Posted on 06/06/2003 4:19:26 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
None of us will live to see it, but before this millennium is over, Islam is likely to have joined the myths of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as a religion that was tested and failed.
The violence being visited upon the world by al Qaeda and other Islamic fundamentalists cannot survive a "holy war" against America and the West. Jihad's chosen instrument---terror---did not save Communism from its failure in the last century's police state of the Soviet Union and it will not save Islam in the Middle East and elsewhere.
If anything, the Jihad is the ultimate expression of the failure of Islam, a religion conjured up by Muhammad in the seventh century of Christendom. The year ascribed to its birth is 622 AD. There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims around the world, mostly in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, but there are more than 31 million in Europe, over a million and a half in South America, and at least 2.9 million in America.
The religion is divided between its Sunni and Shiite branches, but there is a deep divide as well in the hearts of an unknown number of Muslims, many of whom have concluded it ill-serves humanity in general and their own lives in particular. Some believe that Islam and democracy can be compatible. I doubt this because its history is one of monarchy and autocracy.
Edited by Ibn Warraq, "Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out" is an impressive collection of views by former Muslims, many of whom must still remain anonymous because Islam prescribes death to any apostate. "Why I Am Not A Muslim" ($l9.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) is Warraq's scholarly examination of Islam that reveals that it is little more than a barbarous cult based on the life of Muhammad. Both are worth reading.
As noted, rejecting Islam to accept another faith or even to become an atheist brings with it the threat of death. It is the mark of a religion that believes any deviation from its dogma gives it the right to kill in order to justify itself. Until the Reformation transformed Christianity, it too meted out death to apostates and unbelievers. But this is the year 2003 AD and in free societies, one's religion is not a concern of the state. Under Islam, the religion is the state. In Muslim nations, the Koran and sharia law derived from it is the only law.
While Islam has permitted "dhimmis", non-Muslims, to live in Islamic nations, in practice their "protection" has been non-existent. It was and is dangerous to be anything other than a Muslim in such places. Islam, by its very nature seeks to dominate all who come under its control and deeply resents those who will not convert.
Brief excerpts from Warraq's books provide instant insight why Islam stands on shifting sands. Written between February 2001 and April 2002, here are some posts from the Internet site Warraq maintains (secularislam.org). There is considerable irony in the way those who choose to reject Islam did so, as often as not because they read its holy book, the Koran.
"The biggest flaw of the Koran is what is not in it. There are many crimes a person can commit; yet the Koran mentions only the punishments for a mere three or four. I was astonished at the fact that the Koran mentions nothing about punishment for rape. The word 'rape' is not even mentioned once in the Koran, as if it were not worth bringing up."
Muhammad took many wives, but many Muslims are appalled by the story of Aisha, a child whose age is debated within Islam as being as young as six but no more than nine years of age. "How can a man of more than fifty years have sexual feelings for a girl of only six?" asked a Pakistani who went on to ask, "Why is it that a woman is lower than a man? Is my mother lower than me? Why is it that a Muslim man can have four wives? And why did Muhammad have more than four wives?" He concluded, "Islam is just the ramblings of some dillusioned Arab madman."
Yet another says, "I could not remain a Muslim because Islam hates women. Islam says that women are inferior in every way. What sort of religion forces fathers to make their daughters suffer? Islam has no joy. Islam is a cult of tears and death."
While Warraq's book is literally filled with such personal revelations by those either raised as Muslims or converts to it, I will conclude with a view expressed by a former Muslim who, upon reading the Koran, said, "I became very worried by the amount of violence in it. Subsequent late-night sessions with the Koran convinced me that I was reading a guide to war."
The Koran is a guide to war. Thievery was the way Muhammad supported himself as the self-proclaimed prophet and conquest was the way Muhammad and his followers initially spread Islam. The United States, a target and a victim in this Jihad, is waging war to end the Islamic dream of domination. In this it has been joined by many nations, including those that are Islamic. This should be seen as a hopeful sign.
I believe this century will be remembered as the one in which Islam began its long march to extinction. It will be defeated in its terror war and it will be defeated because many will abandon a "religion" that is repelled by modernity, denies human rights, and revels in the blood of its victims, calling their killers martyrs.
(Alan Caruba writes "Warning Signs," a weekly column posted at the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center.)
