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What is Islam? A religion or a political machine? Presidents and Prime Ministers have said, “Islam is a peaceful religion,” but does anyone really believe that? History does not. While world leaders ignore the true facts about Islam the Body of Christ cannot. Discover the naked truth about the ideology of Islam.
We find in the Proverbs the passage that reads, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” Jesus echoed this when he taught that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out from inside him. This speaks to a fundamental truism of human nature – the way we think, believe and view the world dictates the choices we make and how we behave.
I make this point at the outset because it is apparent to me that most of the citizenry of the West has neither a cursory knowledge of the history of Islam or adequate insight into the worldview of Islam to understand how real and serious is the threat posed by Islamism to the West.
The history of Islam can only be described as one of violence, terror, and conquest. Fourteen centuries of Islam has left a trail of tears and 270 million dead. Entire Christianized cultures throughout North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia no longer exist, either annihilated or subjugated by Muslim conquerors, and at least a million Jews have either died or been displaced at the hands of Islam.
Islam is both a religious belief and a political ideology, and an understanding of Islamism, or “political Islam,” explains this brutal history. The careful reader of the Qur’an, the Hadith (the sayings and traditions of Mohammed) and the Sira (the biography of Mohammed) is left with the inescapable conclusion that political Islam is an ideology of conquest and subjugation which has as its ultimate objective the rule of Islam over all peoples and all cultures. This explains why a so-called “religion of peace” has left so much suffering and death in its wake. The worldview of Islamism has the following central elements:
What, then, are the implications for freedom-loving and peace-loving non-Muslims?
First, ignorance of this threat is definitely not bliss. While it is true that most Muslims worldwide can be described as “peaceful”, or “moderate”, various surveys indicate that between 200 million and 400 million Muslims worldwide are “radical,” or, in effect, Islamists, and tens of millions more are sympathetic to the Islamist agenda. What’s more, the number of “radicals” is growing, and polling done in Western countries such as Great Britain reveal that younger Muslims are more likely to be radical than their parents. In other words, this threat is not going away. If anything, it will increase.
Second, the West’s approach to “co-exist” with Islamist ideology, exemplified by Great Britain’s decades-old efforts to bend over backwards to accommodate Islam and Muslims, will not and in fact cannot succeed. We are dealing with people who view non-believers as inferior and regard as a divine call the mission to subjugate all peoples, cultures and institutions to the rule and authority of Islam. Attempts at accommodation are viewed by Islamists as appeasement and reinforce their worldview that they are superior. There is no co-existing with such a worldview, any more than there was a possibility to co-exist peacefully with Hitler.
Third, the massive transfer of wealth from the West to Muslim countries via the purchase of oil puts us at increasingly greater risk with every passing year. This wealth transfer not only makes possible the financing of terrorist organizations, it has for decades made possible the spread of Islamist ideology worldwide. For instance, over the past twenty years the Saudi’s have spent tens of billions of dollars funding college and university programs, professors and materials that put a “religion of peace” façade on Islam. At the same time they have spent billions more on mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools) that promote extremist materials they also pay for.
Fourth, it is not only our safety and security that is at risk, but our liberties. Islamism is completely antithetical to the values of equality and democracy. Where Islam rules freedom of speech is non-existent or severely repressed. Women have few rights and are considered, both culturally and legally, the inferior of men. And of course, there is no religious freedom for non-Muslim faiths.
Islamists are infiltrating and subverting non-Muslim countries around the world, practicing what is called “cultural Jihad.” In effect, they use the freedoms and tolerance of more democratic countries to advance their ideology of hate, subjugation and oppression. For example, they claim their right to freedom of speech, even when they engage in speech that calls for Jihad against unbelievers, then stunningly demand that those who criticize Islam be silenced for ostensibly engaging in “hate speech.”
How are we to respond to what is arguably the greatest threat to world peace this century? In a word, we must resist.
Working through the governments of our home countries, we must press for laws that define Islamism as a violent ideology that leads to terrorism. The right to proclaim what one believes is a precious right, but it is not an absolute one. Freedom of speech is not an absolute right. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater because experience has shown that doing so creates an imminent threat to others.
In the same way, 1,400 years of experience has shown that the propagation of Islamist, jihadist ideology creates an imminent threat to non-Muslims – and even to Muslims who are not deemed “devout” enough. Speech that is a demonstrable cause of violence is not protected speech, and free societies cannot be expected to extend such a precious liberty to those who would use it to spread violence and terror. Tolerance of intolerance that leads to violence is not tolerance, it is cultural suicide.
In short, the democratic nations of the world must awaken to the cold, hard reality that the political ideology of Islam does not allow for co-existence, democratic values and ideals, or equality. We cannot control how Muslim countries choose to govern themselves, but we can control how our free nations govern themselves. We must stop the spread of Islamism through education, information and through political action. And as we do so we must remember – we are not the aggressors. We are acting in justifiable self-defense to protect our lives, our security, our safety and our liberties.
Guy Rodgers is the Executive Director for American Congress for Truth (ACT). He has served 25 years in the public arena of the non-profit and political worlds. As a political consultant, he provided leadership and strategic direction to nearly 40 campaigns, including five presidential campaigns and the campaigns of several Members of Congress and state officials. He can be reached at www.ActforAmerica.org.
