Jihad9: Muhammad, Schuman and the Limits to Free Speech

On 7 January 2015, France, Europe and the West were faced with people who killed rather than let journalists expose an unpopular truth. Shouting ‘Allah is great‘, three gunmen with automatic weapons launched an attack on the satirical publication, Charlie Hebdo, killing a dozen journalists and others and wounding many more.
News sources recorded reactions of horror. Almost immediately there were also reactions of joy and congratulations at the killings and woundings.  ‘This news quenches the thirst for revenge,’ said one. ‘France was [once] part of the land of Islam and will return to be the land of Islam‘ said another. Some newspapers in Turkey and elsewhere blamed the deaths on the journalists themselves.
Who is responsible for the cold-blooded murders? It was not the pope’s Vatican Swiss guard armed with pikes or orthodox Jews wielding prayer books that sent a death squad. Both the pope and Jews were satirized mercilessly by Charlie Hebdo. What are the limits to what I can say? Can I criticize just the blameworthy, murderous religious leaders and expose them and their books as frauds?

The duty of every human being is to search and find the truth about himself and about society. It is a fundamental to life. Each individual also has the duty before God to seek the truth about the Creation and the Creator.
Truth is not only the foundation of a stable society. It is the enemy of dictatorships, rascals, mafias, conspiracies and villains. The pantheistic Roman emperors decreed that British and Gaulish druidic Kelts should be put to death if found in Rome. Why? They worshipped one supreme being and began all their meetings with their recitation: ‘Truth against the world!‘ Julius Caesar records with some consternation that at their colleges in Britain they trained their youth in sciences, theology and philosophy for twenty years. Rome also decided to destroy all the Jews, and then Christianity. Instead it was pagan Rome that collapsed.
Today, in certain societies it is not always wise to speak the truth out loud. On the southern flank of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic to Egypt and Gaza, it is difficult to find a free distribution of the Bible in Arabic. Under Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, curiously underwritten by the EU, Coptic Christians were islamized by force, or even crucified. Bible shops were burnt. Further east, Christians are killed as soon as they are identified as such by the Islamic State. Thus the attack is much deeper and broader than just a ‘freedom of speech‘ issue.
Democracies should be different.
Democracies, according to Robert Schuman, the founder of the European Community, are based on Judeo-Christian principles. The search for truth requires both tolerance and the means to exchange information, knowledge and wisdom. His own life experience also showed an intolerance to those, like the Nazis and Communists, who used the tolerance of democracies to subvert them.
What are the limits to free speech? This is what Schuman wrote in Pour l’Europe, p75.

In an authentic democracy, there is but one limit to freedom: the institutions of the State and society must remain protected from violence and from destructive operations. Every reform, every claim can be not only the object of free discussion, but by individuals or collective activities in relation to public authorities in the framework foreseen by law.

Violence must be outlawed, not discussion. What then is the end result of this ‘free discussion‘? Will it lead to confusion, disputes, anarchy? Clearly not. Nor did Schuman mean the rootless, modern liberalism that would not recognize truth if it stared it in the face. Because someone declares an opinion to be true, does not make it true. Discussion cannot be stopped by ‘political censorship‘ by declaring a topic to be not ‘politically correct‘. Truth has to be tested. Both the Kelts and the Jews demonstrated the method.
Democracies are instruments to search for what Schuman called supranational values: justice, truth, science and authentic communalities that bring together a Community.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said: ‘Today’s murders are part of a larger confrontation, not between civilizations – no – but between civilization itself and those who are opposed to a civilized world.’
What is this ‘civilization‘? It involves rational, patient discussion, and the analysis of all dogma. How does one judge what is dogma and what is truth? Schuman continued:

There is no place here for the sort of dogmatism that can only be claimed by unchangeable and absolute truths, revealed and sanctioned by God, who is the unique Master and Judge of our consciences.

The killing of those who trouble consciences is a heinous violation of this principle.
Schuman further warned of the dangers of theocracy, the combination of religion and politics.

