'Chrislam' – Core Values Without a Core

Two great challenges facing the West in our nasty and brutish post 9 -11 world are how to interact with Muslim states and if it is possible to integrate Muslim citizens into our open, too often self-destructive, hyper-tolerant cultures. The European model of unfettered Muslim immigration to foster further multicultural deconstructions of the character of the host societies has now been shown to be a misguided and disastrous error.

The huge increases in migrants over the last decade were partly due to a politically motivated attempt by ministers to radically change the country and “rub the Right’s nose in diversity”, according to Andrew Neather, a former adviser to Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett. (The Telegraph, 10/23/2009)

Angela Merkel’s comments several months ago that multiculturalism in Germany is an “utter failure” illustrate the point clearly. Upheavals across Europe centered around Islamic violence and Muslim demands for the host culture to submit to Islam, in Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, etc., are illustrative.

An extraordinary speech by David Cameron at the Munich Security Conference on February 5th, (which may or may not have purposely coincided in timing with an English Defence League rally), suggest that even in Britain the Utopian multicultural edifice, pushed to breaking by Islamic demands, violence, and failure to integrate, is beginning to finally crack.

“Let’s properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights – including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?

“These are the sorts of questions we need to ask. Fail these tests and the presumption should be not to engage with (those) organisations,” he added. (BBC, 02/05/2011)

Europe must stamp out intolerance of Western values within its own Muslim communities and far-right groups if it is to defeat the roots of terrorism, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday. (AP)

“If we are to defeat this threat, I believe it’s time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past,” Cameron said. “Instead of ignoring this extremist ideology, we – as governments and societies – have got to confront it, in all its forms.” (AP, 02/05/2011, see above for link)

The great conundrum appears to be how can we in the West best get along with the followers of a cruel, brutal, misogynist and intolerant ideology of submission and supremacism. Those of good will refer to their Muslim friends who are kind and gentle and forswear violence and, most importantly, would “never do jihad” as illustrations and even proof of the “true Islam.” Such inevitably unhappy and frustrated folk reference the now failed assertion that Islam has been hijacked (by terrorists and killers) and that “true Islam” is “the religion of peace.” How much easier things would be if only they were right. But, they’re not.

The kind Muslim friend, a friend of kafirs/non-Muslims, may well be a “good person” and forswear jihad, but this is not what being a “good Muslim” is about. Allah and Mohammed both command that all adherents of Islam (slaves of Allah); all those who have “submitted” must participate in jihad and/or support those who do. To abjure this obligation for jihad is considered a grave sin with serious consequences.

And what is jihad but war against non-Muslims everywhere forever until the entire world is under Islamic rule and Allah’s religion is the only religion on the planet. After all, Mohammed’s mission was to convert the earth to Islam.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah ‘s Apostle said, “I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ and whoever says, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)”

(Bukhari, Hadith, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 196)

There seems to be a terrible disconnect and ignorance where Islamic doctrine is concerned. Allah and Mohammed are found only in the doctrine. The doctrine can be read and understood by anyone, Muslim or kafir (non-Muslim). A “good/moderate Muslim” according to Islamic doctrine is someone like Osama Bin Laden because he actively fights against the kafir to advance the cause of Islam as per the commands of Allah and Mohammed.

Our deep confusion about “moderate” Islam and “extremist/hijacked” Islam versus “the true Islam” originates in our mistaken use of terminology. We have taken the term “moderate” out of its proper context – a context which can only be found in the doctrine of Islam – Koran, Sira, and Hadith.

Those kind Muslims who are friends to kafirs, while such friendships are strictly forbidden in the Islamic doctrine, are extremistsbecause they are ignoring the commands of Allah and Mohammed. The moderateMuslims are those who blow up our aircraft and kill our innocent civilians and scream Islamist slogans as they shoot their unarmed fellow soldiers at US Army posts. Our misuse of terms is one of our greatest errors as it confuses the issue and prevents us from understanding and responding effectively, or at all.

Americans are tolerant people. We live in an open society. When newcomers arrive in the United States it is assumed across the cultural spectrum that they are here to be American and to partake of the freedoms that we enjoy here. We also hate war, though our long history of warfare would suggest that when we do fight – we are very serious about it and mainly successful.

Our military history means that we have a strong martial spirit and heritage. Our Civil War in particular showed the world the kind of hardy stuff of which Americans are made. The western democracies are lucky that this is so as the outcomes of WW1 and WW2 would have been different if it were not so.

