In the Islamic part of our world there appears to be a universal belief that the West—particularly the United States—plans to forcibly convert the world's Muslims to atheism, Judaism, or Christianity. The oddest part of this belief is the weakness of the evidence that is cited in support of it, and the stark blindness of the eye that is required to miss the evidence against it.
For instance, the attacks of September 11th, 2001 provoked a few hotheads to beat or shoot the nearest person of Middle Eastern descent, and incited others to commit lesser acts of discrimination. A number of pro-Arab groups seized upon these incidents as evidence of a major backlash against people of Middle Eastern descent, even though aside from isolated incidents the "backlash" was verbal. Entirely ignored were the 99.9999% of the American population who raised not so much as a finger against anyone. Equally ignored was the obvious fact that these same Arab advocacy groups were permitted and are still permitted to issue press releases; surely a backlash of any genuine significance would include, as an early step, the stifling of their voices. Forgotten was that a backlash a thousand times worse would still leave American Arabs better off than the typical resident of any Arab nation.
Likewise, the American military presences in Afghanistan and Iraq are looked upon as the initial steps in a global assault on Islam. What goes completely unmentioned is that there are something like 7 million Muslims in the United States, and not a single restriction is placed on the activities in any of the mosques. Also unmentioned is that the United States has enough nuclear weaponry to turn Mecca and Medina into radiactive glass, but instead of that, we sent troops into areas that are not centers of Muslim observance.
What is even more puzzling is the silence of pro-Arab and pro-Muslim advocacy groups in the face of repeated threats by violent Islamic groups to destroy or subjugate all non-Muslim societies, most notably Israel and the United States. When Ann Coulter, a mere three days after the September 11th attacks, called for the invasion and conversion of those nations wherein the attacks were celebrated, she was roundly castigated, mostly notably from the region of the political spectrum wherein she resides. When Muslim voices call for the forced conversion of the West to Islam—a routine utterance in Islamic circles—nobody raises an eyebrow. Never do we hear more than weak platitudes about Islam being a religion of peace. It's not a case of the pot calling the kettle black; it is a case of the pot, pointing to a speck of dirt, declaring that the egg is black.
So how can we explain a persistent belief that is in such strong defiance of the facts? Clearly, a wide streak of irrationalism runs through mainstream Islamic thought, because defiance of reality is the soul and essence of irrationalism. The question that remains is what form of irrationalism leads to the specific belief we see here? What are they rationalizing?
The answer, as I see it, is this: They are projecting onto us their own belief that might makes right.
I think the charge that Muslims, as a rule, subscribe to the concept of "might makes right," is a valid charge:
The belief that might makes right saturates Muslim society, so much so that the alternative does not even occur to many Muslims; at best they might think that God will punish them for something, and so they refrain from that thing, but this merely posits all right in the entity with the most might. Muslims certainly do not credit that the West is restrained by a fear of God, because Islamic violence towards Westerners is rationalized on the belief that Westerners do not fear God. Consequently, they are forced to come to one of two conclusions about the West:
A theory is considered the best if it provides the best explanation of observed events and best prepares us to predict future events. My theory—that Muslims generally do not grasp the concept of moral restraint—explains every puzzle of the Muslim world. They think the West consists of weaklings and bullies because their thinking does not recognize the existence of any other class of being.
A Challenge
The world's Muslims can prove that Islam really is a religion of peace. They can do that by neutralizing the militant factions that claim the name of Islam. They can do this by infiltrating al-Qaeda and the other terrorist organizations, and passing on all the intelligence they can to the West. They are not betraying fellow Muslims by doing so, because if Islam really is a religion of peace, then the man who uses Islam as an excuse to kill random strangers is not a Muslim. Note that we don't even hear the claim that the mujahadeen "aren't really Muslims;" we only hear that claim when an Islamic terrorist kills a Muslim, and then it is what the terrorist says about his victim.
It lies completely within the power of Muslims to shut down Islamic terrorism—all of it, even the terrorism directed against Israel. The failure of the world's Muslims to even attempt this is continuing proof that Islam is not a religion of peace.