You’d almost think Muslims really do control the world. Certainly the American and French elections seem to be mostly about them. After Mohammed Merah killed seven people in Toulouse in the name of Islam, Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to turn the election into a referendum on who can best protect the French from Muslims. In a curious echo of medieval controversies in Europe, he also wants to protect the French from halal meat, which they have belatedly discovered they’re all eating. In that other Enlightenment nation, Newt Gingrich is warning of sharia law being imposed on the US through “stealth jihad”. That won’t surprise the many Americans who already believe they are ruled by a Muslim. I had got the impression in recent years that the US and France had other problems, but clearly I was wrong.
你可能禁不住认为穆斯林真的在控制世界。看上去，美国和法国的大选无疑在围绕穆斯林做文章。穆罕默德•默拉(Mohamed Merah)以伊斯兰教的名义在图卢兹枪杀七人的案件发生之后，尼古拉•萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)试图把法国大选变成一场有关谁能最有效地保护法国人免受穆斯林伤害的全民公决。萨科齐还想让法国人免于食用清真肉食（而法国人直到这一刻才发现，他们一直在食用这种肉食），这让人们产生了一种古怪的联想——他们联想到了欧洲中世纪时的一些论战。而在另外一个启蒙思想盛行的国家，纽特•金里奇(Newt Gingrich)正警告大家，要警惕伊斯兰教法通过“隐形的圣战”来统治美国。对于许多原本就相信一位穆斯林在统治自己的美国人来说，这件事并不令人意外。近年来我感到，美国和法国有别的问题要去面对，但我显然想错了。