A religion is what its believers say it is. This is the argument of moderate Muslims who claim that Islam is the religion of peace and has been hijacked by a ‘few’ radical believers.
But I say a religion is not what it says, but what its believers do.
Chan Akya, in his article in the Asia Times Online, makes an effective comparison at the start of his article that applies to moderate Muslims.
“For their part, Islamic scholars have pointed out that a very large proportion of Muslims are not terrorists, and thus to confuse the religion with terrorism is pointless. Let us think for a moment of the two ways of wording a statement, and because this is a contentious topic, let's look elsewhere at an older, more sinister albeit state-sponsored terrorist organization, the Waffen-SS. In 1933 (and I have specifically chosen a period well before wartime atrocities began) there were 52,000 members in the Waffen-SS within a population of 66 million Germans. "The Waffen-SS comprised a ridiculously small minority of Germans" or "All members of the Waffen-SS were Germans."
“In effect, both statements are correct, but their implications are vastly different. It is in recognizing the second version that post-World War II Germany achieved meaningful introspection, and why the country does not pose a military threat now, nor is ever likely to in future. Prolonging the comforting fiction afforded by the first version of the statement would not have helped Germany repent for its actions collectively. This is the same problem confronting the Muslim world today. The linkage between Islam and today's terrorists can be framed very similarly to the German pyramid of the early 20th century. Then, frustrations and anger within the wider population were radicalized progressively, until they reached the fanatical breadth of the Waffen-SS. The progression of terrorists through Islamic society, one imagines (because one doesn't really stand around witnessing the birth of new terrorists), is a similar process where a number of local frustrations have fueled the nucleus of modern terrorism.”
And isn’t that what is supposed to be happening? Or at least, that’s what the radical imams, ‘moderate’ Muslim organizations like CAIR, and the liberal Left claim - that our attempts at defending ourselves against terrorism are creating more terrorism.
Akya goes on.
“Thus the statement that terrorists do not represent a majority of Muslims may indeed be true mathematically, but that does not absolve the rest of the Islamic community of their failure to address the narrowness of the core. This silence forms the basis of the global terrorist pyramid.
Moderate Mulsims have a choice before them. Follow the road pursued by Germans who “were radicalized progressively, until they reached the fanatical breadth of the Waffen-SS” by play good cop to the Islamist bad cops, making demands and gaining concessions in return for grudgingly "condemning" terrorism or become very active and very vocal in fighting this war on the side of freedom and against the tyranny of their fundamental religion. Confront those moderate Muslims who seek not to assimilate but dominate the non-Muslim cultures they live in by turning a blind eye or even supporting ‘benign requests’ that subtlety seek to impose the adoption of Sharia law in non-Muslim nations through intimidation, infiltration and disinformation.
“It is becoming increasingly impossible to open any "moderate" Islamic site anywhere without finding some kind of subtle or not-so subtle attack on either the West or its values, and more and more "moderate" Islamic organizations are making open demands for change.”
And the more non-Muslims refuse to believe the Islamist propaganda from them and t heir apologists, the more Muslims and their supporters are seen as out of step with reality. Some examples.
- A Dutch Socialist leader compares Islamic terrorism to anti-Nazi Resistance.
- If we fight them they will only be more of them
- Who’s lying the flag
- CAIR – A fifth column?
It’s jihad all the time whether it’s militant, cultural, demographic or economic and moderate Muslims must face the consequences of participating in the support pyramid. The general non-Muslim population is getting more and not less suspicious of Islam and those that practice it in spite of the colophony of those who scream ‘Islamopobe’ when anyone tries to critique the Muslim reality they see around them.
A religion is what its believers say it is. This is the argument of moderate Muslims (...) But I say a religion is not what it says, but what its believers do.
ReplyDeleteI would say that a religion is neither what its believers say it is nor what its believers do, although, at least in the case of Islam, what its believers do will give you a better idea of what Islam is than what its believers say it is.
As I walked out yesterday evening, the rain was just clearing and the setting sun illuminated a huge multicolored rainbow emblazoned with the words 'Welcome to Moderate Islam'.
ReplyDeleteMany hundreds of sleeping moonbats hung upside down from the rainbow. I followed it to where it reached the ground, and there I found two pixies, four elves and a Moderate Muslim.
The Moderate Muslim said "I denounce all forms of terrorism without reservation", then he jumped on his unicorn and galloped off to where the sun was setting in a muddy pool in the west.
As night fell, the rainbow faded and the moonbats woke up when they found they had no visible means of support.
Then they flew over the town squeeking to all who would listen "We must support Moderate Islam" and "It's a peaceful religion hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists"
A religion is what its believers say it is. This is the argument of moderate Muslims who claim that Islam is the religion of peace and has been hijacked by a ‘few’ radical believers.
ReplyDeleteHow can the "radical believers" hijack something whose substance is supposedly made up of what the believers say it is?
There's obviously a contradiction in there... the question is whether the "moderate Muslims" who put forth the statement above, realized it.
That's a beautiful story, ROP. I got a tear in my eye.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete