Faith before Truth?
The threat that faces the United States, in fact the entire world is not terror. Those who have written about the war on terror and issues related to Islam have gone out of their way to state that the U.S. is not at war with Islam. In many ways, some unfortunate, this is true. We have focused our efforts on the physical, financial and geographic battle against the Islamic organizations and nations, which have openly engaged the U.S. in war through the tactics of terror or the support thereof. As I’ve noted, our enemies are not at war with the United States they are at war with our inalienable rights. What has concerned me to a degree that I am severely struggling to articulate is the threat of Islam, as it is practiced by many Muslims, and their confluence with the Left is this country, Europe and the United Nations is far greater than the likelihood of terror attacks, military defeat or eventual nuclear confrontation. The ideological threat, found in modern Islam, is the greatest threat to us all. Why have I struggled to say this? I was a convert to Islam.
Earlier this week, the Chicago Tribune published an article by Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe, and Laurie Cohen about the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) and their existence and aims within the U.S. This article and a recent column by Daniel Pipes have made it clear to me that while there are those who understand the threat of Islam in America and to America; many others continue to pursue relations with organizations, including the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen. Both Pipes and the Tribune article note the real aim of the Brotherhood is not to destroy the U.S. or for that matter any nation in battle, rather it is to make the United States an Islamic state. On first reading the Tribune article, my intent was to respond, as I am now, by describing the threat as I see it. The difficulty with doing so came from my personal experience and my desire to discuss the reality without making it personal. So I delayed and was prompted again today by Pipes excellent column.
In teaching Islam, the Imam, Sheikh, or others who take the mantle of leadership provide the believer not with a moral foundation for decision-making and actions, instead they offer a guidance through the actions and words of the Prophet Muhammad, and the words of the Qur’an. No guiding principles are offered to believers with which they are able, if not required, to study, contemplate and determine appropriate actions on their part. Curiosity is not a character trait of the adherent who follows the teachings of the modern Imamate. Instead, he believes what he is told to believe, no questions asked. This destruction of an innate characteristic of man, to question and seek truth for himself, leaves him incredibly susceptible to the lies, falsehood and propaganda of those who lead him. In addition, the leader, also not able or willing to question the morality of his actions, becomes more rigid and stubborn in his interpretation and implementation of Islam, just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Perhaps, giving them the benefit of the doubt, they did so to avoid the displeasure of God, fearing that they would be judged for allowing an action that is forbidden in the Sunnah or Qur’an. Either way, their failure becomes immoral as they fail to recognize or seek greater truth or understanding.
The results are evident throughout the Muslim world. A dearth of education beyond the fundamentals of Islam, no tolerance for opinion or individuality, and no incentive to neither seek nor achieve any success other than the highest honor of their brethren and their God; martyrdom.
It is my concern that many in the United States are being guided, often out of good intentions, toward an ideology that is similar not in its religious dogma but rather in its tactic of limiting man from seeking higher understanding and truth. The left, globally, describes themselves as tolerant and caring, while classical liberals, modern conservatives and neo-cons are described as dispassionate, racist, intolerant and greedy. Experience shows this to be false. It is in fact the left that recognizes and categorizes men by race, creed, religion, gender and orientation. The policies and ideals of the left have given us schools which do not seek to educate instead choosing to inculcate the doctrines and philosophies of the left into their students. And unmistakably, the left seeks not to free men from the binds of government or external authority, as their words and policies religate generations of men to a belief that societal obligations are greater than your individual obligation to seek truth, to live free, and to achieve the utmost with your ability and efforts.
Now as we recognize that the left seeks to coddle the Islamist, to appease Europe and the U.N. and to continue to expand government influence in the lives of Americans, it becomes even more apparent that the ideological war for our rights, given by God not man, requires our attention. For no matter how many victories we find on the battlefield, should we fail to defend our values and rights, fail to address the ideological infestation, and to seek real understanding of the task at hand, we may fail from within. Just as I have done on too many occasions.
