President Trump's Executive Order on Refugees - What it really means

A sober and detailed analysis by David French of National Review provides facts and analysis on President Trump's executive order. 

Key highlights:

• "Trump is improving security screening and intends to admit refugees at close to the average rate of the 15 years before Obama’s dramatic expansion in 2016. Obama’s expansion was a departure from recent norms, not Trump’s contraction.

• "The order imposes a temporary, 90-day ban on people entering the U.S. from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. These are countries either torn apart by jihadist violence or under the control of hostile, jihadist governments.

• "The plain language of the order doesn’t apply to legal permanent residents of the U.S., and green-card holders have been through round after round of vetting and security checks. The administration should intervene, immediately, to stop misapplication.

• "You can read the entire executive order from start to finish, reread it, then read it again, and you will not find a Muslim ban. It’s not there. Nowhere.

• "Trump’s order was not signed in a vacuum. Look at the Heritage Foundation’s interactive timeline of Islamist terror plots since 9/11. Note the dramatic increase in planned and executed attacks since 2015."

Dr. Timothy R. Furnish notes in a Facebook post that the wording of the executive order specifically provides for admittance of Muslims, when they are a minority under threat of persecution:

SecState is directed to "prioritize religious claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality.” Pray tell, how is that a "ban on Muslims?" Answer: it's not.  

Members of Muslim minority sects (Isma'ilis, Alawis, Druze, etc.) being persecuted in Sunni countries will be allowed in; Sunnis persecuted in, say, Iran or Iraq will be; Christians in Iraq, Syria, etc., will be, yes. But there is no "ban on Muslims."

And, President Trump is vigorously defending his policy:

“The seven countries named in the executive order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror...” — a fact underreported by the mainstream media.

“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe."

"There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order.”

“America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border.”

Trump’s Executive Order on Refugees — Separating Fact from Hysteria

by David French, National Review, January 28, 2017:

To read the online commentary, one would think that President Trump just fundamentally corrupted the American character. You would think that the executive order on refugees he signed yesterday betrayed America’s Founding ideals. You might even think he banned people from an entire faith from American shores.

Just look at the rhetoric. Here’s Chuck Schumer:

Chuck Schumer of Trump's 'extreme vetting' Exec. Order: "Tears are running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) 7:06 PM - 27 Jan 2017

If you thought only Senator Schumer saw tears in Lady Liberty’s eyes, think again. Here’s Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi blasts Trump's 'extreme vetting' Exec. Order: "This Administration has mistaken cruelty for strength and prejudice for strategy."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) 7:19 PM - 27 Jan 2017

CNN, doing its best Huffington Post impersonation, ran a headline declaring “Trump bans 134,000,000 from the U.S.” The Huffington Post, outdoing itself, just put the Statue of Liberty upside down on its front page.

So, what did Trump do? Did he implement his promised Muslim ban? No, far from it. He backed down dramatically from his campaign promises and instead signed an executive order dominated mainly by moderate refugee restrictions and temporary provisions aimed directly at limiting immigration from jihadist conflict zones.

Let’s analyze the key provisions, separate the fact from the hysteria, and introduce just a bit of historical perspective.

America's Toxic Immigration Practices Exposed in 'Stealth Invasion'

This is such a powerful, in-depth review of Leo Hohmann's excellent new book, Stealth Invasion, which I posted about here, that it deserves to be re-posted so as to encourage as many people as possible to purchase this essential new title.

This book is already an Amazon bestseller, and is fast being recognized as a powerful, irrefutable resource in the battle against Islamic jihad.


Leo Hohmann Exposes Our Toxic Immigration Practices — Trump Responding in the Nick of Time!

Blue Ridge Forum, January 28, 2017:

“We are bringing this enemy here on air-conditioned planes as legal refugees, legal guest workers, legal green-card holders, legal students, legal entrepreneurs, and legal professors and preachers.” – Leo Hohmann

In his new book, Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement, veteran investigative reporter Leo Hohmann cuts through the gaslighting that has obscured the dark side of the refugee resettlement program and some other avenues of legal immigration.

This book couldn’t be more relevant to where we are right now, as president Trump begins strong actions on immigration and refugee reforms.

