In the Western world, almost 15 years after the 9/11 attacks, and after many thousands of other terrorist attacks by Muslims, why are Western publics still so ill-informed about Islam?
One reason has to do with the way people now find out, not only about Islam, but about so much else. The Internet has helped foster the Age of Distraction, of Triviality, of Hectic Vacancy. We are all now victims of heedless ephemerality, which gets in the way not only of learning about Islam, but of learning about anything. Think of the passing parade of online stories, where the Insects of An Hour take up so much of our attention — how many billions of man-hours are spent clicking on sites that the whirligig of time proffers: something about Jennifer Aniston today, and something about Jennifer Lawrence tomorrow; an invitation to take a gander and gawk at the photographs showing us just how breathtakingly beautiful George Clooney’s house in Italy is, or that of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt in the Hollywood Hills. And surely you need to know what John Travolta tweeted yesterday, or Shaquille O’Neal the day before that, on the subject of racism at the Oscars. And then there are Dr. Oz’s miracle creams, which have done so much for Cher, and Demi Moore, and Meryl Streep – you mustn’t miss that. And then there are the indispensable lists, for which you click and click away: the fifty richest people in the world; the ten most livable cities for retirees in America; the fourteen favorite hobbies of Heisman Trophy winners; the six most tried-and-true recipes for pumpkin pie; and so on, and so idiotically forth. How much time do you have left to find out about Islam?
Along with Distraction, life throws up the obstacle of Boredom. Islam is a tremendous challenge for Unbelievers, not because it is objectively hard, but because it is simply not very interesting for those who do not share the fanatical faith. It takes great mental stamina for non-Muslims to engage with all the sacred rigmarole of Islam — just to follow the isnad-chain of a single hadith can be exhausting. And the plot and the dramatis personae of Islam are not attractive. Islam’s history is bloody, and one is not riveted, but repelled, by that bloody history. You can only take so much.
Another reason for the widespread refusal to recognize the nature of Islam is that so many of us – especially our leaders, those who are supposed to protect and instruct us — just don’t know what would follow from that recognition, that is, what would be demanded of them. Better to keep repeating the same vapid assurances, hoping that somehow things will work out. But just look at Europe today, or just look at the stories put up at Jihad Watch for the last week. What could you, Angela Merkel or David Cameron, do at this point? Can you publicly admit you have been so wrong for so long, and that you have put in danger the people you were elected to protect? You long ago committed yourself to a soothing narrative, in which Muslim behavior is disconnected from Islam itself. Whatever explains the mass-groping in Cologne or mass-gang-raping of girls in Rotherham, in your telling those attacks certainly had nothing to do with Islam. And whatever the Islamic State’s spokesmen insist on, about scrupulously following the dictates of the Qur’an and the example of Muhammad, we Infidels know better – again, we are told by our leaders, or tell ourselves, this all has nothing to do with Islam. Why, just the other day, Tom Foreman of CNN solemnly sought the historical antecedents of the Islamic State not in the earliest Muslim conquerors (whom ISIS forthrightly claims as its model) but in the Vikings and Vlad the Impaler. (David Wood’s evisceration – Robert Spencer’s mot juste — of Foreman can be found here.) You have every right to feel you are living through a Vast Absurdity.
If you keep your wits about you, and finally conclude that something is very wrong with how our leaders approach the subject of Islam, their public pronouncements after each new Muslim outrage either pollyannish or pusillanimous, you may well undertake on your own to study Islamic doctrine, and to find out how that doctrine explains the practice, as shown by the history of Islamic conquest, of many different non-Muslim peoples, in time over the past 1350 years, in space from the Iberian Peninsula to the East Indies. Don’t expect institutions of higher learning to help you; when it comes to Islam, they have been thoroughly corrupted, by money, or by the desire of professors not to offend but to parrot the party line.
But you keep at it. You read, you visit certain websites (as the one you are reading now). And if you do that, then the Jihad News of the day will not confuse you; you will be able to fit it into the larger history of Islam. And you will know why, when some high-ranking Christian cleric, as part of his Interfaith Outreach, offers this slippery solipsism — All religions are a force for good. Islam is a religion. Therefore, Islam is a force for good. — he is wrong, and you will be able to adduce the textual support for your conclusion. You might even begin to ask some delicate questions: who is to decide what is a “religion” and what distinguishes a “religion” from a “cult”– and is it possible that we call Islam a “religion” only because we don’t know what else to call it?
But then what? After you have achieved such knowledge, what forgiveness for those non-Muslims who continue to refuse to see Islam steadily and whole? You have a perfect right to be downcast, even despairing, at news of what is happening in Germany, in Sweden, in France, but you also have a duty – owed to yourself and to your own, imperiled, Western civilization — not to give in but to keep trying to inform and enlighten others. You have no Munich to point to, no single Grand Appeasement. Rather, there are a hundred sundry appeasements. It can be the Bishop of London calling on fellow clerics to “grow beards” in order to put Muslims at ease. It can be the prayer rooms in schools, halal food in prisons and schools, single-sex hours at the municipal pools. You can make your own list.
