Christians in countries with Moslem majorities, or large
minorities, are having a difficult time getting the rest of the world to
recognize that most (as in about 80 percent) of the religious violence in the
world is carried out against Christians and most of the violence is committed
by Moslems.
This is because
the Islamic world, while unable to do much in terms of economic, scientific, or
cultural progress, or even govern themselves effectively, have proven quite
adept at convincing leaders and media organizations in the West that Islam is
not the aggressor and is actually the victim. For those who have spent any time
living among Moslems, this all seems absurd. But this delusion is real.
For example, it’s official policy in the U.S. military to
eliminate any mention of a war between Islam and the West. This policy is
enforced despite the fact that Islam, at least according to many Islamic
clerics, is at war with the West.
The U.S. has officially maintained this since shortly after
September 11, 2001, despite the fact that many Islamic clerics and government
officials in Moslem nations, agree with the "Islam is at war with the
West" idea.
But many Western leaders prefer to believe that by
insisting that such hostile attitudes are not widespread in Moslem countries,
the hostility will diminish. To that end the U.S. government has, for years,
been removing any reference to "Islam" and "terrorism" in
official documents.
This comes as a
shock to military or civilian personnel who have spent time in Moslem
countries. The "Islam is at war with the West" angle is alive and
well among Moslems.
There is plenty of evidence. For example, twenty nations
account for over 95 percent of terrorism activity in the world. Of these twenty
(Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Uganda, Libya, Egypt,
Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African
Republic, Colombia, Algeria, Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Sudan, Iran,
Burundi, India, Nigeria, and Israel) all but four of them (Democratic Republic
of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia, and Burundi) involve Islamic
terrorism.
In terms of terrorism fatalities the top four nations
(Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia) accounted for 75 percent of the
world total of terrorism related deaths. All of these were the result of
Islamic radicalism, often directed at other Moslems and not just non-Moslems
(infidels).
This has been the case for decades, and the Moslem world
does not like to dwell on this fact. Many Moslem leaders admit that there is a
lot of Islamic terrorism but insist that it’s all the fault of infidels
(non-Moslems) who are making war on Islam, so some Moslems feel compelled to
fight back.
The catch-phrase
Moslem leaders like to repeat is that Islam is the “religion of peace.” It is
not, and the historical record makes that very clear. It's not just a long
history of Moslem violence but lots of violence that is still going on.
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| Beheading of Christian school-girls in Indonesia. |
Currently, you find Moslems attacking Buddhists in
Thailand and Burma, Jews everywhere, Baha'is in Iran, and Christians in Egypt, Iraq, the
Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia, and elsewhere. Islam does not discriminate
when it comes to religious violence, and most Moslems killed because of
religious violence are killed by fellow Moslems over religious differences.
Usually its Sunni extremists (like al Qaeda) killing Shia
(or any other sect that deviates from strict Sunni interpretations of Islamic
law and religious customs).
This is not a sudden and unexpected outburst of Moslem
violence against non-Moslems and Moslems considered heretical. It is normal and
at the root of Islamic terrorism. While this violent behavior represents only a
small number of Moslems, it is a large minority (from a few percent of a
population to over half, according to opinion polls).
Moreover, the majority of Moslems has not been willing, or
able, to confront and suppress the Islamic radicals that not only spread death
and destruction but also besmirch all Moslems.
This reveals a
fundamental problem in the Islamic world, the belief that combining
righteousness with murderous tactics is often the road to power and spiritual
salvation.
Throughout history, when these tactics were applied to
non-Moslems, they often failed. The non-Moslems were unfazed by the religious
angle and, especially in the last five hundred years, were better able to
defeat Islamic violence with even greater violence. Thus, until quite recently,
the Moslems fought among themselves and left the infidels (non-Moslems) alone.
But after World War II that began to change.
Naturally, this began to show up first in the Middle East.
During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990, Christian and Moslem Arabs fought
bitterly over political, cultural, and, ultimately, religious differences. The
capital, Beirut, was divided into Christian and Moslem sections by the Green
Line.
The name came from the fact that in this rubble filled no
man's land only grass and weeds survived. And that the line on a ceasefire map
was drawn in green. There have been a lot more Green Lines since then. Few
realized it at the time but this war was but the first of many major conflicts
between Christians and Moslems in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Many of the
earliest Moslem converts were Christians. And many of the people Moslem armies
unsuccessfully sought to conquer were Christian. The original Crusades, which
modern Moslems portray as Western aggression, were actually a Western attempt
to rescue Middle Eastern Christians from increasing Islamic terrorism and
violence.
But Islam as a political force was in decline for several
centuries until the 1970s. Then things changed and they continue to change.
Fueled by oil wealth and access to Western weapons and technology, Islamic
radicals saw new opportunities. Islam was again on the march and few have
noticed the many places where it was turning into religious war with Christians
and other non-Moslems.
In Asia we have a Green Line between India and Pakistan.
