The Muslim predisposition towards jihad means “no cartoons required.”
The recent Muslim jihad attack at a Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland Texas has generated strong reactions across the political spectrum. Four of us in my church recently had a fairly rigorous discussion of some of the issues involved, with two believing the cartoon contest needlessly provoked Muslim anger, and myself and one other siding with a strong commitment to freedom of speech/expression. You can’t escape this debate. It is literally everywhere, and will likely grow in significance in the days ahead.
Although there are many expected responses along partisan lines, there have been some surprises on both the conservative and liberal ends of the teeter-totter. For example, some Fox News personalities have openly blamed Pamela Geller, the “Draw Muhammad” event coordinator, for provoking the jihad attack. (Ms. Geller has written an articulate defense, which has been published as an op-ed by TIME, Inc.)
On the flip side, MSNBC’s “All In” host Chris Hayes, in a somewhat torturous apologetic, advocated for being provocative when it flushes out extremist would-be murderers:
“My feeling, though, in the wake of this, is that there’s some part of me that feels that if the thing you’re worried about is doing an event that will provoke two people rolling up in body armor and automatic weapons trying to murder people, then it actually weirdly is important that you do that… I don’t care if it was a provocation, if what it’s provoking is attempted murder, because I want to live in a society that that is essentially not okay and not tolerated.”
Ryan Mauro of The Clarion Project ably cuts through the fog of words surrounding the Garland Texas jihad attack:
The media’s focus on the Mohammed drawings contest misses the mark. Whether or not one agrees with holding the event is irrelevant as to why this attack happened. It happened because of the desire to find a target; not because of the target itself.
Mauro is absolutely correct: when you’re a Muslim striving to follow as perfectly as possible the Koran and the example of Muhammad, the dar-al-Harb is filled with targets. With ISIS commanding Muslims in America to wage jihad against non-Muslims, there will be some takers who will do just that.
For Americans and Western Europeans, cartoons of Muhammad seem to have become the flashpoint of the “clash of civilizations.” But for Christians living in the Islamic world, their very being is all the provocation Muslims need. Witness:
- ‘Arab Spring’ Muslim gangs go through buses in Cairo, Egypt checking the wrists of the passengers. Those with the cross tattooed on their wrists — a Coptic tradition — are summarily killed;
- 21 Coptic Christians in Libya are beheaded because they refuse to deny Jesus Christ and convert to Islam, or to pay the jizya;
- 30 Ethiopian Christians are shot or beheaded for refusing to deny Jesus Christ;
- The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia declares that all Christians must be expelled from the Arabian peninsula and all churches destroyed;
- 100 years after the Armenian Genocide (which taken in the larger context of Ottoman persecution saw 4 million Christians killed by their Muslim overlords and neighbors between 1894 and 1922) we are witnessing yet another Muslim genocide against Christians.
Christians themselves in the Islamic world are — by their very being, by their very presence — all the provocation Muslims need to slaughter them. No cartoons required.
Christians in the Islamic world cannot openly wear or make the Sign of the Cross without it provoking Muslims. They don’t even have to do that much, they just have to be breathing. And now with Muslim desecration of Christian grave sites, they don’t even have to be doing that.
When one has studied the phenomenon of Muslim attacks against non-Muslims for a while, one gets the sense that the term “provocation” is completely inaccurate and inappropriate. There is a better word which describes the Muslim pathology: “predisposition.”
The extent to which a Muslim grows in devout observance of Islam is the extent to which he/she is likely to follow more and more literally the commands in the Koran and the example of Muhammad. Devout observance leads to the predisposition to take action against non-Muslim targets which the Muslim believes offends his religion.
In Muslim majority nations, this predisposition becomes so intense that the mere presence of Christians or other non-Muslims cannot be tolerated at all. This very principle is clearly expressed in the Koran:
And fight them until there is no more fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone. — Sura 8.39
Spirituality is often mixed with paradox. Most Westerners cannot understand that, and therefore cannot accept that the more devout a Muslim becomes, the more likely he is to become a jihadi.
It would seem that God is not without a sense of irony, for in the Islamic world, as we have seen this tsunami of Muslim genocidal persecution of Christians, we have also seen immensely powerful examples of heightened Christian faith.
Rather than leading Christians to fear, hatred and retaliation (though one can find some examples of those humanly understandable reactions also), the Muslim slaughter of Christians has provoked (there’s that word again) responses of absolutely Christ-like behavior, with Coptic, Iraqi, Nigerian and Niger Christians forgiving and praying for the Muslims who are killing their families. These examples are the very definition of true freedom: freedom from hatred, fear, and even death itself. Whereas the Muslim jihadis are slaves. Slaves of rage, bloodlust, and the example of their warlord prophet. Slaves of Allah, who commands them to kill.
