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November 6, 2008
Courage and the Long War against Islamic Supremacism and Jihad (Part 2 of 2)
Click here for Part One.
III.E. Coalitions for Equality, Liberty, Freedom, and Independence
We need to fight smarter in the campaign ahead, and by clearly defining our issue as one of fighting for equality, liberty, freedom, and independence, and by engaging with other human rights and related organizations in shared coalitions.
This should include developing coalitions with such groups involving:
-- Women's Rights. A pressing issue in the United States and around the world is continuing abuse of women by Islamic supremacists, including issues of rape, honor killing, and the unequal treatment of women in Islamic supremacist societies. The recent stoning of a 13-year-old child who said that she was raped, and was then accused of adultery in Somalia (based on Sharia) provides another horrific example of this human rights travesty. We have also seen the numerous Islamic supremacist "honor killings" and the use Islamic supremacist Sharia law to suppress women around the world. American women right's organizations must also understand that such Islamic supremacist "honor killings" and abuses happen in America. We must develop coalitions with leaders such as Phyllis Chesler and women's rights organizations in coordinating the campaign against Islamic supremacism.
-- Academic Freedom. The growing efforts of professors and academia with an agenda in accommodating or appeasing Islamic supremacism remains a major challenge for America's academic freedom. We must coordinate efforts with organizations for academic freedom and campus-wide anti-Islamic supremacism to support the national campaign against Islamic supremacism.
-- Religious Freedom. Islamic supremacism is a fundamental threat to all religious freedom. We need to work with groups dedicated to religious freedom such as Freedom House, other groups, religious leaders, and religious organizations. Such supremacist threat to religious freedom and the demonstrated abuses of Islamic supremacist governments to religious freedom around the world should make religious leaders in America a natural ally to this national campaign. It is vital that the issue be clearly defined to such religious leaders that we are facing a fight between equality and liberty versus supremacism in the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism.
-- Freedom of Speech and Press. The American media should be another major ally in the national campaign against Islamic supremacism. Islamic supremacist governments in other parts of the world have arrested and convicted journalists for crimes of "blasphemy." Islamic supremacists have attacked and threatened print media around the world. Islamic supremacism is, by definition, against freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As Americans did during the war against white supremacism, it is vital that a grassroots freedom fighting organizations engage local news media to convey why the ideology of Islamic supremacism is so dangerous to these human rights.
-- Energy Independence. There is no more pressing issue in the war against Islamic supremacism than energy independence. Every day that the issue of energy independence is not addressed, Islamic supremacist groups' funding increases through petrodollars and foreign funding. We cannot raise funds for a war of ideas against Islamic supremacism, while giving the enemy funds with our other hand through petrodollars. This national security priority is also a priority for the war of ideas so that the endless funding to Islamic supremacism groups and lobbying in America and around the world is curtailed, and so Jihadists are not continuing to be funded through the failure to address energy independence and Sharia finance zakat. We must identify and develop coalitions with energy independence organizations committed to America's freedom as part of the war against Islamic supremacism. Moreover, such energy independence must be an individual commitment by activists in the cause against Islamic supremacism.
-- Economic Independence. As the American financial crisis has shown, it is imperative for America to rebuild its economy. Such economic rebuilding cannot tolerate the embarrassing bailout to organizations such as AIG which retained its Sharia Finance division while getting U.S. tax dollars. Such commitment to American economic independence in a globalized economy must include the recognition that Sharia Finance zakat is often used for Islamic supremacist "charitable" causes including Jihad itself. American taxpayers cannot have millions spent in efforts to prevent money laundering to Jihadist groups while allowing backdoor financing via Sharia Finance to Islamic supremacism. The growth of Sharia Finance undermines our economic independence by allowing an ideology that is against equality and liberty to infiltrate our very economy itself. But when we have the U.S. Treasury holding training classes on Sharia Finance for government employees (planned for November 6th in Washington D.C.), it is clear that we need to escalate the war of ideas to the American public.
III.F. Mobilizing America - One Town Hall at a Time
We must get out from behind these computers, blogs, and email, and get on the streets of America.
We must mobilize the American public to challenge Islamic supremacism in our cities, states, and country - one town hall, one conference, one public hearing, one campus debate, one public outreach campaign at a time. The campaign against Islamic supremacism must attack the ideology in public on all fronts, and confront those who would appease, excuse, or support the Islamic supremacist ideology that is against equality and liberty.
We must hold public rallies and demonstrations to support equality and liberty and denounce Islamic supremacism for the threat it represents to these human rights. We must join in public coalition activities with other human rights and liberty organizations. We must hold and attend press conferences where we can reach the local, state, and national media.
We need to reach the core constituency of equality and liberty – the American public.
Many of them don't get it. They have been deceived by nonsensical propaganda that we attacking religious freedoms or persecuting "victims" of discrimination. That is the same propaganda that George Wallace and white supremacists tried to use in the 1960s – that white supremacists were misunderstood "victims," whose "rights" to impose supremacist segregation were being violated.