Theocracies fail to recognize the principle of separation of the spiritual and the profane. A theocracy causes a religious idea to take on responsibilities that do not belong to it. Under such a regime political differences are likely to degenerate into a religious fanaticism. Holy war is the most dangerous expression of a bloody exploitation of people’s religious proclivities. (p65)

Those like the Muslim Brotherhood who make an idol of the Koran make the double mistake: that of the book’s infallibility and that of confounding the realms of religion and politics into Sharia law. That governs every aspect of a human’s life. It includes death as a slave for Allah as its highest aspiration. The Egyptian people could not stomach the Muslim Brotherhood or Morsi’s deceit.
Recently, President of Egypt al-Sisi told Egypt’s top clerics and scholars at Cairo’s Al-Azhar university that they must change their {political} ideology and bring the seventh-century religion up-to-datAe with realities. The ideology had become ‘hostile to the entire world.‘ He asked: ‘Is it conceivable that 1.6 billion Muslims would kill the world’s population of 7 billion, so they could live on their own?‘
What of those who believe the Koran is written in heaven and has intolerance to kaffirs (unbelievers) written as its marching orders? Such beliefs in a movement started by an illiterate person cannot be much countered rationally by other uneducated, illiterate people. Islamic and Arabic countries are among those with the highest levels of illiteracy. Saudi Arabia did not have a single high school until 1930. (But it had the petroleum the West needed!)

For a ‘civilized person‘ to follow Koranic texts without understanding their context and after logical and historical analysis is as illogical as to assume that two, out-of context Christian texts such as ‘Judas went and hanged himself‘ and ‘Go thou and do likewise‘ represent the essence of a well-founded religion.

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12 Cyprus-2 Should an Asian island be part of Europe?

For centuries Europeans have argued: where are the limits of Europe? Professors and writers have battled on the subject. So have armies. Europe as a political and organisational entity would never exist if citizens had had to wait for experts, academics and politicians to agree.

"The definition of Europe as a geographical entity has long been a topic of academic debate," Robert Schuman told a meeting of foreign ministers and ambassadors in London’s prestigious St James’s Palace. "But Europe cannot wait for the end of a seemingly interminable discussion. She will define herself by herself by the willingness of her populations."

Schuman was speaking at the signing of the statutes of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949. By their votes and those in their parliaments, Europeans began defining Europe. France, under Schuman’s premiership, had been largely responsible for the creation of this, Europe’s first international democratic institution. It allowed European citizens through their elected ministers and their politicians to express European public opinion and democratically define policies of cooperation.

Thus Europe's ultimate borders are defined in the minds of Europeans and an act of political will about human rights and fundamental freedoms. (See Holocaust2 Human Rights vs Final Solution) The adherence to these principles in the Human Rights convention are the touchstone of being European.

Robert Schuman’s initiative helped break the centuries-long log-jam made by wars, competition and dominating sovereignties. Europe would be defined, he said, through a democratic act of will of its citizens mutually reinforcing humane, moral values for peaceful development.

More than half a century later, some politicians have reopened the ‘interminable’ debate. They insist that states and citizens of the European Union, must conform to their definition of European geography and their concept of history. It is too late to turn back the clock. The Founding Fathers would not agree with the statement of a politician that European "geography sets the frame."

In May 2004, Cyprus became a full member. In its "geographical frame," it is not in Europe. It is entirely in Asia. Up to 1878, Cyprus was part of Turkey's Asian Ottoman empire. Over the thousands of years of its history, Cyprus had been part of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires. When it was part of the Egyptian empire, it did not become African. Nor did its geography change later when conquered by Roman plots and arms. Some argue that because its culture is "European," it is part of Europe. But that would make Australia and the USA equally "European". In 1961 Cyprus became "European" when it joined the Council of Europe. Member States agreed with this definition. It was voted in all parliaments of the European Union. Greece and Turkey together became members of the Council years earlier, in 1949.

Europe's Asian footprint is now irreversible. This is not an accident. 'Europe' has long had irreversibly global geography. The official map of the European Union shows that its legal borders already extend to Africa and the Americas too. The French departments of Reunion (Africa) and Guyane (South America) Guadeloupe and Martinique are internal territory of the EU, as are the African islands of Portuguese Madeira and the Spanish Canaries.

It is the act of will or consciousness which Robert Schuman mentioned that decides the "limits of Europe" in today’s fashionable term. Schuman had a broader vision right from the start. ‘Europe’ is a dynamic project, not an empire or state. It was concerned with what he called Europeans duty to prevent "global suicide."

