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December 22, 2004

Spencer: Death Knell of the West

Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer writes in FrontPage this morning about the terrible implications of the Australian religious vilification case.

Two Christian pastors in Australia have been found guilty of religious vilification of Muslims. The decision threatens us all.

One of the pastors, Daniel Scot, is Pakistani. He fled his native land seventeen years ago when he ran afoul of the notorious Section 295(c) of the Penal Code — which mandates death or life in prison for anyone who blasphemes “the sacred name of the holy Prophet Muhammad.” It’s a treacherously elastic statute that has been and is often used to snare Christians: cornered and made to state that they don’t believe Muhammad was a prophet, they then find themselves charged with blasphemy.

Scot went to Australia, only to run afoul of that nation’s new religious vilification laws. Last Friday, Judge Michael Higgins of The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found him guilty of vilifying Islam in a seminar hosted by his group, Catch the Fire Ministries. The judge noted that during the seminar, Scot stated that “the Quran promotes violence, killing and looting.” In light of Qur’anic passages such as 9:5, 2:191, 9:29, 47:4, 5:33 and many others, this cannot seriously be a matter of dispute. Muslims have pointed to verses in the Bible that they would have us believe are equivalent in violence and offensiveness, or have claimed that the great majority of Muslims don’t take such verses literally; but it takes a peculiarly strong resistance to reality not only to deny that such verses are there, but to charge one who pointed them out with religious vilification.

Yet Higgins wasn’t finished. He also scored Scot for contending that the Qur’an “treats women badly; they are to be treated like a field to plough, ‘use her as you wish,’” and that in it, “domestic violence in general is encouraged.’” He charged Scot with saying that the Qur’an directs that “a thief’s hand is cut off for stealing.” Yet the idea of the field and “use her as you wish” are from Sura 2:223 of the Qur’an. Husbands are told to beat their disobedient wives in 4:34. Amputation for theft is prescribed in 5:38. What Qur’an is Higgins reading?

Higgins got not just the Qur’an, but Scot’s own statements wrong. The judge charges that Scot called Muslims “demons”; but according to human rights activist Mark Durie, who was deeply involved in the case, “Scot at one point in the seminar said that in the Qur’an there were jinn (spirit beings) which became Muslims in response to the message of Islam. However, in his summary the judge appears to interpret this as Scot saying that Muslims are demons. So ‘Some demons are Muslims’ becomes ‘Muslims are demons’!”

There are some hints that the outcome of the case was virtually predetermined. When during the trial Scot began to read Qur’anic verses that discriminate against women, a lawyer for the Islamic Council of Victoria, the organization that brought the suit, stopped him: reading the verses aloud, she said, would in itself be religious vilification. Dismayed, Scot replied: “How can it be vilifying to Muslims in the room when I am just reading from the Qur’an?”

With religious vilification laws now coming to Britain and no doubt soon also elsewhere in the West, Scot’s question rings out with global implications, and must be answered. If it is inciting hatred for Muslims simply when non-Muslims explore what Islam and the Qur’an actually teach, then there will be a chill on reasonable public discussion of Islam — a public discussion that is crucial to hold in this age of global jihad terrorism. Such laws actually make Muslims a protected class, beyond criticism, precisely at the moment when the Western republics need to examine the implications of having admitted into their countries people with greater allegiance to Islamic law than to the pluralist societies in which they’ve settled.

To criticize is not to incite. The courageous ex-Muslim Ibn Warraq calls upon Muslims to “admit the role of the Qur’an in the propagation of violence.” If they do not do this, what end can there possibly be to the jihad terrorism that is inspired, according to the terrorists themselves, by the Qur’an? What will keep jihadists from continuing to use the Qur’an to recruit more terrorists, right under the noses of fatuous Westerners like Judge Higgins who would prefer to pretend that what they use in the book isn’t really in there?

When Judge Higgins signed the guilty verdict on Daniel Scot, he may have been signing the death warrant for free Australia — and maybe even the entire Western world.