Our fellow Americans deserve the truth on Islamic supremacism, and we won't reach them by merely preaching to the choir over the Internet. We need to reach those who don't understand what is going on, who aren't aware that the war of ideas is between Islamic supremacism versus equality and liberty. We need to reach those with a short attention span that don't pay attention to what is going on in the world. We need to reach those who have taken the rights of equality and liberty for granted and have forgotten how fundamental they are to their lives. We need to reach those who really would rather not know about the threat of Islamic supremacism because that way they don't have to listen to their conscience.
A number of leaders on this issue have been facing the public for some time, at college campuses, at conferences, at Congressional hearings, and at other public forums. The efforts of these leaders should be an encouragement to all of us to do the same. But we must also realize that we can't get there with only a handful of leaders speaking out against Islamic supremacism.
In a 50 state nation of 300 million people, we need hundreds of American citizen activists speaking out to the American public against Islamic supremacism. We have to learn from lessons in the past that increasingly such human rights activists against Islamic supremacism need to also find optimum forums to reach the public. We can't have a mere handful of leaders against Islamic supremacism tucked away only in academic conferences or in forums on Capitol Hill, where they can readily be shouted down or ignored. We need to not only get out from behind the computers; we also need to get out of the hushed conference rooms. We need to change the rules that are keeping our message supporting equality and liberty quashed.
The war against Islamic supremacism needs visibility to the general American public. The freedom fighters against Islamic supremacism need to appear in unexpected, unconventional public venues to raise the general public awareness that a war of ideas is even taking place. We need a march for freedom in Washington DC, in Boston, in New York City, in Atlanta, in Chicago, in Dallas, in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, and in every major city in the United States. We need to campaign for freedom and against Islamic supremacism directly to the American public.
The war against Islamic supremacism must be understood not just as a counterterrorism issue, not just as a foreign policy issue, not just as a Federal Government Issue. The war against Islamic supremacism must be streamlined into the basics of what it is - a clash of equality and liberty versus Islamic supremacism. The American people must be educated that this attack on the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty is not just in Afghanistan, not just in Iraq, not just in Iran, and not just in Pakistan – but is a global attack by Islamic supremacism on equality and liberty to all people in the world. It is an attack on American equality and liberty. It is an attack on the future that all Americans' children will inherit.
We need to change the rules that have kept this human rights threat of Islamic supremacism from reaching the masses of the American public – from the media that won't report on it, the foreign policy analysts who won't talk about it, the counterterror analysts that would rather focus on tactical measures, and those government leaders that look the other way on it. We need to go around them and go directly to the American public on this.
It isn't going to be easy, and it certainly won't always be kind. We can expect a lot of rejection, a lot of abuse, and a lot of confrontation in bringing unfiltered, honest truth to the American people. There are many with a vested interest in keeping the American public in denial and in ignorance. But those of us who are human rights fighters against Islamic supremacism know that ignorance is not bliss, but ignorance condemns helpless and hopeless innocents in America and around the world to the abuse of Islamic supremacism. We need to directly reach the people that can begin to change that – the American public – whose daily lives are dependent on the defense of the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty that Islamic supremacism would destroy.
IV. A Shared Understanding on Why All Americans Must Oppose Islamic Supremacism
A primary challenge in the war of ideas against Islamic supremacist groups in America is that many Americans don't see the current threat of Islamic supremacism in their lives, just as some did not recognize the threat of Nazi-supporting Germans in America prior to World War II. They aren't concerned about the expansion and funding of Sharia in the United States, they are oblivious to Islamic supremacist "honor killings" in America, and they unaware or unconcerned about "home-grown" Islamic supremacist Jihadists in America. To some, the 9/11 attacks were a long time ago. To others, "outreach" or "engagement" with so-called "political" Islamic supremacists in America is falsely perceived to be a means to a tactical "security" end. Within America itself, the greatest challenge in getting some to understand the priority of the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism is the minority status of Islamic supremacism in the United States, just as it has been in Europe. Some lack the perception that a minority supremacist group in the United States could be any type of a threat. As a result, they are willing to be led down the erroneous path that objections to Islamic supremacism are really objections to other Americans' "freedom of religion."
Of course, "freedom of supremacism" is an obvious contradiction, but that argument isn't being heard by the majority of Americans. America's Constitution does not guarantee freedom to destroy equality and liberty. In fact, our inalienable human rights are fundamentally opposed to supremacism. We need to reframe the argument to make it a clear that the war of ideas is between the inherent human rights of equality and liberty versus Islamic supremacism. We need to consistently and extensively point to the supremacist elements in Islamic supremacism. We have to make it clear to the American public that Islamic supremacism is against equality, is against freedom of religion, is against freedom of speech, is against freedom of the press. We need to make it crystal clear to Americans that Islamic supremacism is an ideology that is against America itself.
We need to use the examples of Islamic supremacism in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, and in other nations with Islamic supremacist ideologies and political organizations to consistently explain to the American public exactly what Islamic supremacism means and why the ideology of Islamic supremacism is a threat to their freedoms. We need to explain that the source of Jihadist terrorist threats to America is not based on alleged grievances or errors in American foreign policy, but is based on an Islamic supremacist ideology that hates and despises equality and liberty.
