Islam
215 pieces tagged “Islam”, newest first.
Another Bad Deal
A budget deal has been reached in Washington. It is a mammoth bill, at least 2,000 pages long. Conservatives are not happy, while the White House is applauding. I won't ruin your Christmas by going through all the gory details, but I'll just mention two. Planned Parenthood gets full funding. So, too, does the Syrian refugee program, even as the administration continues to insist that no changes are needed to ensure that there are no jihadists among the refugees.
Why Wheaton College Is Right
A professor's hijab caused a stir, but it wasn't the reason for her suspension.
Families of Terrorists See No Evil, Speak No Evil
Amid all the furor over Islamic terrorism in the United States, a few themes are ignored: the role of friends and family of terrorists, and how well the U.S had treated many of those who went on to kill Americans. Take, for example, the family members of Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook, who recently murdered 14 people and wounded 21 in San Bernardino before being killed by police. The New York Times recently contacted Malik's sister in Pakistan, Fehda Malik, who insisted that her sister was not an extremist, "She knew what was right and wrong," Fehda Malik said.
Students Practice Calligraphy by Writing 'There Is No God but Allah'
A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, "There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." Female students at Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia, were also invited to wear Muslim clothing — a story first reported by The Schilling Show. The school district convened a meeting on Dec. 11th to discuss the assignment with outraged parents.
'Misunderestimating' the American People
As the week began, I planned to write this column about some implications of Barack Obama's Sunday night Oval Office address. I noted that he devoted about one-fifth of this 13-minute speech to pleas that Americans not discriminate against Muslims. "It is the responsibility of all Americans — of every faith — to reject discrimination," he said. "It's our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently." At one level, this is an anodyne statement. As a general proposition, discrimination by religion is against the best in American tradition and the letter of American law. George W. Bush, you might recall, made similar statements in the days after Sept. 11, 2001.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sharia?
The word "contentious" doesn't begin to describe the American immigration debate over the last two decades. But in recent days, the lines are being redrawn — and with it, the national conversation. The focus is no longer being dominated by illegal immigration south of Texas but "legal" immigration coming from across the Atlantic, where a bold new enemy is exposing weaknesses in the West's tolerance.
Disorder in Sharia Courts
Set aside for a moment the violent incidents associated with people claiming to act under the authority of their Islamic faith and consider instead what passes for normalcy. Some in Britain would like to elevate to the level of wide-scale acceptance Sharia law, an Islamic legal system predicated on the religious tenets of Islam. "A number of Sharia councils operate in the UK to offer resolution to disputes," writes The Express, but currently "they have no jurisdiction in criminal matters." Not yet, anyway. There is a campaign underway to make a UK suburb Britain's Sharia-law zone.
National Security Profiling Is a No-Brainer
Calm down and think, America. While everyone's undies are in a bunch over Donald Trump's proposal for a Muslim immigration moratorium, it is undeniable in a time of "heightened alert" — when violent jihadists have no problem targeting their enemies here and around the world — that national security profiling is imperative to our survival. Yes, that means taking politically incorrect criteria such as ethnicity, nationality and religion into account when battling radical Islamist throat-slitters, suicide bombers and hijackers who incinerate children on airplanes traveling to Disneyland, plant bombs in their shoes, underwear, soda bottles and belts, and shoot up concert halls, restaurants, malls, Army bases and social services centers.
Should We Religiously Profile?
Months ago, a concerned American at a school in Texas spotted a 14-year-old Muslim boy toting around a contraption that looked very much like a bomb. That Texan called the police, who came and detained the boy; after learning that the boy's device was actually a disassembled clock, they released him. Weeks ago, a concerned American in San Bernardino spotted a "half-dozen Middle Eastern men" in the area of an apartment housing Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. He didn't know what they were doing there, but they seemed suspicious. He didn't call the cops.
Trumping Immigration Again
A calculated play to gain attention and set the terms of the debate.
President Obama's Umpteenth Tired, Dishonest Speech on Terrorism
Once again, President Obama emerged from his permanent sabbatical on the war on terror to inform us, in a bizarre address from the Oval Office, that he has things firmly under control and there's no need for us Americans to be concerned. Excuse me if I'm not comforted. Obama has made quite clear that he is blind to the threat that radical Islam represents to America and the rest of the civilized world. He obviously believes that Islam produces no more or worse terrorists than any other religion or cult and that it is wrong to focus on the radical strain of Islam because it leads to discrimination against other Muslims — discrimination he seems to see under every rock.
Farook Was Obsessed With Israel — What Else Do We Need to Know?
According to the father of the San Bernardino terrorist, Syed Rizwan Farook, his son was "obsessed with Israel." In an interview in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the senior Syed Farook said, "My son said that he shared [Islamic State leader] Al Baghdadi's ideology and supported the creation of the Islamic State. He was also obsessed with Israel." Likewise, the Los Angeles Times reported that "As the investigation unfolded, friends and family of the shooters came forward to offer snapshots that may point to what motivated Wednesday's attack, including Farook's apparent fixation on Israel and Malik's devotion to a fundamentalist strain of Islam."
The CAIR Effect: See Something, Do Nothing
As news of the San Bernardino jihadist shootings blared on airport TVs, I spotted a TSA monitor flashing the now ubiquitous message: "If you SEE something, SAY something." The warning should be followed with a big "LOL" and a winky-blinky, just-kidding emoji. It's one of the emptiest slogans in modern American life. While the White House pays lip service to homeland security vigilance, it consorts with Islamic terror sympathizers who attack vigilant citizens and law enforcement officers at every turn.
'Nothing to Do With Islam'
In the aftermath of Paris and before San Bernardino, Hillary Clinton articulated the forced catechism of the left: "Let's be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism." What happens when a major political party becomes so wedded to political correctness that it feels constrained to deny reality? Clinton could hardly have chosen a less opportune moment to squeeze her eyes shut about the threat of Islamic extremism, a threat that is glaringly, blazingly obvious.
Can We Learn From Europe?
Earlier this year, my column asked, "Will the West Defend Itself?" I pointed out that America's leftists and progressives believe that the U.S. should become more like Europe. I wonder whether they also want to import European policies that created barbaric extremism among its Muslim population. France's recent tragedy is not surprising, given some of its policies that are not widely publicized abroad. France has no-go zones, which are officially called "zones urbaines sensibles," or sensitive urban zones, where police are reluctant to go.
Schools Sing Praise to Allah, Create Propaganda Posters for ISIS
Are American public schools on the verge of becoming taxpayer-funded Madrassas? In 2001 the founder of the Institute on Religious and Civic Values boasted about a covert plan to conduct a "bloodless" revolution inside American public classrooms — promoting an increased emphasis on the Islamic faith. I wrote extensively about their plans to wage a stealth academic jihad in my book, "God Less America." Read the chapter titled, "One Nation Under Allah." Still, it might surprise many moms and dads at the extent of Islamic indoctrination that's infected their local public schools.
Back to Bleating About Christian Terrorism
When Islamic terrorist attacks cause mass casualties, like the horrific events in Paris, it's all well and good to preach the obvious that ISIS killers don't represent all Muslims, any more than the Nazis represented all the German people. But what is wholly unacceptable is any attempt to drag Christianity into a moral-equivalency game with radical Islam. The leftist comedians really should have stopped this gunk when Rosie O'Donnell announced on "The View" nine years ago that "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America" because the United States was at war in Iraq. (Rosie would never be able to define non-radical Christianity because in her warped world, that's an oxymoron.)