Mr. Altman paints a picture of non-Muslims being carefully primed, through a campaign of falsehoods, to be ready to treat Muslims as Jews were once treated by the Nazis. Here is his scarcely-believable, hysterical warning:
Social scientists agree that attacks on an entire class of people — whether identified by their race, religion, education, or any other distinguishing characteristic — do not happen spontaneously. First the mob has to be primed. The targeted group has to be demonized through a campaign of hateful misinformation, always presented as legitimate information by people in positions of trust. Then the signal for violence falls on ready ears.
The analogy to the president and his retweets is striking. He has used populist rhetoric to gain sway with vast numbers of disadvantaged and disillusioned Americans, in part by appealing to long-held prejudices. The videos he shared purportedly portray outrages committed by Muslim migrants in Europe, yet in reality they may be nothing of the sort.
It happened this way in Germany…
Despite these parallels, it may still seem like a stretch to link a few retweets to the Holocaust. But the path from the Protocols to the extermination camps was not traveled in a single night. The Nazis took power in 1933. Kristallnacht, the two days of riots that marked the first nationwide, coordinated outbreak of violence against German Jews, happened in 1938. The camps came a few years later, in the midst of World War II.
I am worried that the president has set us on this long and terrible path. I worry for Muslims, but also for everyone who believes in freedom and equal rights.
But there is no vast anti-Islamic campaign, no falsehoods being spread about Islam either by Trump or by anyone else in the Western world. No Stormtroopers, no Der Stürmer, no Gestapo. It’s not Muslims who need security. It’s Geert Wilders, Robert Spencer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan. There are attempts, not given nearly enough attention by our political and media elites, by a dedicated handful of analysts, to offer sober presentations of what is contained in the Qur’an and hadith. When these attempts at education are posted online, they are now subject to censorship by some of the most powerful Internet companies. Just a few months ago, Joel Kaplan, a vice-president of Facebook, travelled to Pakistan to reassure the Pakistanis that Facebook would remove any anti-Islamic material — an assurance it has given to the representatives of no other religion. Twitter now decides what is “hate speech” — being particularly solicitous of Muslims and Islam, and coming down hard on those non-apologist scholars, such as Robert Spencer, who are routinely threatened with death — and deletes anything it feels meet its (unstated) criteria. UK and European Internet Service Providers are now blocking Jihad Watch and similar sites.
For those non-apologist lecturers on Islam who still manage to be invited on-campus by some intrepid student group, they often find their speeches have been cancelled by the university, or interrupted, as these lecturers are shouted down by Antifa crowds determined to make sure that only apologists on behalf of Islam will be heard. Or if these campus brownshirts do not shout down a lecturer, they have other methods. They stand up in the middle of a talk, and exit, thus leaving a tiny audience, but campus administrators will not permit the emptied seats to be taken by others, standing in line outside, more willing to listen. In the most publicized example of this, Robert Spencer’s recent speech at Stanford was disrupted when students stood up and left (apparently the prospect of listening to a detailed exposition of Islam was simply too frightening); the two assistant deans who were present smilingly encouraged the students who left, while making sure that Stanford’s campus police kept out anyone wanting to come in to actually hear the talk, and possibly even learn something which, until recently, was the whole point of education.
Meanwhile, Muslim clerics who have called for killing of Jews and other Infidels find their messages are not taken down from the Internet, and they themselves have apparently not had any trouble being invited to speak on campuses. In the U.K., for example, more than 100 extremist preachers have spoken on university campuses. Meanwhile, Robert Spencer, who offers only sober analysis of Islamic texts, teachings, and history, and has never preached violence against anyone, is still forbidden even to travel to the U.K.
There has been no “appeal to long-held prejudices” when it comes to Islam. Until the last few decades, there was little awareness in the West of the texts and teachings of Islam, and there is still, unfortunately, not nearly enough. Though antisemitism was a part of Western culture for nearly 2000 years before Hitler took it to an altogether new and genocidal level, anti-Islam feeling is much more recent, and reflects anxiety over real threats, that is, the ideology of Islam, not the imaginary threats of the antisemites. The videos retweeted by Trump are not equivalent to the Protocols. They are not forgeries, but true records of Muslim behavior, and what’s more, those involved wanted those videos shown. The Muslim who beat up the crippled Dutch boy wanted his act recorded and posted online. So did the Muslim who destroyed a statue of the Virgin Mary, and who wanted both that, and his warning to Christians that “only Allah” could be worshipped in the Levant, put up at YouTube. As to the group of Muslims who hunted down and killed a Muslim boy who did not share their enthusiasm for Mohamed Morsi, it’s unclear who took or posted the video, but it could well have been fellow Muslims, posting it by way of a warning to others: this can happen to you if you don’t support the Muslim Brotherhood.