Before the Islamic supremacist movement, we have seen other supremacists try to pervert America's freedoms for supremacist causes. In white supremacist Alabama Gov. George Wallace's inauguration speech, he defended such an anti-American attack on equality as a challenge to "sound the drum for freedom" and as an opposition to "tyranny." White Supremacist George Wallace concluded "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Yet as the American public became educated on this disgrace of white supremacism; it became clear in the 1960s that white supremacist George Wallace's calls for segregationist measures of races was not a defense of any freedoms, and his white supremacism was against America's commitment to equality and liberty.
Now once again, we have the challenge of the minority Islamic supremacist groups in America trying to pervert America's freedoms for another supremacist cause – to gain protection and cover for a supremacist ideology in the guise of "freedom of religion" or cultural relativism, while undermining and infiltrating America. As it was wrong with the leaders of white supremacism, so it is also wrong for the leaders and appeasers of Islamic supremacism today. As a result of white supremacism, Americans learned the imperative nature of fighting such a war of ideas against supremacism. It is the moral obligation of Americans to clearly convey that we are fighting against an ideology of Islamic supremacism, not "extremism." As Jihadist tactics are based on this ideology of Islamic supremacism, this obligation is also a national security obligation of all Americans to protect and defend our nation. We challenge Islamic supremacism in America because every day that the ideology is legitimized, appeased, and tolerated, the threat of new Jihadist attacks on America grows as well. We learned in America's 100 year war on the ideology of white supremacism that without attacking the supremacist ideology itself, our ability to reduce the threat of supremacist violence and hate would never improve.
To advance our cause, we must be understood as being fighters for the human rights of equality and liberty. We must communicate that it is because our nation is based on such inalienable rights of equality and liberty that all Americans must oppose Islamic supremacism.
V. We Reject All Supremacism Because We Are Americans
As human rights activists for equality and liberty, "the enemy of my enemy" is NOT necessarily our ally. Over the next four years, we will see a parallel to some efforts in other parts of the world. Groups with racist histories that otherwise claim to oppose "Islamization" are not allies. Those who truly reject Islamic supremacism also reject other groups with a history of supporting other identity-based supremacism, because supremacism is inimical to all human rights. As human rights activists for equality and liberty, Americans against Islamic supremacism should carefully watch for those groups infiltrating our cause who would espouse supremacism of their own. Those who support white supremacism or other identity-based supremacism are no allies of American human rights groups fighting for equality and liberty.
As fighters for human rights, we categorically and completely denounce those fringe white supremacists who will surely attempt to try to infiltrate and possibly even hijack our message in some areas. The fringe white supremacists stand on the same side of inequality and anti-liberty values as the Islamic supremacists. That is why we have also seen white and Aryan supremacists in the past actually support Islamic supremacists groups and terrorists. Do not be fooled. They share the objectives of hatred, violence, and inequality with the Islamic supremacists.
The message of those who support the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty is a message of love, equality, and respect for humanity. We fight not out of enmity or for the purpose to repress and control others, but we fight due to our undying devotion to the principle that "all men are created equal," and for the dignity of humankind.
There is no "grey" area here. It is an uncompromising position. The fact remains that our uncompromising position must compare Islamic supremacists to other supremacists as part of our campaign to undermine that ideology. We implore any who seek to fight Islamic supremacism to first and foremost look into their own hearts and minds first, and renounce any supremacist beliefs that they may have once held. There is no room in an anti-supremacist movement for those who embrace supremacist ideologies.
We all reject ALL supremacist ideologies because that is the definition of being an American.
VI. The Courage of Understanding and Compassion
All people make mistakes. We need to never forget the inherent fallibility of all humanity, show understanding and compassion to humanity, and challenge all members of humanity to reach for its higher calling in embracing the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. Our focus in such human rights requires such courage in understanding those who would seek to attack us and who would seek to destroy such human rights of equality and liberty. Our war is to end their influence and to stop their efforts, and to change the way people think about Islamic supremacism. But ours is not a war of hate, it is a war of compassion to humanity. Ours is a war to help those escape the prison of Islamic supremacism in their minds and hearts, to reverse the evil of Islamic supremacism's growth in society, and to work towards ending the daily atrocities of Islamic supremacism in the world. While we may be distressed over such atrocities, we must clearly communicate that our passion comes from the love of humanity and from our devotion to the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty.
Feel pity for those Americans who would mock our efforts against Islamic supremacism today. Feel pity for those who would call individuals who stand against Islamic supremacism names such as "Islamophobes," "bigots," "neocons," etc. Feel pity for those who attack us. Feel pity for those who put their mundane chores and interests above defending equality and liberty itself. Feel pity for those who were afraid to make the right choices because it would make their life difficult. Feel pity for the naive individuals who would waste their freedom of speech and press defending and appeasing Islamic supremacists who would take it away. Feel pity for those in our leadership and among our policy analysts who embarrass themselves by calling for "engagement" or "reconciliation" with Islamic supremacists. The more they do and say to suppress the freedom fighters against Islamic supremacism, the greater shame that will lie on their conscience. Every compromise that such Americans make with Islamic supremacism is a compromise with their own identities. Imagine the shame of having to justify this to their children and to the next generation. They have to live with the consequences of their actions. They have to live with their imprisoned consciences.
