| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Jihad Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
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When apologists for Islam’s Jihad refer to "enemies of Islam," they increasingly mean those who dare to look steadily at the actual contents of Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira and then begin to take note of the history of Jihad-conquest and subjugation of all non-Muslims. What makes them crazy is that such "enemies," like Robert Spencer, keep level-headedly pointing to the actual contents of Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira, about which they can do nothing, and to the commentaries not by one or two isolated crazies, but by the perfectly respectable orthodox jurisconsults.
The mental stamina Robert Spencer exhibits in refuting, point by point, the bizarre representative of a bizarre world, with its bizarre claims that are yet believed by hundreds of millions, is to be admired. One might think it is easy to deal with what would appear to be such crazy claims, but it turns out to be hard, because 99% of the Western world has decided it would rather believe palpable nonsense and lies, or at least pretend to, in the hope that by pretending, somehow it would all come true.
Yet the fact that they are lies is not difficult to establish. Imagine you are a Muslim today. You are trying to divert the attention of 5 billion Infidels from Islam itself. You are trying to make sure that Infidels do not look closely at what is actually in the immutable texts of Islam. Taqiyya. Tu Quoque. Smiling "Open Houses" where the chicken and pita and baklava, and those carefully friendly faces, and the careful patter about the "three Abrahamic faiths" and "the three monotheisms" and the "prophets such as Jesus and Moses whom we honor" and so on are meant to keep the Infidels quiet, and satisfied.
And you keep it up. You have plenty of money to support you, and an army of Infidels, some ignorant and willfully so, some unable to come to grips with a matter so disturbing, some lazy, some piously convinced that everyone everywhere wants just exactly the same thing and we are all god's chillun to boot, some possessing mental pathologies (e.g. antisemitism or anti-Americanism) that makes them eager to believe the best of Islam, some merely doing-it-for-the-money Western hirelings, perfectly aware of how to improve their bank accounts through doing the bidding of the Saudis or other rich Arabs and Muslims.
And then along comes someone, Robert Spencer or someone like him, who simply keeps going back to the texts and the history of how those texts were received, and acted upon. And you can never, ever, rebut a word he says. Never. Not a single quotation has been found false. Not a single passage. Nothing. You can only, therefore, provide the argument that he must be this, or must be that, and how maddening it is when he turns out to be not this, and not that, but exactly what he says.
And what's more, the cat is now out of the bag. For we can all read those texts. They're a click away, in various translations presented synoptically. We can read the Qur'an. We can read as many of the Hadith as we can stand to read without our brains turning to mush. We can read the biography, the Sira, of Muhammad. We can find out all those things he did that Muslims insist are not to be criticised, but indeed to be emulated, for Muhammad is uswa hasana, al-insan al-kamil.
What can one do when you cannot hide these texts, and indeed in a certain sense want to spread them -- but only to those Infidels who will not criticise but instead marvel at them, and be driven to "revert" to Islam? And yet, at the very same time, you want to keep those same texts from the prying eyes and comprehending brains of tens or hundreds of millions of Muslims?
A tall order. An impossible order.
Sometimes we hear that these "enemies of Islam," as one Muslim put it some time ago, “control vast media resources, such as television networks, news agencies, newspapers, radio stations, Internet sites, magazines, music companies, film studios, and publishing houses.” One only wishes it were true. A handful of Internet sites, possibly. But what newspapers? Le Monde? The Guardian? The New Duranty Times? The Bandar Beacon? What radio stations -- the ones such as the BBC that are handmaidens of Al-Jazeera in their coverage? What television networks in the Western world have not bent over backwards in their desire to curry favor with Muslims? What news agencies? Reuters, Agence France Press? What magazines, what music companies, what film studios? In 1942, Hollywood made 300 anti-Nazi films -- with the encouragement of the War Office.
We are in a war now, a war that is carefully unrecognized -- that is, war is being made on us, and will continue to be made on us by those who take their Islam seriously enough, and possess the wherewithal to conduct Jihad by whatever means are available. Has there been a single explicitly anti-Jihad movie? Do you know of any that have depicted, say, an agent of Islam burrowing his way deep into the government, possibly with the help of those ex-ambassadors and others who have for so long who have been on the Saudi take, directly or indirectly? Have you ever seen a film depicting some sinister pseudo-academic figure with a well-funded operation -- very much reminiscent of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, run by lean, mean, jogging John Esposito, always ready to offer his lengthy resume designed to show what an authority he is, and always ready to set straight members of the government, as well as the laziest and most unquestioning of reporters who might actually go to him to "find out about Islam"?
There's a movie here. Who wants to produce it? I'll write it -- and it won't be a kinder, gentler sort of movie. Let's start that production of war movies soon; it is getting on to 1943, and we need a little more oomph.
