Posted on 10/08/2001 8:02:22 AM PDT by yoe
With so much of what is said today about Islam generated by anger, I went back to a 90-year old encyclopedia to see what it might say, not influenced by events of the 20th century. In a long and scholarly relation of historical context and description, the author wrote: "In matters political, Islam is a system of despotism at home and aggression abroad. The Prophet commanded absolute submission to the imâm. In no case was the sword to be raised against him. The rights of non-Moslem subjects are of the vaguest and most limited kind, and a religious war is a sacred duty whenever there is a chance of success against the 'Infidel' ... [historical]... persecutions of both Jews and Christians are perhaps the best illustration of this fanatical religious and political spirit." This analysis finds support in Koran verse 3.12: "Say to those who disbelieve: You shall be vanquished, and driven together to hell; and evil is the resting-place."
Sixty-three years ago, historian Hilaire Belloc wrote a short book, "The Great Heresies." One chapter is devoted to Islam. He too examined and evaluated the history of Islam. He was prophetic, considering what has happened in the last decade. At the time, Islam was "in recession" but Belloc wrote, "It has always seemed to me, possible and even probable, that there would be a resurrection of Islam and that our sons or our grandsons would see the renewal of that tremendous struggle between the Christian culture and what has been, for more than a thousand years, its greatest opponent." Are we seeing Belloc's fears come to pass? Islam almost wiped out the Christian West between the 7th and 17th centuries, not by strength of message or wisdom or logic, but by the sword. We are in a struggle today, not against mindless and random terrorism but against the same evil forces of the past. Quotes attributed to bin Laden and his compatriots tell of a religious-based hatred of the West and a willingness to do whatever it takes to chasten "Infidels."
The historical surges of Islam into the West were blunted and rolled back following battles in France (Tours-Poitiers), Gulf of Corinth (Lepanto), Austria (Vienna,) and Yugoslavia (Zenta). There was a common thread in these battles. The defenders knew that they were defending--Christendom against aggressive Islam. They knew they were in a religious war, even if the word "jihad" was not used. This time around, we do not have the binding strength of Christendom on our side--Christendom today is but a historical dream. We have so separated God from state, society, and private lives, in the name of Utopian and politically correct secular tenets, that we have blinded ourselves to both the nature of the threat and how to combat it. What gives one hope is that the American people, when attacked, turned to God and prayer, driven by inner convictions.
Do we have to eliminate Islam from the face of the earth? No. One can contemplate such a result only by the free-will conversion of individuals. What we can do is make the actions of those who support what the Federalist calls Jihadistan (A virtual terrorist country with state-like aspects, but without borders; the Republic of Jihadistan) so costly that they will be deterred from trying to wipe us out or convert us by the sword. Whether it is a lone renegade, an extremist cell of fanatics or a sovereign nation, those who belong to Jihadistan cannot be allowed to ply their hate and destruction. If we can constrain and deter them by diplomacy or with humanitarian assistance--fine, if not, the purpose of our judicial system and military is to defend us from our enemies. In so doing, we will be defending Western civilization. Maybe, just maybe, Christendom can still be resurrected.
Jihadistan adherents are not the only terrorists infecting our country. Homegrown terrorists, from the Unabomber to the Earth Liberation Front, are killing people and destroying property in the name of another religion, environmentalism. The web site for the Earth Liberation Front opens with a picture of a burning building. The ELF offers for sale a manual entitled "Setting Fires with Electrical Timers: An Earth Liberation Front Guide," so one can learn "the politics and practicalities of arson." Lost in the 9/11 headlines, was the burning down of a McDonald's in Tucson: damage estimate $500,000. The Animal Liberation Front took credit for the fire. Nature is the deity these terrorists worship. They believe it is supreme and that human beings are a cancer that must be controlled or eliminated (except for them of course.) In many cases, they attempt to cloak themselves with Christianity, morphing Christian beliefs into a nature-centered theology that in fact mocks God and His creation. Eco-terrorists deserve the same attention and fate as do Jihadistan terrorists.
Retired U.S. Navy Captain, John D'Aloia, Jr., resides in St Mary's Kansas
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