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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Florida professor: “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it”

Apr 2, 2014 3:27 pm By Robert Spencer

RobertLMoore2Robert L. Moore is a professor of anthropology at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. It is a good thing that he is not a professor of grammar, since he didn’t know to write: “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with them,” not “it.” That is not mere grammarian nitpicking; it is new confirmation of a fact that I have noted many times: in today’s politically correct culture, marching in the establishment lockstep, not ability, is what gets you ahead. The mainstream media lionizes people not because of their particular acumen, talents or intelligence, but because they parrot the establishment line that the media wants the public to adopt.” The inability of a college professor and major newspaper op-ed writer (not to mention that paper’s editors) to grasp basic grammatical concepts is a manifestation of their profound confusion of mind — of which another manifestation is their unwillingness to see and acknowledge the mountains of evidence that Islamic jihadists are motivated by the texts and teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, not by “memories of colonialism.”

And to assert that the association of Islam with violence will fade with those memories of colonialism ignores the fact that it is not “Islamophobes,” but Islamic jihadists, who are responsible for the association of Islam with violence. Among the modern-day Muslims who have linked Islam with violence are these:

“Jihad was a way of life for the Pious Predecessors (Salaf-us-Salih), and the Prophet (SAWS) was a master of the Mujahideen and a model for fortunate inexperienced people. The total number of military excursions which he (SAWS) accompanied was 27. He himself fought in nine of these; namely Badr; Uhud, Al-Muraysi, The Trench, Qurayzah, Khaybar, The Conquest of Makkah, Hunayn and Taif . . . This means that the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) used to go out on military expeditions or send out an army at least every two months.” — Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of al-Qaeda, Join the Caravan, p. 30

“If we follow the rules of interpretation developed from the classical science of Koranic interpretation, it is not possible to condemn terrorism in religious terms. It remains completely true to the classical rules in its evolution of sanctity for its own justification. This is where the secret of its theological strength lies.” — Egyptian scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd

“Many thanks to God, for his kind gesture, and choosing us to perform the act of Jihad for his cause and to defend Islam and Muslims. Therefore, killing you and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you, responding back to your attacks, are all considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion.” — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow 9/11 defendants

“Allah on 480 occasions in the Holy Koran extols Muslims to wage jihad. We only fulfil God’s orders. Only jihad can bring peace to the world.” — Taliban terrorist Baitullah Mehsud

“Jihad, holy fighting in Allah’s course, with full force of numbers and weaponry, is given the utmost importance in Islam….By jihad, Islam is established….By abandoning jihad, may Allah protect us from that, Islam is destroyed, and Muslims go into inferior position, their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligation and duty in Islam on every Muslim.” — Times Square car bomb terrorist Faisal Shahzad

“So step by step I became a religiously devout Muslim, Mujahid — meaning one who participates in jihad.” — Little Rock, Arkansas terrorist murderer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad

“And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives, and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad.” — Texas terrorist bomber Khalid Aldawsari

Men like these — and there are many others like them — are by their own words not motivated by resentment over colonialism, but by the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah. No matter how faded memories of colonialism will become, the Qur’an and Sunnah will still be there.

“‘The Muslims Are Coming’ — Bill Maher or not,” by Robert L. Moore in the Orlando Sentinel, April 1:

“The Muslims Are Coming!” Or so the recent film with that title warns us. This funny film includes an excerpt of Bill Maher saying about Muslims that “…We are dealing with a culture that is in its medieval era.”

Those who saw Maher’s 2008 documentary, “Religulous,” or who watch his HBO show, “Real Time With Bill Maher,” understand that his attitude toward religion is, let’s say, not supportive. In fact, he believes that all religions are idiotic, and that among religions in general, Islam is especially violence prone.

Now to give the devil his due (and I don’t think Maher would object to being compared with the devil), he does admit that in Europe’s Middle Ages, Christianity was more brutal and bloody than Islam. But today, he argues, Muslims are the main purveyors of terror.

