Saturday, February 20, 2010

Ron Paul, Pamela Geller, and Culturism at CPAC

At CPAC three positions on Islam were apparent. One was represented by Pamela Geller’s “Freedom Defense Initiative” conference. The second came from the Ron Paul followers. And the third appeared in the conference’s otherwise deafening silence on Islam. Culturism has a lot to say about all three positions.

Ron Paul’s followers believe that Islamic terrorist attacks result from our overbearing presence in the Middle East. Therefore, they recommend pulling our troops out of that region. As a culturist, I agree that we should not be nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a culturist I believe the project of turning these nations into progressive democracies with respect for individual rights will fail because their cultures will not support such changes. And I agree with Ron Paul’s argument for disengagement based on our inability to afford these nation-building enterprises. Western culturists know that if the West is not solvent our values will die globally.

But none of Paul’s followers could explain why the Jihad in Thailand and India exist. Neither nation has military bases outside of their own borders. As multiculturalists do, the followers of Paul fail to appreciate that diversity is real and important. Diversity is not just about food, festivals, and fashion. Some cultures drop out of school early and think teen pregnancy is not so bad. Other cultures think our way of life is a blasphemous affront to God. Diversity is real and important. Overlooking the cultural aspects of Jihad will not safeguard us.

Geller’s event explained domestic Jihad initiatives. Whereas Paul could not believe that an aggressive Islam for Islam’s sake exists, Geller’s speakers clearly showed that it can and does exist. As a culturist, I agreed with their domestic solution. We need culturist profiling at airports. We need to limit Islamic immigration. That is not, by the way, racist - it is culturist. And, we need to recognize that western cultural practices and laws are the norm and standard in western nations. We should not recognize Sharia courts or allow, for example, veils in photo Identification. Unlike multiculturalists, culturists recognize that the West has a culture to protect and promote. Domestically Geller’s group was very culturist.

Culturism and Geller diverge on foreign policy. Culturism believes in national cultural sovereignty. Allen West said we should seek to defeat Islam, not Muslims. I am unclear how the two are to be separated. Quoting Ronald Reagan, he said victory means “we win, they lose.” That statement holds too little nuance for me. We all agree on bombing Iran’s nuclear sites and being aggressive in regions of Afghanistan that harbor terrorist. But culturists do not believe we will convert Islamic nations by the sword. If we want the sovereignty to pursue culturist policies domestically, we must also grant that right to other nations. We are not the world. We are the West. The idea that we will convert Islam nations by the sword is, as Ron Paul says, a dangerous proposition we cannot afford.

At CPAC the third position on Islam, and the largest, was overwhelming silence. Outside of Ron Paul’s “Why real conservatives don’t support the war on terror” meeting and Geller’s event, few deemed Islam worth discussing. Ron Paul at least wants to debate our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Geller schooled the conference on domestic threats. We conservatives, as Americans and as Westerners, need to accept culturist position that our culture is not that of the world. Diversity exists internationally. Furthermore, we must shake off the multicultural position that the West has no core culture to protect. Geller and Paul have done us a great service in making conservatives think about the West’s relationship to Islam.

14 comments:

DJM said...

"Culturism."

Interesting. Certainly our end goal of the anti-jihad movement should be, realistically, defending our own culture as opposed to destroying another, even for a greater good.

However, given that islam is involved with a majority of all major world conflicts and responsible for almost all terrorism - more than all other belief systems COMBINED - I can't help thinking the world would be a much better place without the muhammadan cult. (And make no mistake, islam *is* a cult.)

But, of course, it is the ideology that needs to be eliminated, not those who embrace it. The key to defeating islam is simply knowledge.

Educating non-muslims to resist islamic influences, and educating muslims about the truth behind muhammad's teachings, however much it may offend them, and then giving potential apostates a safe passage to leave islam if they wish.

Islam is spread and maintained by the sword. If we overpower the sword and free the followers of the chains, islam will collapse on its own.

Excellent site. I shall visit again. :)

Unknown said...

DJM,

Thanks for coming by and the comment!

I applaud all pro-western individual - rights based educational efforts. I also agree that Islam needs to be fought when attempting to build WMDs or expand. But, I have very little faith in conversion.

Yes the world would be a better place, for the West, were Islam to disappear. But, Islam has 1.5 billion followers dominating 50 odd nations and has been around for 1400 years. It seems to be around for the long haul.