There are no parallels between Jews in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and Muslims in the West today. Trump’s retweets were an attempt to show important truths, not falsehoods, about Islam. They have been treated as beyond-the-pale outrages because Western political and media elites cannot bear to have certain truths about Islam made plain. Completely dhimmified, they have been quick to defend Islam, as they repeat endlessly that that conquering faith is all about peace, and tolerance, and that the terrorist atrocities committed by Muslims have “nothing to do with Islam,” but only with a “distorted version” of it — and they maintain this even as many of those terrorists solemnly recite the Qur’anic verses that command such terrorism. Meanwhile, the stabbings, shootings, explosions, running down of Infidels with cars and trucks, in which Muslims target non-Muslims, ceaselessly continue. This is very different from how Jews behaved: they posed no threat to anyone, attacked no one in the 1930s. Nor does Judaism command that Jews engage in worldwide conquest, as the Qur’an commands Muslims to engage in violent Jihad, until Islam everywhere dominates, and Muslims rule, everywhere. While excuses of every kind are offered to explain away real Muslim atrocities against non-Muslims today, in Nazi Germany the Jews were falsely accused of every conceivable atrocity, even of the medieval charges against them of ritual murder, and of using the blood of the Christian children they killed to make matzohs.
In this latest retweeting by Trump, all those he offended — which means practically everyone — carefully avoided discussing what the videos showed, and concentrated on calling Trump a “racist” and “fascist,” who had retweeted videos from a supposed Nazi (Ms. Fransen is on the right, but she’s no Nazi). They treated Trump as a bigoted fool. Their evidence? They were delighted to report that the bully described in one video (by Ms. Fransen) as a “Muslim migrant” was, according to the Dutch police, not a “Muslim migrant” because he was born in the Netherlands. This begs the obvious question: was he a Muslim? No Western journalists tried to find out, because they feared they knew what the answer would be. Instead, the anti-Trump brigade keeps meretriciously insisting that the boy was “born in the Netherlands” and therefore could not be a “Muslim migrant” — which is true only as to the “migrant” part. If the boy were not a Muslim, it would have been shouted to the rooftops. The silence of the Dutch authorities, and the Western media, on this was telling.
For those who have kept their wits about them, and remained unaffected by the outrage of the Great And Good, such as the variously indignant London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Daniel Altman, against Trump, these three videos provide useful examples of Muslim behavior, and insights into Muslim attitudes. The extreme violence (the mob chasing down and killing a boy), the deep contempt for other religions (the smashed statue), the violent hatred of Infidels (the beating up of the Dutch cripple) — all this was on display. These were not meant to be anti-Islamic videos; they were Islamic videos; the Muslims in them were proud of their deeds and requested other Muslims to film them, in at least two and possibly in all three of the cases. They wanted to be seen on YouTube. These “Islamic” tapes then became “anti-Islamic” only because Infidels realized they made Islam look bad. And that’s when those tapes suddenly became “unverified” and instead of showing, they now were only “purporting to show.”
Here’s a sample of what those retweeted videos elicited:
“The Islamophobic videos were originally tweeted by Fransen…” (The Guardian). “What the hell are you doing retweeting a bunch of unverified videos by Britain First, a bunch of disgustingly racist far-right extremists? Please STOP this madness & undo your retweets.” (Piers Morgan) “Donald Trump’s Racist Retweets Alienate Even Twitter’s Worst” (Madison Malone Kircher). ‘Trump Retweets Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos” (Voice of America). “Trump retweets videos purporting to show violence by Muslims” (Twin Cities Press). “Brit PM Blasts Donald Trump Retweets Of Violent Anti-Muslim Video” (Theresa May). “Far-right retweets by Donald Trump are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society.” “Mr. Trump was ‘legitimizing religious bigotry’ with the Twitter posts.” (Senator Lindsey Graham) “These are actions one would expect to see on virulent anti-Muslim hate sites, not on the Twitter feed of the president of the United States. Trump’s posts amount to incitement to violence against American Muslims.” (CAIR) “How It Felt for American Muslims to Wake Up to Trump Retweeting Anti-Islam Fascists.” (Slate.com)
Had enough?
