The Future is Muslim, European or American

townhall.com ^ | 25 FEB 2003 | Dennis Prager

[onedoug]

The world's future is being decided at this time.

Such moments are extremely rare in history. And when they have occurred, they have between two, not three, competing ideologies.

But there are now three ideologies competing to shape the future of mankind. They are militant Islam, Western European secularism and socialism, and American Judeo-Christianity and capitalism. The first is being spread both peacefully and violently, the second is being spread peacefully, and the third is not being spread.

[onedoug]

No more heads in the sand. It's time to choose.

I believe this is incredibly important.

[jc_vet]

Islam is more than a religion; It is a comprehensive way of life. The Quran (believed by Muslims to be God's word), and the Hadith (Mohammed's sayings as recorded by Al Bukhari), prescribe numerous regulations governing every aspect of the social, political, economical, as well as religious life. The belief that "Islam is a religion and a state" is an integral part of the Islamic religion.

Let's examine what Islam would do if it ruled America. What would happen to the values and institutions that we hold dear?


First: Liberty
The United States was built on the Bill of Rights, established by the founding fathers who came here to escape religious oppression. The Constitution gives citizens the right to express themselves as they please, to criticize the president if they believe he is wrong, to worship in the way they want and to act in any way they see appropriate as long as they don't violate the rights of others.

What would happen to this freedom in an Islamic state? Would the citizens be granted the right to choose the religion they want, or would they be forced into Islam according to the Quranic verse: "If any one desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost." (Surah 3:85). How about the right of a Muslim to change his own religion? Would he be given this right or would he be punished according to the apostasy rule which states that such a person should be punished by death? Mohammed said "Whoever changes his religion, kill him." Al Bukhari Vol. 9:57

Do Muslim activists want us to have the same rights granted to the citizens of an Islamic country such as Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive an automobile and no one can worship openly according to any religion other than Islam? Do they want us to be ruled by a ruler such as Khomeini, who issued an order to murder a writer, Salman Rushdie, just because he dared to criticize Islam ? Even in a moderate Islamic state such as Egypt, Christians have to obtain a presidential decree to be able to build a church. They face discrimination in all aspects of their lives, including education, employment and promotions.

Second: Democracy
Our present system in the USA gives the citizens the right to rule themselves, to write the laws that will govern their lives, to decide the amount of taxes to be collected from them and how it will be spent.

One important principle in this great system is the separation of church and state. Islam, however, is built on an opposing concept, for "Islam is a religion and a state." According to Islam, the Quran is the principal source of legislation: "We have sent down to thee the book in truth, that you might judge men as guided by God." (Surah 4:105). If the Quran is the law, what are some of the rules and regulations that will be imposed? Here are just a few examples:

Stealing: punished by hand amputation (Surah 5:38)
Adultery: punished by public flogging (Surah 24:2)
Drinking: punished by 40 or 80 lashes (Al Bukhari 8:770)
Resisting Islam: punished by death, crucifixion or the cutting off of the hands and feet (Surah 5:33)
Prisons in Muslim countries are known to be centers of torture rather than rehabilitation.

Third: Equality
Under our system in the United States, there should be no discrimination among citizens based on sex, color, religion or race. Would Islam treat men and women equally when:

It teaches that men are superior to women (Surah 2:228)
It gives men double the share of the women in inheritance? (Surah 4:11)
It gives the man double the value of a woman's witness in court? (Surah 2:282)
Would Islam treat non-Muslims fairly when:
The Quran calls on Muslims not to befriend Jews or Christians? (Surah 9:30)
The Quran imposes "Jizya" (tribute tax) on Christians and Jews that will be collected only from them and not from Muslims? (Surah 9:29)
Mohammed says that a Muslim may not be killed if he kills a non- Muslim. " No Muslim should be killed for killing a kafir (infidel or non- Muslim) ."Al Bukhari Vol. 9:50

Could Islam someday rule America?

Islam is the fastest growing religion in America. Today, the number of followers of Islam in the United States has reached 4 to 6 millions. It is a matter of time before Islam will become the religion of the majority. America, then will be labeled an " Islamic country ", ruled by the "Quran" and the "Hadith" or what Muslims call Sharia (The Islamic code of ethics).