That is false. Even at its most brutal and bloody, Christianity never was as brutal and bloody as Islam. The Crusades, to which Maher and/or Moore are evidently referring, were a 200-year-long response to 450 years of unanswered jihad violence against Christians and non-Muslims from Spain to India. There is nothing in Christian history to match that record of jihad conquest and subjugation.

…Since human life is never ruled strictly by logic, why pick on religion? Especially, why pick on Muslims? The concentration of terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Muslim countries today has much more to do with colonialism than it does with the Quran. People in the Middle East struggled for decades to find a basis to fight off domination by the West, and, finally, with the Ayatollah Khomeini’s takeover of Iran in 1979, they discovered that Islam could serve as a rallying point.

Is Moore unaware of the great Arab conquests of the seventh century? Is he unaware of the great Islamic empires that expanded as they cited the Quran’s teachings of war and conquest?

What we’re seeing now is the unfolding of recent history where, in some countries, fanatic Muslim leaders, by stirring up some fanatic followers, have been able to stick it to their former colonial masters.

As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it. Regrettably, this won’t happen in the next year or two….

…or 20, or 40, or 100, or 500.

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Filed Under: academia, journalistic bias, Useful idiots Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Champ ✿ says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    Dr. Robert Moore-On is another dangerous “useful idiot”!

  2. 11B40 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Greetings:

    In a pot meet kettle kind of way, I pretty much always find myself at least a bit bemused when my Muslim brothers and sister (and their apologists) begin to whine about colonialism or imperialism.

    • mariam rove says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 3:59 pm

      you siad that right. My own family included. It is enough to make you vomit. M

  3. Angemon says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it”

    Yes, colonialism. Just look at how the Copts invaded Egypt and enslaved the native muslim population who had no choice but to… oh, wait.

    Well, the north african christians invaded Spain, France, Italy, killing, raping and enslaving and… oh, wait…

    Well, at least we can say that Mujahid Abu Hamza’s and Ismail Ibn Abdull’s killing of Lee Rigby was because of rage and discrimination because they were born muslims in a former british colony… oh, wait.

  4. ralph3796 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    Just like “His Daddy” Muslim Communist Obummer… Enough of these “Woodstock” Liberal Idiots.

    • PJG says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 8:11 pm

      Oh dear, what an image emerges of this man when young, long-haired, his pudgy body covered in mud, flowers in his hair, singing along to Country Joe and the Fish; maybe he still plays a Fish CD in his car…I’ve noticed most people of that era stll hang onto the old music of their dreamy youth; why, just yesterday I heard Joni Mitchell singing – from a car CD player, of course. That era had bad consequences, didn’t it? I can barely speak to my old friends from that time, as they are so insufferably politically correct.

  5. ibn Muslim says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    > As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it. Regrettably, this won’t happen in the next year or two….

    Mahdi will come soon enough and establish worldwide caliphate. This will put and end to colonialism and imperialism. Peace and Sharia will then rule supreme!

    • Angemon says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 4:03 pm

      ibn Muslim is pretending to be a shiite now? Hey, if you’re so sure Mahdi is coming back why don’t you jump down the well to be the first to meet him?

      • thomas_h says

        Apr 2, 2014 at 5:31 pm

        Mahdis do not come up from a well, but from sewer. Rodent exterminators refer to them as rats.

        • Angemon says

          Apr 2, 2014 at 5:44 pm

          Sewer, well… All the same for islamic prophets:

          Sunan Abu Dawud 67–I heard that the people asked the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him): Water is brought for you from the well of Buda’ah. It is a well in which dead dogs, menstrual cloths and excrement of people are thrown. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied: Verily water is pure and is not defiled by anything.

          Sunan Ibn Majah 520–It was narrated that Jabir bin Abdullah said: “We came to a pond in which there was the carcass of a donkey, so we refrained from using the water until the Messenger of Allah came to us and said: ‘Water is not made impure by anything.’ Then we drank from it and gave it to our animals to drink, and we carried some with us.”

          Sunan Ibn Majah 521–It was narrated that Abu Umamah Al-Bahili said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Water is not made impure by anything except that which changes its smell, taste and color.'”

        • thomas_h says

          Apr 2, 2014 at 5:55 pm

          You are right, Angemon.
          If a well is sufficiently filthy mahdi can crawl up from a well too.