I don't question the toll that the long war against Islamic supremacism has on its fighters – on their health, their relationships, their time, and their emotions. I don't question how the long hours fighting the long war against Islamic supremacism has on those who prioritize equality and liberty.
But imagine the sleeplessness, the weariness, and destitute nature of the consciences of those who had to live with not defending equality and liberty, who surrendered to Islamic supremacism, and who sold out to those who would "engage" and "reconcile" with Islamic supremacism. Their imprisoned conscience follows them everywhere, no matter how hard and how forcefully they repress it. Imagine having to live with that horrible burden of cowardice on the very values that define their identities as Americans. Imagine their moral pain when they face that they have stood on the wrong side of the history of equality and liberty.
Feel pity for them and take courage that you were able to learn and understand the threat of Islamic supremacism, and that you seek to do something about it. Take courage that you live with the consciences of free men and women, something that no one and nothing can ever take away from you. We are truly blessed to have been given the moral strength and vision to honor America's founding fathers by continuing the great fight for equality and liberty.
In the long war against Islamic supremacism ahead, it is essential to be gracious in our inevitable victories ahead and to embrace those who finally recognize the folly of their past. To those Americans that have stood against or have been unwilling to join the fight of free people against Islamic supremacism, we need to always offer our outstretched hand to help them free their imprisoned conscience. A freed conscience is the greatest weapon in the arsenal of equality and liberty.
It is also essential that in the war of ideas that we ultimately take pity on those who reject equality and liberty. Because if we believe in the truth that equality and liberty are inalienable human rights, then those rights belong to all people. Not so-called "democratic" voting by supremacists. But human rights, the right to change, the right to embrace the inherent, inalienable rights of equality and liberty is a right to all people. Pity those infused with an Islamic supremacist ideology that blinds them to such inalienable human rights. Imagine the horror of living in a prison of the mind that denies such inalienable human rights. Remember that our war against Islamic supremacism, even as it defeats such supremacists, will ultimately offer them a chance at human redemption as well. As we succeed in promoting equality and liberty against Islamic supremacists, they too may find the opportunity to free their minds and hearts from such prisons as well.
VII. A Campaign of Hope, Not Hate
Activists in the war against Islamic supremacism must stay on their guard to manage their revulsion at the Islamic supremacism and Jihadist atrocities, their frustration at the inaction and surrender by analysts and government leaders, and the growing influence of Islamic supremacists amidst our media and legislature. We must not allow our disgust, anger, and disappointment to develop into the perception of hatred. While we fight a war of ideas against Islamic supremacism, we must never lose sight of what we are fighting to defend.
We are a campaign of hope, not hate.
We must never allow ourselves to be portrayed as being like the Islamic supremacists who abuse, suppress, kill, and attack hope on a daily basis.
We fight against the complacency, against the weakness, against the propaganda, against the misinformation, and against the Islamic supremacist lobbying efforts - because we are all about hope.
We are nation and a people founded and forged in hope... the hope that the inalienable rights of equality and liberty would be realized not just as this nation, but as inalienable rights for all humanity. That hope defines what the United States of America declared itself to be on July 4, 1776.
Hope is what we are all about. That hope is the dream that Americans are blessed to live everyday. We are the hope to those imprisoned for their religion. We are the hope to those who have no freedom of speech and press. We are the hope to the women killed and abused in the name of an Islamic supremacist ideology. We are the hope to the children and innocents killed by those who murder in the name of an Islamic supremacist ideology. We are the hope to our armed forces fighting in foreign lands that need leadership in fighting Islamic supremacism. We are the hope to those in the world that live in the darkness of constant fear that the wrong word, the wrong action, could be interpreted by Islamic supremacists as a crime. We are the hope to those who seek reform, but fear to speak out.
America is and remains the fountain of such hope to our fellow citizens and the world. The helpless, the downtrodden, the abused, the voiceless, and those under fire - they are counting on the hope of America. They are counting on us to win the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism.
As human rights activists, we are fighters, but in defense of inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. We are warriors, but in defense of human dignity. We are challengers, but we challenge those who would mock the right of all humanity to dream, to grow, to reach for their higher and nobler selves.
We are a campaign with a shield that reads "All Men Are Created Equal."
We wield the inalienable human right of liberty as our weapon to break the chains of bondage that Islamic supremacists would place on the minds and hearts of America and humanity.
So when we march in our long war against Islamic supremacism ahead, keep joy in our hearts and minds that we are continuing to fight for equality and liberty so someday our efforts may help all humanity realize the dream of freedom and say that they are...
-- "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Fear No Evil... We will Not Be Defeated.
Keep Hope Alive.
[Postscript - see also Sources documents for additional reading and background information.]
