"Field Guide to American Politics" interviewing "Muslims Against Sharia"

The occasion of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week seems like a good opportunity to redeem my promise to write a post on the podcast interview (episode 53) that Andrew Riley and Duane Lester of All American Blogger and "Field Guide to American Politics" on 10th October had with one of the people behind "Muslims Against Sharia", Khalim Massoud. Now, seemed a particularly auspicious time in the light of this exchange of pleasantries on Propeller: the type of inter-human discourse seems to typify the discussions surrounding the subject, of which the catch words seem to be denial, projection, paranoia and intolerance.

The producers of "Field Guide to American Politics" (hereafter FGAP) set themselves the task to find out if the assertions of the two main Doubting Thomases - "Free Thinker (since 1881)" and "Exposing Muslims Against Sharia (Muhairi8)" that "Muslims Against Sharia" (hereafter MASH) are nothing but a Joowish Neocon conspiracy, intent on bending the radical tendencies within Islam into a more modern, humanistic approach from the inside out - are justified.

To put this accusation in the proper perspective, the reader needs to be aware that for some obscure reason best known to themselves, the Left has claimed "idealism" as their own. Enter the reviled Neocons, who are said to have stolen it away from them. Owing to this inexcusable feat Neocons are whispered to have horns! After this, no further justification or motivation is required: the "Joowish Neocon conspiracy" accusation carries plenty of weight all by itself.

Asked what the overall reception of "Muslims Against Sharia" has been since its arrival on the blego scene around 9/11, a metallic ghostly voice (the result of a transforming device) - which we take to belong to Khalim Massoud - confirms the mixed reactions. An alternative attitude - especially from the Muslim side - has been accusations of apostasy and deviation.

MASH obviously don't propose to waste any time in trying to convert religious fanatics. Massoud: "We don't care what they think. People who support our goals don't question our faith. We try to give voice to people who are sick and tired of human beings murdered in the name of Islam".

Confronted with the question what MASH mean with their statement that "Islamophobia is alive and well", Massoud explains that apart of self-hatred, they point to Muslims and their advocates' confirmation of Western stereotyping. What he means is, it's rather like the implied racism in views that Muslims would be unfit, or not ready, for democratic government.

Asked why Islam needs to be reformed, Massoud posits that Islam in its present form is inconsistent with modern society. If the barbaric practices can be removed, and Islam can stop being a justification for terrorism, the clash of civilizations might be averted, and Islam can become part of the free and democratic world.

The answer to the question what the difference is, between Muslims and Islamists, is necessarily protracted. Islam is no monolith. Fundamentalists obviously do not represent all Muslims. The perception in America is, that all Muslims are terrorists and that moderate Muslims don't exist. Although FGAP dispute this statement, at a later point in the show, an interlocutor called Jim, makes precisely this point as he gets caught in a mesh of circular logic. He distrusts MASH as "all Muslims lie to Infidels as their faith prescribes; if they wouldn't lie, they wouldn't be Muslims."

Massoud asserts MASH aim at giving moderates a voice. A vocal Muslim advocacy group like CAIR is well organised and well funded from the Middle East; it is embraced by the American government despite its terrorist ties. But no one has heard of the "American Islamic Forum for Democracy", who represent moderate Muslims.

Asked specifically why Sharia Law is incompatible with Western civilization, Massoud gives the truly horrific example of a Saudi girls' school on fire, out of which no students were rescued since they were not properly attired at the time. All interlocutors agree that such an occurrence taking place in the West is unthinkable: even in the hypothetical case of the event occurring in a Christian fundamentalist equivalent of Saudi Arabia, rescuing lives would be the prime focal point rather than symbolic, religious considerations.

Islamists make no secret of their wish to replace the Constitution with Sharia Law. Massoud lists a number of public examples implemented in the name of diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance and free speech. He suggests that if you want America to become more like Saudi Arabia, you pack up and go there instead. Arguments for Sharia practises based on the freedom of speech are sheer folly: this just provides aid and comfort to the enemy, which - last time he checked - was a criminal offense.

The example of guide dogs not being accepted by Muslim taxi drivers as "unclean" is in violation of laws, protecting the disabled. Another example stems from Germany where a misguided, postmodern judge declared Sharia divorce laws applicable to a Muslim couple of which the wife claimed urgent handling on the basis of abuse by the husband. Equal before the law? Apartheid indeed!