We find in the Proverbs the passage that reads, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” Jesus echoed this when he taught that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out from inside him. This speaks to a fundamental truism of human nature – the way we think, believe and view the world dictates the choices we make and how we behave.
I make this point at the outset because it is apparent to me that most of the citizenry of the West has neither a cursory knowledge of the history of Islam or adequate insight into the worldview of Islam to understand how real and serious is the threat posed by Islamism to the West.The history of Islam can only be described as one of violence, terror, and conquest. Fourteen centuries of Islam has left a trail of tears and 270 million dead. Entire Christianized cultures throughout North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia no longer exist, either annihilated or subjugated by Muslim conquerors, and at least a million Jews have either died or been displaced at the hands of Islam.
Islam is both a religious belief and a political ideology, and an understanding of Islamism, or “political Islam,” explains this brutal history. The careful reader of the Qur’an, the Hadith (the sayings and traditions of Mohammed) and the Sira (the biography of Mohammed) is left with the inescapable conclusion that political Islam is an ideology of conquest and subjugation which has as its ultimate objective the rule of Islam over all peoples and all cultures. This explains why a so-called “religion of peace” has left so much suffering and death in its wake. The worldview of Islamism has the following central elements:
- Muslims are superior to non-Muslims.
- The world is divided between the dar al Islam (which is where peace “reigns” because Islam reigns) and the dar al Harb (the region of “war,” where Islam does not reign).
- Muslims have a duty to advance the rule and authority of Islam until the entire world is under its rule.
- Any and all means to advance this rule and authority, including deception, force and violence, is permissible and even advocated.
What, then, are the implications for freedom-loving and peace-loving non-Muslims?
First, ignorance of this threat is definitely not bliss. While it is true that most Muslims worldwide can be described as “peaceful”, or “moderate”, various surveys indicate that between 200 million and 400 million Muslims worldwide are “radical,” or, in effect, Islamists, and tens of millions more are sympathetic to the Islamist agenda. What’s more, the number of “radicals” is growing, and polling done in Western countries such as Great Britain reveal that younger Muslims are more likely to be radical than their parents. In other words, this threat is not going away. If anything, it will increase.
Second, the West’s approach to “co-exist” with Islamist ideology, exemplified by Great Britain’s decades-old efforts to bend over backwards to accommodate Islam and Muslims, will not and in fact cannot succeed. We are dealing with people who view non-believers as inferior and regard as a divine call the mission to subjugate all peoples, cultures and institutions to the rule and authority of Islam. Attempts at accommodation are viewed by Islamists as appeasement and reinforce their worldview that they are superior. There is no co-existing with such a worldview, any more than there was a possibility to co-exist peacefully with Hitler.
Third, the massive transfer of wealth from the West to Muslim countries via the purchase of oil puts us at increasingly greater risk with every passing year. This wealth transfer not only makes possible the financing of terrorist organizations, it has for decades made possible the spread of Islamist ideology worldwide. For instance, over the past twenty years the Saudi’s have spent tens of billions of dollars funding college and university programs, professors and materials that put a “religion of peace” façade on Islam. At the same time they have spent billions more on mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools) that promote extremist materials they also pay for.
Fourth, it is not only our safety and security that is at risk, but our liberties. Islamism is completely antithetical to the values of equality and democracy. Where Islam rules freedom of speech is non-existent or severely repressed. Women have few rights and are considered, both culturally and legally, the inferior of men. And of course, there is no religious freedom for non-Muslim faiths.
Islamists are infiltrating and subverting non-Muslim countries around the world, practicing what is called “cultural Jihad.” In effect, they use the freedoms and tolerance of more democratic countries to advance their ideology of hate, subjugation and oppression. For example, they claim their right to freedom of speech, even when they engage in speech that calls for Jihad against unbelievers, then stunningly demand that those who criticize Islam be silenced for ostensibly engaging in “hate speech.”
How are we to respond to what is arguably the greatest threat to world peace this century? In a word, we must resist.
Working through the governments of our home countries, we must press for laws that define Islamism as a violent ideology that leads to terrorism. The right to proclaim what one believes is a precious right, but it is not an absolute one. Freedom of speech is not an absolute right. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater because experience has shown that doing so creates an imminent threat to others.
In the same way, 1,400 years of experience has shown that the propagation of Islamist, jihadist ideology creates an imminent threat to non-Muslims – and even to Muslims who are not deemed “devout” enough. Speech that is a demonstrable cause of violence is not protected speech, and free societies cannot be expected to extend such a precious liberty to those who would use it to spread violence and terror. Tolerance of intolerance that leads to violence is not tolerance, it is cultural suicide.
In short, the democratic nations of the world must awaken to the cold, hard reality that the political ideology of Islam does not allow for co-existence, democratic values and ideals, or equality. We cannot control how Muslim countries choose to govern themselves, but we can control how our free nations govern themselves. We must stop the spread of Islamism through education, information and through political action. And as we do so we must remember – we are not the aggressors. We are acting in justifiable self-defense to protect our lives, our security, our safety and our liberties.
Guy Rodgers is the Executive Director for American Congress for Truth (ACT). He has served 25 years in the public arena of the non-profit and political worlds. As a political consultant, he provided leadership and strategic direction to nearly 40 campaigns, including five presidential campaigns and the campaigns of several Members of Congress and state officials. He can be reached at www.ActforAmerica.org.
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