During the campaign candidate Trump made the sensible suggestion to halt the flow of refugees from countries with Jihadist violence, until “we figure out what is going on.”

He demanded that we do a better job of screening immigrants to keep out Jihadists and to favor those who love America and its values.

In his inaugural address, he vowed to hire American – which logically would include stopping the replacement of American workers with cheap foreign labor through the H1-B and H-2B visa programs.

Refugee Resettlement — A “Rigged System?”

Most encouraging, however, Trump also has a pretty good track record of calling out rigged systems.

And, as Hohmann describes it, much of the legal immigration system is rigged against American workers.

First, we have no say in picking the pool of potential refugees. The United Nations does this, habitually leaving behind persecuted Christians. Nine American voluntary agencies are paid for resettlement services by the head – with millions of dollars at stake.

But, despite the nominal religious affiliation of six of the nine voluntary agencies – such as the U.S. Conference of Bishops and World Church Services – local resettlement actions tend to occur quietly, to the point of secrecy. Rarely does a receiving community have a chance fully to learn about resettlement plans, or to debate the issues involved in bringing in this new source of often-unassimilable cheap labor.

Further, as a condition of doing business, these government funded programs operate under a gag rule against Christians sharing their faith with Muslims.

Catholic Archbishop of Pompeii: Europe will be Muslim in 10 years 'because of our stupidity'

“We have a weak Christian faith,” he added. “The Church nowadays does not work well and seminaries are empty."

There is some sort of apocalyptic irony at play, when the Archbishop of Pompeii warns of the Muslim 'Vesuvius' which is now erupting and will soon bury formerly Christian Europe.

In any case, Mark Steyn isn't the only one to warn about the collapse of Europe and the rise of Islam.


Top Bishop: Europe Will Soon Be Muslim 'Because of Our Stupidity'
by Nick Hallett, Breitbart News, January 14, 2017:

This scene in London is being played out all across Western Europe as well.

Everyone in Italy and the rest of Europe will “soon be Muslim” because of the country’s “stupidity”, a prominent Italian archbishop has said.

Monsignor Carlo Liberati, Archbishop Emeritus of Pompeii, said that Islam will soon become Europe’s main religion thanks to the huge number of Muslim migrants alongside the increasing secularism of native Europeans.

Speaking to Italian Catholic journal La Fede Quotidiana, the archbishop said: “In 10 years we will all be Muslims because of our stupidity. Italy and Europe live in a pagan and atheist way, they make laws that go against God and they have traditions that are proper of paganism.

“All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam.”

“We have a weak Christian faith,” he added. “The Church nowadays does not work well and seminaries are empty.

“Parishes are the only thing still standing. We need a true Christian life. All this paves the way to Islam. In addition to this, they have children and we do not. We are in full decline.”

Catholic Archbishop Warns Europe Migration Crisis Fueled by Muslims’ ‘Will to Conquer’

The conquest of European territory for Islam plays a significant role in the unusual pressure to migrate to Europe:

“There have always been wars and environmental disasters, but the fact that there is now so much pressure on Europe cannot be a coincidence..."

There has been a calculated economic push, with financial support from Arab banks driving the migration from Muslim lands into Europe:

“They do not let them come into Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, but they give them money and incite them to immigrate here..."

The Muslim Migrant Invasion by the millions is a carefully planned disruptive event, aided and funded by Islamic states, with a specific goal:

“Migration does not only have causes, it also has a purpose, such as the destabilization of Europe and the Euro.”

The First Islamic Jihad: The Arab Wave, 622-750 AD. (Islam 101)

From the 7th to the 17th centuries, first under the Arabs then the Turks, Islam waged war against the Christian world, occupying Spain and parts of France, sacking Rome, demanding tribute from Rus, and conquering Constantinople. Militarily, it was finally turned back at the Gates of Vienna in 1683. The rise of Western military dominance in the 19th century eventually led to the defeat of the Islamic Ottoman empire at the end of World War I, and the suppression — for almost a century — of the Islamic 'will to conquer'.

