A Message in a Blog

Is it a War on Terror or Islam?

The Western World is facing an incredible challenge… To define its relationship with Islam while we are absorbed in a rash of wars that increasingly looks like World War III.

This whole debate really started when President Bush was criticized for making the statement that we are waging a “War on Terror”. If taken literally it is true that you can’t actually wage war on “terror”. However, the idea of what is meant is clearly delivered in the message. How much effort should we put into an argument over semantics? First, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin…

Leftists have a rigid dogma of anti-Americanism.

• Western civilization is the root of all the world’s problems.
• Racism or the greed for oil can explain all of the policies of the United States.
• Globalization is a continuation of imperialism.

Quite often their perspectives concerning the root causes of current events are wildly inaccurate. This is because they oversimplify complex events to help distribute their propaganda more easily. It is easy for pro-American activists to become jealous of the appeal behind such an approach and act upon the desire to duplicate it for their own cause.

Let’s face it though, Americans don’t really need silly slogans like “No Blood for Islam”. And even more importantly, do we really want to legitimize Islamic terrorists? Since the US is currently at war with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, we would be recognizing them as the representatives of their religion if we were to “Declare Islam to be the Enemy”.

I don’t want to appear to be skirting around the issue that most modern day terrorism is done in the name of Islam. From the twin towers in New York -to- the London transportation system -to- the Madrid commuter train system -to- the Nigerian states suffering under Sharia Law -to- the tourist spots of Egypt -to- the cities of Israel -to- the Shiite mosques of Iraq -to- the schools of Russia -to- the churches of Pakistan -to- the small towns of Kashmir -to- the southern provinces of Thailand -to- the Christian and Buddhist islands of Indonesia -to- the tropical cities of the Philippines… there is a serious problem.

Both Islamic and Western societies have failed to make a concerted effort to permanently address this issue. ISLAM MUST REFORM.

One Reformation Down, One to Go

Christianity went through a difficult redemption in the hundreds of years after the Reformation. This included the ending of indulgences and other financial abuses, the dissemination of scripture in common language and the ending of the public humiliation of penance. Also, the political power of clerics who claimed to speak on God’s behalf was successfully challenged and the separation of Church and State became standard in civil legislation. Eventually this ended the political persecution that was conducted by some church authorities and destroyed the exclusive favoritism that the state gave to Christianity.

Religious reform progressed so far that Catholic clerics led the peaceful resistance to the military junta of El Salvador. In Latin America the church was historically associated with the oppression of the poor. Modern activism actually reversed the process so that they became the champions of the poor. Most importantly, Pope John Paul II vehemently opposed the US invasion of Iraq. This is worth noting because the medieval Church had endorsed religious wars against Islam and was now protecting an Islamic country against a Christian one.

Despite any faults the religion may have had, it has undergone lengthy reforms. As recently as the mid-20th century the Christian faith dominated almost all facets of life in the Western world. Since then our society has become extremely secular and yet Christianity has peacefully adapted.

Civilized people must demand that Islam undergo similar reforms so that it can peacefully coexist with secular society.

• Discrimination in Muslim lands against other religions has to be addressed.
• Sharia Law needs to be exposed for its barbarity.
• The role that religious clerics and charities serve to promote terrorism has to be more aggressively suppressed.
• A challenge must be raised against the xenophobic propaganda machine that corrupts the Muslim media, governments, education system and religious institutions.

There is much that needs to be changed and militant Islam will oppose each step.

Propaganda War

Fortunately, Islamic terrorists lack the strength to defeat the US on the field of battle. Because of their weakness they have been forced to form independent cells with no central command centers. This means that neither side is able to land a decisive blow militarily. To compensate for their deficiencies, the true strength of militant Islam has become political.

As a result we are now embroiled in a propaganda war. That leads me to ask, what political gain will we achieve by declaring war on Islam? We can’t shoot missiles at religious faith.

Osama bin Laden has maintained the position that the US is at war with Islam, not just Al Qaeda and its allies. There are almost 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and this thug is trying to foist himself as the voice for all of them. His strategy is to create instability in the Muslim world and then blame it on the US. That allows him to hold himself out to be defender of Islam when he is actually the cause of their suffering. These emotional appeals also strike a sympathetic chord in the Western World. There are some sincere Liberals that feel the US victimizes Muslims collectively for the problems of a few. Islamists and militant Leftists manipulate that fear with misleading propaganda.

To win this political struggle we must maintain the support of the majority. That means our message has to appeal to as many people as possible, including moderate Muslims and Liberal Democrats. I’m not implying that our country should be held hostage to the inherent anti-Americanism of those groups. Our message just has to be moderate enough to win a sufficient amount of support to enable us to hold on to the majority. We have the advantage because the Extreme-Left is stuck in a stance of combative fanaticism that makes their movement only attractive to a minority of Americans.

A Doomed Alliance

Under the control of such extremists, militant Socialists have steered themselves into an alliance of convenience with Islamists. Together they wage a campaign of misinformation on many fronts - from the media to street protests. Over the years they have developed an effective methodology for using Democracy against itself.

Since they both have totalitarian philosophies, a conflict between the two will invariably arise. Iranian Leftists found that out after that country’s revolution in 1979. It was an alliance of Liberals, Communists and Islamists that toppled the Shah’s military dictatorship. Unfortunately, the Islamists led by Ayatollah Khomeini weren’t interested in sharing power so they seized control of the country and murdered their opponents. The Left’s alliance with Islamists didn’t last very long. It took the Islamists only a couple of months to complete the betrayal of their allies.

In 1939 the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This non-aggression treaty had a secret protocol that split Eastern Europe between the two countries. The Soviet Union then joined the Nazi invasion of Poland to help start World War II. A little more than two years later the United States was shipping massive amounts of Lend-Lease equipment to help sustain the Soviets against a Nazi invasion. The Soviet alliance with Nazi Germany marks a serious lack of foresight on the part of the Russians. They were blinded by the benefits of some quick political gains. The same can be said about Socialists in either in 1939 or 2006.

Conclusion

Terrorism takes away the hopes of Christians and Muslims alike. It aims to equally demoralize its victims as well as those it claims to be defending. When either party becomes overcome by despair, terrorism wins. Activists organizing against terrorism must give back hope to those who are afflicted by terrorism.

Our message must NOT be that we are waging war on Islam. It must be that Islam needs to reform. That is a reasonable request in unreasonable times.