Mary, you may enjoy this troubling book which I am currently reading; some things just have to be said:
nationalreview.com
And a reader's review at Amazon:
There are two groups that are going to really hate this book. One are the Islamists who divide humanity into two groups: the People of Paradise and the People of Hell. And who insist that their beliefs alone are off-limits when it comes to critical inquiry. The second group is the multiculturalists and relativists, who do not find anything particular valuable in Western Culture over any other culture (including those who kill a daughter who has been raped to preserve "honor".)
So who WILL like this book? Those who do deeply cherish Western culture as it has developed through the US constitution, who value the hard won freedom and autonomy of the individual, who believe that women are the equals of men and should be treated as so, and those who believe that humanity reaches its greatest heights when the human mind is left free.
Make no mistake about it. Fallaci really really hates (my word) what is happening to her culture (an ongoing surrender to an immigrating, limiting Islam), because she really loves what Western Culture (via Locke and others) has been. And that passion comes in like a great blazing fireball. She is a real and authentic voice, with ragged edges, authenticity, fire, and conviction. The multiculturalists, pacifists, Islamists and others are doing everything they can to shut her up. But it seems that the strength of her fire only grows. The West is so lucky to have a woman like her. We need a thousand such voices, and even more. We need the passionate understanding of how wonderful our own culture is, and how it is worth preserving and fighting for. Read this book with While Europe Slept and you'll get a real education.
Fallaci's The Force of Reason is a raw act of courage. And Fallaci is a great hero of our time. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to her for the gift of her passion, as rare as diamonds and as precious as gold in a culture becoming as limp as milque toast.
And another review:
freerepublic.com
Forceful Reason - Fallaci issues a wake-up call to Europe
Oriana Fallaci's is not a household name in the United States but Ms Fallaci's name cannot be uttered in Europe without generating a heated reaction. Even though her 2002 book, The Rage and the Pride, was translated into English [By Fallaci] and sold many copies in the United States, it was on the other side of the ocean that intellectuals, politicians, and ordinary citizens passionately debated the views of the celebrated Italian journalist.
The Rage and the Pride is either loved or hated; Ms Fallaci's positions leave no middle ground. Outraged by the events of 9/11, Fallaci criticizes both Muslims [Bent, she demonstrates, on conquering the West and annihilating our culture] and the Europeans whom she describes as spoiled, hypocritical, and blind to the mortal threat represented by Islamic expansionism.
Fallaci's views as expressed in the Rage and the Pride caused an uproar in politically correct Europe, death threats and lawsuits included. Now, two years later, Fallaci has published a new book, entitled La Forza della Ragione (The Force of Reason), which continues the discourse she began in The Rage and the Pride.
As its title suggests, The Force of Reason is not dictated by the rational fury that inspired The Rage and the Pride and it gives a more accurate explanation of why Europe has decided not to defend its identity and to surrender to the Islamic invasion. With the sarcasm and uniquely direct style that characterizes her work, Ms Fallaci carefully examines the historic and political dishonesties that have led Europeans to vilify their own culture, to consistently embrace anti-Americanism and to grovel before and pander to the every demand of the increasingly powerful Muslim communities that populate the dying old continent. Her analysis does not leave much hope for the future of Europe, although she takes a far more optimistic position on her home from home, the United States. Ms Fallaci lives in New York.
The long introduction to The Force of Reason recounts the intellectual lynching to which Fallaci was subjected following the publication of The Rage and the Pride. The PC establishment, which she calls the "Modern Inquisition," crucified her, submerging her with lawsuits and accusations of being racist and fomenting a religious war. But all of this publicity just played into Fallaci's hands, as sales of The Rage and the Pride soared into the millions. But what has really struck Fallaci in the wake of The Rage and the Pride are the letters she has received from readers throughout the world.
One of the most significant was written by an Italian, who thanked her "for helping me to understand the things I thought without realizing I was thinking them." And this is Fallaci's goal: to provoke Europeans into realizing what is going on right under their noses and getting rid of their fear to say something that goes against the PC dogma. According to Fallaci, PC's Modern Inquisition has kept individuals in fear of expressing obvious truths: "If you are a Westerner and you say that your civilization is superior, the most developed that this planet has ever seen, you go to the stake. But if you are a son of Allah or one of their collaborationists and you say that Islam has always been a superior civilization, a ray of light...nobody touches you. Nobody sues you. Nobody condemns you."
Fallaci's observations on the massive Islamic immigration that is rapidly changing the face of European cities include that she sees it as part of the expansionism that has characterized Islam since its birth. After reminding the reader how Islamic armies have aimed for centuries at the heart of Europe [A part of history that is not taught anymore in Europe, since it would "offend the sensitivity" of Muslim pupils] reaching France, Poland, and Vienna, she lays out her case and demonstrates that the current flood of immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa is part of a carefully planned strategy. Fallaci uses the words of Muslim leaders to support this thesis.