The anti-Trump hysteria deflected attention that ought to have been paid to the contents of those videos, each a faithful record of Muslims behaving very badly. Many were quick off the mark to demonstrate their superior morality by denouncing Trump as a far-right disgusting racist and bigot with his inflammatory anti-Muslim videos. But no one bothered to explain about the videos themselves, which we were told, falsely, were “unverified” (they had been circulating for years; no one claimed that what they recorded did not take place) and that only “purported to show” — when they clearly showed — Muslim violence, with one man smashing a Christian statue; another beating a Christian cripple; still others chasing down and killing a Muslim who by their lights just wasn’t Muslim enough. Nothing was made up by Trump or exaggerated for effect. If anything, these videos are among the milder examples of Muslim mayhem and murder to be found online. Perhaps some of those who initially raged at Trump, now that they know or strongly suspect he was right about the Dutch bully being a Muslim, will do a little searching on YouTube to see what else it offers that might prove enlightening on the subject of Muslim behavior — enlightening, there is a faint possibility, even for the likes of anxious Daniel Altman, he who warns us, preposterously, that “This Is How Every Genocide Begins.”
pat mott says
Surely the hate, threats & derision is coming from Islamic groups? not the other way around? For years there has been great toleration but as Muslim numbers have increased so has their confidence in telling us that they want Sharia law for all of us & that they intend to take us over! No wonder we are worried & are trying o expose this!
Andy says
“Diversity is a failure, like Communism was a failure” “More diversity is more failure.”
-Stefan Molyneux
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l9go9X1EbE
“Where is the diversity of opinion”?-Pamela Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onVsOdW6wfU
gravenimage says
I love Pamela Geller!
mortimer says
Agree with p. mott. The hatred comes from an Islamic ‘essential’ doctrine called ‘Al Walaa wal Baraa’… this is the motivational force of Islam … (English: Allegiance and Disavowal).
The doctrine of Al Walaa wal Baraa is an Islamic apartheid doctrine.
It is described in Islamic literature as: The hatred of Kafirs ‘for the sake of Allah’…Al Bughoud or Al Mu’adaat (hatred) is the opposite of Al Muwalaat (love of Muslims), it is:
– To Hate
– To keep distance from
– To be enemy to
– To desert
– To decline to help
– To disrespect
– To put down
– Not to ally with
– Not to support
Allah ordered Muslims to have Baraa (to be cleansed) from the kufaar and from kufr and shirk.
Daniel Altman is unread and unstudied in the matter of Islamic doctrine, but preposterously, presents himself as a spontaneous expert.
gravenimage says
+1
James says
The “misinformation” is in the Koran and the ahadith.
Charles says
Looks like “Hugh” lost his grip on reality a long time ago!
Poor fool! The muslim swine will lop off his infidel head in the first days of the great War!
mortimer says
Charles, you surely meant to say ‘Daniel Altman’. Hugh is reporting the errant foolishness of Altman.
gravenimage says
Charles, Hugh Fitzgerald is one of the savviest writers on Islam anywhere. Take another look at the article.
Abdellah Choukri Ex Muslim says
UK and European Internet Service Providers are now blocking Jihad Watch and similar sites.??
Hope it is not true this…UK and EU NAZI PROVIDERS
Robin says
I’m writing this via the main uk ISP, BT (brit telecom) and have never noticed any blocking.
I think if any one did they would be losing out in the competitive market.
Much more likely is a failure of connection over the atlantic or in the decomposing usa.
gravenimage says
Not sure if they are actually blocking. I do know that many search sites are not listing Jihad Watch in their tops findings for searches–even when JW has the most hits.
Lisa says
As usual, these idiots have it exactly backwards and upside down. He is perfectly describing the rhetoric and actions happening in the Muslim world.
mortimer says
Daniel Altman is a pompous, spontaneous expert who has not read the Islamic primary texts. He knows nothing of what is contained in the one million words of primary Islamic texts, not even the names of those books!
Some ‘expert’ ! (sarc/off)
gravenimage says
True, Lisa.
Rob says
Well, Islam *is* a real threat to Europe (and maybe one day more so to the US than it currently is), because it’s culturally and politically incompatible with democracy and Western civil rights. If the Islamists don’t want to be persecuted, they should stop persecuting non-Muslims.