We are living in a time, because of Islam, of mass disorientation and topsy-turvydom. You have to keep your wits about you. You are suavely told that Europeans simply must not oppose Muslim migration. Why not? Why can’t we ask that question? What duty do we have to those whose entire history has been one of hostility toward, and conquest of, non-Muslims? And hasn’t the West already tried to be as accommodating as it can? Point out that there are already tens of millions of Muslims living in Europe, in lands they have been taught to regard as Dar al-Harb. They are there to take advantage of well-run and prosperous societies, to pocket all that they can – the free or subsidized housing, health care, education, and even family allowances – but not to jettison Islam. They are not there to “integrate” into non-Muslim societies, but instead are obligated to engage, using whatever means are available and effective, in the Jihad or struggle to ensure the ultimate triumph and dominance of Islam, and rule by Muslims.
Non-Muslims find this a fantastic goal, but a large part of the globe succumbed to Muslim rule in this way a long time ago. A million Muslims settled, last year, in Germany alone; millions more are on the way to Europe; among these migrants are many who, it has been reluctantly conceded by the authorities, have already been involved in attacks on non-Muslims; no Western politician of the mainstream dares to discuss the significance of the Muslim division of the world between Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam, and between Believer and Unbeliever; those in public life who call for a halt to Muslim migration – what is assuredly the most obvious measure of self-protection — are immediately demonized for that commonsensical suggestion and politically placed beyond the pale.
So share what you’ve learned; go to those mosque open-houses and spoil the proceedings with a Qur’anic quotation or two that will upset your hosts but which they will be unable to deny; call into those talk-shows with similar material, write those letters to the papers, engage in guerrilla warfare on the blogs. When you learned about Islam, you did not make the world any easier for yourself, just easier to comprehend. And in so learning about Islam, you should recognize that you now have a responsibility to share that knowledge with others, many of whom have shown they will be willfully resistant to it. But you have taken on this task. If not you — who?

james collins says
https://www.facebook.com/191096436680/videos/10153237639946681/
Daniel Triplett says
Both disturbing, yet very funny.
Shows just how much none of us trust Muslims. Would be interested to see this experiment done exclusively on non-Muslim Islamic apologists to see how they react.
ECAW says
Very funny…shows what everyone really thinks beneath the facade of politeness.
Could someone within reach of the offices of the Guardian and the BBC please try it there?
Mark says
Would you be willing to chip in towards the disinfection and de parasiteing afterwards. or could we use those special germ warfare suits when near the bbc or guardian?
Michael Copeland says
Boredom?
JESUS WAS BORING Liberty GB 14 January 2014 ·
A personal view by A. Warner
Quite frankly, to an adventure-seeker like me,
Jesus was boring.
Look at the things he did NOT do.
I mean, he did not:
have a favourite sword with its own name,
make dawn raids on unsuspecting villages,
take prisoners,
demand ransom money,
take booty,
behead anyone, let alone 600 in a day,
kill anyone, or take part in stoning people,
have a fire lit on a captive’s chest
to make him say where the money was,
have men’s feet and hands cut off, …..and more …see
https://www.facebook.com/LibertyGBParty/posts/499505160166601
Oppressaphobe says
Very funny! Thanks.
Michael Copeland says
A reporter in the Belgian “De Redaktie” berates a PEGIDA leader’s views:
“According to him, Islam is only out to conquer Europe and will never respect us.”
This is supposed to be a superior sneer, but all it succeeds in doing is to expose the author’s inexcusable ignorance. No, dear, Islam itself has announced, time and time again, that it is out to conquer Europe. That is what all those placards “Islam Will Dominate” mean. The ignorant inobservant writer fails even to remember what a spokesman for Sharia4Belgium said:
“We Muslims have not even a gram of respect for you infidels.”
It is extremely easy, with the internet, to find out what Islam teaches, and how the non-muslim, the kafir, is filthy, unclean, the enemy of Allah, and is to be treated with animosity and hatred forever – all from the Koran, part of Islamic law. There is no excuse for this ignorance, still less for complacent smugness.
Angemon says
Michael Copeland posted:
“This is supposed to be a superior sneer, but all it succeeds in doing is to expose the author’s inexcusable ignorance.”
In the vein of pretty much everything coming from our “moral superiors” in the left – “look, the child is saying the emperor has no clothes!”.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
“a responsibility to share that knowledge [about Islam] with others” …
Hmmm, this touches off an idea. Does our next president also have a responsibility to learn about Islam and to share that knowledge with his (or her) countrymen (and countrywomen)? Yes, it is utterly reasonable for a president to take public education as part of the job. But we live in an age of ephemera (“insects of an hour”), so such education must not be long-winded. Perhaps the best format would be a weekly five-minute presidential address, in which the president dons Islamic garb as Mullah Ted or Imam Don and offers a short, informative sermon about a topic of Islamica. In the beginning, it would have to be something innocuous, like a fashion note about isbaal. But over the course of a season, the sermonizer-in-chief could take up meatier topics like 3:110 versus 98:6, or taqiyya.
Unfortunately, none of the candidates for president today have the requisite evangelical eloquence or showbiz chops. ‘Twas but a dream.
Paul says
Jefferson did…and I believe Trump will, as well. His temporary ban of Muslims “until we find out what the Hell is happening” is a start…as Muslim pick up the pace gunning down Americans in our street, Malls and schools…our women will demand safety…this will turn the tide in America…Europe the same…but Europe is in for a very rough ride getting their Muslim problem under control.
guide inside says
Like ticks in Tennessee and bedbugs in Boise these cock-a-roaches invade without an exterminator in sight. By the time The Donald “finds out what’s going on” it will, possibly, be way too late.
