Time (yet again) for a realistic look at Islam

The Islamist who killed pedestrians and cyclists on the bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on 31 October called out "Allahu akbar" before he was brought down by a policeman. "Shout 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers" were the final words written by Mohammed Atta before the 9-11 attacks in 2001. But multicultural apologists and progressives in and out of government have denied the obvious for sixteen years: the motivation of the worldwide Islamic movement to destroy Western culture is the original, authentic 7th-century Islam.

It is time to face reality. CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are wolves in sheep's clothing using an erosion strategy against the West. Islam needs to be reformed. Policymakers need to break away from political correctness to recognize Islamists as the enemy. They need to listen to the modern Muslims who want to change the ideology of Islam into a religion of Islam compatible with religion as understood by the Founders when they wrote the U.S. Constitution. Policymakers need to be guided by the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and its leader, Zuhdi Jasser. They need to pay attention to Wafa Sultan, Asra Normani, Irshad Manji, and Nonie Darwish. The foreign policy establishment should ignore anyone who supports an ideology that demands submission to the outer jihad as practiced by Muhammad; it should listen only to those who support a religion of freedom of conscience (liberty), personal responsibility for behavior, and personal salvation. Our government, the media, and our political elite have not been using terminology that matches reality. The terminology we use must reflect the following: (1) Islamists and Muslims are not the same. (2) The outer jihad differs from the inner jihad. (3) The ideology of Islam is not the same as the religion of Islam. Islamists practice the outer jihad (based on Muhammad's actions) and support the worldwide movement (the Third Jihad) to have everyone accept "the way of the Prophet." There are two kinds of Islamists. One is Islamist militants, who use, or support the use of, violence and terror. The others are Islamist "moderates" who want everyone to think Islam is a religion of peace, yet they do nothing to neutralize violence and terror and do whatever they can to weaken Western culture from within. The outer jihad seeks to copy Muhammad's actions to convert, cause to submit, or kill all non-believers. The inner jihad is a struggle within an individual to overcome the baser human instincts. Sixteen years of being on the wrong road must come to an end. America's future depends on a more realistic, and a less politically correct, view of the threat from the Third Jihad. Sam C. Holiday, Armiger Cromwell Center, LLC.