Posted on 01/31/2007 7:24:23 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Dinesh D’Souza’s new book, "The Enemy At Home," claims that “the cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11” by spreading around the world “a decadent American culture that angers and repulses traditional societies, especially those in the Islamic world that are being overwhelmed with this culture.”
In response, D’Souza urges social conservatives to build a coalition with what he calls “traditional Muslims.” He acknowledges, however, that these Muslims have no theological differences with jihadists. Throughout his book D’Souza shows no awareness whatsoever of the jihad ideology. In fact, he asserts that “despite the religious enthusiasm of many suicide bombers, Islam has been around for more than a thousand years, and for most of its history it produced neither suicide attackers nor terrorists. It is only contemporary Islam that provides an inspiration for suicide missions and attacks on civilians.”
This is comforting, but false. Today’s suicide attacks are a matter of technological progress: It does not represent a theological divergence from traditional Islam. Suicide attack recruiters today point to Koran 9:111, which guarantees Paradise to those who “kill and are killed” for Allah. This was not added into the Koran by contemporary Muslims, and has been acted upon by Muslims in the past: John Paul Jones encountered suicide attacks by Muslim Turks in 1788.
As for attacks on civilians, they are not forbidden in all cases in Islamic law. And in Islamic history, attacks on civilians are numerous. Muslim raiders, who, from the 17th to 19th Centuries, kidnapped thousands of British men, women and children and sold them into brutal slavery in North Africa, believed they were warriors of Islam engaged in a jihad. In 1148, Muslim commander Nur ed-Din ordered the killing of every Christian in Aleppo. Terrorism? Certainly. Moreover, this was part of an imperialistic pattern
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
It also doesn't help that they seek our defeat and think the United States is the cause of evil in the world. They're the enemies within.
Good response to a book that has a disappointingly silly premise. Right after 9/11, this kind of talk was common among conservatives ("corrupt America with its lousy morals kind of deserved it from those pure, virtuous sons of the desert").
But deeper reflection and more examination of the reality has made most of us realize that Islam is simply an evil warrior cult that has always hated the West and Christianity since its very beginning, long before the invention of midriff-bearing tops, instant divorce and genital piercings.
What passes for "morality" in the Islamic world, particularly with regard to sex, would strike most of us as depraved. Polygamy coupled with instant divorce (his prerogative, not hers), routine use by men of boys and animals for sexual purposes, the kidnapping of women by the wealthy (remember those European models who were kidnapped by sheiks in Qatar and Indonesia some years ago?) for sexual purposes, the suppression of all human creativity, the oppression of the poor, who live in a static, fatalistic culture of "insh Allah," the widespread use of drugs such as hashish and qat; the cruel treatment of women, children and the weak. Yeah, sounds like a great culture and a great ethic.
Islam is an authoritarian cult focused on the performance of certain rituals, a fantasy vision of world domination and paradise obtained through violence, and subjugation to religious leaders. I can hardly wait until these noble sons of the desert destroy our freedom, our hope and our future.
If people don't like some of the excesses of our society, they should work to change them. But D'Souza's attitude is no different from that of the left, which asserts that the Ugly Capitalist American has brought it on himself. This is nonsense. A mere glance at 1400 years of Islamic hatred of and desire to conquer the West should be sufficient to provide a reality check on this loony self-hating fantasy.
Thanks to folks like Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes, Bridget Gabrial, ete., the truth about Islam is starting to come out for all to see.
IMHO "the left" defines itself in opposition to the famous Theodore Roosevelt dictum, "It is not the critic who counts . . . the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . ." Union leaders, plaintiff lawyers, activists, and journalists belong to the complaining professions. It doesn't matter how good things are, the members of the complaining professions will - they must - find the hole in the donut.The average American Joe can be better off than Queen Victoria was in her day, and the "poor" of today can be as well off as the middle class was fifty years ago; the "lowest quintile of the income distribution" can consist mostly of young people just starting out in their careers and not of downtrodden adults struggling to support a family of four on a single paycheck. Whatever, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that the complainers do not do anything, and they have to nurture their reputations on the backs of the people who do take the risks and exert the energy to endeavor to get things done.
And that applies not only to those who try to provide food, clothing, fuel, and shelter to us - it also applies to those who work to maintain our security. They are noted for favoring big government, but that support for government ends sharply at the point where police and soldiers actually try to do things. And that is where you see the left attacking government.
"Islam is simply an evil warrior cult that has always hated the West and Christianity since its very beginning, long before the invention of midriff-bearing tops, instant divorce and genital piercings."
That said it in a nutshell, and it's too bad that you can't e-mail that to D'Souza personally. He has fallen into the Jerry Falwell/Fred Phelps trap, which is too bad as he has written some good books in the past.
This is a great article!!
Indeed, and it needed to be published.
Yikes! Yeah, the whole 'beating-up' thing would do it for me. Glad she kept her wits and got the hell out.
I like your concept of the "complaining professions." It makes a great deal of sense.
You can, BTW, add feminists, environmentalists and "civil rights leaders" to your list, among many others. If these groups were to ever admit that things were getting better, they would lose not only their following and their power but their very purpose in life.
I have much trouble identifying with this aspect of the West myself.
I do think D'Souza makes a good point. Muslims have been in America since the late 19th century. Over time and until fairly recent times, they became well integrated, peaceful, and decent citizens.
I do believe that these types of American Muslims are still out there and constitute the majority of Muslims in this country. We need to find a way to appeal to their sense of justice and humanity and help them find the courage to speak out against extremist evil.
Didn't turn out so well.
Nonsense. Blaming Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism on "a decadent American culture that angers and repulses traditional societies, especially those in the Islamic world" (rather than on, oh, I dunno, THE SCUM WHO COMMIT THE OUTRAGES) is nothing but craven appeasement.
Yep. If the left would slap down Michael Moore the way the right slapped down Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson for spewing that crap, I'd develop a bit of actual respect for them.
It would be an interesting exercise to see just how few words would need to be changed to convert this "argument" into a screed against Ugly Amerikan Corporations that could have flowed from the pen of Noam Chomsky.
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