THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 169, July 29, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
ISLAM'S SEEDS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
Any religion that wants to survive goes through change, even if it means, as in the case of Christianity’s Reformation, a period of
warfare and division. Once there was the Roman Church. Then there was the Roman and Eastern Church. Then, following the
Reformation, there were numerous interpretations of Christianity spawning Protestantism’s diversity of churches.
Judaism, the rock on which both Christianity and Islam is built, is over 3.5 thousand years old. It has survived because its spiritual
leaders found ways for it to adapt to changing times. In each generation, Jews turned to the wisest among them to ask what
adaptations were acceptable and these were assimilated into their lives allowing them to live in many different cultures and nations.
Islam, however, leaves no room for real change. A modern Muslim must either cast a blind eye to its many strictures or must yield,
willingly or not, to laws that are applicable to the Seventh Century, but which conflict with life in the Twenty-first Century.
It has produced a conflict being violently played out in nations throughout the Middle East, where Islam has failed to advance
freedom, enlightenment, equality, human rights, and tolerance.
It is a conflict that has come to the homelands of America, of Spain, of Russia, and in nations where there are large Muslim
populations. The conflict has manifested itself in the Philippines, Indonesia, and throughout Africa. The history of India is the
history of this conflict, culminating in its independence in 1948 and the exodus of Muslims to Pakistan, though many remain in India.
Ironically, but tellingly, the Jihad has come to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.
Recently, I received a book published by ProgressiveMuslims.org. Titled The Natural Republic: A Solution for Muslim
Advancement into the 2lst Century, I immediately thought that it would represent a reformation of sorts, an effort to interpret the
Qur/an with fresh eyes so it might better serve modern Muslims. I looked for an address of the organization, an Internet community.
There was none. To find the names of those involved one must go to its website.
“You were the best nation that emerged for the people, you ordered toward kindness
and deterred from evil, and believed in God. If the people of the Scripture (i.e. Jews and
Christians) believed it would have been better for them; from amongst them are believers,
but most remain wicked.”
Wicked? Yes, there are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide, but are the other five billion people of the world “wicked” for their
wish to believe in Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other forms of worship? The word “progressive” immediately came
into question. The preface was still more illuminating. Asking if the reader was Muslim, it then asked if “you are content with the state
of Muslims in the world today?”
“What has caused us to reach this state where we are failing at every turn, unable to
stand for our rights, unable to defend our lands, unable to protect our children, and
unable to look forward to the future?”
The preface takes a tour of “the Iranian experiment,” noting its failure to improve the lives of Iranians, after having installed an Islamic
republic. It addressed “the Afghan experiment,” i.e., the Taliban that “severely restricted people’s lives.” It noted the absolute
authority of monarchies exercised in places like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States and the “semi-monarchies” in Egypt, Syria and Libya.
It lamented that “Communism, Capitalism, Socialism, Arab Nationalism, and every other ‘ism’ has been tried and tested by Muslims.”
Offering the solution of a “Natural Republic”, the book puts forth a constitution, noting it does not exist anywhere “except in the
realms of wishful thinking.” And it is totally based on the Qur'an! Its central theme is that the troubles Muslims have had in the past
and which they are presently encountering are based solely on their failure to correctly interpret and live by the requirements of the
Qur'an.
I suggest that the troubles Muslims lament are the result of the Qur'an and the inability and refusal of Muslims to reform the
institutions of Islam. By insisting that life cannot be lived properly outside of the demands of the Qur'an, Muslims have painted
themselves into a diminishing corner of history and set the stage for the longterm demise of their religion.
The greater world will not submit to the Islamic campaign of terror. It will fight back and Muslims, many of whom already suffer
greatly, will suffer still more. The greater world, be it the West or the emerging nations of Asia or even amidst the utter desolation of
life in African nations, will not permit the Islamic holy war, a war seeking domination, to succeed.
That is why 9-11 sounded the death knell of the Taliban in Afghanistan, provoked the liberation of Iraq, and served as the trigger
for the systematic organization of modern nations to root out and destroy the central motivating theme of Islam; the subjugation of
people to a Seventh Century warrior cult built around the adoration of Muhammad. It is no accident that Islam translates as
“submission” or “surrender.”
The book by self-proclaimed “progressive Muslims” says at one point:
“We are not surprised that the Jews invented entire volumes of books such as the Talmud
and falsely attribute them to God and His messenger (Moses), nor do we become surprised
that Christians attribute a son to the Almighty!”
The utter dismissal and contempt for these two great rival religions reveals an arrogance that will not permit Islam to co-exist or
change and, indeed, the book does not offer change. It says only that Muslims put God at the center of their lives and interpret the
Qur'an in ways that permit them to fashion a “Natural Republic.” Real republics, however, do exist. They give each adult citizen the
vote. They grant equality under the law. They protect freedom of religion.
“It is therefore no wonder God’s wrath is upon us and that we are destined to humiliation
and destruction unless we amend and change.”
Destruction is precisely what the present-day Jihad portends.
The other five billion people of Earth will not submit and, if the history of religion is any indicator, many among today’s and
tomorrow’s 1.2 billion Muslims will openly or silently drift away. Some, as many Arabs already have, will accept the God
worshipped by more than two billion Christians or they will select from any of the other faiths that offer a spirituality that does
not celebrate the barbaric murder of non-believers.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
The Middle East & the Arabs
War & Peace in the Real World
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
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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 VI, 2004
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
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.
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
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