This may sound a vague and imprecise hope to some politicians and academics but in fact it has a solid intellectual basis which is little discussed today. It has real power. It is stronger than armies. The philosophical and scientific concepts he enunciated in the 1940s are the driving force of today’s enlargement process. He predicted it would be so, based on logical deduction. It created "a well spring of unexploited energies to take advantage of," he told the Council of Europe in 1950. He said that on the occasion he presented to the Consultative Assembly the details of the Schuman Plan, creating the European Community.

Schuman supported the Turkish adhesion to the European values of the Community system. He also made clear that northern, central and eastern European countries, including Russia, must be considered "European" when they embrace European values. These involved supranational rule of law protecting democracy and the human rights and fundamental freedoms.

These include not only freedom of speech but the freedom to hold a religion. Most importantly for any community based on supranational --that is eternal -- values it assures the right to change one's religion without let or hindrance. The Community is focused on a long-term democratic debate on moral improvement including personal values like truth and honesty and society values for physical, mental and spiritual health.

Schuman, together with the foreign ministers of the other European states, signed this Convention on 4 November 1950. The Council established working relationships with other democracies like Australia and New Zealand. And importantly for the future, it sustained and supported democracies under pressure and aspiring for more freedom like Finland and Israel.

The real difficulties of today’s debate arise only when people misconceive Schuman's Community system as a club leading to a super-state or federation. These politicians want to be the leader, whether wanted or not. This is a major intellectual block in discussions; people still talk in terms of federations and confederations while Schuman, a lawyer and constitutional expert, announced in the 1940s that he was about to create a third, system, the supranational, totally new in practice and in the history of political constitutions. Schuman's design was aimed at strengthening the open practice of democracy and the guarantees of the rule of law. He intended the impact of this supranational, democratic revolution to be planetary.

When is the Commission going to tell the TRUTH about Europe?

For the last several decades the European Commission has been telling whoppers, fibs and lies. At the time of writing, it is still doing so. A disinformation campaign has cost Europeans millions of euros. In total the losses to the European economy must amount to billions, possibly trillions. They began in the Gaullist period. They distorted competition and robbed consumers not only of money but political powers for a fairer Europe.

The lie is equivalent to telling a child that he is a poor orphan. In reality he is the son of a rich, benevolent family. The untruth that the Commission and many of the institutions are perpetuating is about the origin of the Community. It is about the real meaning and description of European democracy. They want to tell a lie about when, where and how the European Union came from. Believe it or not!

If you don't believe it, check the facts! Go to Commission publications and the site www.europa.eu the website of the European institutions. Under history, you will find what is supposed to be the FULL text of the Schuman Declaration. It is no such thing!

If the Commission started publishing the FULL text it would expose the falsity of the whole so-called debate on democracy in Europe. It would expose the Orwellian efforts that spent million of taxpayers' money trying to convince Europeans that 1957 was the Birthday of Europe and that citizens had been "Together since 1957" ! That untruth was simply a campaign to impose a Constitutional/ Reform Treaty that had already been rejected. Behind this disinformation is the sordid attempt by economic/ political forces to impose a new system that undermines the European supranational democracy. It broke up cartels that robbed citizens and incited conflict and wars. Schuman announced this new supranational democracy in multiple public speeches in the period 1948 onwards. He did this at the United Nations in 1948 and 1949. He spoke about building a supranational democracy in Europe in May 1949 ONE YEAR before the the Declaration of 1950.

In other words the European Commission -- led by the Council of Ministers who find it even more embarrassing -- have chopped out, deleted and censored a decade from Europe's history of democracy. They imposed a blackout on the first decade since the war as if a Common Market arose by magic and saved everyone's bacon. Coincidently this date 1957/8 coincides with the seizure of power by anti-communautaire Mr Charles de Gaulle, now draped in the European flag rather than the tricoleur!

A real democracy would impose citizens' control on the Community budget. I have never seen or heard any Commissioner discuss these matters. Yet it is the fundamental duty of all Commissioners to discuss and support European democracy. The Commission is supposed to be Guardian of the Treaties! How on earth can you get public support for a new and highly improved form of democracy if you seal your lips with sticking plaster on what it is all about? Are Commissioners sworn to silence, ignorant or in a plot against the public? What qualified them to be Commissioners if they do not know the history of the Institution?

