OWS – Right Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription
I’m a political and religious conservative, but I like to be in conversation with the evangelical left, since they keep us on the right from drifting into fanatical, judgmental, or extreme positions. Not that I believe in the logical fallacy of the argument to moderation, but I do like to keep my mind open even when I have drawn conclusions.
But today I got a money raising email from the Evangelical left publication Sojourners, which displayed to me the assumptions and logical mistakes of leftist logic regarding our economic woes and solutions for it. I have to discuss!
OWS vs. Tea Party Protests
Let’s put it plainly – the OWS protests are nothing like the Tea Party events. Despite the possibility of valid grievances, their “tear down the system” socialist radicalism is anything but constructive.
It’s hard to pin them down on any one issue, not because of their sophomoric egalitarian approach to decision making, but because every liberal frustrated at losing the public arguments in the political arena is now joining in and acting out like juveniles in a gleeful rebellion against authority. Yeah, we all did that in college, then we grew up – well, some of us.
What’s even more shameful is the main stream media’s support for this foolishness, as well as the Administration’s. Pathetic.
Let’s catalog just a few of the less than fringe occupations at the occupations, as nicely discussed in IBD’s editorial ‘Occupy’ Protests Dump On America:
- Lawlessness
- Childishness
- Violence
- Arrests
- Anti-semitism
- Terrible Messes
- Drugs
- Rapes
Good luck with that.
A summary of my contentions regarding Islam
I’ve written much on Islam over the past years, and thought to summarize it.
The Real History of the Crusades
For starters, the Crusades to the East were in every way defensive wars. They were a direct response to Muslim aggression – an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands.
With enormous energy, the warriors of Islam struck out against the Christians shortly after Mohammed’s death.
Can Islam Live in Peace With Other Religions?
It’s history and current events flatly say “no.”
Islam’s religious intolerance starts from it’s inception, and continues to this day, not because of fanatics who pervert its teachings, but because its foundational teachings are violent, racist, and produce a culture of oppression and control through fear, not of God, but of mortal violence from other “believers.”
If Islam is evil, why are there nice Muslims?
When I contend that Islam is inherently racist and murderous, I often hear the counter that if I am right, why are there so many nice Muslims? I certainly confirm that the Muslims I know and work with are gentle, beautiful and sometimes pious people. So what could explain these seemingly contradictory evidences?
There are simple answers to why there are nice Muslims despite the violent and hateful teachings and life of Mohammed:
1. Mohammed copied in many positive morals from Judaism and Christianity – so to some extent, any good found in Islam may not have arisen with Mohammed. In fact, since it claims that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were prophets, this is to be expected.
2. Mohammed began with positive teachings, but digressed into hateful, murderous teaching as he was persecuted and as his power as a warlord grew. This mix of teaching allows Muslims to choose to ignore or hide his more hateful acts and teachings and convince themselves (and some others) that Islam is peaceful.
3. Here’s the main reason – people are born with a conscience, and their own humanity teaches them that certain acts and perspectives are evil. Most Muslims, like most humans, want to live in peace and in harmony with their neighbors, and anyone with a little maturity realizes that our perspectives change over time, and we want to give others the freedom to choose that we ourselves would want.
So most Muslims are nice, not because Islam lacks violent and hateful tenets, but because their humanity causes them to want to avoid and ignore these things.
The only way one can adopt the total perspective of Mohammed is to (a) give themselves over to hate and murder against their better judgment, or (b) convince themselves, as many Germans did under Nazism, that what they are doing, like killing Jews or non-Muslims, is good for society and mankind, or good because Allah commands it.