We need to fight smarter in the campaign ahead, and by clearly defining our issue as one of fighting for equality, liberty, freedom, and independence, and by engaging with other human rights and related organizations in shared coalitions.
This should include developing coalitions with such groups involving:
-- Women's Rights. A pressing issue in the United States and around the world is continuing abuse of women by Islamic supremacists, including issues of rape, honor killing, and the unequal treatment of women in Islamic supremacist societies. The recent stoning of a 13-year-old child who said that she was raped, and was then accused of adultery in Somalia (based on Sharia) provides another horrific example of this human rights travesty. We have also seen the numerous Islamic supremacist "honor killings" and the use Islamic supremacist Sharia law to suppress women around the world. American women right's organizations must also understand that such Islamic supremacist "honor killings" and abuses happen in America. We must develop coalitions with leaders such as Phyllis Chesler and women's rights organizations in coordinating the campaign against Islamic supremacism.
-- Academic Freedom. The growing efforts of professors and academia with an agenda in accommodating or appeasing Islamic supremacism remains a major challenge for America's academic freedom. We must coordinate efforts with organizations for academic freedom and campus-wide anti-Islamic supremacism to support the national campaign against Islamic supremacism.
-- Religious Freedom. Islamic supremacism is a fundamental threat to all religious freedom. We need to work with groups dedicated to religious freedom such as Freedom House, other groups, religious leaders, and religious organizations. Such supremacist threat to religious freedom and the demonstrated abuses of Islamic supremacist governments to religious freedom around the world should make religious leaders in America a natural ally to this national campaign. It is vital that the issue be clearly defined to such religious leaders that we are facing a fight between equality and liberty versus supremacism in the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism.
-- Freedom of Speech and Press. The American media should be another major ally in the national campaign against Islamic supremacism. Islamic supremacist governments in other parts of the world have arrested and convicted journalists for crimes of "blasphemy." Islamic supremacists have attacked and threatened print media around the world. Islamic supremacism is, by definition, against freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As Americans did during the war against white supremacism, it is vital that a grassroots freedom fighting organizations engage local news media to convey why the ideology of Islamic supremacism is so dangerous to these human rights.
-- Energy Independence. There is no more pressing issue in the war against Islamic supremacism than energy independence. Every day that the issue of energy independence is not addressed, Islamic supremacist groups' funding increases through petrodollars and foreign funding. We cannot raise funds for a war of ideas against Islamic supremacism, while giving the enemy funds with our other hand through petrodollars. This national security priority is also a priority for the war of ideas so that the endless funding to Islamic supremacism groups and lobbying in America and around the world is curtailed, and so Jihadists are not continuing to be funded through the failure to address energy independence and Sharia finance zakat. We must identify and develop coalitions with energy independence organizations committed to America's freedom as part of the war against Islamic supremacism. Moreover, such energy independence must be an individual commitment by activists in the cause against Islamic supremacism.
-- Economic Independence. As the American financial crisis has shown, it is imperative for America to rebuild its economy. Such economic rebuilding cannot tolerate the embarrassing bailout to organizations such as AIG which retained its Sharia Finance division while getting U.S. tax dollars. Such commitment to American economic independence in a globalized economy must include the recognition that Sharia Finance zakat is often used for Islamic supremacist "charitable" causes including Jihad itself. American taxpayers cannot have millions spent in efforts to prevent money laundering to Jihadist groups while allowing backdoor financing via Sharia Finance to Islamic supremacism. The growth of Sharia Finance undermines our economic independence by allowing an ideology that is against equality and liberty to infiltrate our very economy itself. But when we have the U.S. Treasury holding training classes on Sharia Finance for government employees (planned for November 6th in Washington D.C.), it is clear that we need to escalate the war of ideas to the American public.
III.F. Mobilizing America - One Town Hall at a Time
We must get out from behind these computers, blogs, and email, and get on the streets of America.
We must mobilize the American public to challenge Islamic supremacism in our cities, states, and country - one town hall, one conference, one public hearing, one campus debate, one public outreach campaign at a time. The campaign against Islamic supremacism must attack the ideology in public on all fronts, and confront those who would appease, excuse, or support the Islamic supremacist ideology that is against equality and liberty.
We must hold public rallies and demonstrations to support equality and liberty and denounce Islamic supremacism for the threat it represents to these human rights. We must join in public coalition activities with other human rights and liberty organizations. We must hold and attend press conferences where we can reach the local, state, and national media.
We need to reach the core constituency of equality and liberty – the American public.
Many of them don't get it. They have been deceived by nonsensical propaganda that we attacking religious freedoms or persecuting "victims" of discrimination. That is the same propaganda that George Wallace and white supremacists tried to use in the 1960s – that white supremacists were misunderstood "victims," whose "rights" to impose supremacist segregation were being violated.
