The canary in a coal mine was an advanced warning system. Miners used to take caged canaries with them into the mines. And if there were methane or carbon monoxide gases present, the canary would die before they reached levels hazardous to humans, thus giving the miners an early warning and a chance to get away. As a system, it is rather cruel to the canaries. So, asking if ex-Muslims are canaries in the coal mine, is a question that should focus less on the cute canary aspect, and more on the danger it was in – and how to avoid it.
But the question remains: If ex-Muslims are the canaries in the coal mine, what is the coal mine? What are they meant to give us a warning about? And who are the miners?
The coal mine is the setting of the metaphor, so I suppose it is wherever the ex-Muslims in question happen to be. The danger is islamism. That should make the miners in danger, whatever society the coal mine happens to represent.
- That gives us three questions:
Firstly: What are the dangers to society from islamism?
Secondly: What are the dangers to ex-Muslims?
Third, and possibly most important: What are the warning signals these canaries have to give the miners? And are the miners willing and able to hear them?
What is it that ex-Muslims have to tell our societies about the dangers of islamism? And as we, the miners, are not really in a position to escape from the mines, how are we to deal with the dangers they warn us about?
Ur Arnfinn Petterssens inledningstal vid konferensen Celebrating Dissent, Oslo, September 2024