Daniel Triplett says
He’s on Twitter daily right now, doing his own Tweets, conversing with Americans. A great opportunity for each and every one of us to help him “Understand what the Hell is going on” right now.
He will listen. Get busy.
Oppressaphobe says
Cruz is the man for the times! Anybody who understands Christianity will understand islam, that’s why I had a headstart and could never understand why others did not see what I saw.
I’m over Trump; gave him a shot but he kinda blew it by not focusing on the real issues.
He’s just not serious enough. Cruz is dead serious if you ask me.
Arthur says
I think a Carson/Cruz ticket would be the right choice. I hope that’s the choice I can make in November. I’m voting in the primary.
Carson has wisdom, character, and a plainly clear moral foundation. He also stands for freedom of speech, where Trump missed the point.
Panmelia says
Trying to alert people to the real threat of islam to Western civilisation makes me feel like Cassandra warning of the destruction of Troy – hardly listened to and never believed.
People want to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear: my own daughter reacts like that and has forbidden me to speak about it to her. If the younger generation have no sense of the danger, what hope is there?
One of the main problems is that the Western mind does not understand the islamic psyche. Even if we are atheists, as am I, we have been brought up to believe that “God is love” and that what is called ‘religion’, is generally a force for peace. Unfortunately, this is not true of islam and even a slight acquaintance with the koran, the haditha, the life of mohammad, and the history of islam’s brutal conquests of christian and pagan countries for the purposes of enrichment and dominance, reveal that fact. They lost that dominance some time ago and have been brooding about it ever since with well- known results: around 28,000 acts of jihadi violence around the world since 9/11.
Until the Western political leaders wake up to the fact that islamics desire the overthrow of all ‘man-made’ ( democratic) laws in order to establish allah’s rule on Earth, they will continue to give in to the slow but sure islamisation of their countries and help prepare the ground for the final islamic revolution in Europe and elsewhere. It may take decades, it may take centuries, but that does not discourage the islamists who work for a khalifah. They have a 1,400 year old blueprint that has worked before.
Yes, it is a task we have to take on ourselves, but it shouldn’t be, because our elected leaders have a duty to protect us. Sadly, either they remain completely ignorant/sceptical, continuing to repeat the “islam is a religion of peace” lie; or they do recognise the threat of the islamic cult and are working against it secretly to avoid causing a panic.
I think their best strategy is to acknowledge openly that islam is a quasi-religious front for a hateful and destructive political ideology that must and will be opposed with all means within our power.
nacazo says
Us cassandras need to stop being “preachy” and momentarily shut up. And when the next opportunity appear (boy they appear too often!), then you explain to the confused infidel. Usually, it will be some comment like why would anyone do that? or This doesn’t make sense! Then, you patiently explain that there is an islamic logic behind it and it does make sense: Infidels are fought wherever you find it if you follow qur’an 9:5. All sins are forgiven if you kill infidels for the sake of allah and you go straight to your 72 virgins, etc, etc, etc
Red Bee says
Of course it is necessary to do what Hugh Fitzgerald suggests in the last paragraph. Unfortunately the Islamic propaganda machine manages to produce enough confusion, smoke screens, misinformation, intimidation and so forth to maintain the status quo: a divided electorate. There is a huge profit to be made by the anti-Islam camp since a very large part of the electorate is undecided on the question of Islam. Robert Spencer’s estimate is 90% (YouTube: Robert Spencer speaks in Brisbane, Australia, December 1, 2011).
One problem in my opinion is we are fighting on the enemy’s terrain; a lot of anti-Islam arguments essentially are explanations of Islamic texts and the Islamists counter with denial, you got the wrong interpretation, you quote out of context and all the rest of their arsenal which we are all familiar with. The anti-Islamic warriors seem to get stuck is this mud much like the French at Agincourt.
On my website (click my name) I try to come up with an argument that is on our terrain. It should be obvious to the healthy adult non-Muslim what will happen when you do what Muslims tell us they do: recite the Koran and especially, make children recite the Koran. We can then put the Islamic supremacists on the defensive by demanding explanations from them like Richard Dawkins frequently does by pointing out they threaten their children with hellfire and death by their own hands for apostasy which of course is emotional abuse.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
Hello, Red Bee. Your website and its links are very interesting (example: https://quranforkids.org/ ). Unfortunately, you cannot be e-mailed without signing up for some Microsoft scheme, which I refuse to do. Do you have an e-mail address?
Red Bee says
Hello Mark,
Thank you for your feedback. My email address iiat@ziggo.nl should not require you to subscribe to or sign in on any third party. I pay my ISP (Ziggo) to provide this service so Microsoft has nothing to do with it. This problem is new to me so I do not have an immediate answer & have to look into it. The address should allow you to send a completely anonymous mail. Please try again and let me know if there is a problem with iiat@ziggo.nl. It may take some time before I answer because I have to go to sleep soon and tomorrow is a busy day.
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Red Bee
Infidela says
Islam is religious nazism, plain and simple.
Oppressaphobe says
Absolutely right–nice way to put it.
