OPINION:
Ideology matters. People act according to what they believe. If you believe in the Golden Rule, you will treat others accordingly. If you believe “infidels” should have their heads chopped off, you will chop their heads off, given the opportunity. It is the obligation of the “infidels” (Christians and Jews, etc.) to deprive them of the opportunity.
Christianity is based on tolerance, inclusiveness and forgiveness. Judaism gave the world the fundamental requirements for civilization, the Ten Commandments. The Islamic State says we must convert to Islam or die in a hideous fashion. They mean it. This is pure, raw evil.
Not all Muslims agree, but enough do to destroy civilization. Not all Germans agreed with Hitler, but that didn’t matter to the tens of millions who lost their lives in World War II or to their families who survived.
Hitler was opposed, and he lost. Who is opposing the Islamic State? Who is assisting Israel, our only ally in the Middle East? Inaction by the United States in the face of this dire threat has now gone beyond reason.
The Constitution’s provision for the sharing of power among the three branches of government has quietly morphed into a concentration of power in one branch, the executive, without the consent of the governed. It is no longer enough to blame one man, the president, whose heart is clearly not in it. He had his chance and ignored it. What matters now is the effective involvement of those who do not choose to “convert or die”; i.e., the American public, the media, the peaceful Muslims and the president’s enablers in both houses of Congress who have by their own inaction allowed this situation to fester and explode.
Silence is consent.
ELIZABETH WARD NOTTRODT
Baltimore
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