To many in the Muslim world, the United States is “the great Satan.” Nevertheless, there is no place safer and more prosperous in the world for a Muslim to live than right here.
Why is that?
It’s because there is something fundamental about Islam we have chosen to ignore due to political correctness. This truth is so self-evident, I find myself nodding my head in agreement with Bill Maher — someone whose worldview is the polar opposite of mine — whenever he speaks on the subject of the West and Islam.
This truth is that Islam has literally been at war with others and itself from the very beginning. It’s founder, Muhammad, spent the last two decades of his life in almost constant warfare. Unlike Christ, who willingly gave up his own life to pay the penalty for the sins of others, Muhammad died taking the lives of others who would not willingly submit to Allah.
This is historical fact.
Since Muhammad left no obvious heir, his followers immediately broke down into rival camps — our modern-day Sunnis and Shiites — that have been warring with each other since long before the Holy Roman Empire gave birth to what we now know as Western Civilization. Furthermore, one of the rationales for forming the Holy Roman Empire in the first place was to combat the Muslim invasion of Europe.
This is another historical fact.
Much of what we today call the “Muslim world” was originally a key component of the Christian world. In fact, the term “Christians” was first applied to Jesus’ followers in Syria. The apocalyptic Book of Revelation begins with letters to seven churches in what was then called Asia Minor, which is our modern-day Turkey. Some of the oldest enclaves of Christianity were in places like Egypt and Lebanon, but their numbers dwindled considerably throughout the centuries due to violent Islamic conquest of those regions.
This, again, is historical fact.
The first overseas war in our nation’s history was against Muslims known as the Barbary Coast Pirates, whose ambassador admitted to Thomas Jefferson they were raiding our ships because “it was their right and duty to make war upon (infidels) wherever they can be found” in the name of Muhammad. The line from the Marine’s hymn “to the shores of Tripoli” is a reference to this war. So our nation faced Islamic jihad long before we discovered Middle Eastern oil and started meddling in their affairs, contrary to the misguided view of history often espoused by Ron Paul.
Once more, this is historical fact.
Islam has never established a culture that both installed sharia law and recognized individual freedoms. Those that tried faced conquest from the caliphate (see Ottoman Empire of yesteryear and ISIS of today), or incursions from their own radicals for betraying the faith.
Finally, this is not only a fact of history but a fact of our right now.
There is no place in the world today where Islam dominates the culture and mankind is truly free, which is why our politically correct elites often declare Islam is in need of its own Reformation. However, what they don’t understand, because they ignore history (and thus reality) in favor of their own confirmation bias, is that violence within Islam is its Reformation.
If you have truly studied the Koran you know why. There is inspiration in the Koran, and there is ugliness, too. Like Allah turning the Jews into apes and pigs, and the numerous calls to wage war on infidels. And you don’t have to look hard to find it. This confusion within the Koran creates confusion within Islam. As people who seek to spread Allah’s message peacefully, and those who do so by any means necessary, can honestly call upon passages from the same book to justify their actions. Attempts by our politically-correct leaders to divorce violence from Islam only emboldens the jihadists to kill all the more to fight for the purity of their faith, just as the Koran demands.
Political correctness, which embraces moral relativism, will quickly respond with all the blood spilled within Christianity by Protestants and Catholics in the past. However, the reason we haven’t seen that happen in the United States is our Founding Fathers learned from that history, and established a civilization based on individual rights. That your rights don’t come from a group identity, class distinction or government. That you have rights no one can take away from you, because you were made as an individual in the image of the Creator, who is where our rights come from.
It is impossible to establish a society within a Muslim world on such a premise, because Islam doesn’t champion the individual but the group. The world is simply divided into two camps — believers and unbelievers. And unlike the New Testament, which is clear a Christian is to treat others as he would like to be treated, there are several places where the Koran makes it quite clear unbelievers are less than second-class citizens.
Until we are willing to remove our politically correct blinders and objectively acknowledge history, as well as the reality of the worldview we’re up against, discussing solutions to this dilemma is pointless.
The first solution is to acknowledge the truth. Any so-called “solution” that ignores the truth is just going to get more people killed.
(Steve Deace is a nationally syndicated talk show host and the author of “Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again.” You can like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @SteveDeaceShow.)
Please read our comment policy before commenting.