Myxlplik says
I counter people who disagree with my narrative on Islam with, “I know it’s tragic and I hate to have to be the one to inform you about this, it’s a lot to swallow”. Just point out a few things for the typical short attention span theater, like “most Muslims believe in the establishment of the Caliphate”, or “Mohammed did many of the same things ISIS does, so to call ISIS unIslamic is rather ironic (there are a multitude of easily verifiable instances to point out). I find eventually people (they know lies when they hear them) come back for knowledge, like the other day I had a woman I’m friends with ask, “Why don’t more Muslims fight against the violence we see?”. My answer was simple and direct, “Why don’t more Americans join the military? Most Americans believe in what our country stands for, but aren’t actually willing to fight. Muslims are no different than us in the wanting to be at home and raisng a family department, but the short answer is most Muslims actually agree with what ISIS is trying to do regarding the establishment of the Caliphate. They may disagree with some of the means, but most Muslims agree with the ends, so that’s why you don’t see more Muslims fighting against it. In the end they agree with it, and tens of thousands of Western Muslims are heeding the call.
I think Western leadership is acting very cult like, in that they have so much invested in this lie, they have no other choice, but to double down taking all of us with them.
Oppressaphobe says
Ditto about the daughter and this generation; just so you know you’re not alone.
dumbledoresarmy says
Same here. Some family members – both in my generation, and the next one down – “get* it…and some absolutely REFUSE.
I can’t tell why some do and some don’t.
I don’t know why some are able to see through the fog and some just refuse to even try.
gravenimage says
Panmelia, the situation that most resembles what we face now was the rise of Fascism. Many in the West refused to recognize the threat, and many in the 1920s and ’30s even lauded Hitler and Fascism with being “modern” and “efficient”.
Those were warned against it were denigrated as being “hysterical” or–even more grotesquely–as “warmongers”.
But these “premature Anti-Fascists” *did* persevere, and eventually they got their message through.
The situation today is not identical–history never repeats itself exactly–but it is *very* similar.
Stay strong!
elizabeth jenan-dickman says
I do what I can by writing novels that are suspenseful, have interesting characters, but most importantly they tell of Islam, weaving into the lives of ordinary Americans. In some instances I have references and photos in the story in case the reader finds the brutality unbelievable. ANNIE AND THE MAN FROM CAIRO,. . .GOOD BYE APPLE PIE, the death of the greatest nation, RUNNING FROM UGLY. All books that are on Amazon, and all about Islam.
.
gerard says
I’ve just bought a (new) copy of “GOOD BYE APPLE PIE”, on Amazon. Have you seen much interest so far (in your work)?
gravenimage says
Your work looks interesting, Elizabeth. Thanks.
Anthony says
This age of absurdity, the feeling that I’m being lied to, is the very reason why I started looking at Islamic writings and teachings after the shooting ten minutes from my house in Chattanooga. And it ALL makes sense. If you mention these things to people, however, they don’t want to listen or look at you as if you’re a lunatic. I will persist, I must. I do not want this country to end up like Germany. Robert, if you read this, thank you for your help with your speeches in making sense of what is going on and the mental gymnastics needed to interpret the texts.
dumbledoresarmy says
Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, mate. Welcome to the company of what Hugh Fitzgerald, the author of the above-featured article, in a much earlier essay called “The Unsung History Boys”.
Thank you for telling your story of how you got curious.
It gives us hope. Because… it shows us that for every person, the ‘trigger’ is different.
For you, it was the Muslim ghazi raid in Chattanooga (I assume that other Mohammedan misdoings prior to that, whether on American soil or abroad, just hadn’t registered? Or was Chattanooga ‘the last straw’, the thing that jogged you into thinking, ‘Hey, I better find out where *that* is coming from?” For someone I know, it was Beslan (do you remember Beslan?). For others, it will have been the bombing of the Boston marathon. Or the massacre at the Bataclan. Or a Muslim boy walking out of a mosque with a gun in hand, in Sydney, walking down the road to NSW police headquarters, and murdering – gangland-execution style – an entirely inoffensive Sino-Australian civilian accountant named Curtis Cheng.
Out of curiosity – where exactly, once you decided you needed to do some finding out on your own, instead of just accepting what the media and public pundits were telling you, did you *start*? In a bookshop? Down at the local library? Google? Or was it something that someone said to you that pointed you toward sources of information?
The counter jihad needs to know this sort of thing, so that the counter-jihad knows where to ‘lay the trail’ so to speak, and so that as individuals we know what kinds of things to say, where and when. So that people like you, embarking on their journey of Awful Realization, will find out what they *need* to know, quickly.
gravenimage says
Welcome, Anthony! For me–like so many others–it was 9/11 that got me to start educating myself about Islam.
linnte says
I firmly and vehemently believed Islam was a religion of Peace and supported the immigrations!!! I wanted to be able to convince my sons father-in law that their hate for Muslims was intolerable, so I started reading the Qur’an. I ended up apologising to them profusely!!! I have seen the light!
guide inside says
Excellence again Hugh. We do seem to go idiotically forth into the vast absurdity and slippery solipsism and on into mass disorientation and topsy-turvydom.
guide inside says
P.S. By the way, did you see the panties of the newest starlet as she exited her limo at the Oscars?
Oppressaphobe says
guide inside,
No, but we’ll all go there NOW!!
I keep repeating what the battle is:
THECULT OF DEATH vs.THE CULT OF SELF
Who wins?