    • thomas_h says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 4:51 pm

      “Mahdi will come soon enough and establish worldwide caliphate. ”

      Mahdi did show up already around where I live – Where have you been?!

      The Danish papers reported he was thrown in jail for indecent exposure in front of a goat sculpture. While dragged away by the police he shouted to the onlookers that the first thing he will do after his release will be establishing worldwide caliphate. He should be out in two months. Aren’t you excited?

      Now, about that Allah character of yours. As you remember I became quite annoyed by his juvenile bragging of being the greatest, so I asked you on the other thread to tell the creep I challenge him to a fistfight outside the Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Copenhagen.
      You know what? The bum never turned up!
      Really, what a chicken your god is!

      • citycat says

        Apr 2, 2014 at 5:50 pm

        No Allah has ever shown up, and no Allah has ever been seen, and no Allah and no prophet will ever be seen.

        I don’t think that it would be possible for a book like the Koran written nowadays to be taken seriously.

    • duh_swami says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      Do you think Mahdi might be willing to pass me some winning lottery numbers?
      Would you ask him about that when you see him?

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 4:51 pm

      ibn Muslim wrote:

      Mahdi will come soon enough and establish worldwide caliphate. This will put and end to colonialism and imperialism. Peace and Sharia will then rule supreme!
      ……………………………………..

      To paraphrase, then “all imperialism will be for Allah”.

      And what would this “peace” look like? For one thing, it would occasion a mass slaughter of all Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslims.

      Welcome to the “peace” of Islam…*Ugh*.

      • Will Doohan says

        Apr 4, 2014 at 1:46 am

        Soon the Flying Spaghetti Monster will visit Earth and his noodles of good will will touch everyone and establish Peace on Earth.

        • gravenimage says

          Apr 4, 2014 at 5:23 pm

          islam is *much* worse than that, Will—what they consider “peace” is the most unmitigated savagery.

          You may consider all “Flying Spaghetti Monsters” of a piece, but what Muslims will do in the name of “Allah” is very ugly indeed.

        • Will Doohan says

          Apr 14, 2014 at 1:06 am

          I don’t know if you’ll see this graven, but my spaghetti monster comment was a response to what ‘ibn Muslim’ wrote above, not your comment. 🙂

  6. Mirren10 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    ”Is Moore unaware of the great Arab conquests of the seventh century? Is he unaware of the great Islamic empires that expanded as they cited the Quran’s teachings of war and conquest?”

    Well. he’s a moronic leftard mohammedan apologist, so it’s possible; they always stick their fingers in their ears and shout la,la,la,la when confronted with inconvenient truths.

    On the other hand, perhaps he does know, but just hopes the rest of us don’t. That’s another thing leftard ‘academics’ have in common; a vast contempt for the knowledge and intelligence of ‘ordinary’ people.

  7. tpellow says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    Is Moore even aware of the historical phenomenon of ISLAMIC IMPERIALISM?

    Some reading:-

    ‘Islamic Imperialism’

    By Efraim Karsh.

    ‘Look inside’ book at Amazon-

    http://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Imperialism-History-Efraim-Karsh/dp/0300106033

    • tpellow says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 4:27 pm

      ‘Islamic Imperialism’

      Interview with author, Efraim Karsh-

      http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=4555

      • YiYi says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 8:34 am

        I call it muslimperialism.

  8. Wellington says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    A variation here of what that great man, Samuel Johnson, said about patriotism, that it is the left refuge of a scoundrel. Well, here’s the variation: Blaming bad behavior by non-Western societies (like hmmm, let’s see, Muslim societies) on Western colonialism is the last refuge…… Well, you get the idea.

    I would add that there are a lot of scoundrels in the academic world today. Loads. Most of them aren’t even that bright. That’s why I coined a new acronym for them. It’s “DWDs,” which stands for Dodos With Doctorates.

    • thomas_h says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 5:07 pm

      “Dodos With Doctorates”!
      Lovely!!!

    • Petey says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 11:47 pm

      I find “Leftard” has a good piss off effect…thoughts?