Our fellow Americans deserve the truth on Islamic supremacism, and we won't reach them by merely preaching to the choir over the Internet. We need to reach those who don't understand what is going on, who aren't aware that the war of ideas is between Islamic supremacism versus equality and liberty. We need to reach those with a short attention span that don't pay attention to what is going on in the world. We need to reach those who have taken the rights of equality and liberty for granted and have forgotten how fundamental they are to their lives. We need to reach those who really would rather not know about the threat of Islamic supremacism because that way they don't have to listen to their conscience.
A number of leaders on this issue have been facing the public for some time, at college campuses, at conferences, at Congressional hearings, and at other public forums. The efforts of these leaders should be an encouragement to all of us to do the same. But we must also realize that we can't get there with only a handful of leaders speaking out against Islamic supremacism.
In a 50 state nation of 300 million people, we need hundreds of American citizen activists speaking out to the American public against Islamic supremacism. We have to learn from lessons in the past that increasingly such human rights activists against Islamic supremacism need to also find optimum forums to reach the public. We can't have a mere handful of leaders against Islamic supremacism tucked away only in academic conferences or in forums on Capitol Hill, where they can readily be shouted down or ignored. We need to not only get out from behind the computers; we also need to get out of the hushed conference rooms. We need to change the rules that are keeping our message supporting equality and liberty quashed.
The war against Islamic supremacism needs visibility to the general American public. The freedom fighters against Islamic supremacism need to appear in unexpected, unconventional public venues to raise the general public awareness that a war of ideas is even taking place. We need a march for freedom in Washington DC, in Boston, in New York City, in Atlanta, in Chicago, in Dallas, in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, and in every major city in the United States. We need to campaign for freedom and against Islamic supremacism directly to the American public.
The war against Islamic supremacism must be understood not just as a counterterrorism issue, not just as a foreign policy issue, not just as a Federal Government Issue. The war against Islamic supremacism must be streamlined into the basics of what it is - a clash of equality and liberty versus Islamic supremacism. The American people must be educated that this attack on the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty is not just in Afghanistan, not just in Iraq, not just in Iran, and not just in Pakistan – but is a global attack by Islamic supremacism on equality and liberty to all people in the world. It is an attack on American equality and liberty. It is an attack on the future that all Americans' children will inherit.
We need to change the rules that have kept this human rights threat of Islamic supremacism from reaching the masses of the American public – from the media that won't report on it, the foreign policy analysts who won't talk about it, the counterterror analysts that would rather focus on tactical measures, and those government leaders that look the other way on it. We need to go around them and go directly to the American public on this.
It isn't going to be easy, and it certainly won't always be kind. We can expect a lot of rejection, a lot of abuse, and a lot of confrontation in bringing unfiltered, honest truth to the American people. There are many with a vested interest in keeping the American public in denial and in ignorance. But those of us who are human rights fighters against Islamic supremacism know that ignorance is not bliss, but ignorance condemns helpless and hopeless innocents in America and around the world to the abuse of Islamic supremacism. We need to directly reach the people that can begin to change that – the American public – whose daily lives are dependent on the defense of the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty that Islamic supremacism would destroy.
IV. A Shared Understanding on Why All Americans Must Oppose Islamic Supremacism
A primary challenge in the war of ideas against Islamic supremacist groups in America is that many Americans don't see the current threat of Islamic supremacism in their lives, just as some did not recognize the threat of Nazi-supporting Germans in America prior to World War II. They aren't concerned about the expansion and funding of Sharia in the United States, they are oblivious to Islamic supremacist "honor killings" in America, and they unaware or unconcerned about "home-grown" Islamic supremacist Jihadists in America. To some, the 9/11 attacks were a long time ago. To others, "outreach" or "engagement" with so-called "political" Islamic supremacists in America is falsely perceived to be a means to a tactical "security" end. Within America itself, the greatest challenge in getting some to understand the priority of the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism is the minority status of Islamic supremacism in the United States, just as it has been in Europe. Some lack the perception that a minority supremacist group in the United States could be any type of a threat. As a result, they are willing to be led down the erroneous path that objections to Islamic supremacism are really objections to other Americans' "freedom of religion."
Of course, "freedom of supremacism" is an obvious contradiction, but that argument isn't being heard by the majority of Americans. America's Constitution does not guarantee freedom to destroy equality and liberty. In fact, our inalienable human rights are fundamentally opposed to supremacism. We need to reframe the argument to make it a clear that the war of ideas is between the inherent human rights of equality and liberty versus Islamic supremacism. We need to consistently and extensively point to the supremacist elements in Islamic supremacism. We have to make it clear to the American public that Islamic supremacism is against equality, is against freedom of religion, is against freedom of speech, is against freedom of the press. We need to make it crystal clear to Americans that Islamic supremacism is an ideology that is against America itself.
We need to use the examples of Islamic supremacism in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, and in other nations with Islamic supremacist ideologies and political organizations to consistently explain to the American public exactly what Islamic supremacism means and why the ideology of Islamic supremacism is a threat to their freedoms. We need to explain that the source of Jihadist terrorist threats to America is not based on alleged grievances or errors in American foreign policy, but is based on an Islamic supremacist ideology that hates and despises equality and liberty.