The Second Islamic Jihad: The Turkish Wave, 1071-1683 AD. (Islam 101)

Now Islam resumes its assault on Europe. Unable to defeat the West militarily, it uses the West's self-loathing and multicultural paradigm as the gateway, combined with its mightiest asset ever, sheer numbers:

"I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million..." - Rev. 9:16

Archbishop Warns Europe Migration Crisis Fueled by Muslims’ ‘Will to Conquer’
by Thomas D. Williams, PhD, Breitbart News, August 3, 2016:

The EU States estimated Muslim populations, before the migrant crisis.

One of the most important prelates in the Catholic Church in Hungary has warned that the enormous waves of migrants rolling into Europe are due in no small part to a Muslim “will to conquer,” by expanding their territory into the continent.

“Jihad is a principle for Muslims that means they must expand,” said Archbishop Gyula Marfi in an interview Wednesday. “The earth must become dar al-Islam, that is, Islamic territory, by introducing Shariah—Islamic law.”

The archbishop of Veszprém said that although there may be other motivations, the conquest of European territory for Islam plays a significant role in the unusual pressure to migrate to Europe.

Ted Cruz introduces bill to designate Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization

A significant development, long overdue, which hopefully heralds a new approach from the US government in countering the Islamic threat.

Significantly, this move has been endorsed by Coptic Solidarity, and the Muslim Brotherhood has already been banned as a terrorist organization by several countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.


Ted Cruz introduces bill to designate Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization
by Christine Williams, Jihad Watch, January 13, 2017:

"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) have introduced a bill to ask the Secretary of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an international terrorist organization." [Christine Rousselle, author of the source news article below.]

It is high time that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) be officially designated a terrorist organization, as a beginning process in weeding out MB affiliates (both individuals and groups) from America. They have infiltrated enough.

The Muslim Brotherhood motto states:

"Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Quran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope..."

The Muslim Migrant Invasion and the Collapse of Europe: 'Ripped from the Headlines - Vol 2'

Links to major news stories of the Muslim migrant invasion of Europe in the second half of 2016.

See also my articles:

• On Refugees, be ‘Wise as Serpents’
• Lara Logan, UK Rape Gangs, and Europe’s Muslim Mob Sex Assaults
• ‘Sandboxing Islam’ Revisited

Polish Magazine's Cover Story: 'Islamic Rape of Europe' - The real thing is far less glossy, and far more bloody, than these symbolic studio photographs.

Back in April 2016, I posted a "link dump" of dozens of reports detailing the rapidly escalating crisis of the new Islamic Hijra, the Muslim migrant invasion, which is threatening to completely overwhelm a collapsing post-Christian Europe, and usher in a new dark age.

In that post, I wrote this:

The Link Dump may actually make the case better than any amount of persuasive writing. Our progressively more fractured attention span, overwhelmed by the rapid news cycle and competing sensory inputs we face any given minute, is unable to appreciate just how disastrous Germany’s and Europe’s immigration policy really is.

In the headlines below — arranged in reverse chronological order — we get a stark, shocking, real-time look at only the most recent seven months of the mass Muslim invasion and collapse of Western Europe.

Many of these are “hard” news stories on terrorist attacks, rape attacks, riots, etc. Some are commentary, adducing previous reporting, and so representing numerous news incidents. 

Others are citations of Muslim imams proclaiming they will conquer Europe through breeding. Others document the harrowing experiences of Christian refugees in the migrant camps, at the mercy (or lack thereof) of Muslim migrants. 

Others report how the Muslim migrant influx is overwhelming the infrastructure and security of European countries and shredding the very fabric of society. This is nothing short of apocalyptic in its magnitude. 

Perhaps the most important statistic which stands out comes from the United Nations itself, which reports that 75% of the migrants are “young, fit males.” I believe it was Mark Steyn who wryly noted, “That’s not the demographics of a civilian population displaced by war, that’s the demographics of an army.” 

Ironically, even a handmade sign by migrants camped in Calais, France proves the point: out of the camp’s population of 3455, 2861 are men… 82.8%.

If nothing else, this may be a resource for others to help “make the case” to their elected representatives as to why we need a complete moratorium on Muslim immigration (a component of what I call “Sandboxing Islam”) so as to avoid Europe’s fate. 

Europe as we have known it since 1945 will no longer exist by 2020. Truth be told, it no longer exists now...