  9. Burt says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it (sic)”

    Apart from that howler of a grammatical error pointed out by Robert, and his foolish ignorance regarding Islam and it’s inherent link with violence. What delicious irony it is that in this sentence this professor of anthropology reveals that he doesn’t have even the slightest clue about human nature!

    • PJG says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 8:19 pm

      Talking about grammatical howlers, “it’s” is incorrect here.
      His…her…its.
      “It’s” means “it is” or “it has”.
      But you were right in every other respect!

      • Burt says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 8:52 pm

        No doubt your correct PJG. I doubt if Dr Robert Moore would have spotted my mistake.
        I must admit the apostrophe looks right to me as it was used in the context of a possessive noun, I could have typed:
        “Islam’s inherent link with violence” where the apostrophe would be appropriate.

  10. thomas_h says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    “Memories of colonialism” will not be permitted to fade as long as there are DWD (Dodos With Doctorate) around. They make their living keeping hogwash alive.

  11. duh_swami says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    This guy is as ignorant as ten pounds of wet fish. How do these people ever pass a written test?

    • Will Doohan says

      Apr 4, 2014 at 3:03 am

      They are good at spewing bullshit. Verbally and on paper. And that’s all it really takes to get a liberal arts degree.

  12. Boston Tea Party says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Florida professor: “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it”

    ***

    Well, in one sense he’s sort of right. As memories of colonialism fade, and the influence of Western culture recedes from the Muslim world, so too will western concepts like freedom of speech and the right to criticize religion—and indeed, discussion of the idea that Islam is linked to violence will be increasingly repressed.

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 5:02 pm

      Boston Tea Party wrote:

      Well, in one sense he’s sort of right. As memories of colonialism fade, and the influence of Western culture recedes from the Muslim world, so too will western concepts like freedom of speech and the right to criticize religion—and indeed, discussion of the idea that Islam is linked to violence will be increasingly repressed.
      …………………………

      *Very* important point, Boston Tea Party.

      The vestigial influence of Western law is the only reason that stretches of Dar-al-Islam like Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco haven’t been even more horrific than they would be otherwise.

      And it is notable that wherever a land further Islamizes that it becomes markedly worse.

  13. gerard says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    Dr Robert Moron.
    It always amazes me when such supposedly well-educated people are soooo stupid!
    The only memories that are fading are his knowledge of history…if he ever had any!

  14. Defcon 4 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    My respect for academia dwindles practically every day.

    A guy I know recently expressed interest in attending a university/college.
    I recommended a technical college. Why waste your time in the indoctrination
    camps that institutions of “higher” learning have become?
    If I met two of the professors I had at UCLA today, I’d spit in their face.

  15. Defcon 4 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Since when is pisslam not colonialism? Or worse?

  16. PJG says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    My son adores this man.
    “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover” is his book about masculinity. My son is exploring the world of ideas, so I am glad of that. We have long discussions, and I am glad of that too. I will inform him of the professor’s fatuous remark and be interested in his reply; my son has at least read the Koran, which presumably the professor has not.

  17. PJG says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    Muslims I have talked to (in Muslim countries) whinge about Western colonialism and how “oppressed” they were under its rule. Islamic imperialism they have no complaints about, as they don’t seem to mind the bullying/murder/deceit or whatever made their forefathers convert to Islam. I suggest to them that they were actually more free under Western colonialism and only their autocratic rulers were “oppressed”, that is, denied something of their ability to oppress their people. And now the ordinary Muslims are being swindled into believing they are better off under the yoke of sharia. Sharia, of course, only “benefits” Muslims when there are non-Muslims around who they can extract jizya from, push around, or enslave. Without sweet and juicy infidels to suck dry, what good is sharia law to ordinary Muslims?

    • gerard says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 9:23 pm

      PJG I posted my comment before I saw yours. It seems we have both called into question the assumption that colonialism was altogether bad. As I said, I’m not an historian so I can’t give a detailed case but just as a general observation it seems to me that many formerly colonial countries went backwards after they gained their independence. (Not all. After all USA is a post-colonial nation! hehe!)