Inside India many Moslem communities remain and feelings aren't always
neighborly. Indonesia and the Philippines suffer growing strife between Moslems
and non-Moslems. Malaysia has fanatical Moslems persecuting more laid-back ones
and non-Moslems in general.
China has a large Moslem community that generates an
increasing amount of violence. Russia and America have formed a curious
partnership to deal with Islamic-based terrorism coming out of Afghanistan and
Pakistan. In Chechnya Russia faced Islamic-inspired violence all alone in the
1990s.
Africa has a rather dusty Green Line, south of the semi-arid
Sahel region. Many African nations are split by increasingly sensitive
religious differences. The Moslems are in the north, Christians and animists in
the south. Nigeria, Egypt, and Sudan are among the more violent hot spots at
the moment. When the Moslem Somalis stop fighting each other they will return
to raiding their Christian and animist neighbors to the south.
The Middle East still contains many non-Moslems. None have
their own country, except for Israel. But Egypt contains five million Copts,
native Christians who did not convert to Islam. Similar small Christian
communities exist throughout the Middle East and growing hostility from Moslem
neighbors causes many to migrate or get killed.
These differences are less frequently overlooked today. To
survive, many Druze have allied with Israel and most of the current Syrian
leadership are Alawites who pretend to be more Shia than they really are.
Even Europe has a Green Line. The Moslems in the Balkans
(Albanians and Bosnians) have been a constant source of strife for the last
decade. Moslem migrants in Europe face even more persecution because of all
those Green Lines, and this makes it easier for radical groups to recruit and
carry out their crusade against Christians. In many European cities with Moslem
minorities there are neighborhoods non-Moslems are advised to stay out of.
But the Green Lines are about more than religion. A lot of
it is politics. One of the reasons Islam ran out of steam centuries ago was
that the Moslem areas never embraced democracy and intellectual progress. Until
the 20th century most Moslems lived as part of some foreign empire, under local
totalitarian monarchs. The foreign empires disappeared 50-100 years ago but
democracy has had a hard time taking hold. The dictatorships are still there.
And the people are restless.
Radical Islam
arose as an alternative to all the other forms of government that never seemed
to work. In theory, establishing "Islamic Republics" would solve all
problems. People could vote but only Moslems in good standing could be
candidates for office. A committee of Moslem holy men would have veto power
over political decisions. Islamic law would be used. It was simple and it makes
sense to a lot of Moslems in nations ruled by thugs and thieves, especially if
the people are largely uneducated and illiterate.
Islamic Republics don't work. The only one that has been
established (not counting others that say they are but aren't) is in Iran. The
major problems were twofold. First, the radicals had too much power. Radical
religious types are no fun and you can't argue with them because they are on a
mission from God. Most people tire of this in short order. To speed this
disillusionment many of the once-poor and now-powerful religious leaders became
corrupt. This eventually sends your popularity ratings straight to hell.
It will take a generation or so for everyone in the Moslem
world to figure out where all this is going. This is already happening in Iran,
where moderates are getting stronger every day but everyone is trying to avoid
a civil war. While the radicals are a minority they are a determined bunch.
The constant flow of Islamic radical propaganda does more
than generate recruits and contributions in Moslem countries, it also energizes
Moslem minorities (both migrants and converts) in Western countries to acts of
terrorism. In the United States you find such Moslems regularly getting
arrested for attempting to carry out religious violence.
Radicals throughout the Moslem world continue to take
advantage of dissatisfaction among the people and recruit terrorists and
supporters. To help this process along they invoke the ancient grudges popular
among many Moslems. Most of these legends involve Christians beating on
Moslems. To most radicals it makes sense to get people agitated over faraway
foreigners rather than some strongman nearby.
Most radicals lack the skills, money, or ability to carry
their struggle to far-off places. So most of the agitation takes place among
Moslem populations. Any violent attitudes generated are easily directed at
available non-Moslems. Thus we have all those Green Lines.
But the more violence you have along those Green Lines the
more really fanatical fighters are developed. These are the people who are
willing to travel to foreign lands, deal with non-believers, and kill them for
the cause. We call it terrorism, the fanatics call it doing what has to be
done.
Not surprisingly, Moslems get motivated to do something
about Islamic radicalism when the violence is literally next door. That's why
terror attacks in the West are so popular. The infidels are being attacked,
without any risk to those living in Moslem countries.
Iraq changed all
that, and during the course of that war (2004-7) the popularity of Islamic
terrorism, in Moslem countries, declined sharply because the terrorists were
killing so many Moslems. That, in the end, is what has killed, for a while,
most Islamic terrorism in Iraq. Worldwide, al Qaeda never recovered the
popularity (in the Moslem world) it enjoyed after September 11, 2001.
It would also be nice if the Moslem world got their act
together and expunged this malevolent tendency once and for all. The Arab
Spring was supposed to help but so far it hasn’t. Change is coming but don't
hold your breath waiting for it to suddenly appear.
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| Islamic Breeding in England and Europe. |