When asked to provide an example of a typical country practicing Sharia, Massoud mentions Afghanistan under the Taliban. The FGAP presenter at this point subconsciously prompts a rather alarming oxymoron in claiming to have a hard time indeed imagining "a Taliban style democracy". Saudi Arabia would be another example of a Sharia country, but it is kept afloat on oil revenues. One wonders about the state of medical treatment for women.

Massoud's advice to moderate Muslims is to "speak up, get organised, start your own group or join an existing one. The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who do nothing against it. Act, before it is too late!"

FGAP point out that MASH are taking big risks by speaking out: if not for hiding their identities, surely their lives would be in grave danger. Jim just sees it as yet more proof of MASH' perfidity: were they for real, surely they would long have been killed by now! There's no arguing with the master of circular reasoning!

Enquiring how much time he's got, Massoud wraps up his heart felt plea for Islamic reform with a laundry list of complaints, that:

- the US government is embracing radicals, while ignoring moderates;
- the people who are supposed to protect Americans from terrorism, are actually in bed with terrorist fronts;
- the media are being skillfully manipulated by Islamists;
- the American educational system is teaching Islamist views;
- Islamist regimes are exercising control over American foreign policy;
- political correctness, rather than common sense is ruling domestic politics;
- Christians and Jews are afraid of their own shadows in dealing with Muslims;
- anyone speaking out against Islamo-Fascism is automatically labelled a racist.

Islamism has infiltrated almost every aspect of Western life, because it is well organised and well financed. Moderate Islam is the best antidote to radical Islam, but without making good use of it, the West prefer to ignore the problem.

Nazi Germany had ten years to arm itself to the teeth; Islamo-Nazism has an eight years' head start. The question is what the toll will be this time round?!

Amen to that, with our sincere blessings and endorsement!

Scheduled for 14th November, yours truly about the new clearinghouse cum political watering hole: Politeia.

Related:
- "Muslims Against Sharia issue Counter Bounty"
- "The Mystery Behind "Muslims Against Sharia"
- "Leftists For Sharia"
- "The Unholy Alliance: Conflating Three Great Isms"

The Counter Hirabah (or unholy war) Council

Atlas Shrugs is providing us with detailed minutes of the Counter Hirabah Council that took place in Brussels of all places, right in the heart of the rapidly descending EU, at the European and Flemish Parliaments. Gates of Vienna are posting the program overview, of what must have been an interesting two days.

On October 18 and 19, over 70 organizations and individuals joined together to create a European network of activists from 14 nations to resist the increasing Islamisation of their countries. The summit was sponsored by the Center for Vigilant Freedom. Proceedings and preparations have taken place in great secrecy. By this time of writing, it is all over.

Atlas: "Some names must remain unreported here, their security too tenuous. But it was an extraordinary group! Much thanks to our gracious hosts Paul Belien of The Brussels Journal, Bart Debie, Filip De Winter, Philip Claeys, Dirk Crols and their colleagues and the blogosphere ambassadors, Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna, and many European bloggers, activists and experts who contributed ideas and contacts."

GoV: "Our groups are a network of networks. Center for Vigilant Freedom’s goal is to create and strengthen a web of contacts, relationships, and interlinked organizations in order to roll back Islamization and the encroachment of sharia within our countries. We want to build a robust and flexible means of communication among ourselves.We intend to build up a coalition of people who track Islamization-related legislation in different countries. Their efforts will include actions to prevent terrorism, block the legal encroachment of Sharia, and encourage the passage of laws that protect national constitutions, limit immigration and roll back Islamization.

Reminds me of the underestimated Naimisha Journal.

The Unholy Alliance: Conflating Three Great isms

Witnessing the sad demise of democracy in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels yesterday, takes some digesting, even for one that was already aware of the realities. I will combine further comment on it with a piece I was already working on: the cooperation in the Unholy Alliance between Islam and the Left. People have often expressed their surprise over the apparent cooperation pact between two parties that - on the surface - seem to be each other's opposites. I hope to clear up that misunderstanding.