Posted by Robert at December 22, 2004 8:50 AM
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Comments
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)

Thank you Mr Spencer for bringing this particular issues importence back up.

Addresses for letters of protest.

Premier
The Hon Steve Bracks
Office of the Premier
1 Treasury Place
Melbourne
Australia 3000


The Attorney-General Philip Ruddock MP
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Prime Minister
The Hon John Howard
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Please all write, please keep polite and to the point. One letter is read as a large number of people in lobbying.

A mass of opinion, especially from the watching eyes of the world, will sway the stakes.

Cheers

Posted by: meredith [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 9:58 AM

Thank you both Spencer and meredith.

Shall shoot 2 (polite n pointed) letters to australia right away.

Is this particular case being appealed? How much play has it gotten within Australia?

Posted by: voletti [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 10:17 AM

Good article Mr. Spencer.

Any word on what the average Australian has to say about this ruling? Would this particular judge/court be anything similar to our U.S. 9th Circuit Court...where most of it's rulings are overturned?

Posted by: Greg [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 10:26 AM

Voletti,

It is going to the supreme court I hear. I am stunned at how little it is/was on the news, but then again some one like me expects it to be front page for days.

Wake up the West out of dhimmi sedation


Posted by: meredith [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 11:01 AM

In a way, this sort of thing is a test case for the left, which has lately thrown in its lot with the Muslims, just as they threw in their lot, in the 60s and 70s, with any third-world communist movement that could claim to be opposing Western influence. The left would like to establish the precedent that any political or religious sentiment, belief, doctrine or argument not consonant with their orthodoxies can be proscribed as an incitement to violence and hatred. In the present case, because they loath the societies which have bequeathed them the very freedom they assail, they valorize the "other" of Islam, and take the side of the other against their own nations. In so doing they wish to criminalize the very belief that our culture and civilization are worth preserving; conversely, they wish to enforce as orthodoxy their assertion that our way of life must perish from the face of the earth. Allow that to sink in. They wish to prescribe as orthodoxy their own demonic self-hatred: that we must hate ourselves for everything that we are, for being everything that Muslims are not, for merely existing.

I do not advocate such actions, but I fear that if the left continues to mandate silence and acquiescence in the dhimmitude of the West, ordinary citizens will eventually seek to redress such injustices by rough means indeed.

Posted by: Jeff M [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 12:00 PM

Strong article, Robert. Way to go!

Regarding Jeff M's point above, it is worth pointing out that in an article about this case, the following two paragraphs may be of interest:


"During the tribunal hearing, the Islamic Council won the support of the local Catholic Church as well as the Uniting Church, a Protestant denomination made up of the Methodist, Congregational and some Presbyterian churches.

"Following Higgins' ruling, representatives of the Catholic and Uniting churches, together with the Anglicans, Unitarians, Quakers and Church of Christ, issued a joint statement along with the ICV and a rabbi with a Progressive Jewish group, welcoming the outcome."

Link to article:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200412%5CFOR20041220a.html


If the leftwing Protestants and "progressive" Jews are rallying behind this decision, that only makes easier the agenda of the secular Left. As far as the Catholic support, one has to wonder what choice the Catholics have when the premier leader of their church, John Paul II, kisses the Koran -- a book that labels him an unbeliever and therefore advocates his killing as well as that of his flock.

Posted by: ted [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 12:30 PM

Thank you R.S. for the info, and thanks Meredeth for the addresses.
Does anyone have an address for Daniel Scot or the other minister - these guys could use a letter of support.
To elevate islam to a protected ideology truly is a frightening direction for western society to go in; suicidal.


Posted by: dby [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 12:44 PM

MORE CONTACT INFO:

Supreme Court of Victoria
210 William Street
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 3000

Court of Appeal
Chief Justice: The Honourable Justice Warren
President: The Honourable Mr Justice Winneke

Judges:
The Honourable Mr Justice Ormiston
The Honourable Justice Charles
The Honourable Mr Justice Callaway
The Honourable Mr Justice Batt
The Honourable Mr Justice Buchanan
The Honourable Justice Chernov
The Honourable Justice Vincent
The Honourable Justice Eames
The Honourable Justice Nettle

Note to US citizens:
Letters from the US to Australia require an 80 cent air mail stamp - it will run you $8.80 if you contact all 11 judges.

