Sunday, August 12, 2007
Should Robert Spencer clarify his solution to the frigging problem of Islam?
A recent article on Jihad Watch rather oddly reiterated what Robert Spencer (and, of course, the Jihad Watch organization of which he is the official director) does not believe about the problem of Islam.
This raises the question—yet again—of what Spencer does believe: i.e., what are his suggestions for workable solutions to the problem of Islam?
When we wonder, appropriately and reasonably, what form his solutions might take, we are not with gingerly fastidiousness, bordering on quibbling (as Hugh Fitzgerald has done a couple of times, unfairly), freezing that word—solution—into anything necessarily “final”. We are simply trying, as intelligent free people who are faced with a most exigent and dire problem, to brainstorm things we can do to ameliorate this terrible situation we are all in.
Now, if Spencer and/or Fitzgerald deigned to join us lowly fellow anti-jihadists who cling to their website, and decided to proffer their suggestions, nobody of common sense and decency is going to seize upon that with an “Ah hah! Spencer and Fitzgerald are now committed to a Solution! Now they're done for! Now we have them pegged!”
Poppycock. And shame on us for fretting about anyone so meanspirited and idiotic who would see fit to exploit such an unremarkably appropriate suggestion coming from the pen of Messrs. Spencer and Fitzgerald.
And then today, we see, in the Comments section of the Jihad Watch article we linked above, Spencer brushing off a loyal reader with an arrogantly insipid response to a sincere and intelligent question. This loyal reader, “Infidel Pride” (whom I have seen contributing intelligent comments on various threads on Jihad Watch for many, many months) quoted one of the points Spencer listed in the aforementioned Jihad Watch article to express what he (Spencer) does not believe—
“6. Neither Hugh nor I wish the conflict between the West and the Islamic world to continue, expand, or be enflamed.”
—and the loyal reader then, with eminently unremarkable reasonableness, asked Spencer:
“Why not, if one may ask?”
To which Spencer deigned to lower himself from his throne on high to respond thusly:
“Infidel Pride:
“Quite obviously, because we want it to be over, with Islamic jihadists posing no threat to the West.
“Cordially
“Robert Spencer”
What kind of answer is this? Of course we all want this “to be over”. I would like all war to end, and all children to have lollipops and for all disease to end and cotton candy growing from every tree, too. What the fuck...?
Come on, now. All Spencer and/or Fitzgerald have to do—if they can staunch their nose bleeds long enough to breathe the common air we lowly Jihad Watchers breathe—is say something along the lines of:
“Look: Given all that I have studied about Islam, here is what I think the West should do about the problem that faces us. Before I get into particulars, please keep in mind that these ideas I offer are not meant to be the last word, nor do I think they are exhaustive, nor am I under the delusion that only I have the right answers and nobody can disagree with me in good faith and supplement or even correct me on certain details. I only offer these suggestions as the modest opinion of one person who has studied and thought a lot about this matter. Furthermore, these suggestions I offer are not my main concern, since I am not a policy-maker nor a politician, and I recognize that such professionals are of course more suited to direct involvement in the arena of actual, concrete solutions. I only offer these suggestions as ideas for general public discourse for those who are involved in public policy to read and hopefully to assimilate as food for thought, to help inform their decisions in the near future on this most important issue we all face.”
Etc. Then Spencer can proceed to adumbrate whatever solutions he thinks the West should pursue. He would have no need to worry that anybody will bite him—except idiots out there who are beneath the contempt of all normally intelligent people.
Would that be so fucking hard? Do Spencer and Fitzgerald have brandy bottles up their assholes or something?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Disengagement and mockery are the best strategies. No more Muslim immigration, no jizya in all its form, and ridiculing Islam rather than pretending it is a religion of peace.
john sobieski,
One problem is, even your limited measures (which I agree with) would have the repercussion of hardening, if not inflaming, general Muslim hostility even more than now, in turn endangering us further with regard to the millions of Muslims already within the West. Thus, your measures would likely, it seems to me, actually do what Infidel Pride in my essay implied in his question to Spencer: it would escalate our conflict, not serve to stave it off or reduce it.
Thus, all these limited measures are just putting off the ultimate clash between Islam itself and the West. The only acceptable backing off, or reduction, of that clash would be radical and powerful words & deeds on the part of millions of Muslims and their various representatives demonstrating good will and an embrace of modern Western progress.
Short of that, there seems to be no alternative but the road to a general clash; i.e., a world war -- though that road will likely be travelled very slowly over the next couple of decades, with lots of half-assed fits and starts, and lots of sloppy and suicidal policy actions on our part that will only serve to make the final conflict bloodier and messier than it needs to be.
Actually, there are only 2 ways by which the 6th thing that Robert & Hugh do not wish can be achieved:
1. The West in general submitting to Islam, which unfortunately is what they currently seem to be doing, in which case, the entire rationale behind JihadWatch and DhimmiWatch gets called into question;
2. The Ummah in general ending its supremacist goals as enjoined in the Quran. But if they were going to do this on their own, without being intimidated into doing so by the Infidel world (something that's not even happening), there wouldn't be any rationale for JihadWatch under this scenario either.
Also, ridiculing Islam, as John Sobieski suggests above, is only safe when there are the numbers to back it - and thereby create an environment whereby Muslims will want to leave on their own.
Nobody,
You wrote:
"Actually, there are only 2 ways by which the 6th thing that Robert & Hugh do not wish can be achieved:
1. The West in general submitting to Islam...
2. The Ummah in general ending its supremacist goals as enjoined in the Quran."
Your #2 is what I meant in my response to john sobieski above:
"radical and powerful words & deeds on the part of millions of Muslims and their various representatives demonstrating good will and an embrace of modern Western progress."
Post a Comment