THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 223, September 11, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
Home Page   Main Menu   Recent Articles   Site Map   Website Index   Issues & Controversies
  Cyberland University   Political Science, Philosophy, & History: Lectures   U.S. Constitution
  American Constitutional Law   American Constitutional System   American Political System
  Conservatism, Liberalism, & Radicalism   How America Goes to War
  World War IV: Islamist Terror War Against the U.S.A. & the West

WHY FOCUS ON PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS BY
MUSLIM MAJORITIES IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD?
By Raymond Ibrahim

TYRANNY OF THE ISLAMIC MAJORITY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD:  MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIAN MINORITIES RESIDING IN THE ISLAMIC STATES OF NORTH AFRICA, CENTRAL & SOUTH ASIA, & NEAR EAST ASIA -- A SERIES OF ARTICLES DOCUMENTING THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS UNDER ISLAM -- THE RATIONALE FOR SUCH A STUDY
FULL STORY:   Some are asking why my new monthly series, "Muslim Persecution of Christians," wherein I collate and assess some of the atrocities committed by Muslims against Christians, does not include the persecution of other religious minority groups; others are suggesting I broaden my scope to include all minorities, for instance, homosexuals.

Of course, other minority groups — essentially any religion other than Islam (or even the wrong kind of Islam, e.g., Shi'ism, Sufism) — experience persecution in the Muslim world. Accordingly, others qualified in the particulars of the various religions and civilizations persecuted by Islam are encouraged to collate and comment on them, monthly or otherwise.

That said, a series documenting the persecution of Christians under Islam is necessary for several reasons:

First, most religious persecution in the Muslim world is, by far, directed against Christians. Several reasons account for this, for starters, sheer numbers: from Morocco in the west, to Pakistan in the east, and throughout most of Africa, wherever Muslims make a majority, there are more Christians than other religious minorities; this tends to be true even along Islam's periphery, like Indonesia, which also has a significant Buddhist and Hindu presence.

These large numbers are not simply a reflection of proselytization, but the fact that much of what is today called "the Muslim world" stands atop land that was seized by force and conquest from Christians, whose descendants still remain, sometimes in large numbers, such as Egypt, where the indigenous Copts make millions (unlike the Jews, who managed to make it back to their ancestral homeland, these Christians are already on their homeland and have nowhere to go).

Moreover, by collating and tracing the same patterns of abuse regarding all things intrinsically Christian — people, churches, crosses, Bibles — one can better highlight and articulate the issue as a distinct phenomenon, which it is.

It is true that Muslim aggression and violence knows no bound and is regularly directed against all non-Muslims in general. But it is equally true that the wider the scope, the more the net catches, the more generic the anecdotes become, the more they are liable to be dismissed by the mainstream as a product of non-ideological factors (from poverty to politics) — even though that is not the case.

On the other hand, by focusing on one group, one phenomenon, one can more clearly and unequivocally connect the dots, present a more focused case.

For example, while Muslim animus for Israel is interconnected to Muslim animus for Christians and others, it should be, and is, highlighted as a distinct phenomenon to be acknowledged and rectified. Were one to lump Israel with the rest of the "others" on Islam's hit list — Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sufis, homosexuals, et al — without giving it any special attention, focus would be lost on the particulars of its fight, its history, and all the other aspects that make its conflict singular.

Accordingly, even though connecting the various manifestations of Muslim aggression is useful, particularly as it provides the big picture, when certain arenas reach a fever pitch, there is no wrong that they be highlighted separately, say, through one monthly report.

There are, of course, practical issues to consider as well: a document collating all Muslim aggression and persecution would not only be too cumbersome and long to read, but redundant; better simply to visit Jihad Watch for a comprehensive survey of Islam's daily doings.

Finally, one needs to be knowledgeable of the history and civilizations of the peoples being persecuted in order to do them justice, to demonstrate historical continuity, show past precedents, connect the dots, etc. And, while I'm intimately acquainted with the particulars of Muslim-Christian interactions — historically, theologically, even personally — I'm less so with the particulars of, say, Muslim-Buddhist interactions.

I, therefore, leave it to others to highlight the various minority groups' plights — ideally not merely by listing the various anecdotes, but by demonstrating continuity for that particular group's history with Islam.


LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three    Page Two    Page One

Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors

American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East

International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security

   Page Two    Page One

Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.

Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization

Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies

Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security

U.S. National Security Strategy



Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, an Associate Director of the Middle East Forum, a guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College, and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection of tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and political propaganda comprising this collection help readers comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious danger of the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida.


The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in Jihad Watch, September 9, 2011, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam, working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat. (URL: http://www.meforum.org/3036/why-christian-persecution)


Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
September 11, 2011




Return to Top of Page

Go to the WEBSITE INDEX

Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIII, 2011


Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights


Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage

CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION




LINKS TO PARTICULAR ISSUES & SUBJECT MATTER CATEGORIES
TREATED IN THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, U.S.A.:

Africa: Black Africa * Africa: North Africa * American Government 1
American Government 2 * American Government 3 * American Government 4
American Government 5 * American Politics * Anglosphere * Arabs
Arms Control & WMD * Aztlan Separatists * Big Government
Black Africa * Bureaucracy * Canada * China * Civil Liberties * Communism
Congress, U.S. * Conservative Groups * Conservative vs. Liberal
Constitutional Law * Counterterrorism * Criminal Justice * Disloyalty * Economy
Education * Elections, U.S. * Eminent Domain * Energy & Environment
English-Speaking World * Ethnicity & Race * Europe * Europe: Jews
Family Values * Far East * Fiscal Policy, U.S. * Foreign Aid, U.S. * Foreign Policy, U.S.
France * Germany * Hispanic Separatism * Hispanic Treason * Human Health * Immigration * Infrastructure, U.S. * Intelligence, U.S. * Iran * Iraq * Islamic North Africa
Islamic Threat * Islamism * Israeli vs. Arabs * Jews & Anti-Semitism
Jihad & Jihadism * Jihad Manifesto I * Jihad Manifesto II * Judges, U.S. Federal
Judicial Appointments * Judiciary, American * Latin America * Latino Separatism
Latino Treason * Lebanon * Leftists/Liberals * Legal Issues
Local Government, U.S. * Marriage & Family * Media Political Bias
Middle East: Arabs * Middle East: Iran * Middle East: Iraq * Middle East: Israel
Middle East: Lebanon * Middle East: Syria * Middle East: Tunisia
Middle East: Turkey * Militant Islam * Military Defense * Military Justice
Military Weaponry * Modern Welfare State * Morality & Decency
National Identity * National Security * Natural Resources * News Media Bias
North Africa * Patriot Act, USA * Patriotism * Political Culture * Political Ideologies
Political Parties * Political Philosophy * Politics, American * Presidency, U.S.
Private Property * Property Rights * Public Assistance * Radical Islam
Religion & America * Rogue States & WMD * Russia * Science & Ethics
Sedition & Treason * Senate, U.S. * Social Welfare Policy * South Africa
State Government, U.S. * Subsaharan Africa * Subversion * Syria * Terrorism 1
Terrorism 2 * Treason & Sedition * Tunisia * Turkey * Ukraine
UnAmerican Activity * UN & Its Agencies * USA Patriot Act * U.S. Foreign Aid
U.S. Infrastructure * U.S. Intelligence * U.S. Senate * War & Peace
Welfare Policy * WMD & Arms Control


This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics, civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.



POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS

POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE

Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.

Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs, International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests, Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy

INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z




THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis

Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor

Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic, Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues


Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity