Burnt Offerings on the Altar of Multiculturalism

[Bonnie]

Diana West


July 18, 2005

Without it -- without its fanatics who believe all civilizations are the same -- the engine that projects Islam into the unprotected heart of Western civilization would stall and fail. It's as simple as that. To live among the believers -- the multiculturalists -- is to watch the assault, the jihad, take place un-repulsed by our suicidal societies. These societies are not doomed to submit; rather, they are eager to do so in the name of a masochistic brand of tolerance that, short of drastic measures, is surely terminal.

I'm not talking about our soldiers, policemen, rescue workers and, now, even train conductors, who bravely and steadfastly risk their lives for civilization abroad and at home. Instead, I'm thinking about who we are as a society at this somewhat advanced stage of war. It is a strange, tentative civilization we have become, with leaders who strut their promises of "no surrender" even as they flinch at identifying the foe. Four years past 9/11, we continue to shadow-box "terror," even as we go on about "an ideology of hate." It's a script that smacks of sci-fi fantasy more than realpolitik. But our grim reality is no summer blockbuster, and there's no special-effects-enhanced plot twist that is going to thwart "terror" or "hate" in the London Underground anymore than it did on the roof of the World Trade Center. Or in the Bali nightclub. Or on the first day of school in Beslan. Or in any disco, city bus or shopping mall in Israel.

Body bags, burn masks and prosthetics are no better protections than make-believe. But these are our weapons, according to the powers that be. These, and an array of high-tech scopes and scanners designed to identify retinas and fingerprints, to detect explosives and metals -- ultimately, I presume, as we whisk through the automatic supermarket door. How strange, though, that even as we devise new ways to see inside ourselves to our most elemental components, we also prevent ourselves from looking full-face at the danger to our way of life posed by Islam.

Notice I didn't say "Islamists." Or "Islamofascists." Or "fundamentalist extremists." I've tried out such terms in the past, but I've come to find them artificial and confusing, and maybe purposefully so, because in their imprecision I think they allow us all to give a wide berth to a great problem: the gross incompatibility of Islam -- the religious force that shrinks freedom even as it "moderately" enables or "extremistly" advances jihad -- with the West. Am I right? Who's to say? The very topic of Islamization -- for that is what is at hand, and very soon in Europe -- is verboten. A leaked British report prepared for Prime Minister Tony Blair last year warned even against "expressions of concern about Islamic fundamentalism" (another one of those amorphous terms) because "many perfectly moderate Muslims follow strict adherence to traditional Islamic teachings and are likely to perceive such expressions as a negative comment on their own approach to their faith." Much better to watch subterranean tunnels fill with charred body parts in silence. As the London Times' Simon Jenkins wrote, "The sane response to urban terrorism is to regard it as an avoidable accident."

In not discussing the roots of terror in Islam itself, in not learning about them, the multicultural clergy that shepherds our elites prevents us from having to do anything about them. This is key, because any serious action -- stopping immigration from jihad-sponsoring nations, shutting down mosques that preach violence and expelling their imams, just for starters -- means to renounce the multicultural creed. In the West, that's the greatest apostasy. And while the penalty is not death -- as it is for leaving Islam under Islamic law -- the existential crisis is to be avoided at all costs. Including extinction.

This is the lesson of the atrocities in London. It's unlikely that the 21st century will remember that this new Western crossroads for global jihad was once the home of Churchill, Piccadilly and Sherlock Holmes. Then again, who will notice? The BBC has retroactively purged its online bombing coverage of the word "terrorist"; the spokesman for the London police commissioner has declared that "Islam and terrorism simply don't go together"; and within sight of a forensics team sifting through rubble, an Anglican priest urged his flock, as The Guardian reported, to "rejoice in the capital's rich diversity of cultures, traditions, ethnic groups and faiths." Just don't, he said, "name them as Muslims."

Their faith renewed, Londoners soldier on.

link
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dianawest/printdw20050718.shtml

 

[dilloduck]

Good article----more proof that we either don't know or won't say who or what the real enemy is.

 

[Bonnie]

Good article----more proof that we either don't know or won't say who or what the real enemy is.

We know!!

 

[dilloduck]

We know!!

Well who is it and why is our government playing the hush hush game?

 

[Bonnie]

Well who is it and why is our government playing the hush hush game?

Because some in our government are too busy catowing to PC ideals to admit who they are much to the detriment of the rest of us.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Great article, Bonnie. It should be required reading by all Americans.

 

[dilloduck]

Because some in our government are too busy catowing to PC ideals to admit who they are much to the detriment of the rest of us.

You still haven't said who it is. Is it the whole religion of Islam?

 

[Bonnie]

You still haven't said who it is. Is it the whole religion of Islam?

I'd hate to think it is all Islam, but I worry about the teachings that say it's okay to kill anyone who is not converted. And when I see young Muslim teenagers in this country interviewed saying they would be homocide bombers if given the chance I wonder who is teaching them to think this way??? You tell me what you think? Is it other cultures also that embrace the the radical teachings of Islam, is it Americans that have converted as well??

 

[dilloduck]

I'd hate to think it is all Islam, but I worry about the teachings that say it's okay to kill anyone who is not converted. And when I see young Muslim teenagers in this country interviewed saying they would be homocide bombers if given the chance I wonder who is teaching them to think this way??? You tell me what you think? Is it other cultures also that embrace the the radical teachings of Islam, is it Americans that have converted as well??

That's what makes me wonder--is it the whole religion that needs to be wiped out ( impossible in my book) or certain sects that focus on this part of the Koran.Can these "teachers" be driven from America without causing a civil rights uproar? I'm noticing that the adminstration has one sort of vague description of the enemy while some posters feel as if every muslim in the world should be killed.

 

[Bonnie]

That's what makes me wonder--is it the whole religion that needs to be wiped out ( impossible in my book) or certain sects that focus on this part of the Koran.Can these "teachers" be driven from America without causing a civil rights uproar? I'm noticing that the adminstration has one sort of vague description of the enemy while some posters feel as if every muslim in the world should be killed.

My opinion is that somewhere in between those two extremes is the answer. I worry that Muslims in this country for all purposes remain silent and here is where I think the author of this article makes her case. We have become so fearfull of the appearance of profiling at airports and on campus that how can we possibly address this life and death problem with any kind of meaningful results?? In other countries such as Britain wich has such a large population of Muslims and their very porous borders just like ours all I can see is a never ending police investigation and round up... after the fact. No one seems to even be willing to address ways of seperating peaceful Muslims from radical fundamentalists.

 

[Bonnie]

That's what makes me wonder--is it the whole religion that needs to be wiped out ( impossible in my book) or certain sects that focus on this part of the Koran.Can these "teachers" be driven from America without causing a civil rights uproar? I'm noticing that the adminstration has one sort of vague description of the enemy while some posters feel as if every muslim in the world should be killed.

Ironically I received an email today advertising books on this subject offered through Human Events, here is the meat of what they sent me...

CBS Muzzles Ad on
Radical-Islamist Threats



CBS has done it again. A non-partisan group scheduled air-time to promote a terrorism related conference, only to have the ad rejected because "Too many people might be emotionally affected by the subject matter -- it's too controversial to be aired at this time."

We are at war and people around the world (over 100 in Iraq this last weekend) are dying because of the barbaric acts of terrorists, but incredibly, the liberal media is afraid a radio ad would be too emotional!?

I say enough is enough. That is why I am writing you today to tell you about HUMAN EVENTS and how you can get a free copy of a courageous new book,
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades).

Since the attacks of 9/11, numerous books have tried to explain the religion in whose name the terrorists acted. Most of them strike a common theme: "True" Islam -- as opposed to the hijackers' "extremist" version -- promotes peace, justice, freedom, and tolerance.

The problem with this argument is that it is false -- and therefore dangerous -- since it blinds us to the true nature of the enemy we face.

But now, in The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), Islam expert Robert Spencer reveals what all these other books conceal about Islam -- and about the Crusades that were the Western world's long-delayed response to centuries of Muslim aggression.