Here's what the European Commission does not want the public to know. This is the full translation of the introduction of Robert Schuman's Declaration that was made nearly SIXTY years ago. And before we begin, What preparations are the Community institutions preparing to celebrate this 60th Anniversary, the longest period of peace in Western Europe's bloody history? Or is it all too politically embarrassing, so soon after the fiftieth???!!!

"It is no longer a question of vain words but of a bold act, a constructive act. France has acted and the consequences of its action can be immense. We hope they will be. France has acted primarily for peace and to give peace a real chance.

For this it is necessary that Europe should exist. Five years, almost to the day, after the unconditional surrender of Germany, France is accomplishing the first decisive act for European construction and is associating Germany with this. Conditions in Europe are going to be entirely changed because of it. This transformation will facilitate other action which has been impossible until this day.

Europe will be born from this, a Europe which is solidly united and constructed around a strong framework. It will be a Europe where the standard of living will rise by grouping together production and expanding markets, thus encouraging the lowering of prices.

In this Europe, the Ruhr, the Saar and the French industrial basins will work together for common goals and their progress will be followed by observers from the United Nations. All Europeans without distinction, whether from east or west, and all the overseas territories, especially Africa, which awaits development and prosperity from this old continent, will gain benefits from their labour of peace."

Note what the public has not been told:
1. Schuman makes clear that this proposal is the REAL start of major changes in Europe and consequently all the world.

2 This initiative will have IMMENSE consequences.

3. It will provide the ONLY real solution so far proposed for world peace.

4. An entity called EUROPE must exist for this world plan to succeed.

5. Five years previously Europe lay in blood, ruins and scattered with dead and dying. In only five years, Schuman and the French government were making the FIRST DECISIVE ACT in constructing Europe.

6. The European Community will transform the entirety of world politics. It will 'facilitate other action which has been impossible until this day.'

7. The first Community marks the BIRTHDAY of Europe. This is exactly what the Six leaders who signed the founding treaty on 18 April 1951 declared in the Europe Declaration. As far as I know this has never been published on the Commission's website. This makes complete nonsense of the attempt by unscrupulous politicians to try to make the signing of the Common Market treaty the birth of Europe. Absolute irresponsibility worthy of the propaganda systems of Joe Stalin and Herr Hitler! They rewrote history and changed facts to support their totalitarian regimes. They repeated lies until they made it difficult or dangerous for any citizen to resist and oppose them with truth.

8. The European Community will have a solid foundation. In terms of personnel it is small. In terms of budget (even with the inflated, political operations) it uses only one per cent of the GDP of 27 Community Member States. The USA's federal budget uses multiple times that amount. The Community has had the strength and flexibility to withstand attack, opposition and abuse of selfish, nationalistic leaders and self-serving politicians. It provides a model for many other aspiring Communities of States in the world that are empty shadows in comparison. Nowadays they mistakenly think that something like the European Union is the solution (without a Community legal and democratic system)!

9. Schuman's forecast that Europe would both be prosperous and would also see falling prices for goods is remarkable. Economically these two matters rarely coincide. His declaration contrasts starkly with contemporary prognosticators who in 1950 saw Europe as a continuing zone of war, poverty and and more conflict.

10. Europeans behind the Iron Curtain would not only benefit from the European Community but they had a right and an open invitation to join it. Schuman made this clear at the press conference. It was, he said, open to Russia. Membership would have totally turned the communist system upside down because it imposed gradual democratic change. (The Soviets immediately attacked the Community as a Cartel. That was pretty stupid. The European Community was the world's first international anti-cartel agency.) The Community was a beacon of light to all the countries of central and eastern Europe and wore away the Iron Curtain itself. Schuman predicted this would happen.

11. The Community system -- if properly understood -- would bring peace and prosperity to Africa and other continents where European powers once had colonies.

12. The mission statement of the European Community -- is to make peace at home and to create the labour of peace abroad, based on the realistic and true principles of the type of democracy that Schuman announced. This is far from how democracy is presented by politicians -- who all too often favour a system that benefits political parties and not the people.

The full text can be found on www.schuman.info where it has been published for the last decade. There you will also find an analysis and a quiz on the full text.