For the needed context to understand what we are experiencing, I would recommend Robert Spencer’s excellent article from September 2015, THE HIJRAH INTO EUROPE – “Refugees” colonize a continent, which he begins as follows: 

"The entire continent of Europe is being inundated with refugees at a rate unprecedented in world history. This is no longer just a ‘refugee crisis’. This is a hijrah.”

The End of Europe in Headline Format, April 2016 – December 2016
In reverse chronological order:

Aftermath of the horrific Paris jihad attack in November 2015, which killed 130 and wounded 368. The perpetrators were Muslim migrants.

Sweden: Five Muslims convicted of gang-raping boy, but won’t be deported

Islamic State urges Western “sons of Islam” to launch brutal New Year’s attacks

Austria: Muslim migrant stabs Christian woman for reading Bible in migrant center

Italy: “They’ll lynch us!” Church pleads with cops for help in evicting Muslim migrants

Muslim migrants were employed as security guards in Cologne on New Year’s Eve

Islamic State top dog from Kosovo returns to Europe with 400 jihadis

Christmas on Lockdown: Beefed Up Security Across Europe In Wake of Berlin

Police Hand Out 6000 Rape Alarms for New Year’s After Migrant Attacks

'They want us to be Islamised. They despise our country and our values': Translator at German refugee camp says Muslim migrants display 'pure hatred' of Christians

‘Almost Impossible’ for Germany to Monitor 7,000 Terror Suspects at Large, Says Ex-MI6 Chief

UK: Over 1,000 Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” march in London demanding caliphate for second time in a week - see below for link to first incident.

Fr Lauderdale Shooter Converted to Islam, Identified as Aashiq Hammad Years Before Joining Army

"Public records uncovered in the days after the massacre suggest Santiago (Hammad) is a radical Islamic terrorist that’s seriously committed to Islam." In addition to taking on a Muslim name, he broadcast the Islamic declaration of faith in three songs he recorded... as far back as 2007.

Thankfully, "this week a prominent Ft. Lauderdale businessman and longtime resident addressed a letter... blasting county and federal officials for covering up that 'Aashiq Hammad, not Esteban Santiago, attacked our city and county'.”

This excellent report from Judicial Watch draws on several sources to decisively confirm that the Ft Lauderdale shooter has been a Muslim since 2007, that he has ties to a jihad-linked mosque in Florida, and that federal and regional officials have been working furiously to cover up his Muslim identity and the Islamic jihad connection.

It won't work. The global jihad is real, and it is everywhere, and continues to spread across the United States. And people are waking up.

Airport Shooter Converted to Islam, Identified as Aashiq Hammad Years Before Joining Army

Judicial Watch, January 10, 2017:

Ft Lauderdale shooter Aashiq Hammad, giving the Muslim monotheist tawhid salute, and decked out in an Islamic keffiyeh.

The Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter is a Muslim convert who years before joining the U.S. Army took on an Islamic name (Aashiq Hammad), downloaded terrorist propaganda and recorded Islamic religious music online, according to public records dug up by the investigative news site of an award-winning, California journalist. This is pertinent information that the Obama administration apparently wants to keep quiet, bringing up memories of the Benghazi cover up, in which the president and his cohorts knowingly lied to conceal that Islamic terrorists attacked the U.S. Special Mission in Libya. 

Information is slowly trickling out that links the Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter to radical Islam while the official story from authorities is that the gunman is a mentally ill, Hispanic Army veteran named Esteban Santiago that became unhinged after a tour in Iraq.  

Only one mainstream media outlet mentions the possibility of Santiago’s “jihadist identity,” burying it in a piece about New York possibly being his initial target. A paragraph deep in the story mentions that investigators recovered Santiago’s computer from a pawn shop and the FBI is examining it to determine whether he created a “jihadist identity for himself using the name Aashiq Hammad…”  

The reset of the traditional mainstream media coverage promotes the government rhetoric that omits any ties to terrorism even though early on a photo surfaced of Santiago making an ISIS salute while wearing a keffiyeh, a Palestinian Arab scarf. 