Before the Islamic supremacist movement, we have seen other supremacists try to pervert America's freedoms for supremacist causes. In white supremacist Alabama Gov. George Wallace's inauguration speech, he defended such an anti-American attack on equality as a challenge to "sound the drum for freedom" and as an opposition to "tyranny." White Supremacist George Wallace concluded "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Yet as the American public became educated on this disgrace of white supremacism; it became clear in the 1960s that white supremacist George Wallace's calls for segregationist measures of races was not a defense of any freedoms, and his white supremacism was against America's commitment to equality and liberty.
Now once again, we have the challenge of the minority Islamic supremacist groups in America trying to pervert America's freedoms for another supremacist cause – to gain protection and cover for a supremacist ideology in the guise of "freedom of religion" or cultural relativism, while undermining and infiltrating America. As it was wrong with the leaders of white supremacism, so it is also wrong for the leaders and appeasers of Islamic supremacism today. As a result of white supremacism, Americans learned the imperative nature of fighting such a war of ideas against supremacism. It is the moral obligation of Americans to clearly convey that we are fighting against an ideology of Islamic supremacism, not "extremism." As Jihadist tactics are based on this ideology of Islamic supremacism, this obligation is also a national security obligation of all Americans to protect and defend our nation. We challenge Islamic supremacism in America because every day that the ideology is legitimized, appeased, and tolerated, the threat of new Jihadist attacks on America grows as well. We learned in America's 100 year war on the ideology of white supremacism that without attacking the supremacist ideology itself, our ability to reduce the threat of supremacist violence and hate would never improve.
To advance our cause, we must be understood as being fighters for the human rights of equality and liberty. We must communicate that it is because our nation is based on such inalienable rights of equality and liberty that all Americans must oppose Islamic supremacism.
V. We Reject All Supremacism Because We Are Americans
As human rights activists for equality and liberty, "the enemy of my enemy" is NOT necessarily our ally. Over the next four years, we will see a parallel to some efforts in other parts of the world. Groups with racist histories that otherwise claim to oppose "Islamization" are not allies. Those who truly reject Islamic supremacism also reject other groups with a history of supporting other identity-based supremacism, because supremacism is inimical to all human rights. As human rights activists for equality and liberty, Americans against Islamic supremacism should carefully watch for those groups infiltrating our cause who would espouse supremacism of their own. Those who support white supremacism or other identity-based supremacism are no allies of American human rights groups fighting for equality and liberty.
As fighters for human rights, we categorically and completely denounce those fringe white supremacists who will surely attempt to try to infiltrate and possibly even hijack our message in some areas. The fringe white supremacists stand on the same side of inequality and anti-liberty values as the Islamic supremacists. That is why we have also seen white and Aryan supremacists in the past actually support Islamic supremacists groups and terrorists. Do not be fooled. They share the objectives of hatred, violence, and inequality with the Islamic supremacists.
The message of those who support the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty is a message of love, equality, and respect for humanity. We fight not out of enmity or for the purpose to repress and control others, but we fight due to our undying devotion to the principle that "all men are created equal," and for the dignity of humankind.
There is no "grey" area here. It is an uncompromising position. The fact remains that our uncompromising position must compare Islamic supremacists to other supremacists as part of our campaign to undermine that ideology. We implore any who seek to fight Islamic supremacism to first and foremost look into their own hearts and minds first, and renounce any supremacist beliefs that they may have once held. There is no room in an anti-supremacist movement for those who embrace supremacist ideologies.
We all reject ALL supremacist ideologies because that is the definition of being an American.
VI. The Courage of Understanding and Compassion
All people make mistakes. We need to never forget the inherent fallibility of all humanity, show understanding and compassion to humanity, and challenge all members of humanity to reach for its higher calling in embracing the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. Our focus in such human rights requires such courage in understanding those who would seek to attack us and who would seek to destroy such human rights of equality and liberty. Our war is to end their influence and to stop their efforts, and to change the way people think about Islamic supremacism. But ours is not a war of hate, it is a war of compassion to humanity. Ours is a war to help those escape the prison of Islamic supremacism in their minds and hearts, to reverse the evil of Islamic supremacism's growth in society, and to work towards ending the daily atrocities of Islamic supremacism in the world. While we may be distressed over such atrocities, we must clearly communicate that our passion comes from the love of humanity and from our devotion to the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty.
Feel pity for those Americans who would mock our efforts against Islamic supremacism today. Feel pity for those who would call individuals who stand against Islamic supremacism names such as "Islamophobes," "bigots," "neocons," etc. Feel pity for those who attack us. Feel pity for those who put their mundane chores and interests above defending equality and liberty itself. Feel pity for those who were afraid to make the right choices because it would make their life difficult. Feel pity for the naive individuals who would waste their freedom of speech and press defending and appeasing Islamic supremacists who would take it away. Feel pity for those in our leadership and among our policy analysts who embarrass themselves by calling for "engagement" or "reconciliation" with Islamic supremacists. The more they do and say to suppress the freedom fighters against Islamic supremacism, the greater shame that will lie on their conscience. Every compromise that such Americans make with Islamic supremacism is a compromise with their own identities. Imagine the shame of having to justify this to their children and to the next generation. They have to live with the consequences of their actions. They have to live with their imprisoned consciences.
