In an earlier era, we had a “sense of place.” Our mere presence at cathedrals, war memorials, and universities, dictated a certain conduct in these places of special significance. The great cathedrals with their art and stained glass generated a sense of awe and wonderment of the “glory of God.” National memorials, such as the one at the top of Mt. Soledad overlooking San Diego, were a place of respect and appreciation for those who had made the ultimate sacrifice. Also, the hallowed halls of a university, an institution of higher learning, were considered a place of civil discourse, a place for the free and full discussion of ideas.

For at least left-wing students today, the idea that certain conduct is appropriate due to a “sense of place” is deemed a quaint and thoroughly anachronistic idea. Ironically, the significance of a university setting is unappreciated by some Columbia students who with the determination of a religious fervor approaching a sacramental obligation went to great lengths to deny invited guests an opportunity to speak.

On October 4, 2006, anarchy ensued at Columbia when a group of protesters booed and shouted down two guest speakers from the Minuteman Project. Protesters rushed the stage, turned over furniture, a student was injured (per a report in the student newspaper), and the guests were driven from the auditorium.

There are a number of reports setting out the details of that evening (at the NY Sun and blogs by Power Line (with video), Michelle Malkin, and Martin Peretz at “ The Spine”).

After the incident, a spokesman for the student protesters exhibited a triumphal display of absolute certitude in the rightness of their mission. He argued that the representatives of the Minuteman Project: “… had no right to be able to speak here.” Action and comments by the students included: a banner in both Arabic and English that read, “No one is ever illegal.” They posted a self-serving justification for their action at a web site: “delete the borders” “towards a global network of movements against borders.”

The illiberal conduct by the student protesters demonstrated a lack of understanding for western tradition and the role of reason in discussion. Their inflexible position and action differ, if at all, by only a small degree from that of Islamic fundamentalists that protests speech and the existence of books that offend their sensibility. Despite efforts to vindicate themselves as “liberal” and “open-minded,” their conduct was illiberal and a rejection of secularism.

Oriana Fallaci, an avowed atheist with an early respect for the Left, identified that the Left of her parents was no more. In an introspective look at what has happened in Europe, she questioned how she missed the change in the Left? At first, when the Left spoke of the Khomeini Revolution she wondered how it could possibly identify with such a world? Wasn’t the Left secular?

She had been reviewing the on-going loss of identity, culture, tradition, and values in her native Italy and Europe due to increasing Islamism (Islamic Fundamentalism). It was during this introspection, she realized that the Left was not secular:

“[I]t [my interrogative] was wrong because the reasonings or rather the premises on which I based my interrogative were wrong. First premise, my illusion the Left would be laic. I mean secular. Though the daughter of secularism, (besides a secularism begotten by liberalism and consequently not consonant with dogmatism), the Left is not laic. Whether it dresses in red or black or pink or green or white or in all the colours of the rainbow, the Left is confessional. Ecclesiastic. Because it derives from an ideology of religious character. That is, because it appeals to an ideology which claims to possess the Truth. On one side, the Good. On the other, the Evil. On one side, the Sun of the Future. On the other, the Darkness. On one side, the comrades. The blessed ones, the faithful. On the other, the infidels or rather the infidel-dogs. The Left is a Church. And not a Church similar to the Church which came out of Christianity, thus open to free will. A Church similar to Islam. Like Islam it considers itself sanctified by a God who is the custodian of the Truth. Like Islam it never acknowledges its faults and its errors, it considers itself infallible and never apologizes. Like Islam it demands a world at its own image, a society built on the verses of its Prophet…. Like Islam it does not accept different opinions and if you think differently it despises you.” (The Force of Reason) [p. 215]

Although an atheist, Oriana Fallaci, realized that: “…without Christianity there would not have been the Renaissance, there would not have been the Enlightenment…. (Oriana Fallaci, The Force of Reason) [p. 190] [Emphasis added.]

Rowdy protesters, an hour before the scheduled event, in a chilling echo from the past chanted outside the auditorium, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the Minutemen have got to go!” A chant eerily reminiscent of an earlier ballyhoo, “Hey hey, ho, ho, Western Civ has got to go.” For anyone concerned about protecting borders that respect sovereignty, enforcement of laws that retain values, culture, and tradition, i.e., the identity of their country, it is clear the Left will not defend America against the gathering storm of increasing Islamic Fundamentalism.