The Ultimate Fear

The action of what appears now to be a homegrown jihadist at Ft. Hood has made it necessary to confront the hidden fear that lurks in the muslim-nonmuslim relationship in the United States. It can no longer go unspoken, because not confronting it will lead inevitably to total distrust.Political correctness here is unacceptable.

Somewhere, way back in this blog, I mentioned that the muslim religion is more than that. It is a prescribed way of life. It makes daily, even hourly demands of behavior. It affects clothing, relationships, ownership of property, investment restrictions, and family interaction.It has many internal variations, large and small. It has sects that preach violence,others that don't.

It has a system of law:Sharia. Few non-muslims would wish to be under the control of Sharia law.

Moderate muslims disclaim the need for Sharia law, yet it is an integral part of other muslim's beliefs.We have all seen the fatwahs on Rushdie and the Danish cartoonists, and the killing of Theo Van Gogh in Holland. We have set those aside as being the work of radicals.

We have seen as well the honor killings, at least two that I am aware of, in our own country, where loving fathers and/or brothers kill their daughters or sisters because, usually in a relationship with a man, they have brought dishonor to the family. These men have been moderate muslims or appeared to be. They led integrated american lives, but in the clutch reverted to Sharia.

So this is the fear: Will the moderate muslims of today become tomorrow's radicals as their numbers increase in this country as they have in Europe? Will they revert under pressure to muslim conformity if faced with having to oppose other muslims??

That is what we fear.

To many of us there appears to be an intrinsic difference between the requirements of the muslim religion and our judeo-christian society; prescribed behavior vs free will. We know of the recruitment from our prisons. We know of radical imams in this country. We rely on the moderates to police their own, to prevail over possible excesses.

Then we have Major Hasan and our confidence crumbles. Should we expect this from other muslims in our military? Did political correctness in the handling of Major Hasan facilitate this massacre? It certainly looks that way. If it did, then those who shuffled the papers to avoid his expulsion should face charges.

Moderate muslims must now stand up as Americans.They have been too quiet. We must have town hall meetings dealing with the questions of the appeal of radical Islam and Sharia dominance. I see no other way to avoid a confrontation no one wants.

I hope for response.