Also published at Gates of Vienna
I watched a TV debate on Islam the other day. It was one of those standard discussions where the Muslim panellist blamed everyone but Islam and its adherents for the massive problems that exist wherever Islam has a noticeable presence, while the non-Muslim counterpart offered very tepid arguments to try to refute those claims.
Whenever I watch debates like this, it always amazes me that the non-Muslims have such difficulties in delivering clear and concise arguments describing the true nature of Islam. They are unable to do so in a manner that completely annihilates the insidious arguments offered by the supporters of Islam. Because it should be a pretty straightforward process for those who possess more than a basic knowledge of Islam to verbally eviscerate this pernicious ideology, to show how absurd it is to worship such a deviant philosophy and how absolutely outrageous it is for its followers to insist that their ideology is worthy of anyone’s respect
Hence, I have decided to highlight some of the arguments that I believe opponents of Islam should be focusing on whenever they venture into a debate on Islam with Muslims and individuals who have gone a couple of rounds through the politically correct wringer.
Criticism of Islam should be as basic as possible. It should not try to rely on scholarly critiques, which ordinary Non-Muslims still in the dark about the viciousness of the religion only find confusing. The best strategy is to keep it as simple as possible, go for the jugular and ram the message home until it sticks. What follows are a few basic points that ought to be self-evident, irrespective of one’s knowledge of Islamic doctrine.
The first point that I would like to make is that it should be blatantly obvious to any rational person that there is something seriously wrong with Islam, based solely on the poor state of democracy and human rights wherever Islam is the dominant force. Certain alarm bells should go off when reading or watching MSM reports about people in the Islamic world who are routinely executed by stoning, decapitation or simply being hanged from mobile cranes in public squares for having violated some of Islam’s strict codes. A normal sane ideology would never call for punishments of such a nature, and people who commit violent acts of a similar kind are rightly treated as psychopaths in most parts of the Western world.
The second point is this: It should be equally obvious that there is something wrong with Islam based on the countless terrorist attacks that are carried out in its name. To maintain that these attacks are perpetrated exclusively by extremists who do not represent true Islam should, from a purely rational point of view, be dismissed — given the frequencies of the attacks, the fact that they are carried out on practically every continent (Antarctica coming soon!), and that Muslims from all over the world voluntarily and proudly partake in them.
A question that should be asked when listening to claims about “extremists” is this: What are Islam’s views on violence and terror when so many of its adherents, both rich and poor, get the impression that such behaviour is acceptable, and actually believe that it gets them a free ticket to paradise?
My third point is that it should be glaringly evident that Islam has serious democratic deficiencies, considering that outspoken critics of this ideology are routinely targeted both verbally and physically by Muslims all over the world. It is simply intellectual laziness to accept the dishonest claim that these attacks are carried out by a few radicals who misuse their religion. If it had been one or two isolated incidents, then perhaps this claim could be considered, but these episodes occur on a daily basis, and they occur all over the world.
In other words, it’s a systematic tactic used to silence criticism of Islam. Thus, it is part and parcel of Islam’s overall strategy to implement its policies wherever it has a noticeable presence. What other conclusions can be drawn when reading about authors, politicians and activists who have had to go into hiding, or who live under 24 hour police protection for speaking out against this religion, let alone the numerous individuals who have been killed for doing so? It should be clear to anyone that these individuals are being subjected to methods that are otherwise only used by mafia groups. Any organization that utilizes such tactics would in any other circumstances rightfully be labelled as a criminal entity and be dealt with accordingly.
The fourth point that I would like to make is that the claim that ISIS is misusing Islam and that its members aren’t true Muslims can be dismissed purely on logical grounds. In fact, it is a ludicrous argument, given the number of devout Muslims from all corners of the globe that voluntarily flock to join its ranks. And we’re not talking about a few handfuls here and there, but tens of thousands of individuals. Statistical data also corroborate this widespread support for ISIS among Muslim communities all over the world, so the idea that ISIS is un-Islamic falls by its own logic.
Thus, from a rational perspective, ISIS cannot be dismissed as having nothing to do with Islam. If that were the case, then devout Muslims would not migrate to the Caliphate in such large numbers. In fact, that would be just as unlikely as seeing tens of thousands of US conservatives move to Venezuela because they believed that the political system of that particular country was pure capitalism.
My fifth point concerns an aspect that is very obvious, but which many people for some strange reason still seem to have immense difficulties wrapping their heads around. The point is as follows: Muslims who insist on following Islamic law, regardless to what extent, and who advocate the covering up of females in burkas and hijabs, are never going to integrate into our societies. Nor are they going to embrace Western liberal values.
What logical conclusions can be deduced from this little nugget of information? Well, in plain English it means that they reject our laws and our way of life. It means that they do not value freedom of speech and democracy. It could not be made any clearer unless they started holding up big placards stating as much (which they often do). This is of course a very troubling thought, and it should cause some warning lights to flash, because this invariably puts a huge strain on these values, and over time as the Muslim population grows in the West the same values will start to erode rapidly.
The above observations are just a few of the most obvious points that should be self-evident even to people who have no knowledge of Islamic doctrine. When adding everything up, and doing so without tainting the bottom line with politically correct bias, people should be led to the realization that Islam has some serious issues with Western concepts such as freedom of speech, equality and democracy. That again should lead people to the realization that Islam is a dangerous and totalitarian ideology.
When taking all of these aspects into consideration it becomes very clear that Islam has a whole lot more to do with Saudi Arabia and ISIS than it has to do with secular Western democracies, or the sugarcoated picture that the so-called moderate Muslim representatives are trying to paint. Looking at the religion and the countries where Islam is practiced through unbiased eyes makes one realize that this ideology is nothing that one wishes to foist upon any society. Islam evolved 1400 years ago, and to be quite honest, that is where it belongs.