Jay Boo says
Just a few thoughts
The first paragraph leads with a very good provocative sentence and the transition sentences are excellent.
However, the second paragraph about distractions — bogs down with too many examples.
Many of the impatient internet readers who are prone to such distractions that Hugh refers to would never get past that second paragraph and miss the many good points in the article such as:
“It takes great mental stamina for non-Muslims to engage with all the sacred rigmarole of Islam — ….”
AND
“…those who are supposed to protect and instruct us — just don’t know what would follow from that recognition, that is, what would be demanded of them…..,”
Ivan Bogdanov says
Stick to performing as Fill_Itsarseski’s biatch J_Poo; Hugh is on an elevated planet to you intellectually.
More Later….
gravenimage says
Oh God–the witless Ivan Bogdanov is back again. Why?
guide inside says
Slightly off topic–Another favorite site is Bill Koenig’s http://www.watch.org that tracks close to this site.
gravenimage says
Thanks for the link, guide inside.
Halaku says
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. Europe’s and Merkel’s recent actions are nothing short of total, utter, criminal and unforgivable lunacy. Or has Europe decided to capitulate to the Islamic fanatics without a fight? It’s aging population too frightened or too tired to take on the tides of these new barbarians who have breached its walls?
Panmelia says
Smirkel has acted in a totally undemocratic, dictatorial way and then dared to tell off any Germans who objected. She will pay for her arrogance in the German national elections next year. Smirkel has been confidently ruling the EU countries for years now (Germans manage it again!) but she has over-reached herself this time.
The European Union (EU) must not be confused with EUROPE which is a continent of many diverse nations. Not every European nation is in the EU. Unfortunately, we in the UK were dragged into it without the will of the people in 1973 by our worst Prime Minister ever, the horrible Edward Heath. He is not forgiven, nor ever will be by those who were born into a free, independent Britain.
The EU is a political construct which pretends to be democratic, but is not. In the UK we will have an EU referendum this year in which I hope and pray by all the gods past and present (except allah) that the majority of Britons vote to LEAVE. That, too, will weaken Smirkel and may lead to the disintegration of the monolithic EU in a few years.
With European nations such as ours freed from EU dictatorship to make their own laws, we can strengthen our borders and immigration laws and prevent the invasion of muslims whose ultimate aim is the establishment of a khalifah by whatever means.
Myxlplik says
The problem is there isn’t time for elections, another 400k from North Africa is expected in Italy within 2 weeks, and over the Summer expect a freaking tsunami. Open boarders are dead, Greece is being left to the wolves AGAIN…. it’s going to be an interesting year.
Linde Barrera says
Excellent commentary, Mr. Hugh Fitzgerald. You expressed my feelings well; “If not me, then who?”
Buraq says
I have listened to and read excellent examples of Islam being dismantled. I know Islam is a sham. But the arguments advanced are so detailed and thorough that it’s difficult for the average Joe to absorb them.
Apologists, by contrast, simplify their defence of Islam, knowing that the average Joe likes it simple. We should, too.
For example, tell Joe Bloggs that Allah says ‘…there is no compulsion in religion’, but his chosen prophet says that anyone who leaves Islam should be killed. Give the relative references, then leave it to the apologists of Islam to explain away this apparent contradiction between Allah and his prophet. Make the tricky job of explaining the concept of abrogation the job of the clowns who defend Islam.
Create questions in the mind of Joe Bloggs. Don’t give him everything. Leave him with a gap to fill that can only be filled by revealing the holes and contradictions in Islam.
It’s instinctive for academics to cover every aspect of an argument and win it on paper. But you have to persuade Joe Bloggs, not a University undergrad. Keep it simple, if you want to make progress.
Halaku says
Well put Buraq. A few basics of Islam have to become so well known that even our smug politicians, academics and media become aware of these. They have to know that they too are Kuffar ie Infidels, who, when Islam has a chance to enforce its doctrine, will have the simple choice of converting to Islam or getting beheaded. Only some, who have been designated the ‘people of the book’, have a choice of living in complete submission and enforced humiliation, paying a special jizia poll tax. They should know that Islam specifically not only does not believe in Democracy or secular values, it finds these abhorrent. Islam believes in using deceit and violence as a religious duty, to achieve its aims and totally subscribes to ‘Might is Right’. If the Kuffar do not use their power to stop Islam when they can, it is because they are Jahil – stupid, confused and disunited (Allah be praised).
Oppressaphobe says
We have to popularized islam to get the average person to pay attention.
But then we run the risk of making it acceptable from casual contact with it.
What to do?
gravenimage says
I don’t believe we have to *popularize* Islam at all–just expose its ugliness.
And it is import to give real-life examples of how Jihadists act on Islamic principles–otherwise many might grasp the viciousness of Islamic tenets, but assume that Muslims are not acting on them–this is the false “there are nasty things in the Bible, too” argument”
revereridesagain says
Thank you Hugh Fitzgerald for highlighting the reason so many of us, even those who find religions which we do not share — and in my case, that’s all of them — fascinating and intriguing as history and myth, find it such a mind-numbing chore learning enough of the intricacies of Islam to be able to make ourselves useful in this fight:
“Along with Distraction, life throws up the obstacle of Boredom. Islam is a tremendous challenge for Unbelievers, not because it is objectively hard, but because it is simply not very interesting for those who do not share the fanatical faith. It takes great mental stamina for non-Muslims to engage with all the sacred rigmarole of Islam — just to follow the isnad-chain of a single hadith can be exhausting. And the plot and the dramatis personae of Islam are not attractive. Islam’s history is bloody, and one is not riveted, but repelled, by that bloody history. You can only take so much.”