      • PJG says

        Apr 2, 2014 at 11:10 pm

        Thanks, gerard.
        I wish someone had had a camera on us when I was out and about with a Sudanese in Khartoum one day, and he was pointing out to me all the things the British had built there, and marvelling about how they “fought a war with one hand and built a railway with the other”. (Of course he meant Kitchener’s army.) It would be hard to imagine anyone at all being able to brag about how Sudan had improved since those days!

      • Defcon 4 says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 3:51 am

        I might have visited Pakistain or Bangladesh when it was under British rule, but not now.

        • PJG says

          Apr 3, 2014 at 6:44 am

          Defcon4: there are still Christians in the Sudan, and they really appreciate acknowledgement and support. They are struggling, and hate to think they are ignored since the division of Sudan. Only the South Sudanese were kicked out; other Christians (Greeks, Copts etc) remained: where were they to go? I met a Greek man who had run a bookshop for 50 years and now felt the tide was against him. Even some Muslims are struggling against the sharia tide, and I don’t mind supporting them, morally if in no other way.

      • voegelinian says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 11:41 am

        “PJG I posted my comment before I saw yours. It seems we have both called into question the assumption that colonialism was altogether bad.”

        Not only was Western colonialism “not altogether bad” — it was overwhelmingly a good thing for the West and for the world. Yet another sign of how deeply PC MC runs, that it rears its noxious head even within the Counter-Jihad.

      • gravenimage says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 5:16 pm

        Gerard wrote:

        …it seems to me that many formerly colonial countries went backwards after they gained their independence. (Not all. After all USA is a post-colonial nation! hehe!)
        …………………..

        Gerard, it is notable that the Americans were not rejecting British law and cultural norms—the Founding Fathers, in fact, considered themselves “English” right through the revolution.

        They felt that the king were not living up to English ideals, and was not treating the Americans as true Englishmen.

        And then, of course, American law, while it differs in small particulars, is very intentionally based in English Common Law.

        This is *very* different from rejecting Western culture and law.

    • Defcon 4 says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 10:18 am

      At some points in muslo-nazi states, it was forbidden for the najjis kafir to convert to pisslam, because the muslo-nazis were addicted to the sweet jizya payments the najjis kafir were required to pay out as protection money to their muslime masters.

    • voegelinian says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 11:52 am

      First of all, when Muslims whine about colonialism, they are lying. They only resent the fact that they have not been winning all along by subjugating all other peoples on Earth. Do not confuse the sensibilities of Muslims with the sensibilities of other non-Muslim Third World peoples, who might nurse that kind of grievance against the white West. Muslims are only pretending to be an aggrieved Third World culture who has been “oppressed” by the white West, because they know it plays into our massively popular Western meme of White Guilt.

      Secondly, while the non-Muslim Third World peoples nurse grievances against the white West, it doesn’t mean they (the non-Muslim Third World peoples ) are being rational and have a case.

      This is not to say the West was perfect in its historical record; but to set that record straight, one has to correct the profound deformity of a pathology of Western Guilt and Self-Hatred; and it does no good to glibly parrot the destructive and irrationally silly memes that have constituted the incoherent tissues of the PC MC paradigm which not only has resulted in the cultural and often official inculcation of an immense, grotesque caricature of history, it is indirectly responsible for the #1 reason why the West continues to be myopic about the danger of Muslims today.

    • voegelinian says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 12:10 pm

      I’ve never seen any person or article mention a giant factor in this world war we are in now (a most curious world war, where one side, comprising the top 15 nations of the world, don’t yet realize that a war has been going on) — namely, that it is asymmetrical in more ways than one. Indeed, I just mentioned, parenthetically, one of the ways.

