Jan Ireland
God, Allah Akhbar, and the unspeakable murder of Nicholas Berg in Iraq
By Jan Ireland
Unspeakable.
Muslim extremists in the Middle East use "Allah Akhbar" (God is Great) as the phrase of choice when beheading in the name of God in public — as in the recent murder of innocent American citizen Nicholas Berg in Iraq. That was an unspeakable act.
Leftist extremists in America find the words "under God" unsuitable in public if they refer to the Christian religion. And that is another "unspeakable" act, though it is rarely so labeled.
The goal of leftist extremists in America is to stamp out the Christian religion. The goal of Muslim extremists in Iraq — and the world — is to ... stamp out the Christian religion.
So what are the differences between the two groups and their goals? Is one more "unspeakable" than the other in the eyes of the world?
Christians in America have watched the derogation and banning of Christian symbols and references in public for years. Ten Commandments displays, the word Christmas, and the symbol of the cross have been systematically removed from view. Even the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance — declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court at one point — are still in legal limbo.
Muslim extremists perpetrated 9-11. In a single morning, three thousand lives were slaughtered, crushed, immolated. Strangers holding hands thudded to the concrete from upper floors to avoid being burned alive.
Before the smoke cleared, as we gathered body parts for DNA identification, while we were still reeling in stunned disbelief — we were told that the Muslim religion was a religion of peace.
Hooded Muslim extremists shouting "Allah Akhbar" decapitated Nicholas Berg. There were five of them, one of him. The point should not be missed that they failed to sharpen the knife beforehand. These five Muslim extremists — brutes and animals that they were — in actuality sawed Nicholas Berg's head off.
The sick nausea you are feeling, the desire to move away, the anger you feel at reading the words, indicates that you have a conscience.
Not a single Muslim extremist that I have seen has evidenced a conscience. Many seem happy to commit the heinous acts, in salacious anticipation of a next-world reward.
Unspeakable.
But "unspeakable" should also be applied to the legacy of the leftist extremists.
Americans have been conditioned — by peer pressure, by court decree, by public school indoctrination — to accept that "any" religion is as good as any other. Subtly, subversively they have also been given the message that the Christian religion is worse than any other.
Our values have been eroded by the relativism and hatred of America that pervades such a premise. We have lost our ability to condemn what should be condemned.
Despite what may or may not be written in Islamic texts, the Muslim religion is not today a religion of peace. Christians have been quick to publicly condemn violence. Muslims have not. If Muslims want the world to believe their religion is a religion of peace, they will have to snatch it back from the jaws of hell. It is certainly teetering there now.
The agendas of both extremist groups should be labeled by the world as unspeakable.
But it continues to seem that, about that, much of the world chooses not to speak.
© Jan Ireland
Unspeakable.
Muslim extremists in the Middle East use "Allah Akhbar" (God is Great) as the phrase of choice when beheading in the name of God in public — as in the recent murder of innocent American citizen Nicholas Berg in Iraq. That was an unspeakable act.
Leftist extremists in America find the words "under God" unsuitable in public if they refer to the Christian religion. And that is another "unspeakable" act, though it is rarely so labeled.
The goal of leftist extremists in America is to stamp out the Christian religion. The goal of Muslim extremists in Iraq — and the world — is to ... stamp out the Christian religion.
So what are the differences between the two groups and their goals? Is one more "unspeakable" than the other in the eyes of the world?
Christians in America have watched the derogation and banning of Christian symbols and references in public for years. Ten Commandments displays, the word Christmas, and the symbol of the cross have been systematically removed from view. Even the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance — declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court at one point — are still in legal limbo.
Muslim extremists perpetrated 9-11. In a single morning, three thousand lives were slaughtered, crushed, immolated. Strangers holding hands thudded to the concrete from upper floors to avoid being burned alive.
Before the smoke cleared, as we gathered body parts for DNA identification, while we were still reeling in stunned disbelief — we were told that the Muslim religion was a religion of peace.
Hooded Muslim extremists shouting "Allah Akhbar" decapitated Nicholas Berg. There were five of them, one of him. The point should not be missed that they failed to sharpen the knife beforehand. These five Muslim extremists — brutes and animals that they were — in actuality sawed Nicholas Berg's head off.
The sick nausea you are feeling, the desire to move away, the anger you feel at reading the words, indicates that you have a conscience.
Not a single Muslim extremist that I have seen has evidenced a conscience. Many seem happy to commit the heinous acts, in salacious anticipation of a next-world reward.
Unspeakable.
But "unspeakable" should also be applied to the legacy of the leftist extremists.
Americans have been conditioned — by peer pressure, by court decree, by public school indoctrination — to accept that "any" religion is as good as any other. Subtly, subversively they have also been given the message that the Christian religion is worse than any other.
Our values have been eroded by the relativism and hatred of America that pervades such a premise. We have lost our ability to condemn what should be condemned.
Despite what may or may not be written in Islamic texts, the Muslim religion is not today a religion of peace. Christians have been quick to publicly condemn violence. Muslims have not. If Muslims want the world to believe their religion is a religion of peace, they will have to snatch it back from the jaws of hell. It is certainly teetering there now.
The agendas of both extremist groups should be labeled by the world as unspeakable.
But it continues to seem that, about that, much of the world chooses not to speak.
© Jan Ireland
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