The honor is all mine. Mark Tapson reviews my book Confessions of an Islamophobe at FrontPage:
[To order Robert Spencer’s “Confessions of an Islamophobe,” CLICK HERE.]
With the possible exception of freedom fighter and European political party leader Geert Wilders, there is arguably no critic of Islam more despised and feared by the Religion of Peace’s apologists than the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s own Robert Spencer, director of the indispensable Jihad Watch website and the author of nearly twenty books.
Spencer is routinely labeled a so-called Islamophobe by those who conflate criticism of Islam with bigotry toward Muslims. This makes him the target of an astonishing amount of hatred and even threats of violence because our media and political elites have inflated the purported danger of “Islamophobia” to a degree of cultural concern greater than the danger of actual Islamic terrorism.
The George Soros-funded smear organization known as the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the “extremist” Spencer “one of America’s most prolific and vociferous anti-Muslim propagandists” (note the use of the inflammatory terms “propagandist” and “anti-Muslim,” the latter of which falsely paints him as a hater of Muslims themselves rather than as a critic of the ideology).
His speaking engagements, when they are not disrupted by protesters or canceled by those who refuse to debate him or even hear him out, require personal security to protect him from the violence of those who accuse him of inciting violence. After a presentation in Iceland earlier this year, Spencer was actually poisoned by a suspected opponent who wanted to silence him permanently.
Robert Spencer is certainly not alone in being branded an Islamophobe; he is simply one of the most prominent because he is the best-educated about Islam and the most relentless thorn in the side of those who would whitewash it. Any public critic of Islam’s demonstrably hateful, violent, and supremacist tenets risks being smeared by the ugly label.
The truth is that “Islamophobia” is a Muslim Brotherhood-concocted myth designed to discredit and demonize critics of Islam as hysterically alarmist and racist (even though – all together now – Islam is not a race). It is how Islamic fundamentalists and their allies among the radical left (in politics, academic and the news media) pervert the legitimate concerns people have about the very real threat of jihad in all its forms. It is how they silence criticism of Islam and prevent concerned citizens from speaking out against the encroachment of sharia law, of stealth jihad, even of terrorism. “If you see something, say something,” the authorities urge, but if you speak up about suspicious Muslims or point to the theological justification for Islamic terrorism, be prepared to be dismissed as a bigot.
Spencer has decided to embrace the scarlet letter “I” proudly. “It is not hatred and bigotry to be the right kind of Islamophobe,” he declares in his newest book, Confessions of an Islamophobe, “as opposed to one who attacks innocent Muslim, something that is never justified.” In fact, “[t]here are very good reasons to be an Islamophobe… to be concerned about Islam for the devastation that it brings into the lives of human beings both Muslim and non-Muslim.”
“Indeed,” he continues, “the only chance for the survival of free societies into the latter part of the twenty-first century may be if large numbers of people join me in becoming this kind of unrepentant Islamophobe.”
The multiculturalist left insists that an “irrational fear of Islam” among “the far right” threatens to morph into the persecution of innocent Muslims, turning them into “the new Jews.” This absurd and offensive accusation – no such Islamophobic blowback has ever manifested itself, even after the horrific 9/11 attacks – obscures the very real danger of an Islamic supremacism surging throughout the Western world, with our political and media elites running interference for it.
In chapters on women, gays, Jews, Christians, and even secular liberals and secular Muslims, Spencer details in his new book how these segments of society in particular face serious and even lethal ramifications for ignoring disturbing truths about the spread of Islam in the West. “I want free societies to continue and prosper,” he writes. “I don’t want to see future generations of American women subjugated, gays brutalized, Jews and Christians living in a harassed and precarious state. That seems to be what our leaders [in the Western world] are choosing for our future. I am among those who are trying to head it off.”
