PM right to call out violent Islamists
By Kevin Donnelly
12:00AM November 12, 2018
In 1996, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, American academic Samuel P. Huntington argued that the next existential threat facing Western civilisation would be the clash of civilisations and different religions.
Last Friday’s terrifying attack by an Islamic-inspired terrorist and the death of Sisto Malaspina, the co-owner of Melbourne’s Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, provide yet another example of how prescient Huntington was.
Last week’s events, while intensely painful and distressing at a personal level for all those affected, illustrates the continuing conflict and terror associated with Islamic fundamentalism’s jihad against Western civilisation and Judeo-Christianity.
Whether Islamic terrorists attack London, Manchester, Paris, Nice, Boston, New York, Bali, Sydney or Melbourne, the reality is that those committed to Islamic fundamentalism are incessant in their desire to rain destruction and death on the West.
Even more significant is the fact it is increasingly clear that some migrants allowed to settle in Australia present a clear and present danger as, in addition to not wanting to assimilate, their religious beliefs are inimical to our way of life.
Contrary to what Labor MP Anne Aly argues when condemning Scott Morrison for calling out the threat represented by “radical, violent, extremist Islam”, the reality is that not all cultures and all religions are equal or worthy of respect. As Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes in her book Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now: “Islam is not a religion of peace.” And in reply to those foolish enough to believe the opposite, Ali writes: “We must acknowledge that they (radical Islamists) are driven by a political ideology, an ideology embedded in Islam itself, in the holy book of the (Koran) as well as the life and teachings of the Prophet (Mohammed)”.
In a series of interviews published in 111 Questions on Islam, Islamic scholar Samir Khalil Samir also argues that Islam is inherently violent when he quotes from the Koran verse 29 of repentance, sura 9. It states: “Fight against those who do not believe in God or in the Last Day, nor consider forbidden what God and his apostles have forbidden, nor acknowledge the religion of truth.”
Samir goes on to note that Jews and Christians, also referred to as people of the book, have a special place in Islam’s battle against the unbelievers when he quotes from the Koran: “Had the People of the Book accepted the faith, it would surely have been better for them. Some are true believers, but most of them are evildoers.”
As detailed in The Third Choice by Melbourne-based Anglican pastor and Islamic scholar Mark Durie, the Islamic practice of dhimmitude commands that unbelievers have to convert to Islam, be taxed and treated as inferior or face death.
Christianity, on the other hand, as evidenced by the New Testament, is a religion of peace. According to the Bible, the second most important commandment is to “love thy neighbour as thyself”. Unlike the Prophet Mohammed, who was a military leader and who spread Islam by the sword, Jesus preached tolerance and forgiveness, saying: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Unlike the Koran’s emphasis on jihad, the Bible also states: “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
The Christian belief that we are all made in the image of God and that we have free will and the ability to decide right from wrong, as well as the Enlightenment’s commitment to rationality and reason, distinguish Western civilisation from Islam and the Koran.
Whereas Christianity experienced the Reformation and disagreements are permitted concerning how best to interpret the Bible, Islam holds that the Koran must be taken literally and that any who disagree are guilty of apostasy and must be punished.
Witness the fate of Asia Bibi, who spent the past eight years in jail awaiting trial for daring to be a Christian in Muslim Pakistan and who now, even though the Supreme Court dismissed the charge against her, is in hiding, fearful of being murdered.
As noted by Hirsi Ali, one of the reasons Islam is incompatible with Western civilisation is because it is based on the belief that the Koran is “the last and immutable word of God and the infallibility of (Mohammed) as the last divinely inspired messenger”.
Add the fact Islamic states, especially those based on sharia, are theocracies, unlike Christian nations where there is a distinction between church and state, and it is clear why Australian politicians and governments must do all in their power to protect and defend our way of life.
