Diana West writes in the Washington Times, with thanks to Andrew Bostom.
Last week, I outlined the problem of the age: the incompatibility of Islam with a multicultural West that hides away inconvenient history and disturbing doctrine under layers of political correctness. Without stripping them off to examine the problem, all we get is a lot of wishful thinking.Historian Niall Ferguson, writing in the Telegraph on the intensifying "Muslim colonization" of Europe, has decided that such "demographic shifts" are not "invariably a bad thing." After all, seven centuries of jihad-imposed dhimmitude for infidels in Muslim Spain gave us the Alhambra, or something. It's that pesky "ideology" of conquest that follows all the shifting that's the problem — something he thinks European Muslims ought to take "a much closer look at." Really stern stuff.
Over at the Boston Globe, a lefty editorial mantra turns culture clash into harmonic convergence: "European Muslims and non-Muslims must learn to live together. Each will have to practice the tolerance that [Theo van Gogh] assassin Bouyeri proudly scorned." They must, must they? As sharia law becomes a democratic option, who will enforce such tolerance?
As conservatives, columnist Charles Krauthammer and blogger-cum-radio host Hugh Hewitt still fight the good fight, but, in these multicultural days, that means sorting through "extremism" and finding nothing too terribly Islamic about it. Mr. Hewitt writes that my arguments of last week were wrong, citing "functioning democracies in Turkey and other predominantly Islamic countries" as evidence of Islamo-Western compatibility. He throws in the loyal host ("millions of loyal British and American citizens") for good measure. Problem is, the extent to which Turkey — where, just incidentally, "Mein Kampf" was a top 10 bestseller this spring — has ever functioned as a democracy is directly related to the efforts of a strong man, Ataturk, to constrain Islam's grip on the country's institutions, replacing religion with a doctrine of Turkish racial and civilizational supremacy. And while it tugs on the heartstrings, the loyalty of individual Muslims fails to neutralize or reform the institutions of jihad and dhimmitude that rise from Islamic teachings. That I even raised the issue, Mr. Hewitt writes, "underscores the almost desperate need for Muslim leaders in the West again and again, to denounce, without argument or sidebar mentions of Israel, etc., the use of terrorism as a weapon." Almost desperate is right...
Read it all.
In trying to decide each morning whether to read The Washington Times, or that other paper, The Bandar Beacon, the appearance of Diana West's column in the former causes one side to kick the beam. Oh, The Bandar Beacon has its social-butterfly and gossip-column points, but things haven't been the same since Evangeline Bruce departed, and yes, I liked Henry Mitchell's gardening articles as much as the next person, but he's also gone, and so are the Bliss-ful people who planned those gardens at Dumbarton Oaks, and gossip these days just isn't interesting because fewer people in Washington are interesting.
Understanding Islam is the most important thing in the world right now, and for the unforeseeable future. So the coverage of Islam, the ability to pierce various veils, to study the canonical texts and comprehend them, tounderstand how it is that nice, affable, seemingly reasonable people may in fact possess a mental makeup that forces them, so outwardly nice, affable, seemingly reasonable, to adopt a position of defensiveness, of filial piety, that makes those "moderates" as dangerous, in some ways, as those "immoderate" Muslims, to be able to see through and dissect at once every example of Taqiyya-and-Tu-Quoque, to understand the global picture and how that should determine strategies in Iraq as everywhere else -- all this has become the litmus test, of every columnist, every reporter with a relevant beat, every television commentator and "expert" who has been retained by this or that most generous, trusting, not too critical network. And so many of those "experts" and commentators and reporters and columnists and newspapers such as The New Duranty Times and The Bandar Gazette are in fact failing , and besides, the matter of understanding Islam is the most important thing in the world now -- the litmus test of any newspaper, or for that matter, an intelligence test for all sorts of commentators and "experts" who are failing that test, right and left. Very much right and left.
Life in Washington offers all kinds of quandaries, qualms, quodlibets, quodlibets, and assorted Peter Quinces at assorted claviers. Ethiopian tonight with the kids, or Afghani or Vietnamese? The taxi with the Danakil driver, or shall I risk that Pakistani? Going to the the Kennedy Center for some pretend-to-like-classical music appearance, or meeting behind closed doors with donors and lobbyists? Taking a "leadership role" at some goddamn conference that chooses to meet after-hours, or going home to bed, to watch at old movie or read Tom Clancy? Asking the ghostwriter how my book is coming, or risking a little hot-and-botheredness with that staffer or gay divorcee who, come to think of it, may do double duty as an adoring donor? Decisions, decisions.
Diana West at The Washington Times makes for one decision less.
Well said, Mr Fitzgerald. May her courage inspire others to find theirs.
This is the Time 07/22/2005.
This is the Faith:
This Religion is Truth and This Church is Freedom
This can be prayed as many, one, or none.
This has no name and can be given any name.
This has created everything.
This creatures are all pure and sacred and all deserve the same rights.
This needs no prophet and raised no prophet: all these are inventions of evil.
This needs no book and inspired no book: all these are inventions of evil
Human union is between one woman and one man.
A human child has the right to have one mother and one father.
evil name is lie, child of jealousy and envy.
The wicked lost their ability to distinguish Good from evil and became evil slaves.
We will burn the wicked in the fire of Truth as only This can fight evil.
This is the Prayer:
I acknowleged the nature of evil.
I will spread the Faith on Earth with all my might.
I will fight the wicked till they come back to the path of Truth or die.
Then peace will come to Earth and This will will be accomplished