Duty to conscience
Lee Harris:
The ethical issue that is raised by Madeleine Bunting is no trivial one, and it should gravely concern us all. Morally responsible human beings should always be aware of the consequences of both their words and their actions on others. Yet morally responsible human beings also have another duty, and it is an equally solemn one -- it is the duty that they owe to their intellectual conscience.READ
Month-End Review
Important reads from the month not already covered in previous posts:
Carter and Brzezinski, together again at last – Sept 1
READThe Next War of the World – Sept 11
READHow the Left Undermined National Security Before 9/11 – Sept 11
READSymposium: 9/11: Five Years Later – Sept 11
READThe Church – Part of the problem or part of the solution – Sept 19
READThe Guardian of Islamic Extremism – Sept 21
READThe Pope and Islam - Sept 22
READRekindling an Ancient Rage – Sept 22
READCreed of the sword – Sept 23
READBarroso accuses EU leaders of letting down Pope - Sept 25
READHow Many Divisions Has the Pope? – Sept 25
READAl Qaeda's Hidden Roots – Sept 25
READBecause They Hate – Sept 25
READIntimidating the West, from Rushdie to Benedict - Sept 26
READDhimmitude for Dummies - Sept 26
READPope Benedict and the Meaning of Words – Sept 26
READBefore Death Conversion? - Sept 27
READSocrates or Muhammad – Sept 28
READThe Eurabia Code, Part 1 - Sept 30
READ
Islam's Appeal
Traditional masculine roles are well preserved in Islam. Indeed, manly honor, courage, patriarchy, and a sharp division between the sexes are at the core of Islamic culture. This may be appealing to Western men who find it difficult to express their “manhood” in increasingly neutered societies. READ
The Losing Battle
Meet David Selbourne:
The War is not about Terror
READWake Up, the West is losing
READTen Reasons
READThe Book
READ
Useful commentary on the Pope's speech
The Pope, Jihad and "Dialogue"
READThe Unholy Alliance Rolls Over the Pope
READMuzzling the Pope
READA Challenge, not a Crusade
READThe Pope and Kissinger Warn the World
READThe Pope’s Dilemma
READApologize for What?
READThe Pope Was Right
READ
Plan for victory: sound strategy and a miracle
Trikovic's expert
analysis should be read by all.
The victory in the war on terrorism ultimately has to be won in the domain of morals and culture. As I have argued repeatedly in recent months, the war can be won only by the nations of the great European family that have regained their awareness of their moral, spiritual, and civilizational roots. If that happens, the renewed impulse to defend those lands and to procreate will come, too. While the likelihood of such belated recovery remains in doubt, this grim anniversary offers us an opportunity to renew the hope that it is not impossible. Miracles do happen, and therefore they will happen.
Bad News and More Bad News
Mark Steyn aptly
explains the critical difference between Islam and Christianity but concludes with:
The bad news is that Islam will soon be able to enforce submission-conversion at the point of a nuke. The good news is that any religion that needs to do that is, by definition, a weak one. More than that, the fierce faith of the 8th century Muslim warrior has been mostly replaced by a lot of hastily cobbled-together flimflam bought wholesale from clapped out European totalitarian pathologies ... if Washington had half the psy-ops spooks the movies like to think we have, the spiritual neglect in latter-day Islam is a big Achilles' heel just ripe for exploiting.What is this supposed spiritual lacuna in Islam? It seems a devout Muslim finds all the "spiritual" fulfillment he desires precisely in faithful adherence to the dictates of Allah and His Messenger, which include the forced submission-conversion of infidels. It seems it is the uncompromising view of God and of the absolute inferiority of infidels (which thus requires their submission) that makes Islam, in the eyes of its devout followers if not our own, a strong, not a weak, faith.
Also, describing the faith of today's jihadists, in contradistinction to that of the old-school jihadists, as "a lot of hastily cobbled together flimflam bought wholesale from clapped out European totalitarian pathologies" makes for a nice rhetorical flourish but is this entirely accurate? Do not today's jihadists share the exact same "fierce" faith as those 8th century Muslim warriors that very nearly conquered Europe?
Moreover, if any spiritual neglect has existed in Islam, one would think that that would have already been made apparent, whether by outside exploitation or just through plain self-awareness, and that that would have led to a gradual diminution of the appeal of Islam. Nearly 1,400 years and a billion believers later, that hasn't happened. So much for spiritual neglect.
And finally, while I would not gainsay the value of any "psy-ops" campaign in this war, even if we assume a deficiency of the spiritual within Islam, isn't giving Washington the task of essentially appealing to or redirecting a
spiritual need misplaced?
So where is the "Achilles' heel" and where the good news?
(Where I do think a weakness may lie, one that might successfully be exploited to the detriment of the world-wide Jihad - but not neccesarily by Washington, is in Islam's misongyny. More on that another time).
Month-End Review
Important reads from the month not already covered in previous posts:
A clearing of the mental air in Israel would help – Aug. 1
READSomething like this, by Labor Day – Aug. 2
READIn Mortal Danger – Aug. 3
READHezbollah’s War Crimes – Aug. 4
READUnderstanding the Jihad to Destroy Israel – Aug. 7
READHow China’s Secret Deals are Fueling the Middle East War – Aug. 8
READBeware the Terrorists Spinmeisters – Aug. 9
READKhaybar, Khaybar – Aug. 9
READWhy the World Hates the Jews – Aug. 10
READSellout – Aug. 14
READTheocracy on the 100-Year Plan – Aug. 15
READThe EU Idiot’s Guide to Islamic Extremism – Aug.15
READAndrew McCarthy slams John Podhoretz – Aug. 15
READLondon Journal: “Moderate” Muslims Behaving Badly – Aug. 16
READInfanticide – Mullah Style – Aug. 17
READWhy We MUST Profile – Aug. 17
READMaking the World Safe for Shari’a? – Aug. 18
READThe Ideology of Defeatism – Aug. 18
READEurope’s Fellow Travelers – Aug,. 18
READThe Blind Leading the Evil – Aug. 21
READWhat President Bush Should Say To Us (Part 1) – Aug. 21
READThe Bush Doctrine Need Not Apply – Aug. 24
READRelearning Lessons in the War on Terror – Aug. 24
READTime to Get an Education – Aug. 24
READAfter August 22 - Aug. 24
READWhat if the Heathrow Bombers Succeeded? – Aug. 28
READWhat President Bush Should Say To Us (Part 2) – Aug. 28
READFox News and Forced Conversions – Aug. 30
READThe Bacteria of Stupidity – Aug. 30
READ
