CAIR, for anyone who doesn't know, is the acronym for the questionable Muslim lobby group "Council on American-Islamic Relations." In this CAIR article, College talk raises awareness of Islamophobia, the concerns raised by Lawrence Auster and some of the contributors involved in the VFR discussion I linked to in the preceding post are confirmed within the very title of the CAIR article.
Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week has served, on this campus at least, to raise awareness of the greater danger, "Islamophobia." The "awareness" has indeed shifted, as predicted at VFR, from so-called Islamo-Fascism to that of Islamophobia. In other words, in trying to raise the "awareness" of college students and faculty on college campuses across America to Muslim extremism, the organizers of this concerted event have inadvertently aided in the promotion and cause of Islam in this country. Muslims have, in predictable fashion, seized upon the opportunity handed to them on a silver "Islamo-Fascism" platter, to turn the event into a greater awareness of the dangers of Islamophobia.
How could an impressionable, liberal educated, undiscerning college kid come away from such a presentation so named with anything other than a confirmation of what he's most likely been led to believe all along anyhow?: That religious bigotry and extremism is as prevalent in Christianity, if not more so, as it ever was in Islam; that the problem is not Islam, but religious fanaticism?
And who are the religious fanatics which most threaten the rights of women and homosexuals (and Muslims) in this country. Certainly not Islamo-Fascists. No; they are people like myself and Lawrence Auster and countless other Christians and traditionalists who seek to raise the only kind of awareness relevant to the question of Islam in America - that it is an extreme religion by its very nature, and thus incompatible with Western culture, values, and society.
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." -Daniel Webster
Terry, great post and welcome back. May God forgive me for my sin of following your link to the CAIR website. I feel almost like I stepped inside Mecca or something. :-)
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of the neocons have links to CAIR themselves. This kind of thing makes you think that David Horowitz might be among them.
That was a great discussion over at VFR, too.
Your post on Islam have really got me thinking, which is a good thing. During the course of thinking, I have come across a kind of hypothetical situation, that I would be interested in hearing your response to.
ReplyDeleteWhat would a Native American's view, of the Christian religion be, considering their history/conflict with the white man under the guise of Christianity. Weren't they deemed "heathen's," because they didn't share the same religious beliefs. Considering all that they suffered at the hands of the white man, wouldn't they call Christianity a radical religion that was imcompatible with their way of life?
Okay, Populist, I take your point. Although the Indians weren't the Boy Scouts you probably imagine they were (most tribes spent their spare time killing off other tribesmen, not feeling their kinship with Nature), it's true that Spanish and Americans were often dishonorable in their dealings with the natives.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, what?
We are guilty, damned from here to eternity, and should quietly let Islam take away our freedom of conscience and force our conversion? We should give up our traditions of self-government to an unquestionable politico-religious system?
Now that we've really got you thinking, I suggest you try a little more and see where it leads you. And don't just think. Look at the world around you and how life is for those who follow (or are forced to follow) the way of the Prophet.
Populist,
ReplyDeleteI'm a little slower than Rick so I'm going to have to ask that you clarify your main point before I can answer you clearly. For instance, let's say that I conceded that the Indians considered Christianity to be a radical religion and therefore incompatible with their way of life. Where does that take us?
Are you implying that I'm just being alarmist about Islam as the Indians were being alarmist about the influence of the religion of Christ on their culture? What is the connection?
Again, please be more clear as to your point and I'll try to answer you as clearly as I can. Thanks.
-Terry
Let me state, for the record, that I harbor no hidden agenda. I do, from time to time, like to play "the devil's advocate." The questions I ask have no hidden meanings. My only interest is in furthering the discussion and the best way to do that, in my opinion, is to attack it from all angles.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I would remind everyone one that it is a debate (or at least I thought that was the purpose of the blog), but it wouldn't be much of one, if we only debated from the Traditionalist Conservative view.
Mr. Darby, please don't insult my intelligence, by assuming that I believe that Native Americans were "Boy Scouts." I feel very safe in saying, that you are no higher up the food chain than I am.
As to my main point, Mr. TDM, as I've stated, I'm not implying anything. I think you are both reading a little too much in to it.
But since you asked.... In my view, if Native Americans believed that Christianity was a radical religion, I would disagree. As in any walks of life, there are those that will take things to extremes. Many people (and I emphasize people) have gone to extremes, in the name of their chosen God. Warren Jeffs, for instance, gives a black eye to Mormon's, but Warren Jeffs doesn't represent all Mormons. I don't think that you should lump everybody under one umbrella and say all of those people are incompatible. However, I do not believe for one minute, that we should allow Islam or any other religion to take away our freedoms or our system of government.
Do you say that your veiw represents the views of all Christians?? Every Christian did not have a hand in the evils leveled against Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteNo; Christianity/Western values and culture, which were/are by definition "radically" different than native American culture, traditions, and so forth, came to this continent and replaced native ones as the dominant values and customs. Therefore, the indians were justified (from an indian's point of view, which was uneducated about Christianity but nonetheless) in considering Westerners/Christianity destructive of their way of life.
ReplyDeleteAnd as that goes, if we were overcome by Islamist's and forced in to their views and their way of life, we would be justified in believing that Islam is destructive to our way of life. However, that wouldn't change the fact that not every follower of Islam had a hand in that demise.
ReplyDeleteIt's not every follower of Islam, it's the religion of Islam itself; what it teaches about world domination. That is its goal. That's what real, devoted Muslims seek because that is what a good Muslim does. Christianity teaches no such doctrine.
ReplyDeleteAs has been said so many times before, here and elsewhere, there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.
Please read the articles I've collected (and continue to add to almost on a daily basis) on the nature of Islam. The section is in the left sidebar of the blog under the heading "On Islam."
-TM
I will certainly take you up on the offer.. Oh brother of mine!
ReplyDeleteA good place to start would be Greg Davis's Islam 101, also linked under that section. It's fairly lengthy, but it covers a lot of relevant territory in a fairly short amount of space.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the discussion. And come in here and challenge anything you like anytime you like. As I've said many times before, I'm self-aware enough to know I can't possibly always be right, I just don't remember ever being wrong before. ;)
Seriously though, the only way (or at least the best way) to refine an idea or an argument is to be challenged on it. So I welcome such discussions.
-TM
By the way, Populist and all, if I ask for clarification on a point, it does not mean that I'm reading anything into what you say. To the contrary I'm trying not to read anything into what you say, which is the reason I'm asking for clarification.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the comments.
-TM