I don't question the toll that the long war against Islamic supremacism has on its fighters – on their health, their relationships, their time, and their emotions. I don't question how the long hours fighting the long war against Islamic supremacism has on those who prioritize equality and liberty.
But imagine the sleeplessness, the weariness, and destitute nature of the consciences of those who had to live with not defending equality and liberty, who surrendered to Islamic supremacism, and who sold out to those who would "engage" and "reconcile" with Islamic supremacism. Their imprisoned conscience follows them everywhere, no matter how hard and how forcefully they repress it. Imagine having to live with that horrible burden of cowardice on the very values that define their identities as Americans. Imagine their moral pain when they face that they have stood on the wrong side of the history of equality and liberty.
Feel pity for them and take courage that you were able to learn and understand the threat of Islamic supremacism, and that you seek to do something about it. Take courage that you live with the consciences of free men and women, something that no one and nothing can ever take away from you. We are truly blessed to have been given the moral strength and vision to honor America's founding fathers by continuing the great fight for equality and liberty.
In the long war against Islamic supremacism ahead, it is essential to be gracious in our inevitable victories ahead and to embrace those who finally recognize the folly of their past. To those Americans that have stood against or have been unwilling to join the fight of free people against Islamic supremacism, we need to always offer our outstretched hand to help them free their imprisoned conscience. A freed conscience is the greatest weapon in the arsenal of equality and liberty.
It is also essential that in the war of ideas that we ultimately take pity on those who reject equality and liberty. Because if we believe in the truth that equality and liberty are inalienable human rights, then those rights belong to all people. Not so-called "democratic" voting by supremacists. But human rights, the right to change, the right to embrace the inherent, inalienable rights of equality and liberty is a right to all people. Pity those infused with an Islamic supremacist ideology that blinds them to such inalienable human rights. Imagine the horror of living in a prison of the mind that denies such inalienable human rights. Remember that our war against Islamic supremacism, even as it defeats such supremacists, will ultimately offer them a chance at human redemption as well. As we succeed in promoting equality and liberty against Islamic supremacists, they too may find the opportunity to free their minds and hearts from such prisons as well.
VII. A Campaign of Hope, Not Hate
Activists in the war against Islamic supremacism must stay on their guard to manage their revulsion at the Islamic supremacism and Jihadist atrocities, their frustration at the inaction and surrender by analysts and government leaders, and the growing influence of Islamic supremacists amidst our media and legislature. We must not allow our disgust, anger, and disappointment to develop into the perception of hatred. While we fight a war of ideas against Islamic supremacism, we must never lose sight of what we are fighting to defend.
We are a campaign of hope, not hate.
We must never allow ourselves to be portrayed as being like the Islamic supremacists who abuse, suppress, kill, and attack hope on a daily basis.
We fight against the complacency, against the weakness, against the propaganda, against the misinformation, and against the Islamic supremacist lobbying efforts - because we are all about hope.
We are nation and a people founded and forged in hope... the hope that the inalienable rights of equality and liberty would be realized not just as this nation, but as inalienable rights for all humanity. That hope defines what the United States of America declared itself to be on July 4, 1776.
Hope is what we are all about. That hope is the dream that Americans are blessed to live everyday. We are the hope to those imprisoned for their religion. We are the hope to those who have no freedom of speech and press. We are the hope to the women killed and abused in the name of an Islamic supremacist ideology. We are the hope to the children and innocents killed by those who murder in the name of an Islamic supremacist ideology. We are the hope to our armed forces fighting in foreign lands that need leadership in fighting Islamic supremacism. We are the hope to those in the world that live in the darkness of constant fear that the wrong word, the wrong action, could be interpreted by Islamic supremacists as a crime. We are the hope to those who seek reform, but fear to speak out.
America is and remains the fountain of such hope to our fellow citizens and the world. The helpless, the downtrodden, the abused, the voiceless, and those under fire - they are counting on the hope of America. They are counting on us to win the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism.
As human rights activists, we are fighters, but in defense of inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. We are warriors, but in defense of human dignity. We are challengers, but we challenge those who would mock the right of all humanity to dream, to grow, to reach for their higher and nobler selves.
We are a campaign with a shield that reads "All Men Are Created Equal."
We wield the inalienable human right of liberty as our weapon to break the chains of bondage that Islamic supremacists would place on the minds and hearts of America and humanity.
So when we march in our long war against Islamic supremacism ahead, keep joy in our hearts and minds that we are continuing to fight for equality and liberty so someday our efforts may help all humanity realize the dream of freedom and say that they are...
-- "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Fear No Evil... We will Not Be Defeated.
Keep Hope Alive.
[Postscript - see also Sources documents for additional reading and background information.]
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Jeffrey Imm, formerly of the FBI, has his own counterterrorism research web site at UnitedStatesAction.com and is a part of the Anti-Jihad League of America.
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