How open (or closed) are the borders of your mind?

Opinions change

It’s not a good idea to be so open minded — as the saying goes, sorry if it’s trite — that your brain falls out. Nor is being too closed minded a good idea, since it’s often useful to consider new ideas. So, if you’re thoughtful, you probably employ a mental screening process. Does the idea make sense? Does the source seem trustworthy? Does the idea conflict with what you know to be true, or just unexplored beliefs and/or assumptions? Is the idea worth considering? Sometimes things we initially laugh off — or dismiss with contempt — later prove to be true. If we’re honest enough with ourselves we’ll admit to having been wrong . . . and learn a valuable lesson in the process.

How would you react to anyone who attempts to control YOUR mental borders? There’s a lot of that in the world, between religions and governments and corporate media; not to mention nosy neighbors and intrusive family members, bosses, teachers and professors. You’d get mad and resist their encroachments? Good. Now think about the open/closed borders question in the same vein. Should you be able to resist or deter home invaders? No question, right? What about protecting your neighborhood, should it come under threat? Your town? Where does that line fall, where an individual is rendered unable to defend his society, way of life, culture, countrymen?

Before going further, I’d like to say: I want to think the best of everyone, and I’ve come to recognize that as a probable weakness. Sometimes, it’s just not appropriate to a situation. If someone tries to mug me, it’s a bit of a handicap to react by wondering if he’s a nice guy who’s just down on his luck, you know? So by no means do I mean to attack or criticize individuals, or groups of people. Please understand, I’m simply filtering ideas and pondering some unwieldy questions here in hopes you’ll bear with me.

There’s an old story — probably apocryphal — that when Spanish galleons arrived off the coast of central America, the natives couldn’t see the ships at first. More likely they simply didn’t look for them, presumably having no prior experience with ships of that size — which were probably moored well away from the coast to avoid shallow waters, while the Spaniards used canoes to reach the shore.

I suspect we westerners (as in western culture generally) are faced with a moment analogous to the central Americans in that story. The threat from the conquerors was real (as the natives would soon learn), but unfamiliar, and unidentifiable from a distant perspective. Many Europeans are already suffering the results of the onslaught. Suicide bombings, slain priests (and see THIS!), honor killings, women and girls (and boys, too) raped, abused, and killed in Sweden, Germany, and elsewhere — often for no other reason than simply dressing in typical western clothes, like shorts and a T-shirt.

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It’s incredibly sad to me that so many apparently bright and sincere people don’t SEE (or refuse to acknowledge?) the problem, which is beginning to manifest here in America too. Will they still buy the “Islam is a religion of peace” obfuscation even as their wives and daughters are brutally raped, and the Sharia patrols swarm their city streets? I’ll have to admit to not realizing until recently the nature of the problem, myself . . . but since I did realize that I really had no basis for an informed opinion on Islam, I set out to do some research. What I’ve learned lately has shocked and saddened me, and the blinders quickly came off.

Certainly a few weeks of web surfing and listening to Youtube interviews, etc. does NOT make me an expert on the subjects of Islam, or immigration. However, I’ve found some great sources online that I’d like to introduce you to. Please check some of these out, and see what these courageous people have to say (links below).

Oh, and before the comment section lectures begin about how peaceful the majority of Muslims are, that’s understood — and it’s a good thing. BUT: Can you seriously NOT be concerned about that significant and virulent minority of Islamic believers who may not even pretend to be peaceful — or, who during a “stealth jihad” phase DO pretend to be peaceful and friendly (as the Quran apparently allows them to do)? Especially, since research may indicate, that far from integrating into their host societies, second (and later) generations of Muslims may become MORE radical, rather than less so. Especially as their numbers grow, and ours dwindle.

So, are the powers that be in the western world liars, or fools, or both?  Suicidal folly, indeed. Lastly, I’ve linked to this 8 minute long video before in the comments section, but it’s important enough to link to again here, in case you missed it. Islam: Most important video I’ve ever seen on Islam.

That’s enough of my ranting for one day. Time for a few introductions . . .  🙂

TheReligionofPeace.com: This site deserves credit for many of the links scattered throughout my above rant. I’d have liked to include more, but am running out of time and energy. 🙁

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Meet David Wood and friends. David is Christian; he’s witty, perceptive, and pretty darn funny. He sure seems to know his stuff, including the Quran, as well as the Bible. He’s brilliant. Here’s a Youtube video he did recently, entitled “France’s Recipe for Endless Islamic Terror.” (11:41) In it, he briefly explains the three stages of jihad, then offers a marvelously lucid explanation as to why second generation Muslims are working out so disastrously for France — it’s equally a warning for us in America. (If you’d rather read text than watch the video, you can do so here.)

