The normally placid Spokane Valley City Council is in an uproar these days. It seems that one of its members had the unpardonable temerity to stray away from leftism’s prescribed beliefs and perspectives, and to express views of her own. This is, as the leftist overlords of George Orwell’s dystopian Oceania would say, double-plus ungood, and there have been frenzied demands for the apology, or resignation, or at very least the public shaming of the offender. So far, at least, Council members have, surprisingly enough, stood firmly, albeit reluctantly, for the freedom of speech.
Spokane’s Spokesman-Review reported Wednesday that “Spokane Valley City Council members rejected a call to issue an apology or stronger condemnation of Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger, who declared herself a ‘proud Islamophobe’ in a Facebook post last week.” It is astonishing that public officials anywhere, and especially in far-left Washington state, would refuse to accommodate demands for the professional ruin of someone who had the temerity to take the despised label of “Islamophobe” upon herself willingly, but Yaeger did so in a way that made it difficult for Council members to throw her under the bus.
Yaeger’s original offending post seems to have been taken down, but on Monday, she posted a video in which she explained her rationale for flirting with career suicide: “I will never apologize,” she said, “for exercising my First Amendment right to speak plainly and honestly. Let me be very clear: pedophilia is wrong, rape is wrong, female genital mutilation is wrong. These are not political opinions; they are basic human truths.”
What do any of those things have to do with her taking on the label of “Islamophobe”? Everything. Islamic tradition records that when Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was 54 years old, he consummated his marriage with a nine-year-old girl, Aisha. Islamic law allows a Muslim man to have sexual relations with up to four wives, as well as the “captives of the right hand,” that is, captive non-Muslim women (cf. Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30). One Islamic legal manual explains “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female.” (Umdat al-Salik e4.3).
To oppose pedophilia, rape, and female genital mutilation is thus to oppose practices that all too many Muslims believe are perfectly right and justified in their holy book and by the example of their prophet. Yaeger rightly notes that anyone who says anything remotely critical of Islam is smeared as an “Islamophobe,” and thus takes the label upon herself: if opposing those evils is to oppose practices that Islam sanctions, then she will bear the opprobrium that comes with doing so.
And that opprobrium came swiftly. The Spokesman-Review notes that “30 of the 32 people who offered public testimony at Tuesday’s council meeting” criticized Yaeger, but the councilwoman still stood firm. Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley was one of those who rushed to condemn Yaeger, saying: “I was deeply troubled to learn about the council member’s actions. I want to make it clear to everyone here tonight and to all the residents that council member Yeager’s social media post does not represent the values or views of myself, the city of Spokane Valley, or, I believe, of this council.” Of course. The mayor and the council are all for pedophila, rape, and female genital mutilation. Got it.
Haley added, in typical leftist fashion, “that hate speech and discrimination have no place in the Valley or in public discourse.” The mayor and Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg also tried to calm the controversy by issuing a statement: “Councilmember Yaeger’s views are that of her own and do not represent the full Council or City of Spokane Valley. As we proudly represent the residents of Spokane Valley, we stand firmly united against all forms of discrimination. The City is committed to fostering a community of respect for all citizens, regardless of faith.”
Of course. But telling unpopular truths isn’t “hate speech,” and Yaeger neither called for nor engaged in any discrimination. Thinking clearly, however, doesn’t come easily to leftists. They’re so busy lying to themselves and the rest of us all the time that they’ve grown used to ignoring basic distinctions and pretending that anything they dislike is evidence of some heinous moral deficiency.
Related: UK Government on Verge of Making It Illegal to Tell the Truth
Haley even claimed that evil right wingers had threatened to kill her for opposing Yaeger’s statement: “I know you’re disappointed and I know you think I was flippant,” she said to those who were demanding that Yaeger be forced to apologize or resign, “although I’ve gotten death threats for standing up against her statement.” She explained that “the City Council cannot do anything about the situation because Yaeger has the freedom of speech and nothing in the governance manual would change that.”
The freedom of speech. There’s that pesky irritant again. Once the left is fully back in power, they’ll take care of that once and for all.
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