Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The West

by Mark Steyn

Book Overview

Roaming from America to Europe to Australia, Lights Out is a trenchant examination of the tensions between a resurgent Islam and a fainthearted west - and of the implications for liberty in the years... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0973157054
• ISBN13: 9780973157055
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Stockade Books
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I certainly did not think a country like Canada was in so much trouble before....

I certainly did not think a country like Canada was in so much trouble before I moved to Canada many many years ago. What these so-called Human Rights Commissions/Tribunals do is scary. I did not have an iota of freedom in Iran and one of the reasons that made me move to Canada was lack of freedom in a country like Iran. One couldn't read a book or a newspaper freely in that god forsaken country. It is shameful that a first rate country like Canada treats thinkers and writers the way Iranian regime does. Did I expect to see the same thing in Canada before reading this book or getting to know Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn? NO... Absolutely NOT. It's not just Canada. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, The United States and most other western countries suffer from this leftist disease that is Human Rights Tribunal. Every thing is silenced under the disguise of avoiding creating conflict in the society. The purpose of such tribunals is to stifle the rights of majority in favor of the minority. A bright young author and editor like Ezra Levant has to go through so much hassle while bunch of Islamist terrorists roam freely across the country spreading their hatred through government funded tribunals. It's wrong and it is dreadful. I am disgusted by what is going on in this country with regards to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. This book (full of articles written by Mark Steyn) is chronicling the fight against the three Islamist sock puppets and their enablers in HRC. Read it and make it available to others too. 5/5

Excellent book

Initially I was disappointed, since it was really a reprint of many of Mark's articles. But I had actually not read most of them, and in fact his most well read ones, were NOT included. So my initial disappointment was one of those judging a book by its cover moments. Additionally, at the end of each article that there was a complaint about, he included the official complaint about it, allowing the reader to easily see how ridiculous the complaints were! To the point, it looked like whowever wrote the complaint (Sock puppets?) did not even read the actual articles. Or if they read them, they were different ones than Mark wrote!! And then he rebutted the complaints, which I found to be very effective. A good read, well worth the purchase. Keep up the amusing work Mark!

The End of Free Speech?

When reading Mark Steyn's latest book, "Lights Out" you cannot help but get the feeling that the western world has gone mad. We are our own worst enemies and if we lose our freedoms, and if our way of life is destroyed, it will be no ones fault but our own. Steyn describes through his columns and other writings, his long battle with Canadian Human Rights Commissions in three different provinces in Canada. He was brought before the commission because of a law suit that claimed Steyn's book, America Alone incited Islamaphobia and hate. The publisher of the largest magazine in Canada was also included in the suit because they had printed an exert from Steyn's book. These so called arbiters at the CHRC decide what is permissible to say in a civilized society and what is not. Muslims in Canada have been helped by misguided Canadians to cause such economic troubles in both time and money, that even when the eventual suit is dismissed, the effect is to shut down any discussion of Islam, its culture, or anything to do with its religion. Steyn is simply offering a clarion call for westerners to understand the threat posed by an Islamic cultural invasion into western society. When he quotes Imams hate speech, which is encouraging the deaths of infidels, it is Steyn who is accused of hate speech. The same thing is happening in Europe. When Geert Wilders made a documentary showing Imams preaching hate and giving direct quotes from the Koran that encourages murder, it is Wilders who has been accused of a hate crime in his own country, the Netherlands. Western civilization is in great danger of extinction. In reality the threat is not so much from Islam as it is from carrying political correctness to ridiculous lengths. Multi-culturalism is being used to strip patriotism from our hearts. Liberals who say they care so much about minorities are using the law to help those who would abolish the law. We in the west are committing suicide with our feel good, self-righteous commissions and rulings. Once the Muslims take over in Europe, which if you read America Alone you know is coming, they will then move on the rest of the western world. We had better wake up before it is too late. If you are concerned about free speech in the western world, and especially if you are not concerned, you will want to read this fascinating book.

Sharply funny and yet a description of a true life nightmare

I wish I could believe that there was no cultural clash between the politically minded Muslims and the West. Or that the large numbers of Muslims immigrating into Europe, Canada, America and elsewhere were no different than the large numbers of Irish and Italians a century or more ago. But what I see with my own eyes tells me this is different. And this very valuable book by Mark Steyn can show you why, too. And it will show you why the left-wing multicultural movement is aiding and abetting the cultural suicide the West seems to want. You may have heard the saying that a mind can be so open that you brain falls out. Well, we see that characteristic being exhibited in far too many crumbling pillars of the Western tradition and those trying to help bring them down. To replace them with what? Darkness? Fantasy? This is a collection of columns by Mark Steyn that chronicle his writings around the time that his boo, "America Alone" was in the news. Part of it was reprinted in "Macleans", an important Canadian magazine. Well, it turns out that Canada has a Human Rights Commission who used Section 13 in their Canadian Human Rights Code to go after anyone who dared speak their mind on issues that gave offense to groups the commission favors. What is particularly awful is that those accused never have the benefits of common law such as presumed innocence or the right to confront one's accuser. The Commission ALWAYS found those accused guilty. Unfortunately for them, Steyn and the publisher of "Macleans" decided to fight back. The case was brought by Islamic activist Dr. Mohamed Elmasry who used three of his students to bring the charges. Steyn refers to this trio as the sock puppets since they said and did only what Elmasry put them up to doing. The first part of the book reprints the articles they claimed offended them, their claims about the offenses, and Steyn's reply. I found much of it very funny in a horrifying and exasperating kind of way. Sort of like a Kafka tale done by the Three Stooges. Steyn's writings in this book address much more, though. You will get his sharp and witty attacks on the UK trying the appeasement route with their growing Muslim population and their demands for a separate legal system. I liked Steyn's pointing out that the hope that if we retreat just one more time the other side will be satisfied and stop pushing for more is folly. I can't recount the whole of the book here. But I want you to read it. I think it is a terrific book on a vital subject. In any case, I like Steyn's writing and recounting of his travails in dealing with this Canadian Inquisition. Strongly and fervently recommended. Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Do you appreciate freedom of speech? Read Lights Out.

In "Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The West," Mark Steyn details his recent misadventures with Canada's laughable "Human Rights" Commissions. After Maclean's, a Canadian news weekly, printed an excerpt from Steyn's America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, the Canadian Islamic Congress sued Maclean's for their "flagrant Islamophobia," demanding space in the privately owned magazine to print a response. Two of three Commissions agreed to hear the case, despite the plaintiff's arguments being written by five of Canada's least literate law school students. Lights Out is primarily a compilation of Steyn articles from the past several years, with a fair amount of new commentary related to the "human rights" trials. The Maclean's articles cited as justification for legal action by the plaintiff are reprinted in full, followed by the plaintiff's complaints, followed by Steyn's concise destruction of said complaints. Far from the obnoxious partisan your average multiculti-cultist dismisses him as, Steyn relates international headlines and demographic stats in a way that's thoughtful, worrying, and humorous. There are Muslim populations in Western countries that are hostile to Western culture and laws. These populations are growing rapidly, while native birth rates hover at unsustainable levels. Are these issues we're allowed to discuss? Steyn's stated purpose is repeal of the Canadian law that created the freedom-suppressing Human Rights Commissions. An ambitious goal, to be sure, but one that will gain momentum after a few hundred thousand Canadians have read Lights Out. If you care about free speech, order this book.