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Brigitte Gabriel: Brigitte is the founder and president of ActForAmerica — a Lebanese Christian and survivor of Islamic terror, who watched her native country fall to the hegemony of Islam and works tirelessly to see that America (her adopted country) never succumbs to the same fate. Visit Brigitte’s Twitter account or her Youtube account.

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LiveUpToFreedom.com focuses on the stories of Muslim women and men victimized by Islam. “Aynaz “Anni” Cyrus is a 32-year-old Iranian-born woman who rejected Islam and fled Iran to America legally in her teens. She came to the United States after years of persecution, torture, and imprisonment.” Oh, and here’s her Youtube channel too.

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Milo Yiannopoulos (article archive here) (Youtube channel here) probably deserves credit for first getting me to ‘sit up and pay attention’ to the subject of Islam, in addition to one of our frequent commenters.  I am grateful to both of them! 🙂

And, of course, I’m extremely grateful for those (few, or many?) of you who’ve read this far. Much love!

 

 

 

 

2 Comments to “How open (or closed) are the borders of your mind?”

  1. hobitual Says:

    hey vin
    im glad to see you’ve finally become aware of the threat islam poses to the western world , i heartily recommend you read a book titled – the politically incorrect guide to islam by robert spencer , it details (using the koran and the hadiths own words and passages and islams own historical records) the 1400 year long war being waged by moslems on everyone who is Not muslim, im sure your aware of the saying – in 14 hundred and 92 columbus sailed the ocean blue – thats been taught in school for decades , the real question is WHY ? after centuries of trade with the east – via the silk road/caravan routes Why did columbus go in the direction everyone thought would cause his certain demise ? the answer to that question is because the moslems had conquered Constantinople 50 years earlier in 1453 and then attacked every caravan that tried to travel east after that. and i also recommend you view “Why we are afraid ” on Youtube by Dr bill warner, its very informative regarding islams history towards the west, for example: when the moors were conquering spain, one of the first exports from spain by the muslims back to the islamic world was 300 blond virgins, for the harems of islamic sheiks
    its been and continues to be a very long war, a war that most in the west hardly know exists. funny part is, if you tell people about the threat, they will say – im not interested in islam – and will ignore it, problem is islam IS interested in THEM whether they recognize it or not
    glad to see your eyes have been opened to the huge problem we face in islam , and glad to see milo helped to open them
    ive been reading your columns since i first got online in the late 90s and i look forward to reading more in the future
    thanks

  2. Vin's Brunette Says:

    Hi, hobitual . . . I suppose I should begin all my posts with “Brunette here,” or some such to avoid confusing our readers. That felt awkward, so I created a few “Brunette” topic categories (Brunette’s rants, etc.) to distinguish my posts from Vin’s. That said, he and I are usually ‘on the same page’ on issues, and since it’s his blog, I always ask Vin to look over my posts before publishing. He often makes useful suggestions. 😉

    I’ve not read Robert Spencer’s books thus far, but I’ve bookmarked his website https://www.jihadwatch.org/ & Twitter account https://twitter.com/jihadwatchRS and recommend others do so as well. Pamela Geller also: https://twitter.com/atlasshrugs (I’d like to link to her site too, but it seems to have a problem with malicious pop-ups — I’m sure that’s no fault of hers, but do be wary.)

    Yeah, the level of willful ignorance out there re: Islam is truly disturbing — and I say that as one who until recently was largely oblivious myself. I’ve had the very frustrating experience of trying to communicate with people — the fact that they’re “not interested” tells me they THINK they know enough about Islam, OR naively think there’s no reason to care. Boy, either way they have a rude awakening in store . . . there’s no reasoning with some people, unfortunately.

    That said, there ARE reachable people out there (myself, for example) who’ve heard little but the usual PC claptrap about Islam. Again, I’m grateful to Milo and our friend R. Hartman for speaking up and getting my attention. 🙂

    I’ve watched one video by Dr. Bill Warner, and will look for the one you suggest.

    Thanks for your comment!