I will post all relevant international human rights laws for you in a moment...

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 1:33 PM

HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENTIONS RELEVANT TO THE FREEDOMS OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948):
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified by Australia on 13 November 1980):
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm

Article 18
1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

Article 19
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

Note: Article 4 Section 2 of the ICCPR prohibits the derogation of Article 18 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the ICCPR even in times of "public emergency".

I strongly urge you to reference the above Articles in your letters.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 1:51 PM

Thanks RS for spotlighting this case.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:09 PM

I kind of feel sorry for Australians.. ok, not really. After this, I can't help but think they deserve whatever Dhimmitude is in stock for them.

Posted by: bastardos [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:11 PM

LETTERS OF SUPPORT/COPIES OF LETTERS TO OFFICIALS:

Catch the Fire Ministries
http://www.catchthefire.com.au/index.html

Location:
Shop 30, Level 1
Hub Arcade
17-23 Langhorne Street
Dandenong 3175

Postal Address:
P.O.Box 7427
Dandenong 3175

Contact:
Phone: 9794 8211
Email: inquiries@catchthefire.com.au
Pastor Danny Nalliah: danny@catchthefire.com.au

Here's CFMs take on the trial and verdict:

"Freedom of Speech, GONE"
http://www.catchthefire.com.au/courtupdate26_verdict.html

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:18 PM

Letters to the Editor of The Australian:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/sectionindex2/0,5746,auscontacts%255E%255ETEXT,00.html#

Follow the links to the web-letter form. No e-mail address is provided.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:22 PM

If you want nightmares, go to google for

"mark john durie witness statement" [66 pages]

filed by the defence lawyer as evidence of the intent of 'political Islam' to subvert the western world and its democratic institutions. The first focus is to institute ' libel chill' as practised by CAIR and its clones.

Posted by: rad [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:28 PM

This project of ours is going to remain a hobby for most of us right up till the time our Moslem cousins wipe out a city in the Heartland. At that time those of us still living will ask ourselves why we got hit after all the letters we've written here. How could the Moslem terror penetrate so much ether?

Most of us, rightly, are not professional social activists and clandestine plotters; but I argue again that it is time for us to choose our positions here and to decide whether that is in fact a role we wish to take up, in whatever capacity. We have to examine our personalities and our motives and our abilities to know where we stand and from there where we can move, if at all. There is a natural place for all of us, but we must know within ourselves where and what that place is. At the time of the coming conflagration we will find ourselves as the vanguard of this struggle aagainst the evil of Islam. If we are disorganized and unfocussed, those who rely on us will be in worsre positions with us than without. Ask yourself where you are in terms of commitment and sophistication in this field, and then ask what your goal is here, if you have one at all.

I'm composing here under the burden of my very own groupie, an ordinary half-wit, but one who, unfortunately has managed to divid our resources like that fool Kilt some time back; and the problem is, as I perceive it, that we have lost the initiative once again by chasing rabbits. If that continues, you have to ask yourself how sophisticated you really are in this battle. It's not simply that I'm flattered to have my own groupie that makes me raise this issue: the question becomes important in light of our obvious inability to focus on the important aspectgs of the struggle and instead go off on idiot tangents. Our opposition is sophisticated enough to put together a war against the West and it's centuries of civilization, but we, as a collective, seem not to have the focus to move on from the flames of a moron. I have to wonder, then, if we are still only a debating society. And not a very good one at that.