In Confessions of an Islamophobe, Spencer provides a mountain of evidence and examples of ways in which Islamic fundamentalists are advancing their “grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within,” to quote from a revealing Muslim Brotherhood document known as the Explanatory Memorandum, discovered in the course of a 2007 terrorism funding trial of the Holy Land Foundation.
He also provides abundant examples of ways in which the Western left is complicit, either willingly or unwittingly, in the mainstreaming of support for this grand jihad, not least by demonizing Cassandras like Robert Spencer as “Islamophobes.” Politicians both domestic (e.g. Congressman Keith Ellison) and foreign (e.g. Germany’s Angela Merkel) and the media here and abroad seem literally hell-bent on facilitating the Islamization of the West, even as terrorist attacks, anti-Semitism, mass sexual assaults, no-go zones, and pockets of sharia law escalate in Western Europe and to a lesser degree – for now – in America.
As always, Spencer’s new book is solidly researched (with 33 pages of endnotes) and grounded in his scholarly expertise with Islamic theology. And yet Confessions is also the most personal of Spencer’s many books. It begins, in a preface titled “My Journey to Islamophobia,” with an explanation of his early interest in Islam and his admiration for figures such as Nathan Hale, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “who stood for their convictions even at immense personal risk, including even the loss of their very lives, and even when it seemed as if the whole world were against them.”
Today Spencer finds himself among that august number, facing immense personal risk himself by daring to raise the alarm about Islam, even though he is “fully aware that I may be on the losing side.” “I simply can’t renounce what I am doing, because I believe it to be right,” he asserts. “If it means taking abuse and opprobrium and humiliation, so be it.”
Confessions of an Islamophobe is not only a must-read for those already familiar with Robert Spencer’s work, but a perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with it, particularly those who know of him only as an “extremist” and “dangerous Islamophobe.” It not only is a concise catalogue of ways in which the rise of fundamentalist Islam in the West threatens all of us, particularly those demographics like gays and women that the left claims to care so much about, but is a proud apologia pro vita sua as well.
He concludes the book with a courageous declaration that should serve as inspiration for the rest of us “Islamophobes” who face the left’s defamation and hate: “[D]espite all the vilification, all the marginalization, all the peer pressure and all the shaming, this Islamophobe is not ashamed, and will never be ashamed, of sounding the alarm.”
“I am proud of my work. I have no regrets. How can I regret telling the truth?”
David Scoltock says
I wonder if Mr Spencer regrets his love affair with Britain’s anti-Jewish, far right EDL?
Charlie Martel says
As Tommy said, ‘They’re not far right, but they’re not far wrong!’
Charlie Martel says
And, the EDL are not Anti- Jewish.
roger woodhouse says
Accusations of anti semitism is just a deflection tactic used by the left to divert attention from the real problem which is Islam.These misguided fools on the left are desperate to ‘label’the right with slogans they believe still have resonance among the ‘peasants’.These people are part of the problem we in the west have to address before we can begin dismantling Islam.
gravenimage says
The implication that Robert Spencer is antisemitic is utterly false.
In fact, all one has to do is read Jihad Watch and see the support for Israel and threatened Jewish people to see that this is nothing but calumny.
le mouron rouge says
gravenimage,
Very true. Well said.
gravenimage says
Thank you, le mouron rouge.
emmett says
HEY STALINIST; IN WARTIME ONE SEEKS ALLIANCES WITH ANYONE WHO WILL FIGHT THE ENEMY ! SUCH AS FDR AND THE BUTCHER STALIN !
Linde Barrera says
I have said this before and I will say it again: Robert Spencer is one of my heroes. May he live a long, happy, healthy and prosperous life, free of any threats. I, Linde Barrera, am Islamophobic and proud of it. And the esteemed person who taught me the factual doctrines of Islam is NOT my high school world history teacher (” The 5 Pillars of Islam are…”) but Robert Spencer. God bless you, sir. I am so grateful to you.
eloivsdiablo says
Ditto…
Norman Moffatt says
Just finished reading “Confessions of an Islamophobe”. If people want a condensed education on Islam and why we are in the position we are in, this is your book.