'Merkel’s shame': Map shows Muslim migrants have committed sex assaults everywhere in Germany in 2016

Shocking figures show 2,125 people were sexually assaulted, 199 were raped and and 380 were molested in swimming baths…

Sickeningly, children are often the target of foreign sexual deviants across Germany…


'Merkel’s shame': Map shows Muslim migrants have committed sex assaults everywhere in Germany
by Christine Williams, Jihad Watch, December 13, 2016:

Angela Merkel has a lot to be ashamed about in earning her reputation as the Western political icon of leadership failure in managing immigration, putting her own German citizenry in harm’s way due to the savagery of unscreened Muslim immigrants. Remember her words: “We can do this” — despite urgent warnings about the difficulty, if not impossibility, of successfully integrating hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers. Angela Merkel should try telling each victim of assault “we can do this,” including the parents of children assaulted at swimming pools.

Recently, Merkel shamelessly tried to do an about-face to save her own skin from political suicide, stating about the refugee crisis that “it never must be repeated.”

Add this news report about “the shocking extent of migrant sex attacks” in Germany to the other shocking cover-up of up to a million girls sexually assaulted by Muslim rape gangs in the UK, and any sane person would understand the legitimate fears which are now circulating that “if Germany’s open door migration policy is adopted in Britain it could lead to a similar hike in offences.”

This fear has prompted the UK Independence Party’s immigration spokesman, John Bickley, to state what should be the obvious: “It’s important that migrants who come to the UK realise that they must obey our laws & respect our values.”

Meanwhile, in France…

French women have launched a fightback to reclaim areas of the country turned into no go zones by Muslim men as a shocking report lays bare the state of social segregation caused by mass migration.

Misunderestimating Mahdism in the Muslim World — Yet Again

Islam scholar and Mahdism expert Timothy Furnish responds to a recent article on the subject in The Economist. His critique serves as a much needed primer on the subject of the Mahdi and Islamic eschatology.

Key highlights:

• "Mahdism has been as major a movement among Sunni Muslims as among (Twelver) Shi`is over the last 14 centuries--if not more so.
• "Over 40% of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims expect the Mahdi to come (back) in this lifetime.
• "Apocalyptic messianism is not some 'extremist' outlier in Islam, but is mainstream and widespread.
• "Massive misunderestimating of Mahdism is typical of Western [media] and, probably of the intelligence community."

Anticipation of the coming of the Mahdi, and Islamic eschatology as a whole, are powerful motivators for devout Muslims (including, but not limited to, the violent jihadi type), and should be kept front and center in our considerations of Islam. So, as Tim Furnish states in this article, "In the interest of apocalyptic analysis, here goes..."


Misunderestimating Mahdism in the Muslim World--Yet Again
by Dr. Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch, January 7, 2017:

I should be prepping syllabi for the four Reinhardt University history classes I'm teaching this term, but in clearing off my desk I found an October 2016 article from The Economist--"Apocalypse Postponed: Islamic State's Loss of Dabiq"--upon which I had never gotten around to commenting. So, in the interest of apocalyptic analysis, and not just procrastination, here goes....

The Mahdi flanked by his right-hand man, Jesus, and the rest of his posse.

As usual with articles in that publication, the knowledge of the target subject is a mile wide but about a millimeter deep. The momentous battle of Dabiq to which ISIS aspires (based on a hadith, or saying, of Muhammad's) is described several times as the "end-of-days" conflict--when in point of fact this battle will not usher in the end of the world but, rather, Islamic conquest thereof (according to mainstream Islamic eschatology, NOT just ISIS's allegedly-"extremist" understanding).

 The Economist describes ISIS' eschatology as a "theology of death, judgment and the end of the world." But that is not true at all. Death for infidels (both dhimmi--Christian and Jewish--and heretical Muslim) is not the goal, but rather the primary methodology by which Islamic rule is extended over the whole world; there is nothing in any of ISIS' many Dabiq publications about judgment at all, much less about riding to ruin and the world's ending.

The article presents ISIS' eschatological fervor "more as a recruitment tool than a tenet of faith"--but then my friend and Islamic apocalypse expert Dr. David Cook is adduced, and he says no such thing.

Ratcheting up its level of ignorance, the author of this article (adducing this time an "expert" who seems to know little of the topic) then blames ISIS' Sunni eschatology on borrowings from Twelver Shi`ism--betraying a total ignorance of Sunni Islam's long, bloody history of Mahdist violence. Mahdism such as ISIS exhibits is then described as "nihilistic," when in reality it is not meaningless at all but quite well-thought-out and volitional.