Exposing myth after myth of the "Islam means peace" establishment, Robert Spencer, in The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam tackles all the hot-button issues regarding Islam and the Crusades, including:

Mohammed: the "Perfect Man"? That's how Muslims regard him. Details about his character and in Mohammed's career of bloody conquest that make him a dangerous role model


The roots of Islamic terrorism and violence in the Koran


The Crusades: not acts of unprovoked aggression by Europe against the Islamic world, but a delayed response to centuries of Muslim aggression


The stifling effect Islam has on science and free inquiry, accounting for its failure to prosper -- and hence of its murderous envy of the West


How the much-ballyhooed (and grossly exaggerated) "Golden Age" of Islamic culture was largely inspired by non-Muslims


The ghastly lure of Islam's X-rated Paradise for suicide bombers and jihad terrorists


How Mohammad ordered -- and rejoiced in -- the assassinations of his enemies. How he lied and broke treaties as a matter of course


Islamic law: how it institutionalizes oppression of Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims in Islamic societies


How the Koran and Islamic law treat women as nothing more than possessions of men


Islam's only overarching moral principle: "if it's good for Islam, it's right"


Why Western leaders who think non-Muslims can "win hearts and minds" among Islamic jihadists are naïve


Why modern-day jihad warriors despise democracy and will do all they can to resist it
Robert Spencer is a regular contributor to HUMAN EVENTS, as an expert on Islam, and now you can get his latest (and best) book for free with this pre-publication offer!

In HUMAN EVENTS, you will see today's most important questions reported on from the standpoint of what really happened and why it happened -- a reporting approach that is an anathema to the relentlessly liberal "advocacy journalists" in the mainstream media.

For example:

** You have surely heard of George Soros and his deep-pocketed support of left-wing causes. But did you know there is another billionaire supporter of the Left?

** WHO published a guide that gives Mexicans advice on how to illegally enter the U.S.?

HUMAN EVENTS reports the answer. It's a shocker. A Mexican state government published the 87-page book, accompanied by a DVD, which includes advice on choosing the safest routes through Arizona, California and Texas.




** HOW is the media ignoring the real scandal hanging over the Dan Rather "Memogate" forgery?

HUMAN EVENTS reports the obvious truth. CBS, Dan Rather and, quite possibly, big-time Democrat Party operatives, got a pass from investigators. All the investigating bodies have refused to take the logical next step -- which is to pursue the actual forger. (Imagine if Fox News had aired a similar smear about John Kerry -- the media would still be scouring the ends of the earth seeking the forger!)

 

[dilloduck]

Ironically I received an email today advertising books on this subject offered through Human Events, here is the meat of what they sent me...

Good article and a complicated issue indeed. I was hoping the Christian effort at the mosque in Denver might bring SOMETHING to light but I get it fizzled. I guess our government sees it as an issue that is too hot to handle overtly so much is left to speculation.

 

[Annie]

Ironically I received an email today advertising books on this subject offered through Human Events, here is the meat of what they sent me...

In many ways this war doesn't surprise me in the least, I've been interested in what has been called in academia "The Balkanization of the West" for at least the past 15 years:

http://www.bartleby.com/59/13/balkanizatio.html

balkanization


(bawl-kuh-nuh-ZAY-shuhn) Division of a place or country into several small political units, often unfriendly to one another. The term balkanization comes from the name of the Balkan Peninsula, which was divided into several small nations in the early twentieth century.

In many ways this is the underpinnings of one aspect of PC: 'There are no 'absolutes' in our culture, the 'melting pot' was wrong, 'tossed salad' was better, but 'seperate cultures better still,' has been the theme. While the Hispanics for one have clung to their language; it may just be that the Muslims living in Western cultures may be particulary prone to the extreme teachings of imams in their mosques and their youth buying into what they see as 'culturally theirs' as a form of rebellion.

In the attempt to 'not offend' we keep hearing 'the religion of Peace' while we watch the contradictions before our own eyes.