《查理周刊》被袭唤醒美法共鸣
Though recent, the neoconservative view of France as a nation of “cheese eating surrender monkeys” is now a memory. Yet the lessons of the Iraq invasion look ever more relevant. In 2003, many Americans saw France as a weak-kneed appeaser of Third World dictators — Saddam Hussein being the latest. Some of it was true. The French have few scruples in dealing with thuggish regimes when there is profit to be made. But France — and Germany — stood against the Iraq invasion on principle and substance. With hindsight they were prescient. History will treat Jacques Chirac more kindly than Tony Blair. Besides, the US and the UK have histories of arming their own strongmen — at one time that included Saddam. Whether you view the fight against Islamist fascism as a war, or as an international police operation, the French are doing some things right.
France has stuck more rigidly to secularism than its cousins in the US. Depictions of Jesus are as unwelcome in the French classroom as the Islamic veil. Some Muslim feminists argue this is counter-productive — wearing the chador emboldens girls from conservative families to go out into the world. Yet France enforces the principle even-handedly. In parts of the US, such as Texas, the curriculum teaches that the Christian God is the author of American liberty. It is a long way from what most of the founding fathers believed. Many, including Thomas Jefferson, the most Francophile of America’s revolutionaries, were Deists — they believed God originally made the universe but did not interfere in its workings. It was as close to atheism as the age permitted.
Today, few US politicians would dare admit to Godlessness, or even agnosticism. According to Pew, just 2.4 per cent of Americans identify as atheist. Yet faith is only selectively rewarded in the US. Muslim unbelievers are celebrated with plenty of airtime.
There are plenty of doubters in the English-speaking world. They point to French readiness to pay off al-Qaeda-linked hostage-takers in north Africa and elsewhere. They are alarmed by rising anti-Semitism — a record number of French Jews are moving to Israel. Moreover, France’s 5m Muslims are among the least integrated in Europe. Marine Le Pen’s far right Front National will doubtless gain support after last week’s horrors. Whatever backlash occurs will encourage yet more French Muslims to join the Islamic State’s insurgency in Syria and Iraq, another dubious league table that France tops.
美国人普遍把法国视为一个衰落中的国家。上周巴黎发生的屠杀让美国人回想起,他们对最长久的盟友法国看重的是什么。法国可能正受困于高失业率和僵化的公共行业。法国仍是美国的一个照单点菜式的盟友(而非英国那样的铁杆拍档)。但是,讽刺杂志《查理周刊》(Charlie Hebdo) 遇袭后法国的高效处理——以及被攻击目标具有的象征意义——唤醒了美国人基因中的某些东西。最新一期《纽约客》(New Yorker)封面的主题是“团结”,背景是制成埃菲尔铁塔(Eiffel Tower)卡通形象的一枝铅笔——巧妙呼应了法国《世界报》(Le Monde)在9/11事件之后“我们都是美国人”的标题。“我是查理”(Je suis Charlie)的标语可能有些过头了。但这场悲剧引出了美国对法国的根本同情。在这一背景下,没有一位美国高官能够参加周日在巴黎举行的团结游行更加令人遗憾。
尽管存在于不久之前,但将法国视为“吃奶酪的投降派猴子”的国家的新保守主义观点现已销声匿迹,但入侵伊拉克的教训看来更有相关性。2003年,许多美国人认为法国软弱面对第三世界独裁者——萨达姆•侯赛因(Saddam Hussein)是最新的一个。这道出了部分实情。当有利润可赚时,法国人在跟野蛮政权打交道时很少感到顾虑。但法国——以及德国——在原则立场和实质性问题上反对入侵伊拉克。事后看来,它们颇有先见之明。历史对雅克•希拉克(Jacques Chirac)的评价将高于托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)。再说,美国和英国都武装过自己的强人——有一度包括萨达姆。无论你将打击伊斯兰法西斯主义的斗争看作一场战争还是国际警察行动,法国人在一些事情上做对了。
法国人比美国人更固执地倒向了世俗主义。在法国的课堂上,耶稣画像跟伊斯兰面纱一样不受欢迎。有些穆斯林女权主义者辩称,这么做的效果适得其反——穿上黑色罩袍会让保守家庭的女子更有胆量走进外面的世界。不过,法国是不偏不倚地执行这一原则的。在美国有些地区(比如得克萨斯州),按照教学大纲的规定,基督教的上帝是美国自由的缔造者。这与美国多数开国先贤的信念相去甚远。当年的许多人,包括美国革命者中最崇拜法国的托马斯•杰斐逊(Thomas Jefferson),都是自然神论者——他们认为,最初由上帝创造了宇宙,但后来上帝对宇宙的运行未加干预。这是那个时代所能容许的最接近无神论的观点了。
如今,敢于承认不信仰上帝、甚至自称接受不可知论的美国政界人士寥寥无几。根据佩尤民调(Pew)的调查结果,仅有2.4%的美国人称自己是无神论者。不过,信仰在美国获得的回报是有选择性的。不信仰伊斯兰教的穆斯林获得喝彩,在电视上得到大量时间。
英语世界中有一些质疑者,他们指出法国准备为北非等地发生的、与基地组织有关的人质劫持事件支付赎金。反犹太主义升温引起他们的担忧——迁居以色列的法国犹太人人数创下纪录。此外,法国的500万穆斯林融入主流社会的程度是欧洲最低的。在上周的惨案发生后,马琳•勒庞(Marine Le Pen)领导的极右翼党派国民阵线(National Front)无疑将获得支持。无论产生什么反弹,都将刺激更多法国穆斯林加入叙利亚和伊拉克的“伊斯兰国”(Islamic State)动乱,这是法国领衔的另一个不好的排行榜。