The Plight of Moderate Muslims
a people without a religion
by Jen Shroder
Muhammad
got in my car, grinning from ear to ear, one of the nicest kids we
know. Then there is Abbas, the son of an Iranian Shah who gave
me an exquisite tapestry case just because he is generous. I smile whenever I think
of Sharif and how we would almost fall over laughing as we bantered
back and forth. I remember parties at Omar’s in Ashland and I’m always
happy to see my Muslim neighbors.
I have liked every Muslim I have ever met.
America is embracing a religion that is said to promote peace as
many moderate Muslims happily practice it. But as Yale professor and
military historian Mary Habeck points out, this "peace" is only the
first phase of Islam.
The "method of Muhammad" largely known by Middle East Islamists is to
spread Islam peacefully at first but always including covert groups of
"true followers" who will use violence against those who will not
accept. This method is verified in Islam’s holy book, the Sira, and
the pattern has been repeated throughout history.
When scholars point at the Koran and the
terrorist verses recited over acts of violence and beheadings,
Muslims claim those verses are out of context, and they feel out of
context to those who have accepted Islam’s first phase. But "peace" is
not the last phase of Islam.
Muhammad, reverenced as Jesus Christ is to Christians, is the role
model. Muslims believe if they want to experience his success, they
must follow his footsteps exactly, and Muhammad slaughtered 600 to 900
Jews that rejected his "peaceful" Islam, then sold their wives and
children into slavery as he continued to quote Allah, adding
terrorism, beheadings and carnage.
Bin Laden believes he is following Muhammad’s footsteps. He did not
hijack a religion, he just took it seriously.
The answer is not to claim moderate Muslim beliefs are true Islam.
The answer is not to ask our children to get on their hands and knees
and
pray to Allah in public school, to "become Muslim," fast for
Ramadan, and "assume you are a Muslim soldier" as our textbooks
direct. Once the governing majority is Muslim, "true Islam" and the
totalitarian oppressive Sharia laws come into effect. Our freedoms
will be slowly choked from us as they are being choked from
France today.
President Bush probably doubts we can "win the war on terror"
because that would require the eradication of Islam completely,
something America would never endeavor. Religious freedom is
fundamental to us, it is part of what makes us great. We will not
outlaw Islam, we will not hunt down and kill every Muslim in an effort
to win the Jihad pronounced by sheiks. President Bush is absolutely
right, we can’t "win" the war, we can only fight to maintain our
stature and freedom while we hunt down a never-ending supply of
Islamic terrorists.
Thus we have already "won" every day we stand as a shining light,
(though dimming if our nation continues to oppose God).
But the plight of the moderate Muslim is grave. As America slowly
admits the enemy is true Islam, every effort must be made to embrace
the moderate Muslim, not persecute them. The answer is not to blind
our eyes and try to convince ourselves that moderate Muslims represent
true Islam. They don’t. Islam is defined by its holy books, and the
holy books proclaim death to all who oppose it, even moderate Muslims.
The answer is to live in reality, recognize the violence of true Islam
as it rears its head, and ask moderate Muslims to reconsider. True
Islam pronounces moderate Muslims as apostate, they are the "near
enemies" in the Sira and without true conversion, they will be
slaughtered right along with Christians and Jews. American Muslims
need to take a hard look at what their Koran, in its entirety and true
context, demands. They can no more denounce the method of Muhammad
than Christians can denounce the sacrifice and love of God. I know,
because as I battle with public educators for my children’s religious
freedom, I get angry, and God continually rebukes me for my anger. He
reminds me of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for them as well,
and I am constantly humbled.
Muhammad slaughtered unbelievers. Jesus Christ gave Himself to be
slaughtered. Muhammad took life, Jesus laid down His own life. I am to
love these educators that would ask my sons to practice abominations
to God, but I am not to give my sons over to them. We are to LOVE
American Muslims, but we ought not give over our nation. We need to
admit what true Islam is... or we can invest in prayer carpets, head
baskets and burkas.
So as America wakes up to our enemy’s identity, pray for protection
of moderate Muslims. They bought a belief without substance, a way of
life without a Savior. Embrace them, love them and share His holy
light with them.
But at the same time, do not allow public schools to lead your sons
and daughters to their plight.
