Some Thoughts on Muslims

I am well aware that Muslims are very hostile to Christians and Jews (probably why American Progressives love them so much). We have seen what happens in countries that allow Muslims in – the church burnings and vandalism across Europe, the mass shootings and bombings, the rise in rapes, the rise in anti-Semitism, and most recently the murder of over 200 Christians in Sri Lanka, and the maiming of 600 more. In our own country, Muslims murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11, in addition to the numerous others murdered on the U.S.S. Cole, the embassy bombing in Kenya, various mass shootings by Muslims, the first attempt to blow up the World Trade Centers, and dipping back a bit into the past, the 1983 suicide bombing of a Marine base in Beirut, that murdered 307 people, including 220 Marines. Everywhere Muslims are allowed to live in a free society based on Western, Judeo-Christian principles of liberty, these behaviors follow. Every time.

I am conflicted, because I know lots of Muslims who aren’t like this at all. Where I live and minister in Uganda, Muslims and Christians co-exist peaceably every day. The only violence I have seen is from bandits, kidnappers, and agents of the Museveni regime suppressing free speech. There have been bombings from members of Al-Shabab who have journeyed from Somalia, snuck across the borders of Kenya and made their way to Uganda, and have engaged in mass shootings and bombings in those countries. And we all know about the ongoing genocide in Sudan. And yet the Muslims in Uganda remain peaceful. What makes the difference?

To my mind, there isn’t much difference between Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. They are all three traditional, culturally-oriented, world religions that have their own sets of beliefs, rules, and religious practices. They have all three been hostile to outsiders and those deemed “heretics”. Most recently, Islam is engaging in the most violence. And yet in Uganda and Rwanda, the most dangerous religion by far is Catholicism, not Islam.

It’s hard to win Muslims to Christ, because if they convert, and it becomes known, they will be killed, or at the very least, ostracized by their entire extended family and community. Exactly what also happens to Catholics and Jews who convert to true Christian belief.

So how does one reckon the radical Muslims that keep killing people?

I think they bear more resemblance to Nazis/Communists than to any world religion. What do I mean by this? When the Nazis conquered Germany, and the Bolsheviks Russia, and once they had gained a sufficient majority, these political cults were then free to strongarm everyone else into cooperating with their monstrous agendas. At that point, if you were German, or Russian, you either had to escape, if you could, or more likely, you joined the Nazi or Communist Party because if you didn’t, the other Nazis and Communists would kill you. There was considerable pressure on people living in those occupied countries to conform to the new ruling ideology and go along with them to do, or at least tolerate, evil. And of course, there are always those people who it seems were just waiting for the opportunity to commit atrocities and who embrace the new ideology enthusiastically.

I think that is what has happened with Islam. It is a barbaric religion, filled with revolting practices such as human slavery, child brides, misogyny, and female genital mutilation. It has traditions and teachings within the Koran that encourage these practices, along with the forcible conversion of all unbelievers. It lends itself to violence in ways Judaism and Catholicism do not. Nevertheless, there are moderating influences, such as the need to have a stable society in which to conduct business. Invariably, you’ll see stable Muslim communities that are reasonably tolerant of outsiders and unbelievers, simply because it is necessary in order to conduct business.

These kinds of Muslims are harmless, decent folks with a strong work ethic and a powerful drive towards education and self-improvement. They remind me quite a bit of Jewish communities, who have similar values.

Ironically, these Muslim communities are persecuted the hardest by these fascist Islamist groups, such as Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Al-Shabab. These fascist groups persecute their own countrymen because they aren’t practicing all the most negative aspects of Islam properly, in their minds.

It’s hard to separate the harmless from the radicals. And that is the dilemma in which we find ourselves. Since we can’t see hearts and minds, it’s impossible to know, until somebody does something awful, how people think. And every radical pretends to be harmless and decent, until he’s burning down your cathedral or blowing up your church.

So as much as I want to be fair to the people who aren’t harming anybody, I think the only response free countries can make is to bar Muslims from immigrating to their countries until this problem of Islamism (Islamic fascism), can be resolved. Islam in its common form is not compatible with Western Civilization, and has no place among free peoples.

At the same time, we cannot allow atheism and socialism to exploit Islam to further their own interests, which at the moment happens to line up with Islam, namely, the destruction of Christianity and Western Civilization. Where there are Muslims, we need to try to be the moderating influence that helps them step away from their barbaric practices and enjoy the benefits that a free, Western society offers. And if we can, we need to befriend them and show them Jesus Christ, because salvation by grace through faith alone is how everybody is transformed from darkness to light, including Muslims.

So there’s my two cents on the matter.