      In the context of this topic here, another important asymmetry of our current world war is that one side has nursed and indulged a historical and cultural guilt and shame about itself and its values, while the other side is blithely unapologetic and even brazenly proud of its own history and cultural values, without a shred or trace of any of the guilt or shame which the white West routinely indulges. This asymmetry, upon closer examination reveals a staggering and rich disparity; for the white West does not merely nurse this shame and guilt about its own civilization in some vague amorphous manner, but does so profoundly, deeply and broadly — whether on a high cultural level in academe, seen in many different disciplines throughout the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts; or on a more pedestrian level in the kinds of curriculums used for children and teenagers in various school systems, where a typical history textbook for class will — just to adduce one example out of thousands one could mention — subtly (or not so subtly) show how evil Columbus was and how innocent and noble and harmonious with Nature the Native Amerindians were; or on a lower-brow pop culture level, nearly ubiquitous in cinema, stage plays, novels, TV shows, news analysis (often blending into entertainment itself), the chatter of celebrities, and the Internet; or on the concretely pragmatic level of politics, manifested in numerous policies over the decades, most notiriously the promiscuously fungible immigration project by which the white West in its post-Colonial White Man’s Burden continues its Wilsonian Salvation of all the raggedly Brown Peoples of the Earth whom it condescendingly patronizes, in a perpetuation of precisely the racism it irrationally accuses its own Historical Self of, as Eternal Children under the Care of the Eternal White Parents of the World.

      • gravenimage says

        Apr 3, 2014 at 5:24 pm

        Voegelinian wrote:

        In the context of this topic here, another important asymmetry of our current world war is that one side has nursed and indulged a historical and cultural guilt and shame about itself and its values, while the other side is blithely unapologetic and even brazenly proud of its own history and cultural value
        ……………………………….

        Yes—and the most perverse aspect of this is that overall the civilized West has *so much* to be proud of—our culture, our law, our values, our achievements—and the bloody barbarism, irrationality, and failure of Islam has so very little.

  18. gerard says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    It’s also fashionable to refer to colonialism as if it were wholly bad. There were terrible exploitations in some places but in others such as India there were huge benefits from the Raj. Not just the railway but schools, hospitals, and democracy. Barbaric practices, like the widow being burned alive on the funeral pyre with her dead husband, were banned. India now has a Parliament and a useful second language: English. (There are over 1,000 languages in India so English is useful both nationally and internationally.) Can we really say that Pakistan is now better off post-Raj? Is Egypt flourishing now? Or Zimbabwe? Is post-Ataturk Turkey a wonderful place to live? (Ataturk introduced many Western values and systems. ) Same with Persia. Is post-Shah Iran an improvement? (not necessarily post-colonial but a similar idea). Or look at South Vietnam after the withdrawal of the US. (again not post-colonial but removal of a stabilising force, followed by massive bloodshed). Or compare South and North Korea. Which of the Koreas would you choose to live in if you had to? The South was protected by Western intervention.
    As I’m not an historian I’d better stop here before I get too much out of my depth. I hope JWers historians will comment and correct any gaffs.

  19. No1 says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 2:58 am

    Hands up–who here was alive when colonialism was still in force? Not me. Not most of the jihadists as well. So precisely whose memories are we talking about here?

    World War 2 was more awful than any colony in living memory and yet our ancestors do not still kill each other over it.

    • Kepha says

      Apr 3, 2014 at 5:58 am

      No1: When I was a pre-schooler and had just learned to read, my father thought that his three sons still at home (two older brothers and I) needed a globe. He bought one. Two huge greenish swathes of Africa were labeled French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa–interrupted only by a newly independent Guinea, under the enlightened, progressive, darling-of-the-media Sekou Toure. There was a Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland, too, and western New Guinea was still Dutch. It all changed a few years later.

      However, apart from being a non-indigenous American, I still note that apart from the Arabs spreading themselves across the Fertile Crescent and North Africa, the Thai ate the Khmer, Mon, and Lawa states that were there before them; the Chinese settled Taiwan en masse in the 17th century (driving out the Dutch) after having colonized the lands south of the Chang Jiang in the course of a millennium and a half; the Russians spread themselves across northern Asia; and the English displaced the Celts.

  20. sidney penny says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 3:13 am

    “…or 20, or 40, or 100, or 500.”

    Well put.

  21. sidney penny says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 3:19 am

    “People in the Middle East struggled for decades to find a basis to fight off domination by the West,…”

    How dishonest can learned people be,especially in academia.

    Also there was no domination by the West or non Muslims of Muslims in, for example, India.

  22. tpellow says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 4:27 am

    Of course, Moore does not mention the centuries of repressive rule by the Islamic Ottoman Empire.

