Brunette here (Trigger warning may apply. Or not. Reader discretion advised.) \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
Trying to wrap my head around the subject of Islam, and what its increasing presence means to the West, has been daunting. Clearly Muslims are humans first and foremost, and deserve to be seen as individuals like anyone else. It would be a shame to totally ban immigration from Muslim countries, and turn away people like Anni Cyrus<\/a> and Brigitte Gabriel<\/a>, who sought sanctuary from Islamic abuse in their home countries, here in America. But does it make sense to welcome Imams who seek to radicalize western youth, and jihadists who hate western infidels?<\/p>\n I have to admit that one of my childhood heroes (probably, my first crush) was Cat Stevens, whose songs I loved. It’s hard for me to come to grips with a religion that turned Cat Stevens into THIS<\/a> — (Yusuf Islam, advocating the murder of Salman Rushdie). It’s also sad to think that Vin and I may have lost a few friends in the process of trying to arrive at some semblance of truth, via research and soul-searching . . . so be it. Sometimes finding your way through life means losing former fellow travelers. The road less traveled<\/a>, and all that. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n It seems the left has rushed to embrace Islam, to prove how tolerant and broad-minded liberals are, but on a purely collectivist basis — confounding a theocratic ideology with issues of race. Even libertarians often reflexively rush to the defense of Islam, when I’d think they’d want to defend the rights of individual Muslims against the Islamic collective, and not the other way around. Critics of Islam (Muslim or otherwise) have every right to disagree and criticize an ideology they’ve found hostile, brutal, and oppressive. It’s unjust to accuse them of racism or intolerance for doing so, to punish them for speaking out instead of applauding their courage.<\/p>\n The alt-right comes closer to the mark, in recognizing and identifying the true threat that Islam (radical or no) presents to the west . . . but in some instances, without appreciating the nuanced differences between groups or sects of Muslim adherents and the conflicts that arise between them. It’s important to recognize that many, many Muslims suffer under Islam and probably do wish to live in peace like the rest of us. If only we can tell who’s who — so, how to distinguish between peaceful Muslims and Islamic extremists seeking to immigrate? Nonie Darwish has a sensible answer here<\/a> on The Glazov Gang: Americans who’ve lived among radical Islamists and lived to talk about it can tell, far better than anyone who hasn’t.<\/p>\n I’ve assembled a few video links of talks by former or currently practicing Muslims, who reject violent extremism but also plead for honest conversation about the problems of radical Islam and extremism in general. I do believe that there must be peaceful Muslims, probably many of them, who aren’t vocal or whose voices aren’t heard loudly since the MSM ignores them. However, I can’t believe that Islam is a “religion of peace.” Not when so many of its scholars tend to be among the most radical Muslims, recruiting even children to violent jihad<\/a>. Not when so many former Muslims tell of leaving Islam after actually studying the Koran and other holy books of Islam. (Here’s one example<\/a>.)<\/p>\n What We Don’t Know About Europe’s Muslim Kids and Why We Should Care<\/a>: Deeyah Khan, TEDxExeter (20 min.)<\/p>\n “Aged 17, Deeyah fled from Norway confused, lost and torn between cultures. Unlike some young Muslims she picked up a camera instead of a gun. She now uses her camera (. . .) to shed light on the clash of cultures between Muslim parents who prioritise honour and their children’s desire for freedom. She argues that we need to understand what is happening to fight the pull to extremism.” <\/i><\/p>\n