《查理週刊》被襲喚醒美法共鳴
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 Many, including Thomas Jefferson, the most Francophile of America’s revolutionaries, were Deists — they believed God originally made the universe but did not interfere in its workings.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.
美國人普遍把法國視爲一個衰落中的國家。上週巴黎發生的屠殺讓美國人回想起,他們對最長久的盟友法國看重的是什麼。法國可能正受困於高失業率和僵化的公共行業。法國仍是美國的一個照單點菜式的盟友(而非英國那樣的鐵桿拍檔)。但是,諷刺雜誌《查理週刊》(Charlie Hebdo) 遇襲後法國的高效處理——以及被攻擊目標具有的象徵意義——喚醒了美國人基因中的某些東西。最新一期《紐約客》(New Yorker)封面的主題是“團結”,背景是製成埃菲爾鐵塔(Eiffel Tower)卡通形象的一枝鉛筆——巧妙呼應了法國《世界報》(Le Monde)在9/11事件之後“我們都是美國人”的標題。“我是查理”(Je suis Charlie)的標語可能有些過頭了。但這場悲劇引出了美國對法國的根本同情。在這一背景下,沒有一位美國高官能夠參加週日在巴黎舉行的團結遊行更加令人遺憾。
儘管存在於不久之前,但將法國視爲“吃奶酪的投降派猴子”的國家的新保守主義觀點現已銷聲匿跡,但入侵伊拉克的教訓看來更有相關性。2003年,許多美國人認爲法國軟弱面對第三世界獨裁者——薩達姆•侯賽因(Saddam Hussein)是最新的一個。這道出了部分實情。當有利潤可賺時,法國人在跟野蠻政權打交道時很少感到顧慮。但法國——以及德國——在原則立場和實質性問題上反對入侵伊拉克。事後看來,它們頗有先見之明。歷史對雅克•希拉剋(Jacques Chirac)的評價將高於託尼•布萊爾(Tony Blair)。再說,美國和英國都武裝過自己的強人——有一度包括薩達姆。無論你將打擊伊斯蘭法西斯主義的鬥爭看作一場戰爭還是國際警察行動,法國人在一些事情上做對了。
法國人比美國人更固執地倒向了世俗主義。在法國的課堂上,耶穌畫像跟伊斯蘭面紗一樣不受歡迎。有些穆斯林女權主義者辯稱,這麼做的效果適得其反——穿上黑色罩袍會讓保守家庭的女子更有膽量走進外面的世界。不過,法國是不偏不倚地執行這一原則的。在美國有些地區(比如得克薩斯州),按照教學大綱的規定,基督教的上帝是美國自由的締造者。這與美國多數開國先賢的信念相去甚遠。當年的許多人,包括美國革命者中最崇拜法國的托馬斯•傑斐遜(Thomas Jefferson),都是自然神論者——他們認爲,最初由上帝創造了宇宙,但後來上帝對宇宙的運行未加干預。這是那個時代所能容許的最接近無神論的觀點了。
如今,敢於承認不信仰上帝、甚至自稱接受不可知論的美國政界人士寥寥無幾。根據佩尤民調(Pew)的調查結果,僅有2.4%的美國人稱自己是無神論者。不過,信仰在美國獲得的回報是有選擇性的。不信仰伊斯蘭教的穆斯林獲得喝彩,在電視上得到大量時間。
英語世界中有一些質疑者,他們指出法國準備爲北非等地發生的、與基地組織有關的人質劫持事件支付贖金。反猶太主義升溫引起他們的擔憂——遷居以色列的法國猶太人人數創下紀錄。此外,法國的500萬穆斯林融入主流社會的程度是歐洲最低的。在上週的慘案發生後,馬琳•勒龐(Marine Le Pen)領導的極右翼黨派國民陣線(National Front)無疑將獲得支持。無論產生什麼反彈,都將刺激更多法國穆斯林加入敘利亞和伊拉克的“伊斯蘭國”(Islamic State)動亂,這是法國領銜的另一個不好的排行榜。