I'm not suggesting here that I will take any time to train us in the basics of rhetoric and informal logic. If we lack those skills, well, we are finished before we start. If we take stock of our talents and abilities honestly and acknowledge our weaknesses and our strengths then, perhaps we can move effectively to our goal of confronting and actually beating back and over-coming the islamic threat. But if we can't see through the stupidest propaganda, if we can't focus on the issues at hand, and if we can't organize a resistence effectively, then what are we doing? We have to become far sharper than we have been to date. None of us forgets the tragedies of daily events, but how many of us really pay close attention to the fact that we might die at the hands of our Moslem opponents? they will, as you know, kill you and your family. They are sophisticated and dedicated. And we? We are lax in our performance. You'll have to think more clearly to defeat those who can organize this war against us.

I urge you to evaluate your abilities and your level of commitment to this cause. Ask yourself what your goal is here, and then write it down. Post it here. Let us know what your goal is.

I suggest again, and I do appologize for repeating myself over these past six months, that we take up the plan of leafleting. We can, indeed, write letters to the governments of Australia and the Netherlands demanding thay come to their senses. It's not going to have an impact, friends. It's unsophisticated and time-wasting. It destroys our resolve to act on our own in conjunction with our allies. Governments do not pay attention to letters, they pay attention to voters. They aqre not, I'm sorry to have to point out, not the same thing.

We can waste our energies and our time on writing letters to government clerk, we can tie up our lives in futile discussions with cheer-leaders for the suicide-bomber squads, and we can chase rabbits and bark at trolls if we choose. We can rant about the ACLU and how we'd like to feed terrorists to the lions. In that time, look at the numbers and translate those numbers into faces: of people, the ones who die.

The Australian government, in this case, is so irrelevent to the issue that it makes an average man weep to look at the people who think the solution is to send a letter to the very fools who know exactly what they're doing, and who do so because they know they're doing what they want to.
Our enemies commit murder, and in reponse we have to become profession to a further degree than they. We are, in effect, attempting to over-throw governments of European and other Western nations. Do not ask them to do that for you. We are embarked, whether it's know or not at this time, on a social and political revolution. Our real and xplicit goal is the over-throw of national governments. You cannot be part of that if you spend your time here chasing idiots acros the sceen.

If you understand that you are required here to become a revolutionary agent, then consider your tasks ahead, and ask yourself what you abilities are in this field. Ask yourself what you can contribute. Question your motivation. Then make your resolution.

To over-throw the government of Australia, which you likely didn't realize is part of your life's plan, you can start by giving up the illusion that you're going to do so by sending e-mail to clerks. Yourwill begin to have success only when you begin the building of clandestine networks of dedicated cadres of revolutionaries. Nothing short of revolution will have the effect we desire: the salvation of the Western world and the eventual freedom of the Moslem masses now so entirely enslaved in their minds they cannot be but resistent to us. We have to change the social structure of our nations to the point that Islamophilia is intolerable; and to do that we have to create a movement of the mass of our populations. As Hugh and Robert do every day, we too must educate the people.We have to create the ground of revolution in social attitudes, not by convincing others of our cause's justice but by collecting our allies.

To think we will have an effect on the Australian government is illusion. The effect that we desire, in fact that we require, is a massive change in attitude among the people, the men and women on the streets, those who will effectively change the leaders and bureaucrats in government. Governments will fall, and new ones will fall into place only when the mass of the population is ready to dismiss the first and elect the latter. Forget the politicians: go directly to the voters.

With luck I hope tomorrow to be here with an attachment for you in time for Christmas, a page or two you will be able to pass out to your friends and neighbors. It's a small beginning, but when it starts our momentum will develop among those of us who have a genuine commitment to social revolution and the necessary political revolution that will follow from it. This hand-out to come is something one hopes will be the beginning of our out-reach to the masses of people living with Islam in their midst in the Netherlands, in Australia, in Sweden, for example.

Go to the people everytime. Ignore obstacles. Focus. And think about what the opposition does. They are, unfortunately, so far advanced in terms of our state that it sometimes looks impossible that we can even catch up. But there are those among us who do have the skills already to combat the speread of islam, and those of us who lack those skills can find within themselves abilites and talents they would never have dreamed of in the circumstances pre-9/11.

Don't wait till your city goes up in flames. If you do, you'll have to answer to yourself first.