Since the end of WW2 and certainly through the 60s and to the present time we seem to have forgotten much of this heritage of certitude and definitiveness -and what it means. Our desire as a society to be open, welcoming and even enlightened has brought us now to a point where we refuse to be discriminating. Everyone is welcome in America – even those whose doctrine tells them that our laws and government are illegitimate and must be replaced with Islamic Sharia and a new caliphate.

Fundamentally, our now-broken culture of multiculturalism, post-modern denialism and guilt would have us believe that ours is a culture no better than any other and that, as a rule, no culture is any better than another. A radical form of equivalence has overtaken us so that we find it difficult if not impossible to make any value judgment (that is, a discrimination) based upon comparisons between ideologies, foundational concepts, and beliefs.

What this means is that we have abandoned our core beliefs in favor of multiculturalism, post-modernism, guilt and despair which has brought us the now ubiquitous fraud of radical equivalence.

This silliness without doubt also brought us the nightmare at Fort Hood and similar horrors. After all, the ridiculous protectors of multiculturalism in our institutions must have said to one another, just because Hasan declared himself a jihadist and expressed anger and hatred toward the country he served in uniform didn’t necessarily mean that he was a potential threat. Obviously, they could not have been more wrong.

We know the bloody results of this absurd non-thinking which continues to keep us mired in Iraq and Afghanistan – both countries having Sharia law and Islam as the foundations of their new “states.” We helped them write their Constitutions. These documents are foundationally in opposition to our own core concepts of freedom, tolerance, and decency that have always characterized American society. This is all a national nightmare of ignorance, wishful thinking, confusion and despair from which we must awaken quickly.

If one is observant one can see the famous “COEXIST” bumper-sticker on vehicles in most every state. Each of the letters in the word “COEXIST” is a symbol; the Islamic crescent is there, the Jewish star, the Christian cross, the “peace sign”, etc., – but it is all a multicultural dream/fraud, and a lie. Coexistence requires that all parties share in the desire for it, and actively work toward it. Peaceful coexistence absolutely must be a “two-way street.”

There is a great deal of outreach, “bridge building” and “interfaith dialoguing” from the Jewish and Christian communities, but mainly silence from those who have submitted to Allah and Mohammed, (unless the proposed mosque at Ground Zero is considered a “bridge” rather than a cruel, tone deaf affront). The new self-defeating absurdist “Chrislam” movement is perhaps the most egregious of all.

In the same wishful thinking/ignorance mode of the “coexist” bumper sticker marketing program, “Chrislam” appears to be gaining traction in some Christian churches. This profoundly confused new Christian movement of appeasement/surrender to Islam, masquerading as “dialogue” and “bridge building,” should be the cause of great alarm. Bill Muehlenberg, a theologian, describes it succinctly:

Chrislam, as the name suggests, is a growing movement wherein some Christians are seeking to find common ground withMuslims. Indeed, it actually seeks to combine Christianity with Islam. It is a syncretistic movement that speaks about “spirituality without boundaries”. Whenever you hear that sort of talk, you should start heading for the hills.

Much like the surge in conversions to Islam after 9/11 this extreme denial of the core tenets of both religions in order to seek a pleasant (but altogether fictional) middle ground of “understanding” is nothing more than a bizarre extension of the “coexistence” theme that entirely denies a conflict exists at all between Islam and every other religion on the planet. The process works like this:

1. Remove context.
2. Deny the fundamental values and concepts of Christian doctrine.
3. Deny the fundamental values and obligations of Islam (including hatred of Christians and Jews, denial of the divinity of Jesus, and the universal requirement of jihad).
4. Ignore context, history, and common sense.
5. Create movement of surrender and pretend that it is a boon and a way to “peace and coexistence.”

While Winston Churchill’s bust was unceremoniously returned to England when the current administration took power and old alliances and friendships were cracked and denied, Churchill’s insight will forever give us a boost to whit

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

This new denialist movement is important because it might someday lead to a kind of peace. However, the “peace” between Islam and Christians that is understood by Muslims is not the same as that understood by Christians. There is likely no sign on the door of these “Chrislam” churches that says, “Surrender hope and your Christianity all ye who enter.”

It is understood that Jesus appears in the Koran; Muslims make much of this when trying to convert kafirs to Islam – that is, when they do “dawah.” But Jesus is not divine in the Koran, in fact he did not die on the cross – this means that Islam denies the two core concepts of Christianity – Christ’s divinity and the resurrection.

