La Liberté« controversy: the age of repentance

It could have been an ordinary event, but the activists decided otherwise: the publication on April 13, 2021 of the readers« letter »Aux jeunes filles en fleur" in La Liberté triggered a general outcry. This episode, too noisy for its insignificance, reveals the scandalous methods used by the identitarian left to impose its vision of the world on everyone. Here's how it works.

Basically, the text in question - which can legitimately be considered distasteful and unhealthy - plays only a minor role in the whole affair. Just like the sketch published a few weeks ago by Le Temps, judged to be transphobic by the same activist circles, it serves as a pretext for the orchestrated unleashing of widespread indignation, the aim of which is to impose an ideological narrative as the only legitimate reading of the event. In this instance, we are all called upon to see in the publication of this readers' letter and the comments made by Serge Gumy, editor-in-chief of La Liberté, This is proof that our society is riddled with discrimination mechanisms.

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And it's all there. In addition to the ridiculous accusation of «trivializing rape», the press release co-signed by four militant groups, including the Grève des femmes Fribourg and the ecologists from Extinction Rebellion, denounces in no particular order «sexist, racist, validist" discrimination. [editor's note: with regard to disabled people]., homophobic and transphobic...» Their argument? These discriminations are «systemic», i.e. they are built into the very workings of our society. And woe betide anyone who rejects such an interpretation of the facts: they are opposed to science! What shall I say? To the divine Sociology, which the Left uses today to legitimize its ideological combat, just like the Marxists of the 20th century.^th century appealed to the scientificity of Marx's work. Who would dare oppose science?

But here's where it gets interesting. It's not the text itself that most infuriates our new social cause activists, but the fact that we dare to challenge their interpretation of the facts. Indeed, during the day, Serge Gumy took to Facebook to say that he understood the potentially shocking nature of the text in question, but that he absolutely rejected the accusation of «participation in rape culture». It was this message in particular that radicalized the protest movement. The press release states: «Refusing to acknowledge the newspaper's responsibility for the violence of these remarks is tantamount to being complicit in the sexist and sexual violence experienced on a daily basis by women* and too many minors.»

Facebook posts from one of the protest movements:

Behind this jumble of abstruse ideas and unpleasant spelling lies a real ideological and political battle. Unfortunately for them, the leftist activists in question forget that because we live in a democracy, their interpretation of the facts is not the only legitimate one. That's why they radicalize themselves and succeed in establishing themselves everywhere as monopolistic defenders of the good, in the name of science, and demand that their opponents publicly repent of what they say. Anyone who opposes them necessarily participates in the «systemic» oppression of minorities; anyone who denies their accusations is guilty of «legitimizing» violence.

In this age of repentance, few people are able to stand up to this ideological radicalization. Serge Gumy finally buckled under the accusations. Although he happily stood firm in the face of accusations of fostering rape culture, he explicitly acceded to the activists' demands by publicly apologizing and acknowledging that the text should not have been published. And little by little, thanks to this perverse game of guilt, using the worst methods of public denunciation, the identitarian left is winning victory after victory, without anyone seeming able to stand up to it. Yet nothing could be simpler. All you have to do is look these militants in the eye and say: we don't care about your cries, we don't care about your complaints, we deny you the right to impose your militant discourse on everyone. You are the bearers of a political vision of the world, and no one denies you that right. On the other hand, everyone else has the right to contradict you.

Write to the author: antoine.bernhard@leregardlibre.com

Here is an excerpt from the readers« letter »Aux jeunes filles en fleur" published in La Liberté which drew the wrath of a certain readership and led to a demonstration by activists in Freiburg:

«I can say full-throatedly that I support Georges when he tells me he doesn't need to go to Schaffhausen to see a drop of kidney. It's visible on this nymphet's bare back, as are those knees winking through her pierced jeans and punctuated by her swaying gait. [...]

So I can avoid thinking about that schoolgirl from Gambach, and say to you, Ladies: you've had the courage to denounce me, but stop saying that you're free to dress as you like. Frankly, it's more relevant to say: I have the right to undress as I please, even if it's a little provocative.»