IT’S BORING. And so we find ourselves watching cat videos on YouTube out of a desperate need for some kind of light-hearted distraction!
But no matter however little we can contribute, every conversation, book referral, pass-along of the link to jihadwatch.org and other solid sites, challenge to some local church’s Muslim Brotherhood-dominated “interfaith outreach” program means that at least a few people will be a little less clueless the next time Islamic supremacism becomes something they cannot ignore. And the nastier those wake-up calls become, the greater the incentive for them to learn more.
gravenimage says
Good post.
Westman says
Darn, Fitzgerald is right! By clicking on the advertisements on this site I’ve gotten lost in finding out about Princess Kate and the One Weird Trick That..(fill in here).
Guess who reads the Quran?:
I was reading on Yahoo this morning and realized that Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber”, and Muhammad had a lot in common. Both wanted to upend society and replace the power structure with their own. They both formulated their plans in a “cave” space, isolated from others. Of course they were both mad hatters. Mr. Fitzgerald will be interested to know the unabomber reads the Quran and claims AQ failed because it stupidly targeted everyone instead of just the elite.
Shmooviyet says
Everyone must have someone like my relative. He is a proud leftist and multi-cultist. He can’t wait for Bernie to be the next President and keep up the good works. His bookshelves are full of progressive works; he won’t go near ‘racist trash’ such as Pamela Geller, Mark Steyn, Diana West, Geert Wilders. They are ALL ‘fascists’ who just can’t bear the ‘browning’ of the West. He stays in his Wonder Bread neighborhood, and will go out of his way to avoid seeing women in burka. He’s blind and deaf, and anyone who dares suggest he take a peek at certain videos or websites is attacked as a knuckle-dragging, ‘phobic know-nothing. He is the true intellectual, rolling his eyes and smirking into his turkey and stuffing at holiday gatherings.
What to do with this guy? His superiority is making family get-togethers something to dread. Sorry this sounds like an advice column letter.
Daniel Triplett says
Sounds like my arrogant only brother. Only lib in a family of Republicans. Thinks we’re all idiots.
Westman says
Been there, had that experience. Pre-Christmas outrage, after explaining terrorists would be in the refugee population – “racist”, “bigoted”, etc.
Give it time, the reality always becomes obvious with time. I’ve seen a little light shine through after the San Bernardino massacre and the gropefest in Cologne. Some of the relatives have started noticing a contradiction between the MSM image of families and the reality of single, feral behaviored, men.
One day, when Bernie doesn’t become POTUS, and the militants have done another 9/11 you can jerk the relative’s chain; but you won’t, because his embarassment about his previous ignorance will have already undermined his confidence. The important thing is that you warned them, and will provide any information they request, should they ask.
At the rate things are going in Europe, next Thanksgiving, your relative may be more thoughtful.
linnte says
I am tired of people calling me racist, because then I have to point out that Islam/Muslims are NOT a race, but a religious and political ideology. It throws them off somewhat. Then I remind them that Islam is made up of MANY races which disqualifies their argument. And I stand unmoved on my right to disagree about the religious beliefs and political stance of Sharia Law. It helps a bit.
gravenimage says
Yes, everybody here knows people like your relative, Shmooviyet. Here in the bluer-than-blue San Francisco Bay Area, that describes most of my neighbors.
All we can do is keep going–some we will never reach, but some might surprise you.
Infidela says
First of all, I want to give a name to those people who while not being muslims themselves, are sympathetic towards Islam and muslims. I believe that they should be called Islamic fellow travellers, as in the name given towards communist sympathisers who were called fellow travellers even though they were not card carrying members of the communist party.
gravenimage says
And these fall into two categories, Infidela–those who have swallowed the Taqiyya about being a “religion of peace”, which they stick to doggedly in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary.
Dangerous as this group is, there is still hope they will wake up–a few more do every day.
Much more pernicious–but thankfully *much* smaller–is the group that actually understands that Islam is a threat to us, but who back it anyway.
Lionel A Scott says
Can I copy from these comments or is this consider pledger ism ?
Oppressaphobe says
I always want my comments repeated; I’m just a humble sort of guy like that.
gravenimage says
I think as long as you attribute them, it’s fine.
Wellington says
Fine article by Hugh Fitzgerald. Would that most American elites know what Fitzgerald knows about Islam. Alas, they do not, tending to prove that ignorance, whether willful or not, is arguably the greatest ally of evil.
Halaku says
Wellington, it’s not just ignorance. It’s a smug, smirking ignorance. The Euro-American elite believe that they already know all that is needed to be known and Islam is a religion, that like Christianity, will finally see the light of reason. Just give it time, before it frees itself from its hijackers, who of course, do not know as much about Islam as these western elite do. In the meanwhile, these elites vent their intellectual fury on the messengers of intelligence, like RS, HF, PG and others like you and me here, who are reviled as racists and bigots. One can only wonder who are they performing these PC acts for, as they can’t be really brain dead?
