Tom Holland og Robert Spencer i "klinsch".

Jeg har alltid hatt en viss skepsis til Tom Holland. Han er god, ja, strålende, ja, visst, men han kan i disse dagers riot-tider lett bli oppfattet som en pidestall som han selv har satt seg opp på. Han har riktig ok et befriende ørneblikk, og et overvettes storslagent språk, og ser panoramaene fra oven, og det er vel og bra, det er ofte et nødvendig og et absolutt fruktbart perspektiv, skal man klare å se linjene og de store sammenhengene sammen med ham, og på hans premisser.

Men Holland kan lett bli et bytte for «the rioteers» og lett bli trukket inn i «religionens» makabre spill. Inn i en hengemyr. Han har fortsatt armene høyt hevet, mens han synker, men de fleste vil tilgi ham, fordi han faktisk er «god».

Han må ikke bli «a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets upon the stage, and then is heard no more» … « A walking disaster» eller «a walking statute» eller noe.

  

Robert Spencer peker på visse ting som kanskje får Hollands rykte til å falme litt; men påpekningen kan også få Holland inn i en gate hvor det ikke kan skade med skjerpelse av selve tankeforutsetningene.

(Se min omtale av Hollands bok Dominion HER. Følg innlagte linker til andre steder på bloggen hvor jeg omtaler Holland bl a på bakgrunn av visse opptredener i NRK.

Jeg kommer i nærmeste fremtid til å legge ut et par lengre, - og derfor ikke automatisk mindre interessante og nødvendige posteringer - som kan illustrere noe av det Spencer og Holland snakker om, om «den kristne perfeksjon», bl a, ved gjennomganger av det typisk puritaneske tanke- og moralske univers, sett i lys av hva J. L. Pacer og det store verket til David D. Hall, The Puritans, bringer til torgs).

 

Spencer, en muslimsk imam og Tom Holland her eksemplifisert:

U.S. Imam and U.K. Academic Agree: Christianity Is to Blame for the Riots and Destruction

By Robert Spencer Jun 13, 2020 2:41 PM EST

Miami imam Dr. Fadi Yousef Kablawi and British establishment academic Tom Holland are no doubt worlds apart in worldview. Holland even received numerous death threats a few years ago for his critical examination of the origins of Islam, and although Kablawi may not want Holland dead, he almost certainly disapproves of such inquiries. But there is one thing … that the U.S. and the U.K. are experiencing now can be laid squarely at the feet of Christianity.

Spencer: If you haven’t noticed the rioters, looters, and destroyers chanting “Jesus is Lord,” it’s because Kablawi and Holland would have you believe that the connection is more subtle. … Kablawi asserted: “Christianity – the way it got corrupted – is the main reason for what we see happening in this country. Christianity.”

… the learned imam thinks that the riots are happening because Christian doctrine tempts believers to libertinism. Jesus died for your sins, so you can do anything you want … for: “[Jesus] – that’s their god, as they claim – he was killed. But he was not killed for a bad reason, he was killed for your sins. So it does not matter what you do … you are forgiven….

Spencer:  Kablawi’s punchline was predictable: “So what’s the solution for this aspect? Islam. Islam.”

Tom Holland, … does agree with Kablawi in thinking that the real problem we have on our hands today is because of Christianity, or in Holland’s view, “the legacy of Christianity.”

Holland thinks that Left-fascists are destroying statues because of the lingering influence of Protestant iconoclasm in British and American culture: “The assumption that heroes should be morally perfect seems yet another legacy of Christianity. We demand saints, …

Spencer: A reader pointed out that … the Christian doctrine of original sin, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If the rioters had believed in that central Christian idea, they would have done exactly the opposite of what Holland said: instead of expecting perfection from heroes, they would have understood that they were imperfect, and not pulled them down for not meeting their arbitrary standards.

Holland then clarified his position thusly: “Indeed yes. Christianity does teach that we are all sinners. But as the doctrine of original sin evaporates from public consciousness, so what remains is a kind of Pelagianism: an assumption that we can – should – attain perfection without divine grace.”

When I myself took issue with Holland’s claims and noted that the rioters were Marxists, not Christians, Holland stated: “You seem to find it hard to distinguish between ‘Christianity’ and ‘the legacy of Christianity,’” and declared: “And if you really think Marx owes nothing to the legacy of Christianity – well now!”

… Holland’s position involves a refusal to acknowledge the ideological forces that are really at work in the destruction of the statues. … Marxists have persecuted Christians and tried to destroy the Church everywhere they have held power. Is that irrelevant? To ascribe their deeds to the legacy of Christianity would require ignoring what Marxism actually is.

… he and the imam Kablawi are a manifestation of what is really wrong with the West today: a profound cultural self-hatred that has led to general contempt for our own history and heritage, and to the welcoming of the historical enemies of the Judeo-Christian West, … The views of this Miami imam and British academic are two symptoms of a much deeper malady. They are furthering the destructive work of the rioters by placing the blame at the feet of our own cultural and religious heritage when in reality the rioters are trying to destroy that heritage. …

https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2020/06/13/us-imam-and-uk-academic-agree-christianity-is-to-blame-for-the-riots-and-destruction-n526513