My fellow Americans

The threat of Islam is real. More so than communism ever was, because with Islam, Muslim activists are willing to kill and to die for the cause of spreading their religion. This is called ""Jihad", a sacred duty for all Muslims to perform.

Get this message around. Stop the spread of Islam before it is too late.

[Pearls Before Swine]

... or Chinese. Yes, it is very important.

[vbmoneyspender]

Regarding the American way, there are serious impediments to its success.

Dennis needs to cheer up a bit. The system that is going to prevail is the system that makes its people the strongest. It is kinda of obvious which system does that.

[onedoug]

"But the American way can only prevail if Americans believe in it."

The left and appeals to fascism so strong by ignorance or purpose?

[neutrino]

True...very true. But not merely to choose what preference one might have. Rather, it is important to choose to win versus is-slime. And to give those with a will to win a completely free hand....

[knak]

I'm just a puny little female but I'd die before someone changes my religion. It won't happen.

[onedoug]

"...it is important to choose to win... And to give those with a will to win a completely free hand...."

True believers in the first two ideologies certainly incoporate that. Witness 9/11 and the vitriol across even solely American discourse since.

[LenS]

Capitalism isn't being spread? Huh? Is he stuck in the Carter administration? Eastern Europe, Russia, East Asia, India, etc.?

And Christianity is out-recruiting Islam in Africa and Asia -- not bad for a religion that doesn't kill those who disagree.

[onedoug]

That's sure the hope. I think it was Fred Barnes who told Hugh Hewitt a couple of months ago that he thought China would be an evangelical Christian country within 20 years.

[prairiebreeze]

I agree. Especially about children being taught by teachers who hold European and not American values.

Prairie

[Jabba the Nutt]

There are less than 2 million Muslims in America. Stop the idiotic hysteria. Thinks are moving along quite nicely right now.

[Jorge]

No more heads in the sand. It's time to choose.

I believe this is incredibly important.

Somehow I don't think that a religion that has managed to turn every nation where it thrives into weak third world second class societies...that lag far behind the rest of the world...is the powerhouse or the threat this article makes it out to be.

I am so tired of hearing people running around sounding the alarm about Islam.
I frankly think it is a religion of lies and delusions that stunts it's followers and keeps them down more than any of us could ever hope to.
They are pathetic.

[nanomid]

Excellent homework. Kudos. I'll keep that bit in my library.

[Cicero]

In my opinion, it's Europe that's in trouble, and will go down the tubes unless they straighten out pretty quick. They are aborting themselves to death while the Muslims become an ever-larger part of their populations.

America has dire problems, no doubt. But the political and cultural strife is no worse than what Rome experienced in its glory days, and Rome coped with it.

He misses the incredible energy and expansiveness of Christianity in the southern hemisphere. Christianity is in a race with Islam in Africa. Christianity dominates South America. Christianity is spreading in Asia.

I think this may turn out to be vital, because America is also aborting itself and must draw in immigrants to replace its missing children, like it or not. Better Christian immigrants and Asian immigrants than Arab Muslim immigrants, IMHO.

[sonofron]

"And Christianity is out-recruiting Islam in Africa and Asia -- not bad for a religion that doesn't kill those who disagree."

Africans and Asians are eager to convert, but the traditional west is becoming more secular, especially in europe.

The population of Islam in the west is what is growing so rapidly. This is due mostly to immigration, but conversion is also a factor.

[sonofron]

"There are less than 2 million Muslims in America"

Think about this:

How many were in the US 20 years ago?

How many are going to be in the US 20 years from now?

no need to wait until we have a real problem on our hands(a vast islamic fundamentalist population) to do something.

[onedoug]

I do have hope, though I don't feel it's exactly hysteria.

We must never again, as a nation, do what we did in Vietnam in abandoning the very core of principle in American being, no less the millions we left behind as we ran, who really believed in us.

We've been under cultural attack ever since, that vacilation a key to the truly enemy international, and ever increasingly, domestic left. And now Islamism, laced with potentially nuclear schizoid Stalinsm out of North Korea.

Swell.

The United States is the greatest force for good in the world. Though if we should fold again, now when it really counts - and I believe that threat is real, and thank God that we currently have a President who recognizes this - we'll otherwise be done in the world, as we will have become as a world without America.

[vbmoneyspender]

thanks for that link. good article.