Oppressaphobe says
I say they are “performing these PC acts” for the powers that be of the highest order. You might use the term globalists or another term. But somebody is pulling their strings.
You could follow the money up the ladder, I’m sure!
It’s not really, at the end of the day, about religion at all. IT IS, AS IT ALWAYS IS, ABOUT MONEY.
Sure the little peons blow themselves up, but the Kings and other movers and shakers live very well indeed.
gerard says
“…still think you can control them?”
It’s happening again. But instead of the Swastika it’s the Crescent Moon. And not just in Germany this time but all over the West.
billybob says
…only I doubt a Muslim could sing so sweetly. Theirs is a song of submission and obedience. Tomorrow belongs to Allah – not to “me”. The individual is not exalted in Islam, but rather, is subsumed by it.
guide inside says
Can someone post the video of the Von Trap family from the movie Sound of Music where they sing “Eidleweiss”
Oppressaphobe says
Can we post it all over the internet too?
We all need a brush up on Nazism vs. the free west.
gerard says
gravenimage says
Yes–the fight against Fascism, though different in its particulars, is the closest to the fight against Islam.
billybob says
I am encouraged when I see comments to articles about Muslims/Islam now dominated by skeptics and “Islamophobes”. I am encouraged when I see videos on the internet by our front-line warriors Richard Spencer, Pamela Geller, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and so many, many others who’s names I have not yet committed to memory. Each of these videos gets thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of views. So what if there are millions of people? Any marketing expert would be overjoyed with these numbers I just stated as a start of a trend. Islamophobia has gone viral!
Why will we win the battle for Truth? Because it cannot be ignored. Islam is condemned not by us but by its very own texts in the Quran, Sunna, and Hadiths.
I watched a documentary once about the battle against lead in gasoline in the dawn of the environmental movement. Today we take lead-free gasoline for granted, but that only came to about because of a twenty year, uphill battle by dedicated environmentalists against the evil oil companies and the corrupt politicians under their collective thumbs. That battle was won because the environmentalists had Truth on their side. The evidence of the harm caused by lead became undeniable.
Now myself, I am not really an environmentalist, but that example came to mind. Similarly, we need a movement to fight pollution of our social and religious environment. Islam is analogous to lead in gasoline, acid raIn, pollution of our streams, the cutting down of our forests (and the rain on our parade!). Islam is destroying the social fabric, the hard fought-for values of personal liberty, justice, and equality. We must rally around the cause as we did (and still do) to save our environment. Islam must be made to feel itself subdude.
linnte says
Condemned by its very own texts! I like the sound of that!!!!
gravenimage says
billybob wrote:
I am encouraged when I see comments to articles about Muslims/Islam now dominated by skeptics and “Islamophobes”.
……………………….
Yes–this is becoming more common, even with comments to articles in the MSM. Commenters don’t always understand every aspect of the Jihad threat, but they are a lot more savvy than they used to be–and are willing to say so. Very heartening.
mortimer says
The question of this article is an excellent one: Why did Western elites not read up on Islam? They have had almost 15 years to do so!
Western elites have no excuse for knowing nothing about Islam. They have no excuse. How can we shame them into learning?
Halaku says
mortimer, these elite smugly believe that they already know all that is needed to be known and Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked by misunderstanders. They too will finally see the light of reason. Just give them enough counseling and time. The hijackers, of course, do not know as much about Islam as these western elite do.
dlbrand says
Amen Hugh. Excellent, as always. Likewise, taken to heart.
StarWish246 says
Keep people illiterate, kill ‘worldy-wise’ educators and traveled citizens, and control the media (including the internet access), and you have a population who have no way to know that the ‘story’ that they are being preached 5 times a day, every day, isn’t the whole truth. There is nothing to compare or contradict the ‘Party Line’.
And when sub-groups of those same people move to other countries, confine them in self-controlling sections of town, and forbid them from associating with locals. This way, they are under control, and will do what their community agrees with, because the penalties are harsh for non-compliance.
Muslims are very much like the old-fashioned ‘Boy in the bubble’ who had a medical condition which prevented him from contact with others without him wearing a full, protective suit with a bubble helmet.
Muslims may be living among us, but their Islam is their ‘bubble suit’ that keeps us separated.
TheDane says
Very well-written, and to the Point! However, I didn’t find it funny at all, not one bit – unlike other commentators. It is dead serious, and I can tell you – if you live in the US – that it is too late for Europe, and it will spill over to the US also.
I have tried to inform others for years, and I have lived in the ME for a while so I started taking an interest (due to islam’s poisonous deadliness!) in islam in the late 1990s. Many Europeans know nothing about the dangerous people that we are mass-importing, and many become angry when one tries to inform them. I have had that happen to me. Friends have become very upset, if I have sent them links or videos regarding the Hijrah that is now taking place and directly putting our lives at risk, more so by the day.
Oppressaphobe says
I agree 1000% with you TheDane!
It is dead serious and I don’t know if Trump really knows–he says what his strategists tell him will get him the bump in the polls.
For Americans here, I really think that Cruz is the best answer we have. Christians understand islam because they know how serious they are about their religion, so they get it about how serious others are.
Also, Christians just instinctively sense demonic activity and people.
Cruz is the real deal. Screw that stuff about his wife’s job. Who the hell cares? Like Jerry Brown once famously said, “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t!”