Posted by: sonofwalker [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 2:37 PM

sonofwalker-
I agree with the most of your comments, particularly the importance of getting outside of these threads and taking action in our communities, however, I disagree that we should ignore applying such action to government officials as well.
I've seen first-hand the effectiveness of lobbying government officials. I think you suffer from the sometimes justifiable preconception that all government officials are unwilling to listen to what people have to say to them. The fact is, there are many government officials who are willing to listen and act upon what people propose to them. But, as you allude to in your post, this is not an endeavor that anyone and everyone should undertake - it's a job for those who are savvy in the arts of persuasion.
As I mentioned earlier, I agree with your basic premise, we've got to take this to the streets, but that doesn't mean we have to leave the legislature and the courthouse out of the equation.
Rock on, Bro - Vive la Revolution!
PS. It WOULD be nice if we could figure out a way to get in touch with each other outside of these threads without having to reveal our personal information for the entire world to see.
Anyone have any ideas? Anyone willing to coordinate this?

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 4:05 PM

Or at least get it off the ground?

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 4:07 PM

Actually, I'm not articulating myself, well - the organizational stuff can be dealt with later. The question is how do we get in touch with each other off-site? Who's going to post an e-mail address or make one available?

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 4:13 PM

Sonofwalker,

I find your post very encouraging in that more of us are beginning to understand what is at stake here and what must be done to fight it.

First off I must digress since I think the battle against Islam will primarily be 'fought' in very domestic ways. That is through marriage, procreation, nurture and protection of each other through the family. If the West continues to abort and sodomize itself out of existence the battle is ultimately, within 2-3 generations, doomed. This is where I disagree strongly with many anti-jihadists who focus solely on Islam without understanding that something sustainable must face it. Fighting Islam is only possible if there is both something worth protecting (which most posters here infer if not state explicitly) and something to fight with. If our culture continues to degrade, Islam, sadly, will fill that vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum and something will move in.

My point is that if most of the posters here are not fathers or mothers or aspiring to be then it is symptomatic of the death of the West. Demographics are the main tool of Islam not violence. The number of abortions (1 million dead) that occur each year in the U.S. equals over 300 September 11ths (3,000 dead). While the West aborts or embraces alternate lifestyles - Islam grows. This is not to overlook 9/11 as much as it is to emphasize that we are our own worst enemy.

The fight against Islam is also military, political, and economic as posters like Robert and Hugh write so effectively about. These spheres only continue to remain relevant if the domestic realm is not undermined.

Back to sonofwalker's point, we do have to wake up and be purposeful in our actions. Venting is an empty catharsis we often are intoxicated by. Standing up to Islam is revolutionary in that it violates two central pillars of the post-modern left (PML); the all-encompassing fault of the West (esp. the U.S.) for all the worlds problems, and the equal value of all cultures/religions. The high priests of the PML; the professors, entertainers, bureaucrats, etc., will no more abandon their beliefs than did the leaders of any other discarded '-ism'. They will go down kicking and screaming. Some may be open to persuasion but dialogue will largely be wasted effort - and in the case of one of the PML's preferred groups, Muslims, a deliberate tactic to win, taqiya.

If the nuclear families of the West don't start growing both numerically and spiritually with an authentic alternative to Islam, primarily Christianity, the terror attacks and military conflicts are but comic relief to another tragedy of history.

Posted by: Martel [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 5:47 PM

There is no need for any Western non-Muslim country to import Muslim workers. None. That mistake, made by Germany and France, and then in a smaller way by Spain and Belgium, has had tremendous costs -- for those Muslim workers cost far more than their wages, for they have created a world far more unpleasant, expensive (for the costs of monitoring), and dangerous than would otherwise be the case.

If labor is to be imported, or permitted in, let it be from Russia, Eastern Europe, the non-Muslim parts of the Balkans, Latin America, the non-Muslim populations of sub-Saharan Africa, the Philippines. The real cost of Muslims in the Lands of the Infidels, if internalized, would be high. Too high.

Posted by: Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 8:03 PM

You guys on here have made some very powerfull and constructive points about the struggle against the Global Jihad now under way.