James says
Sounds like a book recommendation 🙂
Luis says
I tried to tell my church that Mohammedanism was in essence antichrist and was made to feel like I had done something wrong to the point that I had to leave the group.
No Fear says
I bet none of them have ever read the canonical (reliable) Hadith.
Rob says
I suspect that this is becoming a common response within Christian congregations who seem to be relying more on the trust of men than the trust of God.
I am in the middle of a FB discussion with a sister in Christ on the falling away described by the Apostle Paul in 2nd Thessalonians. We both agree that this is at least part of it.
gravenimage says
Grimly, this is not uncommon, Luis. I bet no one else in that group had read the Qur’an and the other core texts of Islam.
roger woodhouse says
Yes .Convincing Christians that they face a real threat from Islam is the hardest part strangely enough.Their innate ‘goodness’prevents them from seeing such evil .I met quite recently a couple of ‘devout’Christians (they collect clothing and such to ship over to Syria ) who firmly believe that Mohammed spoke to God .or God spoke to him.Incredible!
gravenimage says
Yes–I see this all the time, Roger. Westerners in general, coming from a culturally Christian background, so often believe that people of all creeds are essentially good and decent, no matter the evidence to the contrary in the case of Islam.
le mouron rouge says
Luis,
You are not alone, it’s a sign of the times. Pastors all over the country are caving in to the Muslim agenda.
Stay strong, stay in the Word of God, the Bible.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
– Joshua 1:9
Alicia Sinclair Portland says
Here in the UK, we can do no other but thank Robert deeply from the bottom of our hearts. Where he has led, so many of us now follow. Lots of tactics required, but Spencers analysis as bases in Koranic praxis and solid scriptural foundations-as we need to study as he did, if we are to come through all this.
Spencer leaves us all without excuse as do David Wood and Bill Warner.
gravenimage says
+1
gravenimage says
“No critic of Islam more despised and feared by the Religion of Peace’s apologists than Robert Spencer”
……………………..
Take is as a compliment, Mr. Spencer!
Rob says
My Spencer, I will say that I would be astonished if you were not near the top of their hit list.
What astonishes even more is that Islamo-philes appear constantly incredulous that anyone would even criticize Islam as if the notion that it should remain free from rational scrutiny would cancel the real concerns of how absolutely dangerous an ideology it really is.
Lydia Church says
Just the fact that they want to kill all their critics proves Robert’s point all the more!
Yay, rah, rah, Robert, you go on fighting the good fight for freedom!
: D
CogitoErgoSum says
I was wondering; who are some of the people that I admired the most in 2017? I came up with David Wood, Pamela Geller, Anni Cyrus, Asia Bibi, Stefan Molyneaux, Ben Shapiro ….. but at the top of my list is Robert Spencer.
gravenimage says
Hear, hear, CogitoErgoSum!
Rob says
Entirely agree!
CRUSADER says
Good list !
Add to it: Victor Davis Hanson….
Rob says
I will echo the sentiment of applauding Robert for his valuable contributions in the fight against the menace of Islam. His experience in Iceland really tip the scales of my estimation.
May the Lord God protect you and bless you in your work.
George says
Are you trying to make us jealous, Robert?
CRUSADER says
All hail Robert Spencer for his exceptional work in this field.
Spread the word!
