Keith's Beef

  Why are we so skittish about possibly exacerbating Muslim sensibilities over the bombing of Afghanistan? In the current new world order, it can't be avoided.

     The first order of business to ensure that we prevail in this conflict, over the long term, is to actually identify the enemy, and our real enemy isn't the Taliban or even Bin Laden himself. These are merely obvious symbols and easy targets, manifestations of a much larger and more sinister adversary: religious and cultural intolerance and hatred as defined by contemporary Islam, and embraced by mainstream Muslims the world over.

     Christianity, too, experienced the ugly paroxysms of fundamentalist interpretation in it's history, but that was centuries ago, and, save for the I.R.A., has since been relegated to the noisy fringes. Islam must do the same, lest it be compelled to do so by outsiders.

     A closer look at classical Islamic thought and teachings reveals that a major religion has been highjacked (skyjacked) by an extremely conservative and virulent form of interpretation, disguising itself as a grassroots spiritual movement, whose holy mission is to rectify perceived injustices perpetrated upon it by "infidels", wherever they exist, peace and love be damned. And mainstream Muslims believe it. This, then, -contemporary Islam- is our real enemy, and those who fail to see that succumb to the dangerous naivet' to which political correctness sometimes leads.

     The Allah to whom contemporary Muslims worship must be an evil entity indeed, if murder, suicide and gender intolerance are part and parcel of his message, and shame on Muslims for ignoring or not recognizing this. They prefer, instead, to blame "infidels" for the plight of the Muslim world, as if the rest of us have nothing better to do than lie awake at night, thinking up ways to antagonize Muslims. Their own authoritarian oligarchs in government and religion, in making life difficult and even harsh, don't seem to enter the picture, and resentments find an outlet through misguided and false religious proclamations.

     As it turns out, this train of thought appears to be incorrigible, and bent on becoming irrepressible. This is what makes Islam today so dangerous, as we witnessed on September 11th. Muslims really believe in this Jihad notion, as rational thought and control, to say nothing of peace and tolerance, are abandoned in the Islamic world, replaced instead by pathetic victimization and hateful rhetoric that would have found succor in the Middle Ages. If mainstream contemporary Islam refuses to expunge the virus that has invaded and infected its heart, then it remains for the free world to destroy its body in order to save its soul.