Alan Caruba
Jihad, Suicide, Murder & Lies
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: May 21, 2003; Author: Alan CarubaThe Tip of a Dangerous Iceberg: The threat of militant Islam on American campuses
Source: FrontPageMagazine.com; Published: April 8, 2003; Author: David HorowitzOur Enemy is in the Sand
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: 19 March 2003; Author: Nicholas StixIslam's Unholy War
Source:CNSNews.com Commentary from the National Anxiety Center; Published: March 10, 2003; Author:Alan CarubaIslam As Sedition
Source: Chronicles Magazine; Published: Feb 3, 2003; Author: Srdja TrifkovicThe Dark Side of the Muslim Mind
Source: National Anxiety Center; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Alan CarubaWake Up! Islam Is About More Than Hate Crimes
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: January 29, 2003; Author: Paul M. WeyrichHow the Saudis betrayed Islam (Book Review)
Source: Globebooks; Published: January 25, 2003; Author: Paul William RobertsLondon Muslim Cleric Urges Boys to Be Martyrs
Source: Fox News; Published: January 23, 2003, Author: APTHE KORAN AND THE KAFIR (Chapter 9) Islam In Action
Source: Knowislam.org ; Author: A. GHOSHFatwa: Coming to a Country Near You--Islamic death bounties ain't hard to find
Source: FrontPageMagazine.com; Published: December 6, 2002; Author: David HarsanyiAl-Qaeda's Global Jihad
Source:IDF; Published: December 3, 2002Why we are losing the war
Source: Guardian Unlimited; Published : December 1, 2002Islam - Green Wall Of Silence - III
Source: PakToday : Published: November 25, 2002; Author: Tashbh SayyedBlack Muslims Create 'Explosive Mix' in Terror War, Says Author
Source: CNSBNEWS.com; Published: November 14, 2002; Author: Marc MoranoOf course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?
Source: Jewish World Review; Published: November 5, 2002; Author: Dennis PragerRamadan: A Month of Peace?
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: November 4, 2002; Author:| Alan CarubaThe Seamless Garment Of Hate: The Beltway Sniper Shootings And Islam/Nation of Islam
Source: Toogood Reports; Published:| November 1, 2002; Author: Nicholas StixBarbara Stanley: American Jihadist Terrorism - Conversion And Recruitment
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: October 28, 2002; Author: Barbara StanleyJihadis in the Hood: Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
Source: Middle East Report; Published: Fall 2002; Author: Hisham AidiThe Radical Islamic Mind (lengthy exposé from Christian perspective)
Source:Spiritual Counterfeits Project; Published: Sept 2002; Author: Aleesha KhanNaming The Evildoers: Militant Islam Reaches America
Source: New York Times BOOK REVIEW; Published:| September 29, 2002; Author: Judith MillerDEPRIVING THE ARABS OF THEIR PREY
Source: WINSTON MID EAST ANALYSIS & Published: September 13, 2002; Author: Emanuel A. WinstonA Hatred Beyond Understanding
Source: Sierra Times; Published: September 9, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaSaving Islam from bin Laden [Christopher Hitchens]
Source:The Age (Melbourne); Published: September 5 2002; Author: Christopher HitchensMuslim leaders pledge to 'transform West': 'If Islamic state rises, we will be its army'
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: August 13, 2002; Author: Jon DoughertyWHAT went wrong with the Arab world?
Source: Economist; Published: July 10, 2002Today's Criminal Will Become Tomorrow's Islamic Terrorist
Source: CNSnews.com; Published: June 25, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiDavid Horowitz: Know The Enemy (And What He Believes)
Source: FrontPage magazine; Published: June 24, 2002; Author: David HorowitzFour Myths About Muslims
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: June 13, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiTrying To Find A `Moderate' Islam Is A Quixotic Quest
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: May 20, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiThe Islaming of Europe
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: May 20, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaWhy Islam Can't Join the Modern World
Source: FrontPageMagazine.com; Published: May 16, 2002; Author: Jamie GlazovIt's The Attitude, Stupid [re: Palestinians]
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: May 14, 2002; Author: Philip SafranReports of Moderate Islam's Existence Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: April 22, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiIt's time to snap out of Arab fantasy land {Steyn}
Source: National Post; Published: April 19 2002; Author: Mark SteynHOROWITZ: A MIDDLE EAST HISTORY PRIMER
Source: News and Opinion.com; Published; April 10, 2002; Author: David HorowitzArafat Must Go!