=============
R. Spanier (Catholic Canadian) says
Re. Southern Poverty Law Center calls Robert Spencer” “one of America’s most prolific and vociferous anti-Muslim propagandists” That charge is a lie. Robert Spencer actually cares about the welfare of Muslims because he’s trying to free them from the ideological prison by telling the truth; truth is something the SLPC clearly detests. Who in their right mind would join a religion that demands that you join, pay an extortion fee or else die if you don’t join. The SPLC is perpetrating evil against the Muslims, because they deserve the truth like all people do. “But I’m telling you, the problem is much bigger than Hamas. The problem is in the god of Islam. This is shocking and unfortunately it is a reality about this god. He’s a god of torture, he’s a god the deceit god – this is what he talks about himself. Islam as a religion in general is a lie wrapped with some facts and truths and I’m talking this with the authority of somebody who understands exactly what Islam is all about, And it’s the biggest lie in history, in my opinion. And this is the biggest danger that the quarter of the population on earth believe that this is a religion is from God. They are wonderful people.” Mosab Hassan Yousef
le mouron rouge says
He concludes the book with a courageous declaration that should serve as inspiration for the rest of us “Islamophobes” who face the left’s defamation and hate: “[D]espite all the vilification, all the marginalization, all the peer pressure and all the shaming, this Islamophobe is not ashamed, and will never be ashamed, of sounding the alarm.”
“I am proud of my work. I have no regrets. How can I regret telling the truth?”
***************************
Thank you Mr. Spencer for standing strong in the face of adversity.
As Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) once said:
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Your the lion, Mr. Spencer and the adversary knows it, that is why you are under constant criticism.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
But in reality critics of Mr Spencer are not so nervous about his ignorance criticism against Islam because people like me are not shaken by Mr Spencer’s garbages.
CRUSADER says
Good scholarship can’t be garbage.
Unless you are Oscar the Grouch, which it seems you are, there dude !
gravenimage says
Notice that Ibrahim itace muhammed is unable to say in what way Robert Spencer’s comments are “ignorant”.
roger woodhouse says
People like you are the very best reason why Islam will fail to achieve any hold in the West.Your failed doctrine will never convince anyone here with even the tinyist of intellectual capacity that such a cult could ever take power.Islam belongs in the desert amongst the ignorant.
Jay says
Ibrahim ….even Mowhammerd himself said that Islam is for the ‘ Unlettered’. It’s for people who can’t and don’t want to think for themselves. low IQ people. Studies have shown that the average IQ of muslims is 68.
Richard CdeL says
Ibrahim,
mohamed was an illiterate thug. A thief, a liar, a rapist, a vicious killer and a defiler of young boys and girls. How can anyone wwith half a brain call him a prophet. allah/baal was an invention of his crazy mind as was his flying horse.
You still have not told me if you use western products such as soap and toilet paper.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
Richard, ask bad smelly filthy christian ladies to use water to clean their private parts and your men to circumcise to remove those large foreskins to avoid invasion of maggots and not injure women vaginas with hard foreskins
Champ says
The ignorant and nasty remarks from “the imbecile” know no bounds …
Indeed, he’s just another lost cause serving an evil cause: islam.
gravenimage says
Well, this is grimly hilarious. Ibrahim itace muhammed ignores Richard CdeL’s reference to Islam’s sacralizing a figure who was an illiterate thug. A thief, a liar, a rapist, a vicious killer and a defiler of young boys and girls.
But then, what can he say? All of these things are obvious true.
Instead, he repeats the ludicrous claim that all Christian women are “bad smelly filthy”, even though standards of hygiene in Western nations are *far* more advanced than in Dar-al-Islam.
He then claims–as he has done previously–that all Infidel men have foreskins infested with maggots, which is just incredibly bizarre. He once said that Muslims who leave Islam regrow their foreskins and become infested with maggots. This is magical thinking of a particularly ugly kind.
And then we have the idea that non-Muslims hurt women when they make love. Of course, uncircumcised foreskins are not “hard”.
Given the pain that Muslim women who have undergone Type III FGM suffer, as well as the prevalence of Muslims raping Infidel women, we see that this claim is nothing but projection.
Given how obsessed Ibrahim itace muhammed is with Infidel mens’ foreskins, he understands nothing about them.
Jay says
Women love hard foreskins. They also like to not have their sexual organs sliced off when they’re girls without theie permission.
emmett says
GO BACK TO YOUR ARYIAN NATION, AND PULL THE MULLAHS OFF THEIR 4YR. OLDS !