Posted by Hugh at July 21, 2007 8:07 AM
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How can they keep it up, to keep lying about their malevolent 'faith' in Mohammed, as presented by the ill conceived dogmas of Mohammed and his Allah, when the truth is exactly opposite of all they say? It is to be admired as herculean work, when they must roll their stone forever uphill against the truth in trying to confuse us infidels that they are in the right, and we in the wrong. Of course, it is just the opposite. So our task is to keep rebutting, clarifying, explaining these truths, without tiring of their lies. We will know success when there is mass defection out of Islam, out of their insane world of war and booty, and coercions to enslave the masses, their never to be criticized 'faith' of slavery to Allah, and have those en masse speak out against the horror they were forced to live inside their lies. When will that happen? When it does, the world may finally know world peace. Keep up the good works Robert, Hugh, Marisol, and all. The truth enlivens us, while lies slowly kill. There is no way they, the enemies of truth can win this, except it is hard work. Thanks to all who write here, and understand what this war is all about: We fight for the truth.
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at July 21, 2007 9:10 AM
No one would make such a movie, even if they wanted to. The logistics of providing security during shooting and distribution, let alone for director and actors after its premiere, would make it impossible. On the contrary the movie industry seems to bend over backwards to not offend those-who-are-easily offended. I love Casino Royale, but I was saddened and sickened to see the all-too-obvious display of a crucifix on an African warlord early in the film, clearly inserted to ensure that tempers not flare. Aside from a few references to 9/11, terrorism in Casino Royale is not grounded in religion.
It was probably easier in the early days of Hollywood. May I recommend the Laurel & Hardy classic Beau Hunks, where the boys defeat a local band of Bedouins called the Riffraffians by spreading nails on the ground. BTW, I recall a book by an Arab-American scholar who tried to demonstrate the opposite point, i.e., anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias in Hollywood - Beau Hunks was one of the examples he cited. Oh dear. The French would probably have better reason to be offended by this movie.
There are a few stereotypical towelhead terrorists in the Arnie action movie True Lies from around 1990. Since then this has probably become a rare sight, unless you include what may be sly references in horror movies such as the Dawn of the Dead remake, or in Romero's own Land of the Dead. In the former you get a glimpse of praying Muslims in the opening sequence, and in the latter somebody talks about how he is going to "run a jihad on his ass." Surely the imagery of hordes of ravenous zombies gradually besieging the few remaining humans can ring a few bells? For me it can, in fact these movies do provide me with some emotional relief after reading about the latest horrors perpetrated by the ROP.
Posted by: anti-uffe at July 21, 2007 9:13 AM
In your second paragraph you refer to people preferring to believe "nonsense and lies."
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a story about that - "The Emperor's New Clothes."
The populace oo'd and ah'd as the naked monarch paraded before them. Only a small child saw the truth and observed, "But he hasn't got on any clothes." The populace-turned-mob pounced on and killed the Truth-Teller.
Which is what all of us on "JW" face every day for telling the truth, the OBVIOUS truth, just as obvious as the emperor's nakedness, and what Mr. Spencer faces even more so by being a public figure.
Many, many kudos to Robert Spencer and to his colleagues for caring so much about Truth and about Western civilization.
Posted by: darcy at July 21, 2007 9:44 AM
People don't want to know the truth, because if they did, they would have to take a side and maybe take a stand. As someone who has always been compelled to take a stand I'm constantly amazed at the people who refuse to even take a look for fear that something might be asked of them. It usually comes down some sort of fear of loss, that quite frankly is an irrational fear.
When my business partner and I were thinking about starting our business, she was very concerned and worried about giving up the biweekly paycheck. She said that she didn't know if she could give up that security. I then pointed out that the security was an illusion, that she could lose that job anytime and then the imagined security would be gone. We were the ones that created the paycheck by our hard work and we could depend on ourselves, not the paycheck. She understood the point and we opened the business.
I've always been a person who searches for truth and when lies are presented in place of the truth, I get very irritable because I can tell the difference. It's not a conscious thing, but a conscience thing. Islam presents so many lies that they don't keep track of that after watching for a short while I easily picked up their pattern and the lack of logic was amusing. But also these folks do things that make the rest of us feel icky and there is no getting away from that feeling because we know the things they are asking for are inherently wrong.
Case in point: I was at a networking function with other business professionals about four years ago and a gentlemen (so I thought) of Middle Eastern descent approached me to tell me about his business. When I'm at these things I'm working the room so good listening skills and good manners are the order of the day. This man told me about his business and he was very friendly and smiled a lot. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He told me he had a family and talked about his business and later on mentioned that he was going to Las Vegas. I asked him if he'd ever been there and he'd said no. So I told him a little bit about it and told him that he would enjoy it and have a great time. Then he said to me, "Would you like to go with me?" I just looked at him, incredulously, and then asked him if he hadn't just told me that he had a wife? He smiled sheepishly and said, "Yes, but she likes to stay home." That damned smile that seemed so sincere a few minutes before now gave me the creepiest feeling. I told him to have a nice day and got away from him.
