The problem with Islam; the Left
An excellent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today by Tawfik Hamid entitled “The Trouble With Islam” actually should be entitled “The Trouble With Overeager Liberalism”;
The grave predicament we face in the Islamic world is the virtual lack of approved, theologically rigorous interpretations of Islam that clearly challenge the abusive aspects of Shariah. Unlike Salafism, more liberal branches of Islam, such as Sufism, typically do not provide the essential theological base to nullify the cruel proclamations of their Salafist counterparts. And so, for more than 20 years I have been developing and working to establish a theologically-rigorous Islam that teaches peace.
Yet it is ironic and discouraging that many non-Muslim, Western intellectuals — who unceasingly claim to support human rights — have become obstacles to reforming Islam. Political correctness among Westerners obstructs unambiguous criticism of Shariah’s inhumanity. They find socioeconomic or political excuses for Islamist terrorism such as poverty, colonialism, discrimination or the existence of Israel. What incentive is there for Muslims to demand reform when Western “progressives” pave the way for Islamist barbarity? Indeed, if the problem is not one of religious beliefs, it leaves one to wonder why Christians who live among Muslims under identical circumstances refrain from contributing to wide-scale, systematic campaigns of terror.
Doctor Hamid has been trying to found a more peaceful version of Islam (which shouldn’t be that hard, relatively speaking) but is confounded by the Left’s inability to criticize anything that’s not Western in origin;
Western appeasement of their Muslim communities has exacerbated the problem. During the four-month period after the publication of the Muhammad cartoons in a Danish magazine, there were comparatively few violent demonstrations by Muslims. Within a few days of the Danish magazine’s formal apology, riots erupted throughout the world. The apology had been perceived by Islamists as weakness and concession.
Worst of all, perhaps, is the anti-Americanism among many Westerners. It is a resentment so strong, so deep-seated, so rooted in personal identity, that it has led many, consciously or unconsciously, to morally support America’s enemies.
Funny, ain’t it? Here we are trying to free people from their masters yet we’re the bad guys. Personally, I could give two rat’s asses which prophet a person believes, or what their particular God tells them to do – until it starts infringing on my life, and that of my family. And that’s the basic problem – because the Left won’t get on board and start condemning these human rights abuses, Islam will continue to test the limits of what we’ll accept – until it’s too late.
Dr. Hamid’s last line sounds like something I heard on South Park once about four years ago;
Tolerance does not mean toleration of atrocities under the umbrella of relativism. It is time for all of us in the free world to face the reality of Salafi Islam or the reality of radical Islam will continue to face us.
Maybe we should have listened to South Park creators before we came to this point.
And so we have folks like this Mahmud Faruq Brent Al Mutazzim who was just pleaded guilty to conspiring to help a terrorist organization and his loving sister;
A woman who identified herself only as his sister Atullah questioned outside court what the word terrorism means in America.
“What is terrorism? If you step on an ant, it’s terrorism,” she said.
Asked what her brother’s intentions were, she said: “To serve God, to pray and help mankind.”
Yeah, doesn’t everybody go to terrorist camps to serve God?
Category: Terror War