For those who can slow down their own reactive thought processes and ponder this dichotomy between the evil, murderous behavior of devout Muslims, and the prayerful, sacrificial and forgiving response of the Christians they are persecuting, it should be clear that one of these two paths is patently false, and the other is amazingly, shiningly true.
With this in mind, it then becomes sadly clear that the future will only bring more proofs of the falsehood of Islam, in the form of more murderous Muslim jihad attacks against all manner of “provocations.” (May the future also bring more proofs of true Christian witness as well.)
For the devout jihadi, the entire world is filled with targets. As with the Muslim persecution of Christians, no cartoons are needed.
Ralph Sidway is an Orthodox Christian researcher and writer, and author of Facing Islam: What the Ancient Church has to say about the Religion of Muhammad. He operates the Facing Islam blog.
John Sobieski says
When we were kids we were taught that “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” So words are words and we are free to speak in the U.S. People tell me Jesus didn’t exist, belief in idea of Jesus is just a comforting superstition. People insult and discredit Jesus all the time. I don’t even feel hurt or compelled to retaliate. Islamist are intolerant murderers of each other and of non-Muslims. THANK YOU to Geller and Spencer for leading the way to save Western Civilization from Islam.
Bezelel says
The list of offenses punishable by death by islam just keeps growing. They can always issue a new memo to suit any occasion.There is no boundary of safety for non muslims to adhere to. No amount of appeasement will satisfy the supremacist mentality. Their depravity is progressing into a bottomless pit and they are hell bent to drag humanity down with them.
Dan says
Well I’m offended by Muslims KILLING people for being Christians and Jews. And non-Muslims. And for not being Muslim enough.
Wonder how many cartoons those people drew.
Dan says
Dah.
Sometimes I oughta read the whole article before commenting.
Angemon says
Indeed.
Frank Scarn says
Ralph Sidway would be a further enhancement to JihadWatch.
Jayke says
Have you seen this event?
https://www.facebook.com/events/1630892790456240/
In just a few hours!!!
mike says
We need to end this misnomer between “extremist” and “moderate” muslim
The dividing aspect is “DEVOUT” and “Non-Devout”.
The more deeply you believe in following the strict adherence to islam the more violent you become.
mortimer says
Actually, there is a ‘moderate’ APPLICATION or POLICY regarding Sharia law.
This is the same difference between ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ in Christian churches.
‘Liberal’ Muslims don’t talk much about their ‘moderation’ because they don’t want to get whacked by their more ‘conservative’ co-religionists.
‘Liberal Muslims’ have been getting whacked by ISIS for not being strictly traditional on Sharia.
Because of Islam’s vigilante clause, most Liberal Muslims live in fear of the Traditional ones…consequently, they have little influence…they don’t believe in vigilante killing.
TheBuffster says
Well put, Mortimer.
mortimer says
Hey, we’re Muslims…we come PRESET for JIHAD from the FACTORY !
voegelinian says
Ralph Sidway quotes Chris Hayes of MS-NBC, describing it aptly as “a somewhat torturous apologetic”:
“My feeling, though, in the wake of this, is that there’s some part of me that feels that if the thing you’re worried about is doing an event that will provoke two people rolling up in body armor and automatic weapons trying to murder people, then it actually weirdly is important that you do that… I don’t care if it was a provocation, if what it’s provoking is attempted murder, because I want to live in a society that that is essentially not okay and not tolerated.”
In reading that “thought” process, one can almost see the rusty gears of Chris Hayes’s brain grinding and disengaging as his clunky thoughts are trying to extricate themselves from the PC MC paradigm under which he has voluntarily imprisoned his mind.
somehistory says
There was a mountain climber who was speaking of his next climb and the person with whom he was speaking asked him, “Why do you want to climb it?”
The mountain climber said, “Because it’s there.”
As this article clearly points out, there does not need to be a provocation because the muslim hears his *reason* every Friday in the barracks. Because the jihad is *there*…he must engage in it.If his eyes behold a Christian, a Jew, a package of bacon, ham sandwich, cross or church, if his ears hear a song, a laugh, a question about satan’s beast, it is the signal to do what he has been programmed to do.
And during these trying times, the Christian remembers the principle from Scripture: ‘When I am weak, then I am powerful (2 Corinthians. 12:10).”
Linda Barr says
The picture is so lovely…. that positioning of the 3 fingers represents the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church . You often see it in icons too.
I think the Roman Church only uses 2 fingers when making the sign of the Cross. My friend is Roman Catholic and I have been to church with her. So I think I am correct.
A few years ago before Obama was PREZ, on this site or on the Gates of Vienna, I believe, there was an article that said the chief Mufti of Saudia Arabia in Mecca said he wanted ALL Christians and Jews out of the Middle East.
Perhaps that is what behind the increasing violence against Christians. There was violence before but NOW it seems to be getting REALLY a lot worse.
The Jews in Israel are pretty good at defending themselves, GOD bless ’em!
