Oddly the Chinese government’s literally fascist crackdown on Muslims in one of their restive provinces hasn’t garnered the kind of criticism our very tepid response to the challenge of Islamic militantism has. It’s almost as if the left in this country would treat Muslims exactly the same way after the “revolution.”
From the New York Times:
BEIJING  Local governments in a Muslim desert region in western China have imposed strict limits on religious practices during the traditional Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week, according to the Web sites of four of those governments.
The rules include prohibiting women from wearing veils and men from growing beards, as well as barring government officials from observing Ramadan. One town, Yingmaili, requires that local officials check up on mosques at least twice a week during Ramadan.
The local governments administer areas in the western part of Xinjiang, a vast autonomous region that is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people who often chafe under rule by the ethnic Han Chinese. In August, a wave of attacks swept through Xinjiang, the largest surge of violence in the region in years. Some local officials blamed separatist groups for the instability, and the central government sent security forces to the area.
The limits on religious practices put in place by local governments appear to be part of the broader security crackdown. The areas affected by the new rules are near Kuqa, a town struck by multiple bombings on Aug. 10.
Yowza. And you Paulnuts thought the Patriot Act was bad. I’m a religious freedom guy myself but Militant Islam has always presented me with an almost impossible quandary. I want people to be Muslims if they want and as long as they’re Americans first but that’s an ideal in many cases, and that love of freedom is the exact opposite of what Militant Islam is. Pulp Author Robert E. Howard summed up this sort of Islam in a way politicians avoid almost eighty years ago in one of his Solomon Kane stories The Footfalls Within:
“Hassim, Kane ruminated was the very symbol of militant Islam -bold, reckless, materialistic, sparing nothing, fearing nothing, as sure of his own destiny and as contemptuous of the rights of others as the most powerful Western king.”
Certainly Howard understood then what many of us refuse to admit now, that “radical” Islam isn’t a new phenomenon nor is it driven by Wahhabism, Zionism or so called American imperialism but is instead the expression of the Arab Imperialism that permeates the Koran and Hadiths. The militant Muslim is following in the footsteps of a thousand years of Islamic conquest, not “perverting” Islam. With that in mind it is easy to see the cold logic of the Chinese Communists’ clampdown on Muslims.
But as a Republican I am unwilling in most cases to apply the same sort of logic to American Muslims, especially when there are reformist Muslims attempting to de-militantize Islam and create a more America-friendly, almost Protestant Islam. Groups like the American Islamic Congress have spoken out against militant Islam in Darfur and and America. Muslims Against Sharia have explicitly called for a Reformation of Islam that includes abolishing Sharia, declaring violent Koranic verses outdated and even forcing Muslims to admit the Crusades were provoked by Muslim occupation of formerly Christian lands.
I shudder to suggest that these Muslims would be treated the same as militants but I am under no illusions that these moderates have anywhere near the sway in the Muslim world the militants have. I want to support the moderates, but to do that I realize we have to not just keep the Militant Islam at bay, but destroy it entirely.
I have often tried joining groups in the Counter Jihad movement but have always found that they are either too willing to use an extremist model of dealing with Islam like the Center for Vigilant Freedom or else unwilling to truly deal with Islamism at all, instead becoming little more than Internet salons where people forward each other interesting articles but do little to fight the enemy. Somewhere between the two lies the path we must take, but I have not seen any organization espousing that middle ground, espousing uncompromising strength in the face of the enemy with a place at our side for our Muslim allies.
And unless we find that middle ground there can be no victory.
have often tried joining groups in the Counter Jihad movement but have always found that they are either too willing to use an extremist model of dealing with Islam like the Center for Vigilant Freedom or else unwilling to truly deal with Islamism at all, instead becoming little more than Internet salons where people forward each other interesting articles but do little to fight the enemy. Somewhere between the two lies the path we must take, but I have not seen any organization espousing that middle ground, espousing uncompromising strength in the face of the enemy with a place at our side for our Muslim allies.
I think basically the same that you write in that paragraph. I don’t believe that treating all Muslims are terrorists is sound or just and I do believe that doing nothing is also very wrong in the long run. But I don’t see politicians very interested really in Islamist infiltration nor normal people, who (I think) that are more comfortable blaming the West than the islamists as that (they consider) is going to let them live in peace without any kind of problems with Islamism.
What I fear is that each day that elapses without finding a solution and act, we are losing solutions which could be more logical and accurate.
I wouldn’t trust Communist China on fighting these self-described Islamic radicals. Why are they still aligned with them when it comes to protecting Iran then? If that’s the case here.
Your post really crystallizes the conflict between defending religious freedom in America and protecting everything America represents for future generations. That simply cannot be accomplished without the vocal support of moderate Muslims, but clearly more needs to be done to ensure our safety and the continuance of the Western way of life.
mah: I think they have a deal with the Islamists where they can treat their internal Muslim populations however they want as long as the support the wider Jihad (like in Darfur) but I was talking about the tactics. I cringe to think we will have to do the same thing here, but I realize unless we make significant strides in the war on militant Islam, and are able to turn America’s mosques over to the more sedate Muslim happy to be in America, these may be the tactic we’ll end up having to employ.
Claudia: Exactly my point. The Ottoman turks had Christian and other non-Muslim allies in their army, we must emulate that part of their tactic and make America appealing to “moderate” Muslims by projecting the strenght need to protect them from Islamists.
I agree wholeheartedly with your feelings here. As much as I detest China for its numerous and barabaric human rights violations, I have to admit I have a sense that they will be the only country not over thrown by the militant Islamists if things continue as they are. It’s just how I feel when I look at the big picture, and I hate saying that because of how much I loathe and disagree with China.
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply those were your feelings. I have a dozen things going on around me. I meant that I agree with your words but also feel … etc … 😉
The best way to support moderate Muslims is to stop pumping petro-dollars into radical Muslim countries. I don’t mean to sound like a tree-hugger, but oil is the lifeblood of Islamic radicalism. Without oil revenues, Islamic fundamentalism will shrivel up into obscurity just like fascism.
SMP:Exactly my my worry. The Chi-coms support Jihadism in Africa and elsewhere so I’m not willing to hold them up as an example of anything. I just wonder if we’re a little too soft to do what’s necessary. Compare what the Chinese just did to the wailing and gnashing of teeth we have here when the Feds just want to know what book someone took out of a library.
Muslims Against Sharia: I agree but I think we must go further. We must arm and train moderates, and like the communists we should stoke revolutionary movements there. Instead of just Democracy we should have supported the modernized monarchies like the Shah of Iran who provided women’s and minorities with many more rights than the current Iranian government. Drill for oil here, and destroy the Fundamentalists there and allow reformists to truly take over.