EXTREMIST VIEWS
by David Sisler
Clear your desks and take out a clean sheet of paper for a pop-quiz. Your question: which two of the following four statements are being denounced in the American press as extremist and inflammatory?
(A) “Today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them. [They] invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others.”
(B) [Christians are] “a cultural menace for mankind. They are determined to impose a global culture that includes the practice of free sex and sodomy.”
(C) [George W. Bush] “is in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this.”
(D) “Terrorists hate the fact that we can worship Almighty God the way we see fit.”
If you answered “A” and “B” you failed the quiz.
The first two remarks were made by Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, at a recent meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference. In a meeting touted as being one to reduce tensions between Muslims and Christians, Mahathir also urged the Muslim world to prepare to defend itself "with guns, rockets, bombs and warplanes.”
Quotes “C” and “D” were uttered on separate occasions by Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin.
Mahathir received standing ovations for his remarks against Jews. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a member the Organization of Islamic Conference, took issue with Mahathir's remarks, saying he “condemned Jews when he probably meant Israelis.” And that stinging rebuke (read that comment with all due sarcasm), is the strongest I have found from his peers.
In fact, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said, “[Mahathir] was stating the facts.”
One of the “facts” which Mahathir stated was, “The so-called U.S. war against terrorism is an Israeli war initiated in the Jewish state's interests.” Would Mahathir conclude that the events of September 11 were another initiative of Israel?
While Mahathir was receiving congratulations for his remarks, Ryan Sabadow, opinion editor of The Orion Online ranted, “The most dangerous force our country faces right now doesn’t come from the threat of international terrorism. It comes from evangelical Christian fanatics connected to the White House, like Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin.” Sabadow’s editorial was entitled, Keep God out of White House.
General Boykin was recently appointed deputy undersecretary for intelligence and in that position he has been charged with reinvigorating Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s “High Value Target Plan” to track down Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Mullah Omar and other leaders in the terrorism world.
William M. Arkin, a military affairs analyst with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, describes Boykin as “a 30-year veteran whose classified resume reads like a history of special operations and counter-terrorism ... [He was] one of the first Delta Force commandos ... going on to head the top-secret Joint Special Operations Command. He has served in the Central Intelligence Agency and, most recently, he commanded Army Special Forces.”
Arkin’s real opinion of Boykin is that the general is “an intolerant extremist who has spoken openly about how his belief in Christianity has trumped Muslims and other non-Christians in battle.”
James Carroll of The Boston Globe, writes, “In point of fact, the general's remarks do not make him an extremist. It was unfashionable of him to speak aloud the implications of his ‘abiding faith,’ but exclusivist claims made for Jesus Christ by most Christians ... implicitly insult the religion of others.”
And that is the problem.
Carroll continues, “In the 21st century, exclusivist religion, no matter how ‘mainstream’ and no matter how muted the anathemas that follow from its absolutes, is a sure way to religious war.”
Carroll and Arkin and Sabadow and the rest center their attacks on Christianity, and either ignore the fact, or do not understand, that Muslims follow an absolute and intractable faith.
Sabadow states, “The most dangerous force our country faces right now doesn’t come from the threat of international terrorism. It comes from ... Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin.”
What is it about General Boykin that compares in any fashion with the al-Qaeda network, or Hezbollah, or the Islamic Jihad, or Hamas?
Mr. Sabadow, as my friend, Captain Dallas A. Powell, reminded me, “No Christian has ever killed 3,000 Americans or threatened to kill more.”
What is it about General Boykin that compares in any fashion with the declaration of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini that, “Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all!” (Quoted in Amir Taheri, Holy Terror: Inside the World of Islamic Terrorism)?
General Boykin threatens Sabadow and Arkin and the rest because of what James Carroll called “the implications of his ‘abiding faith,’” and the “exclusivist claims made for Jesus Christ.”
Boykin’s critics refuse to talk about the “exclusivist claims” of Islam. As quoted by Robert Spencer in Islam Unveiled, “The Qur’an ... enjoins, ‘Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that God is with the righteous.’”
Cal Thomas writes, “There are no calls in the Islamic world for any of these speakers – from prime ministers [like Mahathir Mohamad] to imams [in the Palestinian Authority – to tone down, retract or repent for their rhetoric. There are only calls for Americans to remain silent about this growing threat.”
General Boykin correctly stated, our “spiritual enemy will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus.” And for that, his critics say he should be muzzled. Pray saints. Before you, too, are muzzled.
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Copyright 2003 by David Sisler. All Rights Reserved.
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