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: April 10, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaNetanyahu speaks before US Senators
Source: http://netanyahu.org/netspeacinse.html; Published: April 10, 2002; Author: Benjamin Netanyahu20 Suppressed Facts About Israel, Islam
Source: Koenig's International News; Published: April 9, 2002; Author: Jim BramlettThey Live to Die (Islam Martyrdom)
Source: Wall Street Journal; Published: April 7, 2002; Author: Reuel Marc GerechtMoral Fortitude Vs. Vacillation
Source: CNSNews.com ; Published: April 01, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaTerror's Homebase, All Over The Map -- Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam
Source: Wall Street Journal-- Book Review; Published: | March 29, 2002; Author: Adrian KaratnyckyIslam Vs. The World
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 2, 2001; Author: Alan CarubaArab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?
Source: Capitalism Magazine; Published: November 18, 2001; Author: Larry ElderUnderstanding Islam And Its Radicals
Source: ConservativeTruth.org; Published: November 11, 2001; Author: Ana BarrettWill the Real Islam Please Stand Up!
Source:Van Jenerette Editorial Comment, Various Publications; Published: October 14, 2001; Author: Van JeneretteCivilization Envy
Source: National Review Online; Published: September 28, 2001; Author: Jonah GoldbergWhat We Are Up Against: Islamic Jihad Factories
Source: New York Times Magazine; Published: July 25, 2000; Author: Jeffrey Goldberg
Well, so was Christianity's, and for a longer period than Islam has been in existance (Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, monarchic nation-states). If Christianity made the transition successfully, there is no absolute reason that Islam cannot. Time will tell.
Read The Death of the West by Pat Buchanan. He uses UN #'s to project that there will be 2/3 fewer native Europeans in 2100. The majority of Europe will be Muslim.
Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae becomes more relevant everyday.
A big problem is their Muslim populations are disproportionately unemployed and on welfare. The ability of France to continue their welfare state is limited, and we will start seeing the cracks appear in the next few years. Expect civil unrest there within 5 years
Whether Islam is capable of the necessary "reformation" is the question. The "powers that be" within Islam certainly are blaming anything and everything for the failure of Islam's adherents in obtaining economic success (despite being recipients of huge amounts of oil-derived wealth).
Eventually, I think they will run out of viable scapegoats, and it will be "reform or disappear".
Truer words were never printed. Mohammed waited until the death of the much older rich widow he married to start in with his polygamy binge, which even included a child. One only wonders what would have happened if he'd had a "revelation" while Khadijah was still alive. She might have taken all her camels away.
The more one learns about Islam, the worse it gets.
Probably the majority of Moslems are illiterate, but even the literate ones don't seem to view their Koran as anything but holy and inspired. I'm not convinced that "insane ramblings" won't work for a cult like religion. Neither Jim Jones nor David Koresh were knows for rational thought and exposition, but they got their followers to follow them to certain death. Ditto with the Comet people. Islam is a worldwide suicide cult, and simply because their foundation book is an incoherrent collection of nonsense is not enough reason to make people leave it.
........For Great Justice!
Demographics is indeed destiny. The super-breeding muslim nations, ALL of which have overwhelming birthrates, will never get their economic houses in order. Thus the surplus will spill over into other nations that provide a greater opportunity. If as I suspect Islam is the source of the backwardness of all muslim nations due to myriad terminal flaws in the Religion of Peace(TM) and its concomitant mindset and worldview, and that Muslims will thus never peacefully integrate with non-Muslim neighbors, which oh by the way is a requirement of Islam, then nothing can result but strife, violence, and warfare.
Thus as Samuel Huntington put it, the "Bloody Borders of Islam." Christian, animist, Hindu, Buddhist -- it matters not. Islam is warring with all of them everywhere to some degree or another.
And just to come clean, I have read the Qu'ran. I remember it being inordinately concerned with the non-believers, the infidel. What is demands is obeyance. Period.
I hope to God I'm wrong, though.
Yup, that's pretty much how I see it too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.