In 1974, former Algerian President Houari Boumedienne said in a speech at the U.N.: "One day millions of men will leave the southern hemisphere to go to the northern hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory." In other words, says Fallaci, what Islamic armies have not been able to do with force in more than 1,000 years can be achieved in less than a century through high birth rates. She cites as evidence a 1975 meeting of Islamic countries in Lahore, in which they announced their project to transform the flow of Muslim immigrants in Europe in "demographic preponderance."
The sons of Allah, she points out, do not make a secret of their plans. A Catholic bishop recounted that, during an interfaith meeting in Turkey, a respected Muslim cleric told the crowd: "Thanks to your democratic laws we will invade you. Thanks to our Islamic laws we will conquer you."
But what really makes Ms Fallaci's blood boil is the West's inability to even acknowledge this aggression. A large part of her book is dedicated to analyzing how the main European countries pander to the arrogant demands of radical Muslim organizations, how they are unable to defend their Jewish citizens from acts of Islamic militant violence [As often as not blamed on "neo-Nazis" and almost never on the Muslim perpetrators. Not even when the evidence clearly proves otherwise] and said countries' unwillingness to be proud of their cultures and identities.
But when and why did old Europe become so weak and submissive in the face of its new Islamic masters and become the "province of Islam," as Ms Fallaci points out? She points the finger squarely at the 1973 oil crisis. Europeans were so afraid of losing their supplies of oil that they pandered to the requests of OPEC, discarded Israel and began an intense dialogue with Arab countries. From 1973 corrupt intellectuals, corrupt media and corrupt politicians have been showered with money for their support of Arab and Islamic causes and numerous lobbying organizations have been created in several European countries. A publication with the ominous title of "Eurabia [About which Bat Yeor has written at length] was created in Paris, and the European parliament established the Parliamentary Association for the Euro-Arabian Cooperation, all part of an Arab-financed effort to influence European politics.
The last chapters of The Force of Reason are dedicated to explaining why Europe's three main political and social forces [Left, Right, and the Church] surrendered to the Islamic invasion. While Ms Fallaci accuses what she calls "the Left" and "the Right" mostly of ignorance and opportunism, her harshest words are left for the Church. Fallaci has been known throughout her long career for her strong anti-clericalism [She is the daughter of an Italian partisan who fought the Fascists and a long-time atheist/leftist] but describes herself as a Christian "atheist." While stating that she does not believe in God, she claims that the West cannot ignore its Christian origin and identity. Even if we deny God's existence, Fallaci says, Christianity has shaped the Western world. "Christianity defines who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going."
But the Church, she says, is not able — or worse, not willing — to defend Christianity. Fallaci accuses the Church of helping the expansion of the Islamic empire and of lobbying for more Muslims to come to Europe. She points out that Christianity offers its churches as shelters to Muslim immigrants, who immediately turn them into mosques, which has happened repeatedly in France and Italy. It continuously apologizes for the [Purely defensive] Crusades, but never expects an apology for what Muslims are doing now to Christians in Sudan or Indonesia.
Amid Fallaci's bleak vision for Europe, however, a ray of hope comes from America. In an emotional last chapter, Fallaci describes the admiration she experienced while witnessing the 2004 New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square. In a sharp contrast with the fear-constrained Europeans, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers defied the Code Orange terror alert and partied hard in the face of the terrorists.
Proud to honor itself, young and determined, America is perceived by Fallaci as the only hope for the West. In this unprovoked cultural war that has been waged on the West, America should lead the way, but it cannot do it alone. According to Fallaci, the West has not realized that it is under attack, and that this war "wants to hit our soul rather than our body. Our way of life, our philosophy of life. Our way of thinking, acting and loving. Our freedom. Do not be fooled by their explosives. That is just a strategy. The terrorists, the kamikazes, do not kill us just for the sake of killing us. They kill us to bend us. To intimidate us, tire us, demoralize us, blackmail us."
Movingly passionate, The Force of Reason is an urgent wake-up call for the West and for Europe in particular.
In Italy, despite a complete silence from the media [Who have decided not to make the same mistake they made with The Rage and the Pride, when their criticisms contributed to the book's sales skyrocket] the book has sold a half million copies in just two weeks. A translation into English is imminent, making The Force of Reason readily accessible for those in the United States of America who want to learn more about the dire situation imperilling Europe -- and all of Judeo-Christian/Western/Human Civilization.
— Lorenzo Vidino is a research analyst for the Investigative Project. |
