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With about 50 days until the presidential election, national security, specifically terrorism, | ||
is clearly going to be at the forefront of many people's minds when they go into the ballot box in November. | ||
The last year has seen the slow creep of terrorism become the new normal which none of us want to accept. | ||
It's nothing short of a miracle that nobody died in the recent bombings in New York City or New Jersey or in the stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall. | ||
Despite no casualties, the victims and those around them will forever be scarred. | ||
Another victim, aside from the actual people who were directly affected by these attacks, is our political debate around terrorism. | ||
To be clear, 2016 isn't exactly the year for constructive political debate. | ||
But the terrorism discussion and the passion it brings up are almost guaranteed to bring out the worst in people. | ||
So let me just back up here for a moment and try to state something as clearly as humanly possible. | ||
For roughly the three billionth time, there is a difference between the doctrine of Islam, which is just a set of ideas, and Muslims, the people who practice it. | ||
The doctrine has all kinds of terrible stuff in it, but this doesn't mean all the people who call themselves Muslims believe in, or act upon, those bad ideas. | ||
However, it has become pretty clear that a subset of Muslims do act upon these ideas, and this is what has led us to worldwide jihad, from Orlando to Brussels to Paris to Jerusalem to Sydney. | ||
There is almost no country Islamic terrorism hasn't already affected or isn't trying to affect. | ||
This isn't a coincidence, it's actually the stated plan of the jihadists. | ||
Before I continue, yes, I do acknowledge that there is plenty of bad stuff in the other holy books. | ||
God is a real piece of work in the Old Testament, to say the least. | ||
But the simple truth is that in the many Christian nations out there, or in the one Jewish nation, Minorities are treated better than in any country where Islam is the dominant ideology. | ||
Think of every secular society out there, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, or Japan. | ||
None of them are perfect, but all of them basically treat their citizens equally under the law. | ||
This doesn't mean discrimination and inequality don't exist, but it does mean that secular rule is better than religious rule. | ||
Now think of the many Islamic societies out there. | ||
Iran, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. | ||
How's it going for women in those countries? | ||
How's it going for gays, for Jews, for atheists, or for Christians, or for literally anyone who isn't Muslim? | ||
You know the answer, and it's not good. | ||
Yes, there are geopolitical reasons adding to why the Middle East is screwed up, but this doesn't diminish the fact that where Islam takes root, every other idea is systematically destroyed. | ||
Christianity in the Middle East is all but gone, except in Israel, and I'm pretty sure you know how jihadists feel about that place. | ||
Where Islam is in power, it's bad for everyone except Muslims, and actually, in most cases, it's bad for Muslims too. | ||
Specifically, for some within the Muslim community, like the aforementioned atheists, freethinkers, women or gays. | ||
I'm sure the usual hacks and apologists will say I'm somehow being Islamophobic now. | ||
Allow me to quote late great Christopher Hitchens on his feelings about the word Islamophobia. | ||
Quote, Islamophobia is a word created by fascists and used by cowards to manipulate morons. | ||
End quote. | ||
Now allow me to expand on that just a bit. | ||
A phobia is an irrational fear. | ||
Is it irrational to fear an ideology which would throw gays off roofs, behead infidels, force women to wear burqas, and kill and maim scores of innocents in terror attacks all over the world? | ||
I think not. | ||
The more we censor ourselves for the fear of being called a bigot or a racist, the more that Islam will encroach on our secular values. | ||
Tolerance is a two-way street, but where on earth in 2016 is Islam tolerant of any of us? | ||
Again, this doesn't mean there aren't millions of Muslim people who practice their faith privately like my friend Majid Nawaz or enjoy the cultural aspects of being Muslim like my friend Ali Rizvi. | ||
What it does mean, however, is that any set of ideas that wouldn't tolerate you isn't worth being tolerated itself. | ||
Tolerance of intolerance is a slow death. | ||
So now back to the events of the past few days. | ||
Sadly, these terror attacks are becoming all too common in America, whether a shooting in San Bernardino or Orlando or a bombing in Boston or New York City. | ||
The world is changing right before our eyes. | ||
And to pretend that jihad, an ideology whose stated goal is world domination, isn't really serious? | ||
That isn't just stupid, it's actually dangerous. | ||
Shootings, stabbings and bombings are all designed to kill and maim any and all of us. | ||
When a bomb goes off, it doesn't care if you're a right wing Christian or a flag burning lefty. | ||
It's designed to shred the fabric of our societies, not pick and choose which of us are the good ones. | ||
So while the apologists for Islam will continue obfuscating and denying, that won't spare them from relentless jihad. | ||
And those of us not talking about this for fear of being called a bigot or a racist are actually inviting more violence and mayhem. | ||
Afraid to speak your mind today? | ||
Well, where are you going to be in 5 or 10 years if you won't speak up now? | ||
Having this type of complex conversation is what we've tried to respectfully do on the Rubin Report with people from all over the political map. | ||
I wasn't planning on doing a direct message on terrorism this week, but unfortunately current events don't wait for your permission to happen. | ||
While mainstream media debates Skittles and the Brangelina divorce, I'll continue to try to navigate through the noise in a more thoughtful and constructive way. | ||
Sharing your ideas is simply the most important thing you can do in a Western secular society. | ||
It's something every single person in a closed society wishes they could do, yet we so often take it for granted. | ||
It's one thing to be afraid of being killed in a terror attack, but it's another thing to be afraid to speak up. |