One bit of evidence is the lack of assimilation by many Muslim immigrants in the West. They have been thoroughly exposed to Western ideals and yet set up Sharia courts and no go zones. Many are modern. But, rooting out the bullies and true adherents is difficult - even on our own soil!

That is why, as you suggest, I emphasize protecting our traditional Western culture in our nations; being culturist. To do this we must fight the multiculturalists who say we have no traditional majority culture. They will say we are racist. We can win the argument by saying we are culturists who believe in culturism.

Thanks again, John

Lexcen said...

I think DJM has focused on the wrong idea about educating Muslims. It is more important to educate the west about the nature of Islam and how much it is a real threat to western cultural values.
Isolating the west from Islam and blocking Muslim immigration might work in the U.S.A but is far too late to implement in Europe. Without a pan European/U.S. culturist movement, culturism will be unable to achieve it's goals.Further it is necessary to educate and influence political movements with the concept of culturism before any progress will be achieved in protecting western culture. This would mean a major shift from left wing dominated political ideology that supports multi-culturalism and denigrates the value of western culture. It seems like a long and hard road ahead.

Unknown said...

Lex,

That is a very nice take. Yes, I think it is much more important to educate our public than theirs. The job of educating their public also has the problem of creating the image of the moderate modern Muslim immigrant. To show faith in the concept we might even have to open borders further.

I also liked your consistent use of the words culturism and culturist! The ideas seem hard to spread. But, once they became a subject of debate, they would become required thought in every school that teaches multiculturalism.

Yesterday, btw, I was passing out culturism literature at CPAC and a guy came up and asked if it had to do with education. You should have heard him then weep about the multicultural classes his university requires. He really resented being forced to repeat one sided cant he disagreed with. If the word spread it might cause them to rename all the multiculturalism only courses and we'd be somewhat boosted in our domestic IQ.

Thanks! John

Anonymous said...

I certainly try to preserve and promote Western culture all the time--local artists, theatre, historical museums, you name it. Persons living in the US from Eastern cultures will blend in so long as they are not devout muslims (who insist on speaking Arabic and sending their many children to the public schools which some of our dhimmied communities are subsidizing--that's part of the jizya tax which is required of non-muslims under sharia) All others will melt into the pot, but there is only one group who remains in a parallel culture. Until we speak to muslims personally about this and their religion one-on-one Americans probably will never understand how dangerous the mind-set is to the destruction of the republic as we have known it. See the film "What the West Needs to Know" its available on the internet.

Anonymous said...

BTW there is a Texas Islamic Court down around Richardson or Garland. And there may be more. Why is this happening we have got to ask ourselves together. Why?!

Unknown said...

Anonymous,

I am sorry to hear about the Texas Islamic court. As to why this is happening, I blame multiculturalism. It would have you believe that we have no core culture and that all things are as American as any other. Islamic law is NOT western. This is a western nation. Only western law should be practiced here.

Making all places where multiculturalism is discussed use the term culturism is a start. This is because American culturism implies that we have a culture and it, thus, implies that some things are not. Culturism, the book, does not only focus on Islam. But, Islam is an easy culture with which to contrast and explain the virtues of the West.

www.culturism.us

DJM said...

Lexcen - you said "I think DJM has focused on the wrong idea about educating Muslims."

Could you please elaborate?

I may be wrong here, but I sincerely believe part of the allure of islam is misrepresentation. In my discussions and debates with muslims, I often discover muslims - especially those in the West - don't know much about muhammad at all.

They've been taught he was a noble, merciful, peaceful man. Most are ignorant of the hadiths which clearly show him otherwise.

I believe if we could just expose more muslims to the truth, many will see the folly of following such a man.

I don't believe all muslims are bad people. Probably most aren't. But they don't know any better because they've never been allowed an alternative. They must be exposed to the truth. And we must not be afraid to tell it.

I encourage everyone to stop by FaithFreedom.org and meet real, former muslims who, through education, were able to see beyond what they were taught in their mosques.

That is my point about educating muslims, as well as non-muslims.

Peace!

Unknown said...

