extremely dishonest and a form of willful blindness. Furthermore, we have no desire to collaborate with irrational persons who consider us to be “xenophobes” for the simple reason that we do not share their blindness.
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URLs in this post:
[1] Fédération nationale de la libre pensée: https://www.fnlp.fr/
[2] International Association of Free Thought: http://www.internationalfreethought.org/
[3] To debate about Islam rationally: https://www.atheology.ca/pdf/iaft/eyschen_christian_islam_en.pdf
[4] Pour débattre rationnellement de l’Islam: https://www.atheologie.ca/pdf/ailp/eyschen_christian_islam_fr.pdf
[5] Débattre rationnellement de l’Islam: https://www.fnlp.fr/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=464&cntnt01returnid=21
[6] research done by Tidiane N’Diaye: https://www.facebook.com/franceinfovideo/videos/1898806446829511/
[7] Vol. 12, no. 3 (2017) of the on-line magazine Québec humaniste: http://assohum.org/Media/QH/QHVol12nu3.pdf
[8] FNLP declaration about Charlie Hebdo: http://www.internationalfreethought.org/spip.php?article428
[9] this proposition: https://www.atheology.ca/iaft/proposition-council-2017/
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