Religions or Threats?
Bensblurb #565 Aug. 11, 2010
Religions or Threats?
Back in the good old days when we knew the enemy, it was pretty much black and white, in the generic not racial sense: Germany, Japan, and a bit of Italy.
As I grew older after World War II, with no real enemies in sight for us teenage Methodists, “they” became the Baptists, Church of Christ and a smidge of Episcopalians. Catholics were too rare, and peculiar, to earn our sneers.. Of course, what eventually happened was that I married one and lived happily ever after, at least for the first 54 years and counting.
But back then, we teens could see little merit in some churchgoers (1) dipping rather than sprinkling for baptisms, (2) banning accompanied music, like pianos, during their services, although they could sing beautifully, perhaps as a result, or (3) serving real wine at communion.
Of course, those were youthful biases that died with maturity, right? I hope so. For as adults we’ve known of real threats to our beliefs and way of life. There were the Soviets, the “Evil Empire” as Ronald Reagan labeled them shortly before their dissolution. Now there are the Islamists, or Muslims--and the two are both threats, right?
I don’t know. However, I have come across two Internet pieces since the controversy erupted over the 9/11 Ground Zero proposal to establish a mosque there. Are they informative or merely inflammatory? I’ll not judge, but I invite your comments.
Roger Kimball (in Pajamas Media):
“"Islam is not a movement to be engaged, it is an enemy to be defeated.”
Please, commit that to memory. Think of it every time someone tells you that Islam means “peace” or starts making excuses for the latest chapter in the annals of Islam’s war against the West.
For that’s what we’re talking about here: Islam’s war against the West. It’s not Islam’s misuse of commercial airliners, its penchant for sawing off the heads of people they disapprove of, or even its profound lack of sympathy for bacon. No, it’s Islam’s fundamental, essential incompatibility with foundational Western values like free speech, the separation of church and state, and equality under the law. Such things are not simply missing from Islam: they are positively repudiated by Islam...not “peace” but “submission,” i.e., submission to the will of Allah...
[In a recent speech, Newt Gingrich’s] key insight is that we are engaged not in a war against terror but a war against Sharia, i.e., Islamic law. Would that our current masters in Washington had as clear-eyed an appreciation of the nature of the conflict in which we are immersed...
Gingrich made two points of surpassing importance. First, some Islamists employ mass-murder attacks while others prefer a gradual march through our institutions — our legal, political, academic, and financial systems, as well as our broader culture; the goal of both, though, is the same. The stealth Islamists occasionally feign outrage at the terrorists, but their quarrel is over methodology and pace. Both camps covet the same outcome.
Second, that outcome is the death of freedom. In Islamist ideology, sharia is deemed to be the necessary precondition for Islamicizing a society — for Islam is not merely a religious doctrine, but a comprehensive socio-economic and political system. . . .
While our law forbids cruel and unusual punishments, Gingrich observed that the brutality in sharia sanctions is not gratuitous, but intentional: It is meant to enforce Allah’s will by striking example.”
One further point. The main front in the battle between the party of freedom and the party of Jihad is not unfolding in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, or even in the colonized bits of Europe. It is here in the United States. The Ayatollah Khomeini used to refer to America as “the Great Satan” not because he thought America was the embodiment of evil (though he may well have thought that, too) but rather because America epitomized everything about the West that tempted good Muslims to abandon that which made them Muslims: their belief in, and adherence to, Sharia, i.e., a view of the world that embraced the will of Allah as the last word about, well, about everything. There is no “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” in Islam because Caesar, i.e., the secular realm, has no independent claims at all. Allah is it and Sharia describes the implementation of his law.
“The war is about the survival of Western civilization, and we should make no apologies for the fact that the West’s freedom culture is a Judeo-Christian culture — a fact that was unabashedly acknowledged, Gingrich reminded his audience, by FDR and Churchill. To ensure victory in the United States we must, once again, save Europe, where the enemy has advanced markedly. . . .
Our allies are the Muslims who embrace our freedom culture — those for whom sharia is a matter of private belief, not public mission. Our enemies are those who want sharia to supplant American law and Western culture. When we call out the latter, and marginalize them, we may finally energize the former.”
And this piece, as forwarded by old school buddy, Jerry Hawsey, who writes, “Folks, the following is fact, pure and simple. Having had a little exposure to the Muslim world, I can attest to that. It’s a damn shame our government has not tuned in to this...”
Islam Explained in Layman's Terms Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat.Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life.Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges.When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.Here's how it works: As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:United States -- Muslim 0.6%Australia -- Muslim 1.5%Canada -- Muslim 1.9%...
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:Denmark -- Muslim 2%Germany -- Muslim 3.7%United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%...From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:France -- Muslim 8%Philippines -- 5%Sweden -- Muslim 5%...At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections in: Guyana -- Muslim 10%India -- Muslim 13.4%Israel -- Muslim 16%Russia -- Muslim 15%After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8% At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:Bosnia -- Muslim 40%Chad -- Muslim 53.1%Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:Albania -- Muslim 70%Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%...
After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%Egypt -- Muslim 90%Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%Iran -- Muslim 98%Iraq -- Muslim 97%...
100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word....
Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons."Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel." -- Leon Uris, 'The Haj'...
--You can write to Jerry and I'm sure he’ll be happy to send you the whole thing. Jhawsey@sbcglobal.net
--Ben Blankenship
#########
Religions or Threats?