EDWARD DE FONZO says
I AM SAD FOR MR ALTMAN.
SORRY THAT HE CANNOT SEE THAT WHEN WE JEWS FIND THE
WOUNDED ENEMY WE HEAL THEM AND SEND THEM BACK
INTO THEIR WAR AGAINST US.
EVEN I DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND JUST HOW MAGNIFICENT
WE ARE.
I NEED MORE TIME IN SHUL.
gravenimage says
+1
CRUSADER says
Foreign Policy authors have become dupes of the Leftist agenda.
For “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” to be mentioned in the article is astounding, in that its very mentioning sheds light on the irony: it is the Muslim Brotherhood who is orchestrating such things, and the spin-doctors neglect this fact in authoring such articles of so-called erudition. Also, it is not the victims who are Muslims, but the Jews, and others categorized by Muslims as Dhimmies, who are once again being marginalized and persecuted systematically by Islamist extremism….
No surprise, as it’s been going on for centuries. Islam has never really ever halted its jihad vs the world.
Hitler even gained appreciation for what past Moslem policies were toward scapegoats….
Orwell must be laughing to the point of shedding tears about all of this tragic irony occurring now.
Churchill got it right about Islam being devious.
mortimer says
Response to crusader: The ‘Protocols’ were forgeries of enemies. The Koran, Sira, hadiths, canonical commentaries and Sharia law were all written by Muslims and HUNDREDS OF TIMES call for exterminating warfare … JIHAD AGAINST DISBELIEVERS.
Daniel Altman has not read these texts and makes a fool of himself. His claims are simple to refute using the Islamic texts written by Muslims.
gravenimage says
I think CRUSADER made it pretty clear that he knows this, Mortimer.
Tjhawk says
The Jews have always been an intelligent, industrious, skilled minority operating within the framework of a larger society. They tend to enhance the societies in which they live. They have developed a culture that tends to lead to Jewish success, and this has led to some resentment from the larger society. They are self sufficient and don’t kill off the societies in which they live.
Muslims have always been aggressive invaders of other cultures. They have no interest in enhancing the societies in which they live unless subjugation or elimination is an enhancement. Nobody is jealous of islamic achievement. Even their alleged golden age was a result of conquering great cultures. Once these conquered people were all converted, killed, or fled, and the islamic culture was responsible for its own advancement, that was the end of advancement.
There is no equivalency between resisting the aggressive Hijra and attacking a population who have lived productively within a larger society for centuries.
Truth should never be suppressed, and the truth is, that islamic hijra tends to be a zero sum game.
gravenimage says
Great analysis.
TheBuffster says
Well said, Tjhawk.
mortimer says
Islamic political theorist Maulana Maududi wrote: ‘The objective [of Islam] is to establish government based on its ideology and creed, irrespective of who takes its flag and unfurls it and whose governance it causes damage to. It demands land—not just a small bit of land, but, in fact, the ENTIRE WORLD [to govern].’
Daniel Altman is unread and unstudied regarding Islam. He thinks he can get away with writing about a subject he has not studied. HE CANNOT GET AWAY WITH IT. It is elementary to demonstrate that Altman’s claims are facile and groundless.
There was no basis for Hitler’s false claims of a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world, however, there is VOLUMINOUS literature written by Muslims that calls for, itemizes and praises JIHAD against disbelievers!
Because Daniel Altman is TOO LAZY to read Islam’s primary source texts and Islamic history (well over one million words), he does not know that the Islamic literature itself (all of it written by Muslims) is very clear about Islam’s foundational agenda of world conquest! The very Islamic year testifies to the creation of the Islamic world EMPIRE, rather than the foundation of a faith! The year Anno Hegirae (AH) is your first clue, Mr. Altman.
Daniel Altman has NOT read the primary source texts of Islam, so he has a vast lacuna of ignorance about the JIHAD DOCTRINE. The jihad doctrine is very WELL-SUPPORTED in the Koran, Sira, hadiths, Islamic commentaries, Sharia law and from the 1400-year Islamic history.
Daniel wrongly assumes that there is no basis for the claim of the JIHAD DOCTRINE proposed within counterjihad literature. The very reverse is true. The evidence of the JIHAD DOCTRINE IS ONE OF THE MOST SOLIDLY DOCUMENTED PARTS of Islam and one of the best documented parts of human history.
