Posted by
Patrick Henry on Thursday, November 27, 2008 1:02:21 AM
India's financial capital is on fire. New York's subways are under threat of attack.
A suicide truck bomber attacks the American embassy in Afghanistan during a
Thanksgiving celebration. Terrorists assault the U.S. embassy in Yemen, killing both
men and women. Eighteen female suicide bombers surrender to U.S. forces in Iraq.
What do these purveyors of terror and bloodshed have in common? They're all stone
killers, and they're all Muslims.
Now, before you go off on me for racism or profiling, hear me out. The foregoing
actions, clearly documented and very much in the news over the last couple of weeks
cannot simply be brushed aside as by-products of "American imperialism" -- a favorite
and vapid slogan of the left which is lacking in both substance and historical grounds.
And it is not as though Christian extremists have not committed unjust and barbarous
acts at other times in history, as the Crusades and Torquemada's Inquisition bear grim
witness. But this is the 21st century, and the people gearing up in explosive vests,
making car bombs and murdering civilians are not Christians, or Jews, or
Buddhists. They are overwhelmingly Muslims.
So what is it that leads Muslims daily to do murder, targeting primarily Western
and Israeli civilians? Why is it that they feel justified in their bent to kill in God's
name? We have all heard the protestations from religious scholars and moderate
Muslims that these are just the fringe radicals, and that Islam is a religion of peace.
But in the real world, nobody's afraid to get on an airplane with a Catholic priest
or the Dalai Lama. So why do we mistrust Muslims, and not those of other faiths
cultures and persuasions?
If you are a one-worlder or left-winger who ultimately blames all evil on America,
the "great Satan," then you'll want to stop reading right now. If, however, you are
open to persuasion by facts, please read on.
All fanaticism is dangerous. And those fanatics who are most dangerous are those
who believe God wills, condones and blesses the violence they commit. One of the
famed "Five Pillars of Islam" is the concept of jihad, or struggle. Moderately under-
stood, jihad simply means that the good Muslim is obligated to struggle in life to
make his own life and those of the people around him or her a better one. A part of
the concept includes the obligation to help a fellow Muslim in his or her own jihad.
But Muslim hardliners through the centuries have expanded the meaning of jihad to
include the conversion of the entire world, by force if necessary, to Islam. Notable
among such is the Wahabi sect of Islam, of which Osama bin Laden is a notorious
devotee.
Not only is such a belief inherently dangerous, it is supported by the reported
actions of the prophet Muhammad himself, who committed wanton acts of rape
and murder against those who did not accept him as the one true prophet of Allah.
No "turn the other cheek," or "walk the second mile," for him, nor did he chastise
his followers for taking the sword on his behalf, as Jesus did. It's all right there
in the Quran. It should not be surprising, then, that Muslims who feel politically
aggrieved or culturally violated tend to justify violence aganist others as their
legitimate jihad. The fact is that the "one world" ideology, in the mind of the
radicalized Muslim, is one world under Islam. Not quite what you lefties had
in mind, is it?
But in a world gone mad, singling out Muslims for scrutiny at security check-
points is "racist profiling." Never mind that they're the only ones known to be
planning attacks on civilian targets. And we dare not say out loud that the notion
of jihad, as interpreted by Al Qaeda and their ilk is pure evil, and unworthy of
protected status as a "religious belief." And when nearly all the 9/11 attackers
are from Saudi Arabia, it is important that we go out of our way to soul search and
perhaps blame their extremism on "evil America," or hatch conspiracy theories
blaming the American or Israeli governments. If it walks like a duck and quacks
like a duck, why can't it ever just BE a duck?
So here's a parting shot to you politically correct, left wing elitists. Let's send
the lot of you abroad as ambassadors of goodwill to sell your one world hogwash
to bin Laden or Al Zawahiri. Maybe they'll let you write and post a note just before
they cut your throats. But those of us in the real world will still hold that no religion
-- including Islam -- can legitimately justify killing in the name of God or religion,
and that those who do so are just plain murderers -- no excuses, no free passes, no
mitigation, just criminals. And they must be dealt with as such. Certainly we have
heard some condemnation of this wanton killing by moderate Muslims. But on
volume and stridence it falls well short, because many believe that even though they
don't share the Wahabist interpretation of jihad, they are obligated to support, at
least passively, their brethren who do. Until we can stop tiptoeing around political
correctness and talk openly about the moral vacuity of such a belief, little in the
world is likely to change.