StellaSaidSo says
Nonsense. If you weren’t ‘bothered by it’, Ibrahim, you wouldn’t bother to come to this page.
infidel says
U will always be a PERSON WORTH OF RESPECT for me….. In my own way, I’ve suffered and continue to suffer the same way at the hand of many in my own backyard for my views as well as for extending support to people like U. But just like U, ALL THE HUMILIATION IN THE WORLD will NOT STOP ME from speaking the truth about Islam and Jehaad. And yes, I will fight to the end for the survival of White Culture in their own lands in the West as much as I will fight for the survival of my own Hindu culture in my own land.
KP says
Although I respect Robert Spencer greatly, I’ve lost considerable respect for his judgment because of his referring to himself as as Islamophobe without putting the word Islamophobe in quotation marks. People who use words to mean the opposite of what they actually mean corrupt the language. He should know better. He is not helping his cause by using the enemy’s words to confuse matters. A person who does not have a mental illness consisting of having an irrational fear of Islam should never refer to himself as an Islamophobe. It’s not just inaccurate, it’s dishonest. It does more to confuse the issue of Islamophobia than to clarify it. Especially in serious matters, a person should say what he means as precisely as possible and mean what he says. Robert Spencer usually does. Why did he abandon common sense and respect for his readers when it came to giving a title to his book?. So what if he refers to himself in the book as a special kind of Islamophobe. “An Islamophobe is an Islamohobe is an Islamophobe” just as “a rose is a rose is a rose”. Any “kind of Islamophobe” who is not really an Islamophobe is not an Islamophobe at all..
CRUSADER says
One word:
IRONY
(Some people get it intuitively, some don’t)
gravenimage says
KP–with all respect–you seem to be unfamiliar with with satirical tradition of using the term “confessions of a…”.
CRUSADER says
Islamophobe. By using the term, it takes away the sting and stink of it. Overtime, it will lose its power.
Think of what the word GAY had meant….and now it means something different…widely used with different terminology for description and categorizing….often with less ridicule as it once had…
Certainly few now use it for “happy” or “colorful” or “exuberant”….
Let’s start using Islamophile / Islamofascist / IslamoSupremacist and levy it upon those deserving of these descriptive monikers….
Labeling, Language, Communication, Propaganda — such are the tools of this era…
Voytek Gagalka says
Knowledge is power. And particularly because of the vast knowledge of Islam, Robert Spencer is despised so much. While they can easily dismiss somehow less knowledgeable folk (most of us) as “haters” or “Islamophobes” and relentless propaganda keeps in catches the majority of all others, they simply cannot dismiss Robert: not by argument that is.
boakai ngombu says
Robert, you are a model of INTEGRITY and INDUSTRY. And you have a sense of humor besides.
May you continue being the tip of the spear against the great islamic lie, for your COURAGE is from the Lord, who blesses you.
Champ says
“No critic of Islam more despised and feared by the Religion of Peace’s apologists than Robert Spencer”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And fear him they should, since Robert Spencer exposes islam and brings it into the light!
Ephesians 5:13:
“But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them” …
Matthieu Baudin says
“… With the possible exception of freedom fighter and European political party leader Geert Wilders, there is arguably no critic of Islam more despised and feared by the Religion of Peace’s apologists than … Robert Spencer, director of the indispensable Jihad Watch website and the author of nearly twenty books…”
Somewhere in the top 3 ranking individuals would be Ali Sina the Iranian born critic of Islam who has had a significant influence in persuading many from Traditional Muslim family upbringings to ‘jump ship’ and join the millions of people who now either openly or privately self identify at Apostates From Islam.
Matthieu Baudin says
should read ‘.. self identify as Apostates From Islam.’
Matthieu Baudin says
Mr (Ibrahim Itace) Muhammed, would you like to join me for a beer and we can talk these things through?
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
M.B.
eduardo odraude says
A powerful review of a powerful book.