This massive misunderestimating of Mahdism is typical of the Western intelligentsia (and, alas, probably of the intelligence community for the past eight years, as well). Three major points:

Abbot Tryphon: 'The War of Ideology - The Struggle between Two Worlds'

"The war of ideology between the Christian West and the Islamic world is one that promises to get worse before it gets better... The only way to survive this war is to make Christ central in your life."

The War of Ideology 
The Struggle between Two Worlds

by Abbott Tryphon, The Morning Offering, December 31, 2016:

The world is in a new struggle not unlike that which happened during the Soviet Union and the cold war that was brought on after the fall of the Royal House of Romanov. This was followed by World War II when we saw the struggle between the free world and the fascism of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan.

"Some authorities are projecting this war of ideology will go on for at least two generations..."

All these ideologies have much in common with Islam, where there is a non-democratic tradition and people live under strict rules that leave little room for personal choice, and where fate governs the people. The idea of mankind being formed in the image and likeness of God and having a role in making choices for ourselves, is foreign to Islam. The god of Islam demands submission, just as did communism and fascism.

Updates on the Ft Lauderdale Shooter, 'Aashiq Hammad'

"Fort Lauderdale Airport terrorist Esteban Santiago registered on MySpace under the name 'Aashiq Hammad' and recorded Islamic religious music on the site, 3 years before he ever deployed to Iraq as a U.S. soldier, destroying the lying mainstream media’s narrative that he was just a mentally disturbed veteran and that 'Islam had nothing to do with it'.”

See also:

• Fort Lauderdale Airport shooter had told FBI he was forced to fight for the Islamic State
• Fort Lauderdale shooter “came here specifically” to attack, terrorism not ruled out
• Fort Lauderdale shooter’s brother says U.S. government failed him

Fort Lauderdale shooter was “Aashiq Hammad” on MySpace, recorded Islamic music

by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, January 7, 2017:

This Chicago Tribune article confirms that Fort Lauderdale shooter Esteban Santiago is from Penuelas, Puerto Rico, and has a brother named Bryan. Why aren’t establishment propaganda journalists asking Bryan about Aashiq Hammad?

“BREAKING: #FortLauderdale Terrorist #EstebanSantiago Joined MySpace As ‘Aashiq Hammad’, Recorded Islamic Music,” GotNews, January 7, 2017:

Fort Lauderdale Airport terrorist Esteban Santiago registered on MySpace under the name “Aashiq Hammad” and recorded Islamic religious music on the site, 3 years before he ever deployed to Iraq as a U.S. soldier, destroying the lying mainstream media’s narrative that he was just a mentally disturbed veteran and that “Islam had nothing to do with it.”

Here’s how we know all that:

A search of public records database Nexis reveals that Puerto Rican Esteban Santiago has a brother named Bryan Santiago and two e-mails registered to his name:

Continue to Jihad Watch to view the entire report with screen captures and more...

When ‘Paranoia’ Is Justified

"Among the mass of harmless ordinary migrants devoted to working to improve themselves and their families, there really were, and are, people out to destroy America and Americans... Sometimes the monsters are real." — Philip Jenkins

A thought provoking article on one of the most pressing issues of our time.

When ‘Paranoia’ Is Justified
Sometimes the monsters are real.

by Philip Jenkins, The American Conservative, December 22, 2016:

The U.S. has a lengthy tradition of paranoia and conspiracy theory dating from colonial times onwards, and it would not be difficult to cite many examples of that sad trend—times when Americans directed their suspicions toward such groups as Catholics, Jews, and Mormons. Today, that paranoid tradition is usually deployed against conservatives, with Trumpism presented as the latest manifestation of the American Paranoid Style.

Running alongside that, though, is an equally potent tradition of false accusations of paranoia: of using mockery and psychobabble to minimize quite genuine threats that the country faces. Yes, Sen. Joe McCarthy made wild and even ludicrous claims about communist subversion, but communists had in fact infiltrated U.S. industry and politics, a potentially lethal menace at a time when the U.S. and USSR stood on the verge of apocalyptic warfare. We were dealing with far more than a “Red Scare” or vulgar “McCarthyism.” And through the 1990s, anyone suggesting that al-Qaeda might pose a serious threat to New York or Washington was accused of succumbing to conspiracy nightmares about James Bond-style supervillains.