On the other hand, no basis is available for accusations of Jewish conspiracies that led to the Hitlerian holocaust. Those false accusations are complete fabrications. The “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” (from which Hitler’s mad scheme derived) is a fabricated document purporting to be factual. Composed by Tsarist secret police in 1902 as a pretext for persecuting Zionists in 1903, the ‘Protocols’ were concocted from previous anti-Semitic fabrications dating from the mid-1800s.
Jews have never called for Jewish world dominance and no Jewish texts mention such a plan. However, Islam has many hundreds of texts that call for bigoted warfare against disbelievers and for their subjugation, enslavement and even their extermination.
Daniel Altman cannot support his claim that Islam is not supremacist and has no world conquest doctrine.
TheBuffster says
Thanks for that post, Mortimer. I feel like I want to copy and post it on Facebook under the name attributing it to a guy named “Mortimer” on JihadWatch. Would you allow me to do that?
mortimer says
Go for it, buff.
pfwag says
Islam is much more analgious to the Nazis only their geonicide policies include elimination of all the kafir non-Muslims. And evidently this loon does not even know that freedom and himan rights” do not exist in Islam.
jewdog says
Patently a case of Jewish mirror-image fallacy projection. We and the Muslims are not in the same boat. No, they are in another vessel, bristling with torpedoes, and headed straight for us. Thank you, Hugh.
mortimer says
Thanks, j-d. Altman defends the ideology that daily calls for the extermination of Israelis. What is mentally wrong with such people as Altman? The threat is real. Question for Altman: If there is no threat, how many Jews live in Muslim-majority countries?
gravenimage says
I like your grim analogy, Jewdog.
mortimer says
Daniel Altman should be reminded of another ‘Daniel’ beheaded by Islamic terrorists: Wall Street Journal reporter DANIEL PEARL.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1461368/Daniel-Pearl-refused-to-be-sedated-before-his-throat-was-cut.html
Mr. Altman, please watch and ask who are the real persecutors? Pearl’s last words: I AM JEWISH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r_UtGSRwAc
Thomas Brewster says
How does every genocide begin? Well, let’s ask the Armenians / Byzantine Greeks / Arabian Jews / Kosovar Serbs / Batakian Bulgars / Irqi Assyrians / Persian Zoroastrianists / Punjabi Hindus , etc. (The horrible systematic destruction of cultures and populations is no monopoly of Islam, but Muslim societies have been quite good at this since times immemorial.)
gravenimage says
+1
I wonder about leftists says
I still think there must be a bigger plan about this all. People don’t stay sleeping for such a long time, they know what is happening and they choose not to act on it, only against the right wing in every horrible way.
May be they rented the muslims to commit horrible crimes and to aggravate us till the end, and they hope that they have created a civil war between muslims and us, but they can always say, we did not do it, to keep their hands clean.
There must be a bigger organisation behind this all, already having planned this for decades. I think it has to do with Agenda 21, the New World Order, and most of the governments are may be in it too, the UN, the EU. free Masons. God knows. what and who, but in a few months you don’t throw your Constitutions out of the door and your first Amendments, the Freedom of Speech, etc.
+Muslims could never could have planned this all by themselves. They were sent over by planners to overflow countries, and as the elite finds that there are too many people on this earth and they can not control them all and use them as slaves, I think that there is a big organisation behind this all, who actually don’t give a d..n about anybody or anything, only about themselves. It feels really, really bad this whole thing. Why didn’t we get any answers on JW ever from leftists, not a peep, it’s sinister.
Am I the only one who thinks into this direction?
gravenimage says
No–there are other conspiracy theorists out there, as well.
Charles Martel Appreciation Society. says
No you’re not. It is difficult to get at the truth. There are so many conspiracy theories floating about, many of which are the figments of delusional minds. But, it is plain to see, that with all this double speak, there is certainly an agenda and that our supposed leaders are conspiring against us
Benedict says
“This Is How Every Genocide Begins.”-
Wrong! This is how genocides continue. From the Inquisition in Spain, the Pogroms in Russia and the Holocaust in Germany. And again the ultimate target will be the Jews, who now again inhabit their own land and their own eternal capital: Jerusalem. Evil has prepared for centuries now its last onslaught on the Jews in the hateful character of Islam which encompasses the tiny state of Israel, but providentially this attack will also fail. Those who cry death to Israel cry death to themselves.