Kepha says
I also believe that the other two fingers together is to represent the union of the human and divine in the person of Christ.
boakai ngomby says
“
And fight them until there is no more fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone. — Sura 8.39
some Christians will celebrate the Holy Trinity this coming Sunday. little do the slaves of the Allah god of islam (unknowable; the best of all deceivers) know is that they shall blaspheme the name (reputation and work) of the Trinity, should they be true slaves and obey its commands. these slaves are to be pitied, for they shall offend the Righteous Savior and Lord. unless they change the way they think and act, there will be hell to pay.
the Savior and Lord prefers to save, but has the authority and power to damn the unbelieving.
TheBuffster says
The thing is, with devout, true-believing Christians, as with the Muslims, it’s life after death where the best is yet to come, so if you die praying for your enemy, with forgiveness and love in your heart, you’re emulating *your* greatest spiritual role model, and you’ll be going to be with him and your God and your loved ones in heavenly bliss.
The fully devout of Christianity and the fully devout of Islam seem perversely and sadly made for each other.
I prefer the Christians who sing “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” for the sake of self-defense. (By the way, at least some of the apostles carried swords, as one of them used one to cut of the ear of one of the soldiers who came to take Jesus away. Jesus put the ear back on the soldier and healed it up. So what was an apostle doing with a sword if self defense wasn’t an option?)
I agree with Christianity, of course, regarding not getting vengeful against those who mock one’s deepest, most sacred values. A person should have enough self-respect and confidence in his own values that other people’s misunderstanding or scorn bounces off of him like a Superball. (Remember those?) Of course people are going to disagree on important matters, misunderstand, satirize, laugh derisively at views that clash with their own. That’s life. As long as we all agree not to take vengeance for it, we can live together. Your life is yours; my life is mine.
But in my philosophy you have the right and the moral responsibility to defend liberty and life when you are able, because life beyond the grave is an unproven fantasy and if we don’t make life on earth healthy, happy, and productive by establishing and defending individual rights/liberty and reason and human life, we hand the one world we know exists over to the monsters.
You don’t defend liberty with hate in your heart for the enemy, but with love in your heart – and mind – for all that you value in life, all that makes life worth living. It’s a terrible thing that the enemy has gone down the destructive path, aimed at a Paradise he’ll never reach. It’s a waste of his human life and the lives of all he takes down with him. But he’s made his choice and we have to choose whether or not to save this world from him, or to surrender and pin our hopes on some other version of Heaven to Come.
Laura says
We are constantly told, by those who should know better, that we have to engage muslims in ‘dialogue’ and the more of it the better. The Church is particularly keen on ‘interfaith dialogue’ even as their brethren in the middle east are being separated from their heads and their wives and daughters raped and enslaved.
It should by now, be abundantly clear, that muslims have no appetite for dialogue and that their preference is for affirmative action of the kind that reduces the number of non-muslims in the world as quickly as possible.
The motto of the Suffragettes was ‘deeds, not words’ and that simple tactic worked – they got the vote.
We can carry on being respectful to our muslim populations, we can pretend that over one billion muslims in the world live peaceful lives. We can even swallow the lie that the skunks of IS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, Al shabbab et al are not REAL muslims, and we can turn the proverbial blind eye to the daily death toll.
But without ‘deeds’ the slaughter will go on and our freedoms will diminish.
sidney penny says
“Christians themselves in the Islamic world are — by their very being, by their very presence — all the provocation Muslims need to slaughter them. No cartoons required”
How very well put.No cartoons required.
albert says
This happened on Wednesday 16th April 2015:
When one of the most liberal country in Europe pulls the plug on Islam …. the world is beginning to see the light ……..Wow!
Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands attended a concert in their Capitol; The Hague.
The conductor, who just happens to be Muslim, proceeded to give the Queen a lecture on the “beauty” of Islam.
The entire orchestra got up and walked out, refusing to be associated with someone lecturing their Queen. Staff of the music hall then escorted the conductor off-stage and after questioning …. they escorted him out of the building.
Now that took some courage.
Good for the people of Holland.
Watch the walk out.
Bet you didn’t see this on the BBC news or any other news channels.
Here’s the link:
http://www.safeshare.TV/w/cqjiYhtiXs
Angemon says
Great attitude by the orchestra. They wanted no part in dawah. I don’t know who that muslim moron was, but I hope the Dutch realize what he did: he invited them, through their Queen, to join islam. According to islamic orthodoxy, muslims aren’t to attack anyone without inviting them to islam first. If they refuse then they’re asked to submit as dhimmies and pay the jizyah. If they refuse then it means war. Bin Laden, on his “letter to America”, did the same. He wrote: “The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam“.
Mulakush says
Muslims are baffoonic cartoons. They are the cartoons to end all cartoons. With this privilege in mind, they propose to end Muslim Cartoons.