Back in the good old days when we knew the enemy, it was pretty much black and white, in the generic not racial sense: Germany, Japan, and a bit of Italy.
As I grew older after World War II, with no real enemies in sight for us teenage Methodists, “they” became the Baptists, Church of Christ and a smidge of Episcopalians. Catholics were too rare, and peculiar, to earn our sneers.. Of course, what eventually happened was that I married one and lived happily ever after, at least for the first 54 years and counting.
But back then, we teens could see little merit in some churchgoers (1) dipping rather than sprinkling for baptisms, (2) banning accompanied music, like pianos, during their services, although they could sing beautifully, perhaps as a result, or (3) serving real wine at communion.
Of course, those were youthful biases that died with maturity, right? I hope so. For as adults we’ve known of real threats to our beliefs and way of life. There were the Soviets, the “Evil Empire” as Ronald Reagan labeled them shortly before their dissolution. Now there are the Islamists, or Muslims--and the two are both threats, right?
I don’t know. However, I have come across two Internet pieces since the controversy erupted over the 9/11 Ground Zero proposal to establish a mosque there. Are they informative or merely inflammatory? I’ll not judge, but I invite your comments.
Roger Kimball (in Pajamas Media):
“"Islam is not a movement to be engaged, it is an enemy to be defeated.”
Please, commit that to memory. Think of it every time someone tells you that Islam means “peace” or starts making excuses for the latest chapter in the annals of Islam’s war against the West.
For that’s what we’re talking about here: Islam’s war against the West. It’s not Islam’s misuse of commercial airliners, its penchant for sawing off the heads of people they disapprove of, or even its profound lack of sympathy for bacon. No, it’s Islam’s fundamental, essential incompatibility with foundational Western values like free speech, the separation of church and state, and equality under the law. Such things are not simply missing from Islam: they are positively repudiated by Islam...not “peace” but “submission,” i.e., submission to the will of Allah...
[In a recent speech, Newt Gingrich’s] key insight is that we are engaged not in a war against terror but a war against Sharia, i.e., Islamic law. Would that our current masters in Washington had as clear-eyed an appreciation of the nature of the conflict in which we are immersed...
Gingrich made two points of surpassing importance. First, some Islamists employ mass-murder attacks while others prefer a gradual march through our institutions — our legal, political, academic, and financial systems, as well as our broader culture; the goal of both, though, is the same. The stealth Islamists occasionally feign outrage at the terrorists, but their quarrel is over methodology and pace. Both camps covet the same outcome.
Second, that outcome is the death of freedom. In Islamist ideology, sharia is deemed to be the necessary precondition for Islamicizing a society — for Islam is not merely a religious doctrine, but a comprehensive socio-economic and political system. . . .
While our law forbids cruel and unusual punishments, Gingrich observed that the brutality in sharia sanctions is not gratuitous, but intentional: It is meant to enforce Allah’s will by striking example.”
One further point. The main front in the battle between the party of freedom and the party of Jihad is not unfolding in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, or even in the colonized bits of Europe. It is here in the United States. The Ayatollah Khomeini used to refer to America as “the Great Satan” not because he thought America was the embodiment of evil (though he may well have thought that, too) but rather because America epitomized everything about the West that tempted good Muslims to abandon that which made them Muslims: their belief in, and adherence to, Sharia, i.e., a view of the world that embraced the will of Allah as the last word about, well, about everything. There is no “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” in Islam because Caesar, i.e., the secular realm, has no independent claims at all. Allah is it and Sharia describes the implementation of his law.
“The war is about the survival of Western civilization, and we should make no apologies for the fact that the West’s freedom culture is a Judeo-Christian culture — a fact that was unabashedly acknowledged, Gingrich reminded his audience, by FDR and Churchill. To ensure victory in the United States we must, once again, save Europe, where the enemy has advanced markedly. . . .
Our allies are the Muslims who embrace our freedom culture — those for whom sharia is a matter of private belief, not public mission. Our enemies are those who want sharia to supplant American law and Western culture. When we call out the latter, and marginalize them, we may finally energize the former.”
And this piece, as forwarded by old school buddy, Jerry Hawsey, who writes, “Folks, the following is fact, pure and simple. Having had a little exposure to the Muslim world, I can attest to that. It’s a damn shame our government has not tuned in to this...”
Islam Explained in Layman's Terms Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat.Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life.Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges.When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.Here's how it works: As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:United States -- Muslim 0.6%Australia -- Muslim 1.5%Canada -- Muslim 1.9%...
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:Denmark -- Muslim 2%Germany -- Muslim 3.7%United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%...From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:France -- Muslim 8%Philippines -- 5%Sweden -- Muslim 5%...At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections in: Guyana -- Muslim 10%India -- Muslim 13.4%Israel -- Muslim 16%Russia -- Muslim 15%After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8% At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:Bosnia -- Muslim 40%Chad -- Muslim 53.1%Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:Albania -- Muslim 70%Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%...
After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%Egypt -- Muslim 90%Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%Iran -- Muslim 98%Iraq -- Muslim 97%...
100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word....
Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons."Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel." -- Leon Uris, 'The Haj'...
--You can write to Jerry and I'm sure he’ll be happy to send you the whole thing. Jhawsey@sbcglobal.net
--Ben Blankenship
#########