Christians and Jews will in this crisis find each other and Christians won’t act the same shameful, cowardly way they did during World War II.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
“I worry for Muslims, …”
Don’t be Altman, they have a 1400 year record of coming out on top. If you knew anything about history or/and you had an once of integrity, you wouldn’t engage in this self-promoting, contrarian nonsense!
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Correction: “once” should be “ounce”
Cheer Bear Girl says
The Quran calls for the genocide of Jews and other non-believers. Muslims are hardly victims. Most people are right to fear and mistrust Muslims.
Lydia says
This pansy needs a reality check on who the actual victims are. Let’s do a recap here…
1. Christians are persecuted all over the world; the Middle East, the Orient, all muslim controlled countries (most of Africa), all dictatorships throughout history, now Europe and Canada and even the US.
2. Much of this persecution is coming FROM muslims to Christians.
3. Instead of prosecuting guilty muslims of any obvious crimes, they are letting them walk out free in Canada, Australia, Europe, etc.
4. Those who speak out against the perils of islam are persecuted by the authorities, not even having their freedom of speech honored.
5. Then we have the endless onslaught from the left towards Christians who insist on living by their faith (like me) and refuse to bow to agendas that are against our convictions, which includes but is not limited to: lawsuits, courtroom hearings, fines, jail time, etc.
6. Christians with businesses have had death threats against their lives, threats to burn their businesses down, and suffered actual violence as well. Many have closed up shop and gone online or retired, etc. (the Klein’s in Oregon are but one of many examples)
7. The propaganda campaign is being waged against us, as the whole media jokes about Christians who refuse to compromise with sin, and we are slandered with every bad name in the book; hater, bigot, accused of discriminating, being intolerant, etc. etc. and the ideology war is clearly against us. We are not ‘discriminating’ against anyone or anything, we are refusing to comply with sin. They are discriminating against us for being Christians who live by our faith, which is sort of the whole point of our faith. We have this right, whether or not they see that, and true Christians will live accordingly no matter what we are threatened with for not complying with their sin agendas, etc.
As I said earlier, the holocaust against us has already begun, and it is by no means over.
But, as I also said on many occasions: I AM NOT AFRAID!!!
Lydia says
I will live by my faith, and I will die by it.
In honor, not shame.
In victory, not defeat.
aDhimmiSaysWhat? says
I just wanted to say that I am an atheist. And I support you AND your faith.
gravenimage says
We all need to stand together against the threat of Islam.
Matthieu Baudin says
“…There has been no ‘appeal to long-held prejudices’ when it comes to Islam. Until the last few decades, there was little awareness in the West of the texts and teachings of Islam, and there is still, unfortunately, not nearly enough…”
This is so true. It has been the current international terrorist campaigns that have focused attention on the nature of Islamic texts and the nature of Traditional Islamic Society. Thousands of us have been motivated, out of concern for security from terrorism, to put aside hundreds, sometimes thousands of valuable hours to try to get a grip on the subject matter in an open minded and fair minded fashion. We put out repeated invitations to others to ‘play the ball’ and engage in discussion but time and again these blinkered individuals, institutions and corporations choose instead to ‘play the man’ by trying to destroy our reputations and silence our voices.
TheBuffster says
And here’s a thing: aside from the fact that the Jews have no religious imperative to conquer the world and that the Protocols was a big lie, another big difference is that being a Jew doesn’t necessarily mean being a believer in Judaism. You’re Jewish whether you believe in the religion or even in a god or not, but when you apostasize from Islam you’re no longer a Muslim.
When we criticise Islam, when we point out the viciousness of the doctrine and its aims in regard to unbelievers, we’re not making anything up but we are trying to focus attention on what the texts say and why a good number of Muslims have been behaving so badly. We’re trying to get everyone – INCLUDING MUSLIMS – to take a good look at those texts and to morally judge those texts.
Long range, nothing good can come from evading hard truths. And in pursuit of the truth we should always shoot for the whole truth and nothing but the truth – including the fact that there are many alleged Muslims who don’t really believe but are afraid to leave, and many others who don’t know their texts and have a Disney version of Islam in their heads. Those who keep attacking the Islamic ideology have and will continue to have the effect of getting those Muslims to try to prove that their texts are not horrible. In that effort, they read the texts themselves. And when they do that, those who were trying to prove that the texts are benign learn otherwise.
I’ve been listening to lots of former Muslims and many leave because they finally read their texts themselves. That starts them on the long and painful path to apostasy.
