Since the time I published my previous post, I see not only the usual miscomprehensions among Jihad Watchers which I already noted, but also the rearing of the ugly heads of conspiracy theories, essentially implying that the U.S. Government is in conscious league with the enemy—which is crucially different from saying that the U.S. Government is unconsciously, through sociopolitical factors (such as the mainstream dominance of PC MC), saying and doing things which have the practical effect of enabling the enemy.
From reading comments by Jihad Watchers over the years, I get the impression that almost half believe, in one form or another, in this conspiracy theory about our own U.S. Government (as well as about other Western governments).
All I can say is, if you believe that high level members of our own Government would consciously support the enemy (whether for money or for ideology does not matter), then you might as well throw in the towel, move out to the hills of Idaho, join up with some rag-tag cult of ex-militia members, and hunker down for Armageddon.
This is what happens to well-intentioned, relatively intelligent people when they lack the explanation of the larger picture. The problem we are having collectively, throughout the West, in identifying and analyzing our enemy today, is not primarily a problem of some dastardly cabal of “elites”, not a problem of good intelligent people in high places being seduced into becoming traitors by bribes of oil money from Muslims, not a problem of “Leftists” or “Gramscians”. No: Our primary problem is that the entire West has undergone a sea change in consciousness over the past 50-odd years, during which PC MC has become dominant and mainstream. And according to the paradigm of PC MC, Islam remains off-limits to substantive criticism, let alone condemnation. As long as that paradigm remains dominant and mainstream, it does not matter how much data is marshalled to show Muslims saying and doing bad things. All that data—that ever-growing mountain of data—gets processed by the PC MC template machine, and out the other end are unfailingly excreted interpretations which always, somehow, in one way or another, save Islam from substantive criticism, and blame all other things under the sun (usually, in one way or another, the West).
This is not remarkable: it is very unremarkable, very ordinary, very mainstream, throughout the entire West. It has been this way for at least the past 50 years. Why it has been this way, and what are the causes of this epochal change in sociopolitical consciousness—well, that is another matter, a very complex matter. But nevertheless, the result is what we are dealing with now. And about that result and its proper description, Jihad Watchers seem to be oddly ignorant. As a result of their ignorance, they flail around for other explanations, including some that veer too close to the flame of conspiracy theories in one shape or another.
Without this description of the overarching problem, Jihad Watchers will continue being “amazed” and “saddened” and will continue to scratch their heads and, in anger and frustration, will reach for the easier explanation: the conspirary theory.
By doing so, Jihad Watchers have effectively thrown in the towel and given up on the West, ready to hunker down to wait for Armageddon at worst, or at best, some apocalyptic Mad Max scenario where a small group will fight the chaotic dissolution of the world and rebuild civilization from there.
God help us.
Update: More conspiracy-theory mongering in the comments section on Jihad Watch, over a post on 1/11/08 about a Diana West article about the Coughlin firing:
More and more, I keep thinking there must be some huge, global conspiracy to make islam supreme.
For what reason I don't know - oil? money? power?
The above-quoted commenter was not criticized by other commenters, but actually found resonance for his wigged-out views.
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