  23. Jake says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 5:09 am

    Of course, he’s an anthropologist, a field which has completely discredited its self. Anthropological societies have officially removed “science” from their self description, goals or methodology, and they teach Marxist liberal ideas as if they are fact.

    The perception of Islam as violent does not come from “colonialism” it comes from 1400 years of being the victim of Islam. But of course, anthropologists care nothing about that. Their whole aim is to deconstruct western culture and de-legimitize it by claiming culture and identity is a “social construct” and therefore, not really valid in any kind of way. They talk about “hegemony” and “patriarchy” and constantly attack whatever they perceive as being linked to these – but of course, only if it is western. They are all about empowering the ‘minority’ and destroying the dominant paradigm – as long as it is western culture. So they have zero interest in the plight of the Copts, Aramaeans, Armenians, Hindus in Pakistan or whatever else (especially not if they are Christian). But they are all about empowering the growing minority in western countries who will destroy western civilization when they gain hegemony.

  24. sidney penny says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 7:50 am

    Imperialism only comes from the West.Really?
    If Robert Spencer likes Goel ‘s work,he must be good. Everyone in the West should read this book.Goel the forerunner to Spencer.

    THE STORY OF ISLAMIC IMPERIALISM IN INDIA
    SITA RAM GOEL ,Voice of India, New Delhi

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/siii/

  25. gravenimage says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    Florida professor: “As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it”
    ……………………………….

    Another academic who understands *nothing* about history.

    In fact, like the crusades, “colonialism” in Muslim lands was often a response by Infidels to limit Muslim violence.

    This is especially notable of the Western presence in north Africa, where previously Mohammedans were pirating Western ships and pirating their crews.

    Moreover, it *largely worked*. While there has *never* been a period where Islam wasn’t a threat, the rough period of about a hundred and fifty years—from around two hundred years ago to about fifty years ago—marked a time when Islam represented less of an overall threat to the West than at any time since shortly after its founding.

    Now, of course, it is one again resurgent.

    More:

    What we’re seeing now is the unfolding of recent history where, in some countries, fanatic Muslim leaders, by stirring up some fanatic followers, have been able to stick it to their former colonial masters.
    ……………………………….

    And that, in a nutshell, is why the far left is so sympathetic to violent Jihad—because they see it as the ‘third world’ “sticking it to their former colonial masters”.

    (Note that this is quite different in character from enabling from the left or “liberals” in general, where these starry-eyed naïfs simply refuse to believe that Islam is really violent at all).

    More:

    As memories of colonialism fade, the idea that Islam is linked to violence will fade with it. Regrettably, this won’t happen in the next year or two….
    ……………………………….

    Indeed not. And notice how weasely this professor is, even here—were his ridiculous hypothesis correct, it would still mean that Islam is *violent now*, but he hedges even more and seems to suggest that Islam only seems to be “linked to violence”.

    And note that this is just another slight variation on the idea that the victims are themselves responsible for Jihad.

    And—As usual—this fails to explain why so many *non-Westerners* are victims of Jihad—in China, in Indonesia, in Thailand, in the Philippines, in Russia, in India, in Syria, in Zanzibar, in Nigeria…—all over the world, in fact.

  26. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    It’s hard to be embarassed for any professor, they seem hellbent on coming up with idiocy for the sheer thrill of being counter-intuitive.

    But what about the local pols, or better yet the president of Rollins College? Shouldn’t somebody speak up and criticize this guy for not accounting for the contents of Islamic scriptures, or its 1,400 year history? When I went to college we got beat up on constantly for checking facts, presenting evidence, and always accounting for everything related to a subject. Apparently Professor Moore needn’t bother with that. If he were to do that, he would probably be stabbed or shot. Better to put Moslems in the best light, which is ironic.

  27. Angemon says

    Apr 3, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    Dr. Moore, what do you think of the moores… i mean, moors, who invaded Europe in 711, trying to impose their religion, language and way of life on the native population? Are they being given a bad rep nowadays because of european colonialism? Do you think their records of savage and bloody aggression will disappear alongside the memories of european colonialism?

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