And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger – they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.

Koran: 4:157

Disturbingly, the central concepts of Christianity are denied in Islamic doctrine. According to the Koran, there is no Trinity, and Allah never had a son. This begs the question that all “Chrislam” proponents must ask themselves: Is the god of Islam the same god of Christianity? The answer is “no.” The concept that Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all co-believers in a kind of unified “Abrahamic tradition” is the foundation of “interfaith dialogue” – unfortunately, it is not so.

O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three” – Cease! (it is) better for you! – Allah is only One God. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.

Koran: 4:171

Those who suggest (Christians) that Jesus Christ was the Son of God are committing a great blasphemy according to the Koran.

And they say: The Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins, that they should invoke a son for ((Allah)) Most Gracious.

Koran, 19:88-91

Where is the “middle ground” between these diametrically opposed ideologies? What can be the tolerance and “understanding” basis for theological discussions within the walls of a church or synagogue during “Chrislam” events or “bridge building” meetings or “interfaith dialogues?”

Does it give comfort or confusion to Christians (and Jews) who participate in these denialist dawa facades that according to Islamic doctrine Christ returns to earth following the Islamic messiah – but then proceeds to destroy crosses, end Christianity, and kill Jews?

Jesus will descend from heaven and espouse the cause of the Mahdi (Islamic Messiah). The Christians and Jews will see him and recognize his true status. The Christians will abandon their faith in his godhead (sic).

(Al-Sadr and Mutahhari “The Awaited Savior,” as quoted in “The Islamic Antichrist” by Joel Richardson, p.55)

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).

Hadith: Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 43, Number 656

Jesus , the son of Mary will soon descend among the Muslims as a just judge… Jesus will, therefore, judge according to the law of Islam… all people will be required to embrace Islam and there will be no other alternative.

(Valiankode, “Doomsday Portents and Prophecies,” 358, as quoted in “The Islamic Antichrist” by Joel Richardson, p. 56, (see above).

Sophie Scholl and her friends of the White Rose are among the few great German heroes of WW2. All freedom loving people, all those who love justice and revere bravery, selflessness, and goodness consider Sophie Scholland her friends true heroes. With few exceptions (e.g., Colonel Stauffenberg), they are among the very few of their countrymen to whom Germans can forever refer back with pride for having actively opposed the Nazi regime.

Susanne Zeller-Hirzel is one of two surviving members of the White Rose group. She spent 6 months in a gestapo jail for her White Rose activities. (Image above courtesy of Spartacus Educational.)

Zeller-Hirzel, now an opponent of jihadism, believes that defending our cultures and countries against a rising Islam requires the active participation of the church. In an October, 2009 interview, she said,

I think something terrible needs to happen before Germans awaken. 9/11 was too far away from the German people. The churches fail miserably in the task of informing people about Islamic ideology. That can only happen through grassroots activism, education and instruction. Even if in Europe the churches play an increasingly smaller social role, the people ought to be agitating in church institutions, in the parishes and so forth.

There are core principles that make a Christian a Christian; there are core principles that make an American. Understanding and re-embracing our core principles will make us able once again to be discriminating (in a healthy, self-supporting way) so that our cultures and way of life will not be overrun by an intractable, violent, supremacist ideology that views our tolerance, our silly denialism, our “coexistence” bumper stickers and institutional appeasements as nothing more than societal decline and weakness.

We cannot acknowledge and understand (nor defend ourselves against) an oppositional and hostile ideology if we pretend that it is something that it is not. As the saying goes, “It is what it is” and Islam is nothing if not about Islam itself.

Denialism and our failure to discern and discriminate, the inability to make value judgments based upon our understanding of ourselves and what we stand for and believe make us ripe fodder for the aggressive cultural, ideological, and terror war that is being waged against us. Those people and institutions that pretend an enemy isn’t, and that refuse to discriminate between survival and political correctness and cannot appreciate the quality of their own values versus those of others are the foundations of the deconstruction and ultimate fall of our culture.

We should take the message of Zeller-Hirzel and ignore the dawa and accusations of those whose purpose is our destruction. We always have a choice, and denial of the truth should not be one of them. By way of encouragement Zeller-Hirzel, once of the White Rose, said, “Strive for unity. It makes resistance powerful and courageous.”