As a girl and later as a young grown-up I could never understand how - in the run up to World War II - Nazi Germany could arm itself to the teeth with no one doing anything to prevent it. Entire weapon systems were stockpiled in the Soviet Union as the arsenals and warehouses in Germany proper were stored to full capacity. Yet the furnaces and steel works were operating full steam 24/7 as unemployment rates dropped to zero percent, thanks to Hitler's National Socialist Party's 'employment policies' of everyone on the state's pay roll.

Yet Europe had influential pacifist movements (here's an brilliant take by Sanity on the subject). The U.K. had Richard "Peace in our Time" Chamberlain, and Mayoresses who promised to "not so much as darn a sock if it assisted the war effort", while 'bluestockings' and other enlightened academics conducted Peace Marches in Europe's streets.

I never understood how advanced, civil societies could let such disasters as World War II take place. That is, until yesterday. In fact, it's becoming blatantly obvious how last century's great wars, the holocaust and the enslavement of half the continent in its wake, could take place. Now, as then, we are closing our eyes to a reality that is too scary to contemplate, let alone deal with it. Yesterday in Brussels we saw the conflation of three great isms taking place before our eyes. It is very sad to see just how far indeed we have already sank into the black hole of dictatorship.

It's a bit of a pity that Stephen Hicks' explanation of Postmodernism (or cultural Marxism) doesn't get the attention it deserves. Hicks comes to another categorization of ideologies than is common. He explains that both Communism and National Socialism derive from the Counter-Enlightenment movement that started with the philosophies of Rousseau. This was a reaction to the primacy of reason that features so prominently in Enlightenment thought, of which Classical Liberalism or Libertarianism became the political offshoot (not to be confused with today's liberalism, which is Left Light).

Does the following Rousseau quotation on the ideal state strike anyone as compatible with Islam? "... the state cannot ... pursue a policy of toleration for disbelievers, or view religion as a matter of individual conscience. It absolutely must ... >>>

After theocrat extraordinaire Rousseau, both Hegel and Kant expanded on anti reason philosophy, eventually even doing away with objective reality and epistemology: man is incapable of knowing anything, to each his own universe: reality is subjective. This has provided Communism and National Socialism with their subjectivist basis.

Experts in Islam never stop to point out there is not 'one Islam'. Every Muslim has his or her own subjective perception of it (apart from the five pillars that is, presumably). I have no reason to doubt it: after Rousseau's take on the ideal state, this makes the second, basic conflation of the three great isms.

As hinted at earlier, from 1939 to 1941 Communism and National Socialism shared a history of cooperation. The German army held manoeuvres in Russia and vice versa. Both totalitarian ideologies were Socialist and differed only on its implementation: the Nazis were nationally inclined (using the ethnic dialectic of the German Volk), while the Communists favoured global subjugation (hence the 'Internationale').

After World War II the Left portrayed Hitler as the great satan. Here the dichotomy of Nazism versus Communism was born: this was however a Communist PR ploy which has worked to this day. But far from being opposites both ideologies are in fact each other's mirror image, cousins if you will, while the real opposition, the actual enemy, is Classical Liberalism or Libertarianism, rooted in the Enlightenment and in the West, which by the way wasn't originally radically atheist at all, on the contrary.

Over time and through various twists of history the two totalitarian isms also got transplanted onto Middle Eastern soil, where they gave birth to Panarabism, Arab Nationalism and Ba'athism.

Today's political correctness emanates from a revived Marxism from which the baby boom generation of the 60s cannot seem to say goodbye: their hatred of a free West is burnt onto their souls and treason has become their second nature. Some one described it aptly as "they just cannot pop out of the Marxist dialectic". It is their mindset that is our ruin today, as they now inhabit the corridors of power.

If a recently unearthed 1985 interview with KGB agent and Soviet defector Bezmenov is anything to go by, the moral compass of the 60's generation has been totally and irrevocably removed by the KGB subversion program. What that left undone, was completed by the fifth columnists at the Frankfurt School of Cultural Marxism, as the undersigned can personally attest to. (For novices, here's a commentary on Gramsci, another luminary)

The influence these intellectuals had on that generation can simply not be overstated: they prescribed how 'thinking people' should act and what their opinions should be, from the books and the newspaper they read, the friends they kept, to the movies they saw, to the brand of tobacco they smoked and the coffee they drank.

