Thank you for a reasoned reply which has contributed greatly to civilized discourse. Perhaps if you have spare time, you can give a few lessons to “Lurker”.
Obviously, the correct response to the assault by Islam on the rest of the world lies somewhere between “Nuke ‘Em All” and that of merely sitting on our hands muttering “Oh My, Oh My what shall we do?”
Problem is NOT that we have not bombed enough targets. Our problem is that we have not identified and shown the spotlight upon the main enemy. That is Islam itself.
This is because our media, academic & political spokesmen do not believe in “Western” (Judeo-Christian) culture. Those who were quickest to demand the removal of prayer & Bible from the schools are also on the forefront of mandating prayer times & places for Islam. They treat Islam as a religion (that is, a system of BELIEFS dealing with God & our response to Him) rather than a system of CONTROL of all aspects of life. Rather than saying “here are the correct BELIEFS” as Christianity & Judaism do, Islam says “Do & Say ALL of these things, or we will kill you.”
If Islam would confine itself to competition in the arena of IDEAS, then the Western notion of religious tolerance could deal with the problem. However, Islam seeks to conquer through the sword and bomb vests. Islam requires all of its adherents to use the language of the Arab conqueror, because it is only concerned with obedience to Sharia.
Contrast this with evangelical Christianity. The term evangelical comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning the good news or the gospel. Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the good news of salvation brought to sinners by Jesus Christ. In order that people who are not Christian may hear & understand this Good News, evangelical Christians have committed a lot of time, effort, resources and lives to the translation of the Bible into the local language.
“The Bible continues to be the most translated book in the world. The following numbers are approximations. As of 2005, at least one book of the Bible has been translated into 2,400 of the 6,900 languages listed by SIL, including 680 languages in Africa, followed by 590 in Asia, 420 in Oceania, 420 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 210 in Europe, and 75 in North America. The United Bible Societies are presently assisting in over 600 Bible translation projects. The Bible is available in whole or in part to some 98 percent of the world’s population in a language in which they are fluent.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations
Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. This is why Christians want to make the Bible available to everyone in a language which speaks to their heart & mind.
In Islam, the Shahada (”There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of God”) serves much the same purpose that the Nazi salute and “Heil Hitler” did in Nazi controlled areas before & during WWII. It identifies one as having submitted to Islam.
“In Arabic, the word Islam means submission or surrender” http://muslimvoices.org/word-islam-meaning/
Christianity is about surrender to God, directly.
Islam is about surrender to Allah THROUGH the governments established by Islam. Islam IS the government.
*************************************************************
“What is Islamic Government?
The basis of Islamic government is exclusive adherence to Sharia, or Islamic law. Those holding government posts should have knowledge of Sharia (Islamic jurists are such people), and the country’s ruler should be a faqih[13] who “surpasses all others in knowledge” of Islamic law and justice (p. 59) — known as a marja` — as well as having intelligence and administrative ability.
And while this faqih rules, it might be said that the ruler is actually sharia law itself because, “the law of Islam, divine command, has absolute authority over all individuals and the Islamic government. Everyone, including the Most Noble Messenger [Prophet Muhammad] and his successors, is subject to law and will remain so for all eternity ... “ (p. 56)
“The governance of the faqih” is equivalent to “the appointment of a guardian for a minor.” Just as God established the Prophet Mohammad as the “leader and ruler” of early Muslims, “making obedience to him obligatory, so, too, the fuqaha (plural of faqih) must be leaders and rulers” over Muslims today. (p. 63) While the “spiritual virtues” and “status” of the Prophet and the Imams are greater than those of contemporary faqih, their power is not, because this virtue “does not confer increased governmental powers”. (p. 62)
Islamic government is constitutional, but “not constitutional in the current sense of word, i.e., based on the approval of laws in accordance with the opinion of the majority.” Instead of the customary executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, “in an Islamic government, a simple planning body takes the place of the legislative assembly that is one of the three branches of government” — a legislature being unnecessary because “no one has the right to legislate ... except ... the Divine Legislator” (p. 56).[14]
Islamic government raises revenue “on the basis of the taxes that Islam has established - khums, zakat ... jizya, and kharaj.” (p. 45) This will be plenty because “khums is a huge source of income” (p. 44-5)
Islamic Government will be just but it will also be unsparing with “troublesome” groups that cause “corruption in Muslim society,” and damage “Islam and the Islamic state.” In this regard it will follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad who eliminated the tribe heads of Bani Qurayza, (p. 89) after their murderous treachery.
Islamic government will follow the unflinching courage and rectitude of Imam Ali. His seat of command was simply the corner of a mosque (p. 86); he threatened to have the hand of his daughter cut off if she did not pay back a loan from the treasury (p. 130); and he “lived more frugally than the most impoverished of our students.” (p. 57) Islamic government will follow the “victorious and triumphant” armies of early Muslims who set “out from the mosque to go into battle” and “fear only God,” (p. 131) and follow the Quranic command “Prepare against them whatever force you can muster and horses tethered” (8:60). In fact, “if the form of government willed by Islam were to come into being, none of the governments now existing in the world would be able to resist it; they would all capitulate” (p. 122)”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Government:_Governance_of_the_Jurist
Good post.
While I do believe that Islam must ultimately be conquered, I do not believe that just starting a wholesale slaughter of masses of muslims is the way to go about it. It is the ideology that must be conquered first. First discredit the religion as false and convert them en mass to Christianity. Then proceed to exterminate the die-hards with extreme prejudice.