The problem with Islam

Tawfik Hamid wrote in OpinionJournal there is much that is clearly wrong with the Islamic world. Women are stoned to death and undergo clitorectomies. Gays hang from the gallows under the approving eyes of the proponents of Shariah, the legal code of Islam. Sunni and Shia massacre each other daily in Iraq. Palestinian mothers teach 3-year-old boys and girls the ideal of martyrdom.

Uncivilized seventh century values meets the 21st century.

One would expect the orthodox Islamic establishment to evade or dismiss these complaints, but less happily, the non-Muslim priests of enlightenment in the West have come, actively and passively, to the Islamists' defense.... Without confronting the ideological roots of radical Islam it will be impossible to combat it. While there are many ideological "rootlets" of Islamism, the main tap root has a name--Salafism, or Salafi Islam, a violent, ultra-conservative version of the religion.

And whabbi is the worst of the worst.

It is vital to grasp that traditional and even mainstream Islamic teaching accepts and promotes violence. Shariah, for example, allows apostates to be killed, permits beating women to discipline them, seeks to subjugate non-Muslims to Islam as dhimmis and justifies declaring war to do so. It exhorts good Muslims to exterminate the Jews before the "end of days." The near deafening silence of the Muslim majority against these barbaric practices is evidence enough that there is something fundamentally wrong.

They fear reprisals, and it is easier for them to keep their mouths shut.

... Yet it is ironic and discouraging that many non-Muslim, Western intellectuals--who unceasingly claim to support human rights--have become obstacles to reforming Islam. Political correctness among Westerners obstructs unambiguous criticism of Shariah's inhumanity. They find socioeconomic or political excuses for Islamist terrorism such as poverty, colonialism, discrimination or the existence of Israel. What incentive is there for Muslims to demand reform when Western "progressives" pave the way for Islamist barbarity?.... Progressives need to realize that radical Islam is based on an antiliberal system. They need to awaken to the inhumane policies and practices of Islamists around the world. They need to realize that Islamism spells the death of liberal values.

Why can't liberals see that. If, God forbid, the Islamists take over, conservative Christians will still be able to worship Christ, they will just have to pay a big tax. But some of the liberals major support basis will be in much greater trouble. Gays need not concern themselves with marriage. They need to fear being hanged or thrown from buildings. Abortion will not be needed, since unmarried women will be stoned or lashed to death for fornicating.

Merv blogged The piece also goes to the heart of the problem with the people that we are at war with. They are religious bigots. Because they are religious bigots they cannot be appeased or negotiated with. They must be destroyed before they destroy others. How many Democrats besides Joe Lieberman even comprehend this reality?