They were in no uncertain measure specifically 'present' in the bedroom, which - if they had any say in the matter, should preferably be shared by any number of people. The family a gonner as women dragged husbands through divorce courts whole-sale, Eros and Agapi were kept strictly separated as per Kinsey ukase. Children became a kind of common property, to be raised and cared for, by whoever happened to be present (if any).

Fast forward to the new millennium. The cooperation in the Unholy Alliance of the Western Left with Islamists, as the latter swap their secular subjectivism for a theological one, is simply a Feast of Recognition: egalitarian collectivism against individual liberty, totalitarian statism versus limited government at the people's pleasure, anti reason against science and technology, socialism vs. capitalism and free markets, state (which in Islam is synonymous with religion) against voluntary mutual benefit, state/divine intervention versus free will: in short, combined totalitarianism against the classical liberal values as embodied by the West: freedom and democracy.

And of course the collectivists share the dialectic of Oppressor versus the Oppressed and socially constructed victimhood. This mock epic battle is the basis of all collectivist ideologies, uniquely cultivated to keep the 'struggle' going. Communism had its classes; the Nazis the German Volk; Cultural Marxism its students, women, gays and blacks, as Islam has the true believers versus the infidel.

Multiculturalism is a later manifestation of Cultural Marxism and keeps true to the dialectic mechanism on a cultural level, while N.G.O.ism (U.N.) and transnational progressivism (E.U., N.A.U.) play the same trick on the global scale of nations and states. The same story is transposed and extrapolated on all levels. So much for defeating Marxism, fifty years overdue.

Last but certainly not least the totalitarian isms share a justification of violence to power: the Western versions' passe-partout is provided for by Messrs Rousseau and Marx; the Islamic variety is of course rooted in Koranic scripture, which in the early stages also served as a platform for the conquest of the Christian lands in the Middle East and beyond.

I have laid down the ideological histories and how the three isms relate, in Chart I: The Straight Red Line for easy reference.

But the uncovering of the close ties within the Unholy Alliance doesn't stop here. AEL's Abu Jahjah's vocabulary of choice doesn't come by accident straight out of the Marxist-Leninist handbook for Leftist dummies ... dhimmis.

Just in: Hodja has published "Postmodern Jihad - What Osama bin Laden learnt from the Left", insights into the more recent relations between Islamism and Cultural Marxism: have hardly read it myself, but I think I should share it.

Much is made of political correctness. Some interpret it as latter day Cultural Marxism itself. Personally I see it as soft social pressure, to coerce others into conforming with the Left's ideology: the 'redistribution' of freedoms and rights along the lines of the dialectic. The idea is to shift power, capital, rights, etc. from the Oppressor to the Oppressed minorities. The great trick is to treat gender and faith, on an equal footing with race. But what we have to keep in mind here, is that gender is subject to choice, while Muslims are born as such.

This can be taken very far indeed, as legislation is put in place in support of the same object. We have recently seen that played out with the SIOE demo and Brussels Mayor, Freddy 'The Toad' Thielemans. At that stage, we have de facto a totalitarian situation where dissenters are made common criminals, case need on trumped up charges of assaulting a bus driver. Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna is spot on in today's post "Democratic Europe R.I.P." Freddy and His Walloon Troopers made European history yesterday.

But for most, including the good people of the silent majority [1], if reality gets too scary to deal with, denial erects a impenetrable curtain of make-belief in the hope the bogey will go away. I just read this morning in a paper that the Dutch as a nation, have become happier than they were a few years back during an economic downturn. Happy totalitarian dreams every one! I hope your bank accounts grow at an even pace!

Others - like Council of Europe's Secretary General Terry Davis - have become completely deluded in their psychological pathology. To them it's simply beyond the realm of the possible - indeed, a crime! - that people might be genuinely worried about the fate of their culture and continent. This type of custodians of 'European values' have no qualm whatsoever of beating up and criminalizing civilians and politicians with whom they happen to disagree. Even manufactured charges do not seem to trigger a red-hot-moral-no-no meme with these Quislings. They have become amoral thugs, who have lost sight of their opponents humanity, and do not know it. That is what scares me to death.

Update: The New York Times is offering a fascinating view of a German officer's World War II photo album of Auschwitz. The commentary is wrong at one point, when exclaiming that this is what "antisemitism, racism and hatred" does to humans. This should actually be: "this is what happens if ideology is valued over human life".

