I'm in an airport now, on my way to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I'm speaking tonight to resume my college tour that took me to Penn State and the Universities of Wisconsin in Madison and Milwaukee last week. One of the most common questions I get on college campuses involves moral equivalence -- and really, students, if any of you are reading this, why not throw out the canned talking points (who is feeding them to you, anyway?) and ask some real questions? You have no idea how often I get asked the same thing. Anyway, one of you will probably ask me about "Christian extremists" tonight. My answer is summed up by stories like these. My tongue-in-cheek headline is meant to illustrate a serious point: we never see stories like this in reverse. Now, why is that?
"Taliban gunmen kill Christian aid worker in Kabul," by Amir Shah for Associated Press, October 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):
KABUL, Afghanistan – Taliban gunmen killed a Christian aid worker in Kabul as she was walking to work on Monday, and the militant group said it targeted the woman because she was spreading her religion.The dual South African-British national, who worked with handicapped Afghans, was shot to death by gunmen who drove by on a motorbike in western Kabul, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.
The Taliban claimed responsibility.
"This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan," militant spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press. "Our (leaders) issued a decree to kill this woman. This morning our people killed her in Kabul."...
Islamic law, of course, forbids Christians to proselytize among Muslims. They should rather adopt a posture of "willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Qur'an 9:29).
This woman is a martyr.
Robert,
No surprise you get the same questions at each speaking engagement. After all don't you realize just how unique to each student that question is, for they alone came up with that idea. Why don't you just submit to their obvious intellectual supremacy since you are nothing more than just some "old" bearded dude who obviously quit learning once you left college. Only those in college/university actually know anything. Accept the fact that professors are thoughtful, scholarly, intellectual, and most of all, open minded. Just like their minions, er, students.
This is truly the creed of the antichrist.
Off hand, I am struggling to call to mind a single redeeming feature of this religion, in any of its manifestations.
May they burn in hell.
"They should rather adopt a posture of "willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Qur'an 9:29)
Never happen. I am here to state that I will not ever submit to Islam nor will I ever feel subdued by it. Take your allah and shove it. Muhammad can take a flying leap too. Hell is too good for this demonic-duo.
Biden Admits Obama is Unprepared for International Crisis - Time for That Primetime Event
Mr. Robert Spencer,
Is there a schedule that you have so we can see where you are giving talks in the future. I live in the NY area and would like to attend if you are giving a talk around this area.
Al
IMO many of the student talking points come from CAIR agents on campus or rabidly secular liberals who often ally themselves with anyone who hates Christians and the west in general.
However those talking points are not confined to the college campus they are found in the liberal blogosphere whenever someone brings up Muslim violence.
Typical liberal talking points include:
*Timmothy McVeigh was a fundamentalist Christian.
*Falwell and Pat Robertson's followers are the same as the Taliban and Al-Qeada.
*Evangelicals are just like the Taliban.
*Christianity is just as violent as Islam and here are the verses to prove it.
*Most of the violence in the world was done by Christians.
The "moral equivalence" argument is used for several reasons. The chief one is change the subject from a discussion of Islam into a discussion of ANYTHING else. The other reason to force the opponent in to acknowledge that Islam is a religion just like other religions. It is not. Muslims themselves claim that Islam is a social order, legal system, a method of governance and a better than any religion, society, law and government that has ever been designed. The third reason is to access the last pool of western guilt surrounding its treatment of the third world. In a debate, it would be a red herring.
I have no doubt the CAIR, the MCB and every muslim organisation in the USA and Europe will be storming onto the streets to express their outrage at this offence to the religion of peace and love. Meanwhile I have a pork chop to grill .
We must be nuts to send aid workers to that godawful place. They're not grateful for it. Its time to let them stew in their own juice. And political correctness is the reason we passed up that chance to blow 200 Taliban to smithereens when one of our predator drones spotted them at a funeral. And there's no way you can take on the Taliban when you've got to ask a lawyer before doing anything. Back in 1944, we didn't ask a lawyer whether it was alright to bomb Germany.
Robert - the best defense is a good offense - you should and a FAQ to your prepared remarks where you preemptively answer those questions that always come up. It saves time, makes room for more interesting questions, and mostly it serves notice that the "brilliant" tack that the questioner would have followed in asking the now pre-answered question has been marginalized and trivialized. Just a thought.