DJM,

I think you are right that many Muslims don't know much about Mohammed. After denial and rejection of the messenger, were they to find the truth, many would be appalled.
I know muslims who are not generally bad people. But they are that because they do NOT follow their faith. Nevertheless, nearly 100% are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. That is natural; our views reflect our upbringing.
So while perhaps passive, peaceful, and not bad folk, an increase of Muslims means a proportional increase in the percentage who would influence politicians and professors to denounce Israel.
On the flipside, a western derived population - for the most part and outside of universities - will naturally side with Israel and Europe over Muslim nations. Who would you rather have voting in the West or as President?
So while not totally dramatic, even if not religious, the polls show a tendency towards anti-western views in European muslim populations. While subtle, and not violent, and not an immediate threat, that population's views and increasing immigration has an impact.

Thoughts?

Radio Jihad said...

Now this is a fresh perspective on Islam.

We have a culture to protect. Islamism has a culture to expand by the sword - and the two tectonic plates will collide hard -

Excellent piece - I like the positive message.

Unknown said...

Radio Jihad,

Thanks for the positive comment! I think that we can make a difference by putting the words "culturism" and "culturist" into our vocabularies. The West needs to discuss important cultural issues without fear of being called racist.

Thanks again! John

Lexcen said...

DJM, I agree that most Muslims are ignorant about Islam, especially the western born and bred. In fact if you look at Muslim countries that are not Arabic, such as Indonesia, you can infer that they must not know much about Islam because they cannot read Arabic. The teachings of the Quran must be read and understood in Arabic (as the fundamentalists would adhere to) and lets not forget the millions who are illiterate both in Arab countries and other non-Arab speaking countries who follow Islam. But of course that's not the point here because my knowledge of Islam is based on my readings in English. Those who are ignorant of Islam, for example Muslims born in UK or Australia are usually the best recruits for indoctrination by radicals in Madrasses funded by Saudi Arabian money. Further, those individuals who are incapable of thinking for themselves, who are incapable of questioning doctrine are the prime source of recruits for terrorism. Education indeed but by whom and for whom? Seems like a tall order to me. Yes, Muslims are not bad people by nature but expecting them to differentiate between good and bad hadiths, and there are thousands of them is asking for the impossible. When Allah marries a six year old Aisha for example, how can you convey to a Muslim that this isn't exactly acceptable behaviour?

DJM said...

I agree, Lexcen, some commonly known facts about muhammad *should* give Western muslims a clue about the true nature of the man they consider a prophet.

But, as I find in my debates with muslims, many are very ignorant (or perhaps just in denial) about the content of their own texts. For example, I have had a few say the Hadiths that mention Aisha's age as being 6 when muhammad married her are corrupted, and her actual age was 14 - 17.

But then those same muslims will use the same Hadiths to show muhammad in a positive light.

This may be deliberate deception on the part of many muslims, but I still think there is a segment who are simply misguided and misinformed. They are taught from a young age that us kufr will lie to them about muhammad, and will twist words and texts. So, there is a mistrust of anything a non-muslim says about muhammad.

You are 100% correct about Arabic speaker not understanding the quran. I am often accused of misinterpretations because I do not speak Arabic. However, when I confront non-Arabic speaking muslims that perhaps THEY are wrong because, by their own admission, they cannot possible understand or even confirm what they are told about the quran, I am usually met with silence or deflection.

Fortunately, I have many ex-muslim friends who speak Arabic as their first language. So I am able to get proper and accurate translations.

(One such friend some of you may know is AhmadsQuran3 at Youtube. [http://www.youtube.com/AhmadsQuran3] Highly recommended for those who wish to learn more about islam. He also published the book "Lifting the Veil: The True Faces of Muhammad and Islam.")

Granted, many muslims chose to be ignorant. Some are in denial, others are simply liars. But I do sympathize with those who are denied knowledge that might otherwise change their views.

Culturist John, I do agree with you on those points of political influence. Unfortunately, islam is not only a religion or a culture, but also a political system in itself. We, as a nation, need to adopt the courage to distinguish islam on that basis.

It should be identified as any other political system - marxism, socialism, communism, etc.

DJM said...

I also want to mention the many people who are enslaved by islam.

In many islamic societies, women are deliberately kept uneducated. They are only taught the quran and that their only duty under islam is to serve male relatives. The quran teaches that this men can beat women to keep them true to their faith.

We are finding this is also occurring here in America, evident by the rise in so-called honor killings. Islam's culture of violence and intimidation is being practiced right here in the West.

We mustn't abandon these first victims of islam.