We have our part to play in that.
Islam is the enemy of everyone, including Muslims. Muslims are human beings. They deserve better than to live their whole lives in a bloody cult.
TheBuffster says
If Mr. Altman doesn’t want a Holocaust of Muslims, he really should make himself knowledgeable enough to realise what we here at JihadWatch know already: that if you bring in huge numbers of Muslims into non-Muslim territory, when the Muslims believe that they are in the position to do so, they will take measures to gain power over non-Muslims and to legally impose as much Shariah as possible.
This will cause justified resentment among non-Muslims.
The more believing Muslims there are, the worse the power-grabs will be. There doesn’t even have to be terrorism, but the knowledge that Muslims are capable of terrorism is enough to make government leaders nervous about crossing the Muslim leadership. Plus, the more Muslim voters there are, the worse for our rights in the long run.
Eventually the tension between Muslims and non-Muslims *will* lead to legitimate efforts to curb Islamic impositions. It *will* lead to violence between the two factions. And it will lead to growing groups of people who just want to get rid of the Muslims in their midst, by any means necessary.
If Mr. Altman doesn’t want to empower and grow actual hate groups and to ensure actual attempts at genocide from *both* sides of this religious divide, he needs to find out all he can about what Islam is about by reading the texts for himself. He can’t see the future without doing that. And he’s supporting the very policies that will ensure that the thing he fears will come to pass.
Charles Martel Appreciation Society. says
I continue to be baffled by the rhetoric from politicians, the media, Christian leaders, etc. How can they, in the face of facts keep denying the reality of islam?
How many people will continue to be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness and the appeasement of islam?
During WWII the nazis and muslims seemed to get along splendidly, trying to annihilate the Jews and anyone else who didn’t fit into their purist world view. Oh, and ‘LEST WE FORGET,’ Germany and the Ottoman Empire were allies.
Don’t people read history any more, or pay attention to the signs of the times?
TheBuffster says
Charles Martel Appreciation Society – No, a lot of people do not read history and don’t recognise a sign of the times when they see one.
One of the most common faults of human consciousness is the ability to ignore the scary, the unpleasant, the troublesome and to brush it away as unbelievable. If a whole lot of people are doing that together they reinforce each other in their protective bubble. Another problem is a tendency to get caught in ideological bubbles, protected by confirmation bias – a tendency to notice the things that confirm what one already believes and to not notice or to dismiss that which doesn’t fit the narrative. Rationalisation away evidence is another common error.
People can be quite erroneously convinced of their position, and this is a danger we all face. You have to be constantly on guard against the anti-objective tendencies of the human mind in yourself, and if you want to help others to break out of their own bubbles you have to develop the skills to help people see past their barriers.
All of that – from minding your own mind to helping others to do it – is a lot of work. Most people don’t seem to have the patience for it. And bubbles are comfy.
Anyhow, the denial we’re seeing today isn’t anything new. There are always warners and always deniers, and both sides are convinced they’re right, whether they really know what they’re talking about or not.
TheBuffster says
That should be “rationalising away”.
gravenimage says
Fine post, Buffster. Spot on.
TheBuffster says
Thanks, Graven. 🙂
Charles Martel Appreciation Society. says
What you say is relevant, but objectivity is very difficult to attain. We can never be truly objective about all things at all times and we all conform to some bias or another whether we like it or not; we cannot see the full picture. But, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to seek truth and understand what is going on in the life. However, as you say, it is not easy and needs patience to be able to confront yourself and reality, as it is and not as we may think it is, or wish it to be.
TheBuffster says
That’s it, Charles Martel A. S.
Kasey says
This guy has the boot on the wrong foot. Already Christian and Jews in Islamic majority nations are already on the receiving end of intolerance, violence and lethality from Muslims who follow Allah’s directives towards them.
As for the Germans they will certainly live to regret how circumstances of 1914 and 1946 forced them to seek help from the Turks.
p bay says
This lunatic needs mental help
mortimer says
Altman isn’t crazy, just pompous. You cannot discuss a complex ideology like Islam without first studying and understanding its primary source texts.
It is like a student presenting himself for exams without having read the course book list. Whatever the student writes will be seen by the prof to be bluffing.
Daniel Altman is bluffing about Islam. He thinks he is so smart he doesn’t need to read the Islamic sources.
TheBuffster says
I think you’ve nailed it, Mortimer.
UNCLE VLADDI says
Social scientists can suck it!