For her to go to a country(a country we're at war with), to spread her faith(Christianity) in a Muslim stronghold, knowing that she would face persecution and death, seems to be the actions of a complete and utter fool.
She was an aid worker...really? Well what about going to Christian countries to help those less fortunate than herself, knowing that her work will be greatly appreciated, instead of in an Islamic country where she will be looked upon as a 'pig'?
Let this death be a warning not just to stupid Christian aid workers, who venture into Radical/War torn Muslim lands, but also to the West, just what Islam really is all about.
She would still be alive, had she chosen a NON Muslim country, continuing her work to help others in a worse position than herself.
The author of the article, one Noor Khan uses some interesting language in the article: "Afghanistan is a conservative Islamic nation. Proselytizing is prohibited by law, and other Christian missionaries or charities have faced severe hostility."
That is not an accurate statement, as Islamic proselytizing is perfectly legal, but any other type is completely illegal. I'm sure the author is perfectly aware of that fact, so I'm left to wonder why that wording was chosen.
" Muslim aid worker"
Now that is an oxymoron. Why do we never see "muslim aid workers," even among muslims? Not much you can do with 2 1/2% for the women and orphans even if it was not obligatory for the jihad!
I think jihadis are about as far as most muslim aid workers get. But to be fair Yusef Islam as Cat Stephens calls himself organises a lot of money from the UK particularly from the well heeled “Asian” community. There is also an outfit called the Ummah Welfare Trust that does a lot of fund raising here. One of the things they are keen on is reintroducing islam to the Balkans to people who are nominally muslim but have never practiced it.
The dual South African-British national, who worked with handicapped Afghans...
"Our (leaders) issued a decree to kill this woman. This morning our people killed her in Kabul."...
..................................
Well, this just sums it up. Murdering a woman who cares more about their vunerable co-religionists than they do.
But, realizing this, some of those handicapped Afghans and their families might look at what sort of faith might lead a woman to leave her own country for a war torn region full of people who adhere to a religion that considers her an Infidel . . . can't have that!
As poster David England noted, "Muslim aid worker" is pretty much an oxymoron. The handicapped are ignored and despised in most of the Muslim world.
Islamic law, of course, forbids Christians to proselytize among Muslims. They should rather adopt a posture of "willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Qur'an 9:29).
Yes, because islam will not hold up to even cursory examination and must keep Christians out and mandate death for those who leave it. Otherwise there would be a stampede for the doors. We should treat religion the way we treat trade. There is either mutual reciprocity or there is not.
Fred, I think you pretty much proved my point. So much Islamic "charity" does nothing but spread Islam--or worse, fund Jihad. Very little "Zakat" goes for what most of us here in the West would actually consider charity--caring for the sick and handicapped, for orphaned and abandoned children, for disease prevention, or providing assistance and an education.
gravenimage
I would agree with you. When my niece’s husband was working in Turkey for a year she thought she could fill the time doing voluntary work. She is a highly qualified specialist nurse but she found quote; “The idea of someone working for nothing is something they can’t understand here.”
I'm not a practicing Christian, but I would think that Muslims are PRECISELY the people who need to hear the message of Christ.
People - Below is the link to the Daily Tar Heel student newspaper of UNC.
Post a comment to the Islamic Barbarian who is denigrating Horowitz and Spencer! You have to register - it's well worth it, not a big deal. Do it, please!
http://www.dailytarheel.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/islamo-fascism_week_was_prejudicial%252C_inflammatory
I'm not a practicing Christian, but I would think that Muslims are PRECISELY the people who need to hear the message of Christ.
Posted by: Cornelius
Funny that but I'm sure that's exactly how Gayle Williams felt.
one day they will run out of people to torture, behead or stone to death. Then I wonder, what will they do... ? Kill each other I presume...
agom5555 - start with the 'Terrorism Awareness Project' people.
They've got a schedule of Mr Spencer's upcoming gigs for Islamofascism Awareness Week (three more speaking engagements on 21st, 23rd and 29th, besides this one at UNC Chapel Hill) as also those of Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, David Horowitz, and Andrew Bostom.
They don't give times or the particular venue on campus.