They accused him of being gay, then criticized him for dating Linda Ronstadt.
If Cruz weren’t financially savvy at all, Trump would say he’s a RUBE. Trump is big time connected—who would dare say otherwise? Only a fool and a liar.
And who do we want trapsing around in the white house? Cruz’s humble family, father is a preacher, wife is a humble sort with her own human problems…or Trump;s family and flashy friends.
You think Barach was bad….wait till you see the guest list of a Trump whitehouse!!! OMG
I can’t even think about-makes my head hurt.
Daniel Triplett says
Like him or not, Trump is the only guy identifying the issue as Islam, vs “Radical” Islam.
I love Cruz too, but he needs to stop calling the problem “Radical” Islam. I’d trust him much more if he would.
dumbledoresarmy says
Dear Dane
just hang in there and do what you can, while you can, where you can. Keep on keeping on. Despair only feeds the Dementors.
Do you support Lars Hedegaard’s “Free Press Society”? The Danish People’s Party?
If of fighting age and able-bodied, have you done as Niccolai Sennels – another wise Dane – has done, and joined the Home Guard, in order to acquire useful skills that might one day become necessary?
Build relationships with your non-muslim neighbours, workmates and family members, because…if things get really ugly, then at least you will be in a nascent “tribe”. Do whatever you are able, to strengthen and affirm the best in Danish culture. Feed your soul, and the souls of others.
If you are not actually an atheist, but have not been much of a church goer, then I’d encourage you to look around the local churches, and try to find one that’s strong and lively. Join: nurture and be nurtured; and, as you build “street cred”, try to find out what the pastor and others know about Islam. you might be lucky enough to find a church that already knows what you do1 If so: rejoice, and support them to the hilt. And if you are a Christian: pray, pray, pray and do not give up.
May Holger Dansker awaken!
dumbledoresarmy says
How and when did you first find Jihadwatch? It first got going in late 2003. (I didn’t find it till late in 2006, and became a regular commenter, with a nom de plume, in 2007. Eight, nearly nine years ago…. Has it really been that long?).
gravenimage says
The Dane, I’m not willing to write Europe off yet. There are a handful of brave politicians like Geert Wilders, Pergida is actively protesting Muslim incursions, and ordinary Europeans are beginning to *fight back*.
“Denmark: Girl faces charges for protecting herself against sexual attack”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/01/denmark-girl-faces-charges-for-protecting-herself-against-sexual-attack
While it is appalling that she is facing a fine for *defending herself*, what I most take away from it is that she *did fight back*–and prevailed.
And more–many Danes are *outraged* by her being fined for simply defending herself–many readers have offered to pay her fine.
And there will be more incidents of Infidels fighting back–women all over Europe are buying guns and pepper spray.
“Germany Sells Out Of Pepper Spray As ‘Frightened Germans Buy Protection Against Refugees’”
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/11/germany-sells-out-of-pepper-spray-as-frightened-germans-buy-protection-against-refugees/
wtd says
There are so many efforts to undermine any realistic comprehension of Islam…just this week:
King Mohammed VI’s Message to Conference on ‘Rights of Religious Minorities in Muslim Countries
Rabbis to attend Morocco panel on religious minorities
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch: “No one defends Islam like Arab Christians” (also posted here at JW)
UKIndependent: Italy creating ‘Italian Islam’ by making new religion in line with ‘Christian tradition’ The interior minister announced the creation of an official ‘Council of Relations with Italian Islam’
gerard says
How vile is Islam
With its nasty smell
Of Hell
And its Death Knell
Allahu Akhbar!
How rotten is this creed
To fulfill the blood need
Of its adherents
Its ugly beard
And Wraith-like Burkha
Its genital mutilation
And death to the Kuffar
But worse
Much worse
Are the enablers
Who should know better
But refuse to know
While Islam grows
And spreads
And people dread
The hacking knife
The end of Life
In sacrifice to
Baalzebul, Behemoth, Allah
Call him what you will
The stink is still
The same
linnte says
Excellent poem! Excellent! Thanks!
gerard says
Thank you.
(Dr.) Sandy Kramer says
Thank you. The encouragement given is welcomed. Having endured the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and in my own infinitesimal parody of what some call life, taken up arms against a sea of troubles, I shall recant my consideration of the Benedict option, and carry on for so long as fate and God have endowed me with time and meager ability.
Sandy Kramer PrincetonUniversity@Cox.net
gravenimage says
you also have a duty – owed to yourself and to your own, imperiled, Western civilization — not to give in but to keep trying to inform and enlighten others.
And in so learning about Islam, you should recognize that you now have a responsibility to share that knowledge with others, many of whom have shown they will be willfully resistant to it. But you have taken on this task. If not you — who?
………………………….
*Very* important article, Hugh–thank you.
dumbledoresarmy says
Hugh: ::thank you::
I think I’ve read pretty nearly all your articles, as well as your comments in this forum and elsewhere, and I think this little piece is one of the best things you’ve ever written.
It’s perfect for the place where so many of us who have informed ourselves now find ourselves, as we watch the darkening of the skies and the sea, and struggle to find the right words with which to raise the alarm.
It rings like steel on steel; or like the smith’s hammer as he forges the sword on the anvil.
I needed to read this, right now.
Thank you, Sir.