Islam: Ignorance is not a Strategy

[Chris_]

Islam: Ignorance is not a Strategy

Eight years after the tragic events of 9/11, most Americans still know nothing about Islam. Moreover, our political leaders now refrain from even associating terrorism with Islamic radicals at all. To commemorate 9/11, President Obama spoke wistfully at a memorial service at the Pentagon. He called Americans “to serve our communities, to strengthen our country and to better our world.” He never once made mention of Islam, the religion Obama had praised in his White House Ramadan dinner, a dinner called to “celebrate a great religion, and its commitment to justice and progress.”

Despite the President's efforts to re-educate Americans on Islam, research shows that few of us actually know anything about the alleged “religion of peace.” One would think (and hope) that after the events of 9/11, Americans would have seized the opportunity to examine the movement that spawned such heinous acts of terror. On that momentous day, I realized my own gaping lack of knowledge regarding the world's second largest religion. I had studied Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity, but knew noting about Islam. In the years since 9/11, I have now read the Koran, studied biographies of Mohammed, reviewed histories of Islam, and interviewed scholars of Islam. I wrongly assumed that other Americans were doing the same self-education.

*snip*

In sum, Islam was conceived as a political movement wedded to a religious faith. Mohammed envisioned Islamic political hegemony from the outset, and immediately organized his own army to pursue that vision. Yes, the founder of the religion of peace led his own army and waged bloody, violent wars against those who would oppose his own reign. Most Americans should know that, but clearly, we do not.

Mohammed's vision extended worldwide, or to as much of the world as he understood at the time. Global political hegemony and domination. Force used to achieve it and to enforce it. Conversion by coercion or force. These themes run continually throughout the history of Islam. Jihadism took root in full force (no pun intended) several centuries after Mohammed, and the notion has continued unabated in a variety of ways ever since.

Most Americans immediately divert the argument at this point to note the sins of other religions. One emailer even suggested to me that the Catholic Church treats women far worse than Islam. We shall save that laughable argument for another day. My point: this is not to absolve other religions from their failures; however, one simply cannot deny that no other religious founder endorsed and used violent conquest in the ways utilized by Mohammed. When the founder beheads those who oppose him, that says something about a faith's core DNA. Religious tolerance and freedom are marginal at best to the Islamic world view. Witness the use of the death penalty still today in many, if not most, Islamic nations for those humans accused of practicing other faiths or merely carrying Bibles.

Most Americans do not ignore this. They simply do not know it at all. When the Western world deals with Islam (and it is important to distinguish between Islam and individual Muslims, many of whom do not emulate their founder in his lifestyle choices), the West needs to understand plainly that the equality of women, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, simply do not belong in the Islamic world-view. That cannot be changed from without. If Islam is going to change, it must come from within.

MORE

Long, but a good read.

[DixieBelle]

Excellent post. I'm spreading that link around.