A Matter of Perspective and Counterjihad

Everyone with even a modicum of knowledge about the world around them recognizes a photograph of the Coliseum. The Coliseum is, as Baron Bodissy says "Italy’s iconic monument." In fact, this post was conceived as a result of reading this morning his entry at Gates of Vienna on the counterjihad movement: "The Counterjihad Calendar" (which by the way, deserves a full read on your part, and placing the Gates of Vienna on your favorites page.)

Gates of Vienna, in it's banner notes "At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are in a new phase of a very old war." True, and yet, too many people in Europe, in the western hemisphere and indeed too many in the Muslim world absolutely fail to recognize that there is a war of ideology going on that may in fact be one of the least recognized, but longest running war of ideology in the history of mankind. A war fraught with danger for our culture, our way of life, our choices in religious belief and indeed, our choices in something so minor as how we choose to dress on any given day.

As I noted, the war, and it really is a war, is not understood by many, though there are a number of folk who do. We even have a presidential aspirant who has said publicly that there is no war, that it is a "bumper-sticker war." This was, of course met with derision from many, but for too many, it remains a truth. And our own societal freedoms are guaranteeing that this ignorance continues.

To illustrate my point, let me show you another photograph. This too is a photograph of the Coliseum, but from an entirely different perspective, from the interior looking from one passageway into the main arena. Same Italian iconic monument but a shot that few would recognize, because it is foreign to their experience. Thus my basic point, if something is foreign to your experience, you will have difficulty recognizing it.

Years ago, I was teaching psychology at our local university and I illustrated perspective by asking my students if they were on a plain in Africa, would they be able to recognize a water buffalo that was a quarter of a mile away but appeared to be about the size of a BB because of the distance. 100% of the students would answer yes (though always a few hesitated). Then I would ask if someone raised in thick jungle, who had never seen a plain would be able to identify a water buffalo at the same distance, or would their perspective distort their perception. Typically, a few students would have read the chapter in advance and would know that the individual might see a "bug" because only bugs appeared to be that size. It is a matter of perspective.

This underscores, I think, that you cannot understand a threat in that which you do not perceive a threat. Thus, those that truly believe that we are only in a bumper-sticker war, do not have the vaguest notion of what the threat is, or if they do, willfully choose to ignore it. And why would that be? Is it a calculated ploy designed for partisan advantage, or is it truly a total and complete lack of knowledge/belief in what is before their very eyes?

If it is a lack of knowledge, there is absolutely no excuse. Knowledge of the threat of jihad goes back at least as far as the Siege of Vienna. More recently the evidence is plain to see in terms of what has happened dating from March 1973 when US Ambassador Cleo Noel and charge d'affaires, George Moore were murdered by Black September in Khartoum, Sudan. Black September of course had been active before that in the murder of Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 and before that in the attempted overthrow of the King of Jordan. Coming forward, the number of incidents of both state sponsored terrorism and islamofascist (jihadist) terrorism has increased dramatically. There are those intellectual midgets that claim that the "insurgents" (read terrorists) in Iraq are only there because we invaded Iraq. This is, of course, head-in-the-sand given the number and devastation of terrorist acts prior to March 2003. Not that it would matter to the so-called "loyal opposition" (and yes, I used so-called as a deliberate snark).

The Koran calls for everyone to be converted to Islam, one way or another; by persuasion of faith, or by the sword.

"Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to indigenous non-Muslim populations who surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination."

Dhimmitude: the Islamic system of governing populations conquered by jihad wars, encompassing all of the demographic, ethnic, and religious aspects of the political system. The word "dhimmitude" as a historical concept, was coined by Bat Ye'or in 1983 to describe the legal and social conditions of Jews and Christians subjected to Islamic rule. "

We see this practically everyday in the news. Recently, a Dutch Bishop said that Catholics should be praying to Allah:

Speaking on the Dutch TV programme Network on Monday evening, Bishop Muskens says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions."

Piggy banks have been banned in parts of England, some courts in the European Union are allowing polygamy ("German law is treating polygamous marriages to be legally valid as long as the marriage was concluded in a country that permits polygamy"), there is repression of reports of anti-semitism because the "perpetrators" were Muslims and Pro-Palestinians, news papers refuse to reprint cartoons, books critical of Muslims are pulled from the shelves, etc., etc., etc.

The direct and proximate cause of all of this is that the individuals behind it are not aware of the ultimate goal of the jihadists/islamofascists. They don't have the perspective and for whatever reason you wish to ascribe to it, they will not see. And that presents a danger to me, to my child, and my future grand children. That I cannot tolerate. So, count me as a counterjihadist.

UPDATE: Andrew Anthony has penned a remarkable set of three pieces that explain how a committed liberal turned in "The Day Reality Hit Home: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Read all three, don't let a lack of perspective lull you into a sense of apathy. (H/T to J.J. Doherty)