That incident has stuck with me and while I know some American guys who act like that the way this guy behaved was different. There is an entitlement attitude and a total lack of sensitivity to the person being solicited. The smile is merely a calculated piece of bait with no goodwill or benevolent feelings being presented to the other person. It is entirely different than the Christian attitude of love your neighbor as yourself and consider the other person's feelings before you consider your own selfishness.
I'm sure if they ever achieved a majority in this country the smile would fall by the wayside and we'd have what happens in Egypt over here. Look at the rapes that have gone on in Norway, Sweden and Australia. Knowing these things go on is why I can't just stick my head in the sand and hope it will go away. Because I now know I have to try and do something about it. And that is precisely why so many people will go out of their way not to face up to what is going on.
at July 21, 2007 10:45 AM
I think many people who saw the Lord of the Rings triology realize the Orcs represent the Muslims--"An army built for a single purpose--to destroy the world of men." Also, the Muslims match very well to the civilization-eating Borg Collective in the Star Trek series.
Oddly, it seems the only contemporary film that identifies the bad guys openly is Team America.
at July 21, 2007 10:45 AM
Trilogy.
Posted by: Stendec at July 21, 2007 10:55 AM
Stendec,
I thought the same thing about the Orcs in the Lord of the Rings; mindless, relentless, with no values whatsoever. And we're fighting the same fight. We either stand up to their enveloping ideology and take it out or be destroyed. There is no middle ground here.
The supremacist attitude is also the same. There's no discussion, no negotiations or meeting of the minds. There is only what they want, and their commitment to destroy anyone who gets in their way.
Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at July 21, 2007 11:06 AM
Cairns: How To Force a Mosque on Unsuspecting Citizens
http://sheikyermami.com/2007/07/21/cairns-how-to-force-a-mosque-on-unsuspecting-citizens/
at July 21, 2007 11:11 AM
Perhaps less is good.
It is scary to think what Oliver Stone may have created had Thug-in-Chief Ahmadinejad agreed to be portrayed. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287855,00.html
I do agree with Stone in some respects. He said he was "ashamed" of his country over the war in Iraq and U.S. policies in response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11.
Though I agree with this opinion, our solutions to the problem, would be, I'm sure, not so agreeable.
Posted by: Leave Iraq Now at July 21, 2007 11:15 AM
When thinking of anti-Islamic movies, it helps to think symbolically. Thus the movie, Mars Attacks, from 1996, can be seen as anti-Islamic, with Martians as symbols for Moslems. When our radar detects the Martian space fleet approaching, our PC leadership is certain that they will be peaceful: any intelligent, advanced civilization must be peaceful. So they are welcomed by a high-level group of statesmen in the name of inter-species brotherhood and friendship. The Martian commander listens amiably to the diplomats, then orders his troops to kill them all. More space ships land and begin wholesale slaughter all over the planet. Even then, our PC President and his advisors believe that it's all a misunderstanding, that we can all live together in peace as brothers. But no, the slaughter continues. Finally our president realizes that we must fight back. There's a delightful scene where he is on the phone to the French president, trying to warn him of the danger. The French president says that the Americans have just mishandled things, that the French, with their spirit of egalite and fraternite, will be able to deal with the Martians. Then the American president, over the phone, hears the arrival of the Martian leader and the zap of ray-guns. The Gallic approach didn't work either. All seems lost. Our weapons are nearly useless. But then it's discovered that hearing country music causes the Martians' brains to explode. Bingo! Loudspeakers are set up all over, and all the Martians killed. The Martians are near-perfect symbols of Moslems. The major difference is that one cannot escape death or serfdom by converting to Martianhood. Also, I don't know if country music would work against the moslems. It might be worth a try.
Posted by: ebonystone at July 21, 2007 11:29 AM
Hope Isabella meets Ferdinand soon.
Posted by: teba at July 21, 2007 12:28 PM
A 1998 movie with Dennis Quaid called "Savior" is about an American man whose wife is killed in a terrorist attack. He becomes obsessed with revenge. He joins the French Foreign Legion and battles muslims in Bosnia eventually. He assists a pregnant Serb women raped by a muslim. He witnesses a group of Serbs bused to a discreet location, lined up and shot.
While one could say that the movie exposes violent jihad to criticism the movie fails to provide any understanding of the conflicting idealogies at play.
In fact, last time I saw the movie, I didn't quite understand the reasons for the Bosnian/Serb conflict, just that there was one.
Knowing so much more about the the motivations of the parties now, I think I might view again soon.