Here is my two cents worth.

* We have to revamp imigration laws. Put an anti-muslim twist to them.

* The major media must do a better job exsposing the human rights horrors of Islamic countries. You have to tune into a right-wing crack pot Christian network just to see the outrages of Arafat and the PA for instance. The major media never covered his calls for holy war to bring about a Palistenian State.

* The billions and billions of U.S. dollars flowing into Suadia Arabia is doing more to promote Islam world wide than all of the lefts political correctness combined the world over. Revamp our energy infrastructure.

* Don't just limit our critizism to the left. The jihad movement is using the right as a back door.


Nossy

Posted by: Nostrodamus [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 22, 2004 11:34 PM

Pessimistic, yes, Robert -- but, to reword the old phrase -- "cautiously pessimistic." There's life in the old West yet.

Posted by: Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 1:44 AM

Mr. Spencer, SonofWalker, and Martel have given us very good posts.

Martel's urging the importance of the family points to a serious weakness of the West: the breakdown of sexual and family disicpline. Part of our weakness is that our real committments aren't to keeping a civilization going, but to gratifying ourselves. The result is that we have a professional activist class that can cry rivers of tears over the plight of a proven murderer on a Texas death row and baby seals in the Canadian arctic, but who would villify even adoption in order to affirm the sacntity of that obscenity called abortion.

Posted by: Kepha1 [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 1:56 AM

Mike,
To be identified in person here is terrifying, already this ground is lost in the moral. Mike I think some one called Susan passes addresses on somehow, I am not sure.

Mike and Son of Walker,

I am in agreement with you both re Action.

Propaganda is a powerful tool, strong imagery, catch cry slogans and a short list of facts will get people thinking at least. Naturally then some will take up the cause. Rallies and public protests bring media coverage, Mr Spenser’s interviews, and court cases such as this one, bring the issue into daily dialogue. Then it becomes current debate and finally acceptable in the public mindset to have an opinion. As for lobbying, I believe, it does have an effect on government bodies, I think it is about 50 to 60 thousand signatures to prompt a senate enquiry. One letter to a Minister or Ambassador is always counted as a large portion of the population. It is vital the letters are polite, civil and concise, this gains the respect we so deserve. Lobbying and protesting go hand in hand.

I have approached a registered org, dealing with the oppression of Christianity all over the world about a petition. Also as an atheist, I am concerned about all Muslim free people and communities not just Christian ones, though Christianity is the basis of what most of us stand for and is a respectable and upstanding symbol. What about the RSL it stands for all our Aussie Diggers who died fighting for us to have freedom.

One thing I think is important is to acknowledge the reality of the public battlefield.

Social language, concepts and policies, as we have seen develops along side with its philosophical fads and current affairs, words like Islamaphobia, which we perceive as a derogatory term are not seen so by the general public.

Today’s iconic words;
humanitarian, ethically/politically correct, feminist, equality, educated opinion, tolerance, multicultural, human rights, awareness, spiritual, world peace and so on, are the PCspeak of current goodness, a lot of them fit our aims. These words are ours for the taking.

The first step in my eyes is to gain some public credibility. We are to easily lumped in with neo nazis, heartless Right and/or labelled as racists. Which of course we are not.

The slogans/aims of a campaign work well if it they are perceived as positive, a public face of idealism. Which lead to outcomes such as a “fairer system for all”, or “creating jobs for Aussie families” etc etc, as opposed to the racists and Christian right wing extremists who want to stop all immigration.

I believe deeply that there are many people who are secretly outraged at what they are seeing happen to their countries and cultures, but fear speaking out. If they had a “respectable” voice in our society I’m sure many thousands of western citizens would be very relieved to finally speak. Where would Amnesty etc stand on this? We are on the same side

United we stand divided we fall
The West like it or not has a diverse idealism. Some of us may prefer that, we all were Christians, Military, Patriots what ever, but we are not. Instead of a re education to one of the Western agendas, we should as Son of Walker asked us to Identify our assets for the cause. Basically we need multi skill effort here. Extremism and fascism is what we are fighting here lets not use it on each other.