Sometimes, alleged menaces are bogus; but sometimes the monsters are real. Sometimes, they really are out to get you.

William Kilpatrick: 'Multiculturalism: Islamic Style'

"European Christians and secularists who think that opening their borders to millions of sharia-shaped migrants is going to result in increased diversity ought to take a lesson from the experience of Christians in the Middle East. If Muslim colonization of the West follows suit, it’s not just Christmas songs and celebrations that will be endangered, but Christianity itself."


See also William Kilpatrick's December 28, 2016 article over at The Catholic Thing, Our Responsibility to Criticize Islam (h/t Tim Furnish):

"The very argument that criticism of Islam will drive moderates into the radical camp suggests that criticism is needed. If Islam is such a hair-trigger religion that the slightest offense might radicalize adherents, there is something radically wrong with the religion itself."

Multiculturalism: Islamic Style

by William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine, December 30, 2016:

A nun grieves the day after a bombing during Mass at St. Mark’s Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt on December 10, 2016. (Photo credit: CNS photo / Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Reuters)

“Schoolchildren banned from singing Silent Night over fears it will offend other religions.” So reads a headline in the Express. Instead of singing the lyrics which might “offend other religions,” schoolchildren in Bresciano, Italy were told to hum the tune.

If you have trouble guessing what other religion might take offense, it probably means that you’ve spent the last eight years in the Galapagos Islands studying the evolution of finches. Either that, or you work for the State Department. Those who have been paying attention know that the religion in question is Islam. The new rule, to paraphrase Robert Spencer, is “When in Muslim countries, do as the Muslims do, and when in non-Muslim countries, do as the Muslims do.”

Thus, in one Italian town, “Silent Night” can’t be sung, and in another, a priest has cancelled a traditional Nativity scene at the local cemetery out of respect for Muslim graves. Meanwhile, in Sweden, the traditional St. Lucy’s Day celebration has been cancelled by several towns and cities so as not to offend other religions. In response, Sweden’s Muslim community has decided to cancel all festivities connected to the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, out of respect for Christians.

I made up that last sentence, of course; Muslims don’t seem to worry overmuch about offending other religions or, for that matter, about offending secular sentiments. As is increasingly apparent, multiculturalism is a one-way street. Christians are expected to make concessions and yield up cultural territory while secularists (on the one hand) and Islamists (on the other) use multiculturalism as an excuse to engage in cultural land grabs.

In reality, multiculturalism is a one-way street to a monoculture. Secularists do not wish for a society with a rich diversity of thought and belief. What they are working toward—as can be seen most clearly on college campuses—is a complete uniformity of thought. To the extent that secularists are interested in other cultures, they are interested in using them to undermine the Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman inheritance. Muslims also desire a monoculture—although a decidedly non-secular one. However, they are quite willing to take advantage of multicultural orthodoxy in order to advance their own agenda.

The Clash of Civilizations demands U.S. alliance with Russia

"Just as radical Islam’s terrorist atrocities span nations and boundaries, so, too, must our alliances against radical Islam. This is a mushrooming clash of civilizations that must be won before other, lesser battles can be engaged." — Tom Tancredo

This is an obvious policy recommendation, which has been advocated by Rod Dreher and others.

The Clash of Civilizations demands U.S. alliance with Russia
by Tom Tancredo, Breitbart News, December 24, 2016:

One of Donald Trump’s first acts after being sworn in as President of the United States should be to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him to discuss a broad, coordinated campaign against ISIS.

Radical Islam has declared war on both, so an alliance to defeat that threat not only makes good sense, it is supported by historical precedent.

Only fools deny that the United States is at war with radical Islam. The Cold War with the Soviet Union ended some 25 years ago with the collapse of that monstrous, evil empire. And yet, some people refuse to recognize the urgency of fighting the real war and the necessity of forming alliances with all of Islam’s declared enemies.

It is amazing how many people have forgotten how we defeated Hitler in World War II. We did not do it alone.