Stop Islamization of Europe: News Round-Up

Looking at the blegosphere, you'd think this movement is definitely gathering momentum. But first a reminder that the SIOE Petition to the Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans to allow the 9/11 rally "Stop Islamization of Europe" can be signed HERE.

Another petition, addressed to the Khalif of Londonistan for a SIOE activity in England, is available HERE.

So what's up on the blogs?

- Tory Heaven (Cato): "When demonstrating against Islamo-fascism is banned"

- SD Blog SE: "SIOE Continues"

- SIOE England: "Open Letter to the Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans", relaying post from:
- U.K. Copts Association endorsing Open Letter from NACA, USA Copts

- Michelle Malkin: "Is Brussels a Caliphate?"

- Atlas Shrugs: "Peaceful 9/11 Rally Banned" - Update

- Dodgeblogium: "Stop the Islamization of Europe"

- Exile on the Wing: "Brussels Demo Back on Track"

- Foehammer's Anvil: "Demonstrations Set for Sept. 11: Stop Islamisation of Europe". For who's missed it, here is a link to The Foe's The Gathering Storm interview on BlogTalkRadio

- AOL U.K. Forum: "Stop the Islamization of Europe"

- England Matters: "Stop Islamization of Europe Demo Going Ahead Despite Ban"

- Beer 'n Sandwiches: "Stop Islamization of Europe (SIOE) - Attend the demonstration on 11 September 2007"

- Reddit Forum regret: "The "Islamization" of Europe will never happen and you know it. This demonstration is just another chance to sh*t on a currently unpopular set of people." (Cannot think why that should be the case! Denial can be such a wonderful thing!)

- The Amboy Times: "Stop Islamization of Europe" cross-posted from "Up Pompeii", who has crashed! Commiserations are in order!

- View from the Right: "Against Islamization and the EU (but what about immigration?)". Some critique here: "Political Junkie, a Swedish blogger, has sent me his post in which he criticizes the anti-Islamization march for ignoring Muslim immigration." I don't know if this was a deliberate oversight on the part of SIOE for political reasons, but personally I'd say that the statement 'stop Islamization' definitely includes a call to stop the import of more Islamization. Anyone care to comment here?

- Islamanazi: "Stop Islamization of Europe Demonstration, 9/11/2007". Rastaman is evidently not afraid of being not quite P.C., the social tyranny for everyone to act in accordance with Pomo's political views, that are so opposed to 'dogma and eternal truths'! Interesting niche news too there, Rasta!

- A New Dark Age is Dawning: "Stop the Islamization of Europe! Stop the Islamization of the West!"

- Oleh Musings: comments to "Today's News Briefs". Debbie (Right Truth) says: "There is a movement afoot to Stop Islamization of Europe (SIOE), which has spread to Stop Islamization of Canada, and Stop Islamization of USA. Perhaps we should add Israel to that, with a new movement, "Stop Islamization of Israel".

- Gateway Pundit: "Brussels Mayor Bans 9-11 Rally - Fears Muslim Backlash"

- And finally to complete our round-up of the blogs and, yes, the trolls at Revolutionary Left (RevLeft) are also weighing in: An Anarchist: "Anyone heard of this? SIOE. I predict riots between rightwing nuts and fundamentalist muslims" [siq]. The Young Pioneers seem to have taken an interest ... (does) anyone with boyscout experience know how to decrypt the fish code?

And off topic, but definitely concerning Brussels:

- Wisdom from the Realm: "Belgium: Terrorist Territory". "According to a recent inquiry ordered by a Belgian parliamentary commission, Brussels has become a major recruiting base for al-Qa’eda and a launch-pad for terrorist attacks on neighboring countries. The commission investigated the failure of the Sûreté de l’Etat, the Belgian secret service, to screen Islamic terrorists. >>>

And from the Rest of the Press:

- The Muslim Weekly: "Brussels Banned Protest Against Islam" ... and

- ... further: nothing, zero, nada, nul, tipota! Cordon Sanitaire! Quarantine! Complete Isolation! I can personally attest to the fact, that in a forgotten corner of the Dutch river delta, there have known to be outings for the over-fifties ladies, that generated more media exposure.

Want a link? Blog about the SIOE, and let me know!

Who's in for a blog tempest?