Cheers

Posted by: meredith [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 5:49 AM

Mike:

We already have an "underground" e-mail network, when a request is made for personal contact, no address gets passed on to another without authorization. I'll be posting a notice about it after the holidays but you can contact susan_b356@yahoo.com now to find out more. She's our coordinator and does a fantastic and time-consuming job of fielding messages, articles and info back and forth between members. I keep the backup copy of the contact list. We'd be happy to have you sign up!

CGW

Posted by: CGW [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 8:11 AM

Thanks CGW! I'll contact Susan this afternoon.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 10:33 AM

There has to be as much introspection as there is criticism of Islam. The fact is, an average Muslim is willing to sacrifice part of his present for the future. The west is willing to sacrifice nothing from the present, willing to lose the future.

Some things the west is better off practicing,

1. Promote family values.
2. Teach your children your religious and social values. They should never grow up to be one without roots.
3. Ban Islamic immigration. Their rate of growth, all over the world is far, far higher than any other community.
4. Protest against the entry of Turkey into European Union.
5. Campaign for a law that shoud disqualify a person associated with 'Terrorism' from enjoying the rights under our constitution.
6. Desist from hate.
7. Make your children look at you with pride.

Posted by: Seculartalk [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 10:39 AM

Well put, meredith.
Here's a few words to the wise I have to add re. activism, particularly for newcomers (this is "old hat" to many here):

1) Use the media to inform or enlighten the members in your community. If you see an article, editorial or letter to the editor re. the subject of jihadism, dhimmitude, revisionist history, etc. take advantage of the opportunity to jump in and help raise awareness of the relevant facts and issues. For instance, if a letter to the editor whitewashes Islamic "tolerance", jump in and set the record straight. If an editorial column comes out and discusses, perhaps, the human rights or security issues revolving around the van Gogh murder, expound or expand on the thought.
This is an effective mode of community outreach - you're going to reach alot of people. I also sneak in a few extras into my letters whenever possible, a reference to dhimmitude, a book or author, whatever dovetails with the topic you're exploring.
2) Join an organization where you can particpate in defending whatever you're interested in re. jihadism - human rights NGOs, religious freedom organizations, groups fighting anti-Semitism, any number of secular or humanist organizations. If you've never operated in a group environment, you're going to find out that you will become a much more effective activist as part of a group versus going it alone. There's power in numbers, you know.
3) Go ahead and write your representatives in your Congress or Parliament on legislation or issues relevant to what is covered here at JW. Remember, at the very least you are enlightening your representative to things they may not have had the opportunity to investigate. It's all part of the "outreach" thing.
Just DO something. Remember what Edmund Burke said about the triumph of evil - all it requires is that good men and women do nothing.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 11:10 AM

Seculartalk brings up an important point - there are Muslims out there who share our views. Make a point of including them into your discussions re. human rights, etc.
Remember, also, part of the media outreach ganme is avoiding alienating people - don't EVER make the mistake of making adversaries out of potential allies.

Posted by: Mike [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 11:17 AM

I've read your responses to Spencer's post above, and if you go to the next day's thread on australia I'll try to address anything that I can from the responses here. If I don't address your concerns there please look for further posts in which i
will indeed discuss the false dichotomy of Left?Right, it being in my opinion a merger of two evils into Red fascism and totalitarianism of the extremes of society rather than of the French Camera.

Posted by: sonofwalker [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 1:46 PM

I seam to remember a guy named Higgins in Getmo??


Just a thought!!

Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
GOD BLESS THE USA AND HER FIGHTING FORCES AND ALL WHO FIGHT WITH HER GIVE THEM STRENGTH,WISDOM,SIGHT AND COURAGE TO DESTROY ALL ISLAMIC TERRORIST AND ALL WHO SUPPORT THEM AMEN


God Bless the country's who have Heros Amen
Pity the country who needs them

Posted by: Catherine [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 23, 2004 3:52 PM

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