Thursday - February 19, 2004
Hirohito and Islam
Many people object to my characterization of
Islamic clerics, and say that their recent Fatwa that I criticized in my last
rant is evidence that progress is being made. Their objection is that if they
came out and announced full support of the United States in combating terrorism
that they would cause unrest and risk getting killed by Muslim
extremists.
This is the same immoral
rationale used to excuse Hirohito from his complicity in waging war on China and
trying to create the Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere. Sadly, MacArthur
saw fit to exonerate him despite evidence to the contrary.
I think a rant about Hirohito would be very
interesting, but I don't have time for the research right now (happy hour with
the Porsche Club is soon!), so I'll restrict myself to a simple comparison of
his actions to these Islamic
clerics.
The basic outline of the
defense of Hirohito (or should I call him by his post mortem name of Showa?) is
that he really isn't very smart and being a simpleton he didn't really know what
was being done in his name. Hard to believe. The other, contradictory excuse
given is that if he had spoken up against the barbarous executions and rapine
behavior in the nations he conquered, then the real power in the Imperial
Japanese government would have executed him. So, at one time he is an imbecile,
but also clever enough to know to not speak out against clear evil.
The evidence that Hirohito knew what
was going on, directing what was going on, and relishing what was going on is
fairly clear, but I'll go over that later. For now, I'll just submit that any
imbecile should know that invading other countries to take over their raw
materials and governments is wrong. All 6 year olds can understand this. So,
imbecility is no excuse.
The second
argument is just as bad as the imbecile argument. Hirohito, or Showa to be
polite, was a living and mortal deity, the latest member in a purportedly 3000
year old dynasty. The legitimacy of that claim is debatable, but it was
believed by his followers. The argument goes that he was a puppet used by the
army to give them the authority they needed to rule the nation. They needed him
to control the population and give them the authority to create a fascist state
where each individual subordinated himself to the will of the Emperor. Yet
suddenly when it came to a need to speak out against evil, Showa suddenly became
powerless and unable to speak against those relying on his authority (despite
that he dissolved several parliaments).
The reality is that as the leader of
Japan, puppet or not, his name was used in the commission of unspeakable acts
with his knowledge. That he didn't speak against these acts, even at the risk
of his own life makes him equally guilty. Note that when he wanted to end the
war he broke precedent and jumped on the radio to tell everyone to stop
fighting. How lovely for him to only get this newfound courage at so late a
date. Morality required him to speak out long beforehand, before they invaded
Manchuria and began the Asian component of WWII.
So likewise we are now faced with a
worldwide religion led by a loose body of scholars who define the religion.
Just like Hirohito, they have an absolute obligation to speak loudly and
forcefully against using their religion to kill Americans, Jews, or anyone else,
and to condemn clearly and unambiguously anyone taking part in terrorist
activity. They are obliged to fight against this evil even at the cost of their
own lives. When their names are used to justify murder, then they must speak
against it or they are just as guilty of murder.
And just like with Showa, if such
actions in favor of morality result in their own death, then that is the price
of leadership. If they wish to remain leaders, they must take the consequences
of leading evil people.
And equally as
with Showa, the reality is that if they speak up, the evil is likely to stop
much sooner. The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do
nothing. When good men do nothing in the face of evil, they cease to be good
men any longer.
Let history remember
Showa as the man named Hirohito who was responsible for the murder and
enslavement of people in numerous nations and the eventual destruction of his
own nation. And unless something changes soon, history will remember Islamic
clerics as responsible for the rise of international terrorism the past thirty
years or so, and the eventual destruction of their religion and
culture.
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