Posted by: Leave Iraq Now at July 21, 2007 12:37 PM
"In 1942, Hollywood made 300 anti-Nazi films -- with the encouragement of the War Office."
from the article by Hugh above.
----------------------------------------
While we are failing to wage an effective propaganda war, the Muslim enemy is turning out DVDs and internet videos by the hundreds. One example is a Hamas recruiting CD titled “Russian Hell”, in which a Hamas speaker praises the great achievements of the terrorists in Chechnya and urges young Muslims to join the jihad against the Russian police and military forces. Other videos distributed by Hamas show 18 year old Russian soldiers being tortured, beheaded, and crucified.
These militants understand the moral weakness of the West. Look how Western leaders fall all over each other in apologizing to any perceived insult against Islam. Let's face it, the US lost the war in Iraq and Afghanistan the day its leaders apologized to Abu Graib.
The correct response would be to quietly discipline those involved while publicly never admitting fault. Instead they should have juxtaposed the pictures from Abu Graib with pictures of bloody and mutilated victims of the World Trade Center and other acts of jihad. Along with these pictures announce that the American people wanted vengeance for September 11 and Abu Graib was part of this justified vengeance.
When the Left begin to scream about "human rights" simply get in their face with the announcement that Jihadists have no rights, only victims... and these victims demand retribution. This would send a message to the jihadist that they no longer had the strategic advantage. That for every act of terror and suffering they commit, they will be terrorized and suffer even more. If this means responding to beheading and crucifixions with beheadings and crucifixions of our own, so be it!
at July 21, 2007 12:39 PM
Doesn't Greg Davis know a thing or two about making movies?
Posted by: kamala at July 21, 2007 5:10 PM
Dear Isabella - very illuminating story. Your recognition that 'the smile was merely a calculated piece of bait' is spot on.
My own guess is that you were 'mind-reading'. Human physiology is such that we cannot totally control our facial expression, not all the time. We may fake a smile, but such a faked smile is not the same as the genuine, involuntary expression of pleasure and delight - it doesn't use all the muscles that the real smile does. Now, if we encounter such a fake, manipulative smile, we might not be able to verbalise WHY it bothers us, but we will sense it, subliminally.
Read Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink", the chapter called 'Seven Seconds in the Bronx', where he talks about the art of face-reading. I won't go into the details here, but it's very convincing. There are two scientists, Silvan Tomkins and his pupil Paul Ekman, who compiled a comprehensive dictionary - Facial Action Coding System - of the language of the human face, in terms of the muscle movements that make various expressions (Pixar used it in Toy Story and Dreamworks used it in Shrek). They argue that although we make all sorts of expressions voluntarily, there is a sense in which 'the face is like the penis!', i.e. "our faces are also governed by a separate, involuntary system that makes expressions that we have no conscious control over". Whatever we're trying to fake, our real feelings will 'leak' out as 'micro-expressions' - fleeting moments, seconds perhaps, when our facial muscles tell the true story.
Now why can't someone turn Ekman and his team loose on, say, slow-motion video of Ahmadinejad addressing the UN, or Tariq Ramadan lecturing the kuffar?
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at July 23, 2007 12:40 AM
Read the Qu'ran!
In the thirties, if you read Mein Kampf, you knew exactly what Hitler wanted to do to the Jews of Europe.
If you read the Qu'ran you will find out what Muslims want to do to the Jews and the rest of us. Since the Qu'ran is the literal word of Allah, it is the blueprint which the Islamic Jihad follows.
Read the Qu'ran!
Posted by: tanstaafl at July 23, 2007 10:38 AM
Thanks, Dumbledore. that sound very interesting. I know I do not have a poker face. What you see is what you get.
How are your Friday prayers going? I got sidetracked this past Friday but realized before the day was through that we have agreed to do this so I got mine in. Phew!
Tanstaafl,
Bingo. The Muslims tell us what they are planning to do to us if we ever let them take over and I think it would behoove us to listen to them. I believe them and that is why I spit upon them and defy them.
Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at July 25, 2007 1:50 AM
Isabella - the Friday prayers - 'confusion to the jihad! Conversion for the Muslims!' - are going well. I mentioned it to someone else at my church who's on the same page as I am, re. Islam, and he has said he will do it too.
He and I have to get some 'education' going within the congregation.
Speaking of education - cutting through the fog of lies - I have 'contacts' within the church in Singapore so am trying to find out how well informed they are about matters Islamic, and what is happening there. Just to make sure, I gave my friends a little plug for Mr Spencer's books, and Bat Ye'or's, and the Mark Durie book that sets out all the key differences between Christianity and Islam. It will be interesting to hear back from them - they are a Chinese Christian couple, and the husband's family are in Malaysia.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at July 26, 2007 6:37 AM
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