Marines.Together We Served

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

A Global Problem

             History has a nasty way of repeating itself. I guess that’s what I find so worrisome.

The United States has been battling Islamic thugs and terrorists for more than 200 years. Surprised? Don’t be.

Here are three relevant points (among many) you need to know about the Islamic faith. 1) The Koran (Qur’an) instructs its followers to force those who are not Muslims to convert or die. 2) The followers of Islam are waiting for the emergence of the 12th Imam and the Caliphate that would evolve from his appearance. “A caliphate is a form of Islamic government led by a caliph – a person who claims to be a political and religious successor to the prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community.” This would subsequently invigorate adherents to Islam to then strive to dominate the entire world. 3) The form of government everyone would be subjected to under Islam is called “sharia law.” “The sharia is characterized as a discussion on the duties of Muslims based on both the opinion of the Muslim community and the extensive (Islamic) literature.” Sharia is on a collision course with a number of issues generally accepted or at least tolerated throughout the rest of the world. Such as: democracy; human rights; freedom of speech; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; LGBT rights (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transvestite); and women (particularly domestic violence, child marriage, property ownership, and women in the clergy).

The topic of Islam is virtually endless as you might expect when entering into any serious study of one of the world’s faiths. I shared the three previous points regarding Islam so that you might see how incompatible such a faith is with the democracy we enjoy within the republic of the United States. Our rule of law is the Constitution which is drawn heavily from biblical teachings from a solid Judeo-Christian formative base. Islam’s sharia law is simply incompatible with our Constitution.

Returning to the troublesome aspects of Islamists over the centuries, allow me to give you a very brief history of Islam and its attempts to force its beliefs on others. There was a major military move by Islamists to conquer Europe more than a thousand years ago. One attempt to gain a foothold in Eastern Europe was through Constantinople in Turkey, later changed to Istanbul under Islamic dominance. The other move into Europe was through the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Charles Martel, ruler of the Franks (later known as France), and his army met the Muslim forces in the Battle of Tours, successfully stopping the advance of Muslims into Western Europe. He was regarded as the “Champion of the Cross against the Crescent.” And so it has gone over the centuries.

Early in our nation’s history our third president, Thomas Jefferson, was fed up with the trouble our merchant ships were facing when engaged in commerce in the Mediterranean Sea region. Many countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as the U.S., paid tribute money to Islamic pirates in hopes the harassment of ships, the stealing of cargo, and the hijacking of American seamen and forcing them into slavery to serve on their marauding ventures, reached a boiling point with President Jefferson. He ordered the U.S. Marines to sail to the Mediterranean and take on these racketeers and put an end to this insanity. Under the leadership of Lt Presley O’Bannon, his detachment of Marines fought in the First Barbary War near Tripoli in what is Libya today. Order was restored, and the second line in the Marines Hymn was added, “to the shores of Tripoli.”

General J.J. Pershing and our American military had problems with Muslims in the Philippines in 1919. But more recent troubles may have had their start with the 1979 taking of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Then came the bombing of the Marine barracks in 1983. The next attack occurred on American soil when the World Trade Center in Manhattan was bombed by Islamic terrorists in 1993. And of course we had the 9-11 bombing and destruction of the World Trade Center, bringing about the deaths of nearly three thousand Americans.

Europe seems to be engulfed in a death-struggle with the onslaught of Islam and the enforcement of sharia law. Killings, such as took place in Paris recently, seem to be more frequent and are putting everyone on edge. We in the U.S. wonder if we will be targeted next.

When nations have had problems with any one particular unruly group or country, there is at first an attempt to appease the aggressor, followed by a growing irritation and resentment toward the offending party. And lastly, there is usually a serious visceral reaction pushing back against those who are causing the trouble. This usually means innocent people are targeted and hurt or killed in the process until cooler heads prevail. Immediately following 9-11 a gentleman of the Sikh religion was gunned down while riding his bicycle in our town. His crime? He looked like a Muslim! So, I’m sure those who mercilessly killed him thought they were being patriotic in striking back against the enemies of freedom. They were murderous fools, not knowing that Sikhs are not Muslim, and the headpiece they wear is markedly different than those worn by any of the various Muslim sects.

My contention is this: Without a doubt we have a growing national and international problem with Islam. But our elected leaders had better deal with this problem directly before it gets out of hand. Otherwise, we will see a backlash against Muslims that could become very ugly indeed. It has already begun in Europe.

Let me remind you that as Americans we’re better than this. God help us.

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