Mr Bostom will be entering the lion's den - on the 28th he'll be speaking at the University of Southern California (the same one whose Muslim Students' Association has that very, very useful and illuminating collection of Muslim texts in translation, online). Given that he just published 'The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism' I think the atmosphere at his presentation is likely to be...interesting. I would urge all Southern Californian Jihadwatchers to find out when and where Mr Bostom is speaking, precisely, and make sure they attend the presentation.
I'm in Australia, so I'm too far away to do anything except pray like blazes for the safety of the speakers - and give thanks that Mr Spencer is so conscientiously describing, here, what happened at each engagement, so that those of us who cannot be there, can still get a sense of what's going on and how his message is being received.
I should mention that UNC Chapel Hill is Mr Spencer's Alma Mater - he gained his MA in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Wow, those liberals sure had ME convinced!! Christians ARE evil!! The world would be better off without them!! Thank goddess we have peace-loving Muslims to restore order. Like they've ever REALLY hurt anyone! (Christians don't count. They're annoying)
/sarc off
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum
From what I heard when I was in an Islamic country, the Muslims there believe that anybody going into their countries for "aid " purposes is either doing it for career reasons or is possibly a spy. They do not understand us and our culture, and are thoroughly brainwashed against Christianity anyway.
As Richard the Lionheart said, there is something a bit amiss about Christians spending so much time and energy helping Muslims. There is a touch of the braggadocio about it. And it seems fairly obvious that Muslims are not up for conversion in any big way.
They need to be subdued before conversion is remotely possible. I don't mean killed or anything, just subdued, as they formerly were when confined to their own lands.
Christian fundamentalists turn the other cheek and are fed to lions.
Islamic fundamentalists kill people.
It is very difficult being a Christian fundamentalist.
It is easy to be an islamic fundamentalist.
All "Christian extremist" questions posed by Westerners come from the Left.
Posted by: Wellington at October 20, 2008 9:27 PM
Agreed, 100%.
"one day they will run out of people to torture, behead or stone to death. Then I wonder, what will they do... ? Kill each other I presume..."
Posted by: Dr.CancerMan October 20, 2008 7:09 PM
================================================
That's always been my thought.
If I had cartooning talent, I'd draw a turbaned guy in a war-ravaged battlescape, crosseyed and frothing, waving his AK47 in the air and shouting "There, Allah! Finally! All the Infidels are dead and their lands laid waste; all the apostates among those who called themselves Believers are dead and their lands laid waste; all that remains is me, your loyal Achmed, who has done these glorious deeds for your honor! NOW all religion is for Allah!"
The Voice from the Sky says, "You schmuck."
A Nonny Mouse - ever heard of the cult sci fi tv show by J Michael Stracszynski, called 'Babylon 5'? In the first season (I think it's in the first season) there's an episode called 'Infection' that covers a scenario *exactly* the same as the one you're envisaging.
Watch it and see, as you reach the denouement, and discover what happened to a certain alien race that essentially created the means of their own destruction, whether you are reminded of Islam.
I know I was.
Christian extremists kill Muslim aid worker -- no, wait...
---
LOL.. reverse equivocation..
I don't know what she was thinking. Reminds me of the German/British/Aussie tourists who get constantly caught up in bad things in Islamic lands.
Bingo,
I'll tell you what she was thinking. She was thinking the same thing Sir Paul McCartney was thinking when he did that benefit concert in Israel despite the death threats. Bravery. At least this death will mean something.
After all, many people in this country literally eat themselves to death. Some even die of (I'm not even kidding) falling coconuts. If one should die anyway, shouldn't it mean something?
Shouldn't your last word be uttered in defense of another?
(God, I have GOT to stop attending philosophy classes!)
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, y'all.
Islamic law, of course, forbids Christians to proselytize among Muslims.
..........................
I decided to see what the U.S. Department of State had to say about official Afghan law:
The Constitution proclaims that "followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law." However, it also states that Islam is the "religion of the state" and that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam."
........................
Then they wryly add: "The right to religious freedom was not respected in practice."
Why exactly are we in Afghanistan, again? We are fighting and dying, and spending prodigious amounts of money, to defend a Shari'ah state.
Here's a link:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90225.htm