First of all, they’re all pathetic criminal-coddling victimologists, enabling victimality (defense of criminality).
Further, no groups or gangs should have rights.
Only individual human beings should have rights and responsibilities.
And no individual can have rights equal to all other individuals if and when gangs or groups have additional rights.
Everyone has equality of opportunity.
If people want group rights – under the pretense that they were historically oppressed by other, perhaps racist groups which were mentally superior to them, in the past – then they must also accept responsibility for their own ancestors’ choices!
In economics, it’s called OPPORTUNITY COSTS – the simple binary fact that, if and when one makes a choice, one also thereby CHOOSES to forego all other available investment choices at that time!
Now, one may not (but also may!) choose to become a cowardly, fear-focused and virtue-signalling victimologist and to SUBMIT to criminal attacks, but when one does so in advance of them, by pretending that all criminals are really only fellow victims, to go along with criminal lies, to get along with the scary lying criminals, then that, too, is one’s choice!
The choice to do nothing is still a choice!
p bay says
The poor muslims may run out of Jews and infidels to slaughter… Altman wants white genocide…
mortimer says
Altman is telling us we may not criticize Sharia law.
TH says
I noticed that all the comments were plain and simple exercises of the ad hominem (shoot the messenger) fallacy. Anyone who engages in this fallacy simply has no valid argument and he implicitly recognizes it. If they do it so much, obviously their readers are incapable of seeing through it for the most part. It goes to show how incapable of logical discourse the vast majority of Westerners, due to the fact that real education no longer exists but a crude diet of ideology. We live in a totally decadent society whose members are incapable of logical thought.
TheBuffster says
“I noticed that all the comments were plain and simple exercises of the ad hominem (shoot the messenger) fallacy. ”
*All* the comments were “plain and simple exercises in ad hominem”? If you think that you weren’t paying attention. Ad hominem is the fallacy attacking the character of a person instead of attacking the substance of his argument. Can you find no argument’s against Altman’s position in the comments? I suggest you read through them again.
Hugh Fitzgerald’s article itself explains what’s wrong with Altman’s analogy regarding what happened with the Jews and what’s happening with Islam. The frequent commenters at JihadWatch are – most of them – well read in the Islamic texts and history and current events and therefore can recognise when someone like Altman is speaking from ignorance, which he is. They are not *substituting* character assassination for argument – the arguments have already been made – they are commenting on the fact that Altman clearly hasn’t a clue about the differences between the gross lies told about the Jews in the lead-up to the Holocaust and the truths being told about the doctrine of Islam and those Muslims who follow it as written.
Altaman is right about this: there are dangers when a whole class of people are viewed as all having the same character when the truth is that people, as individuals, vary widely within every large group. Character is an individual thing. Not all Christians abide by Christian teaching, not all Jews are religious, not all Muslims have read their texts and some have a candy-coated view of Muhammad, etc.
But it’s also true that some ideologies are deadly and that if you bring huge numbers of people into your society who seriously believe in those deadly ideologies that there will be deadly consequences to pay. If you refuse to look at such facts because you’re afraid you’ll be paving the way for a Holocaust of, say, Muslims, and you bring in huge numbers of them, then you’ll be paving the way for a holocaust of *someone* in the future… and it could still be Muslims. Or it could be Jews. Or all non-Muslims who won’t comply with Shariah. But if you face the ideological facts early enough you can take measures that prevent a holocaust of anybody by not trying to mix highly morally incompatible ideologies that must inevitably explode when the incoming group becomes numerous enough to impinge on the original group.
Hugh Fitzgerald in his article already provided the arguments as to how Altman is wrong, and some of the comments address those issues and others address why they think Altman is making such a mistake. The criticism of Altman is not meant to *substitute* for reasoned criticism of his position. It is in addition to criticising his position.
gravenimage says
Fine post, Buffster.
pat mott says
I agree, trouble is that there is so much anger building up that it is likely that something very nasty could happen & groups of people will be seen as one, & be attacked even by their own ‘side’.
gravenimage says
If you are referring to a “backlash” against Muslims in the West, this has never actually happened.
pat mott says
Not yet! bit there is still time!
Charles Martel Appreciation Society. says
TH, all of the comments were not shoot the messenger and I disagree with your analysis.
kathleen T Quinlan says
‘Jansen is on the right but not a Nazi’ Common error. NAZI is on the LEFT like communism.