Stop Terrorism: Ban Christmas Trees!

By avoiding the real problem, liberals blame the innocent.

There is a cancer growing in the Middle East, called fanatical Islam. This version of Islam preaches that an act of evil murder is good. It says that it is good to commit suicide, as long as in so doing one brings about the death of innocent Christians, Jews and others, whether in the World Trade Center or a Jerusalem Pizzeria.

This branch of Islam represents a grave danger. It is why mosques and Muslim organizations in this country must be subjected to unusual scrutiny, and young Middle Eastern men must be watched with greater care than others when they plan to board a plane. Scrutiny in this case is not racism or ethnic bias, but a simple acknowledgement of statistical reality.

“Enlightened liberals” insist that, to the contrary, the numbers must be ignored. To exercise caution before admitting an Arab on board is “racial profiling.” And the problem isn’t Islam, but “hopelessness, poverty and despair” — if only the U.S. would leave Iraq and Israel would leave Jerusalem, all those terrorists would lay down their arms and take up knitting instead. The fact that Arab universities on the West Bank are home to some of the worst fanatics, and these terrorists managed to bring an end to an era of unmatched prosperity for “Palestinian” Arabs, gives them no pause.

This is not to say, however, that liberals ignore the hatred spread by Muslim clerics. Although when it comes to Islam they attribute that uniquely Muslim hatred to other causes, when discussing peaceful religions, such as Judaism and modern-day Christianity, they are equally quick to assert “guilt by association,” as if all religions were equally liable for the murderous fanaticism of the few. All “fundamentalists” are equally dangerous, whether they be Muslims, Christians, or Jews — but the Muslims can’t be blamed, because of that poverty and despair. It’s the Christian and Jewish fundamentalists, in their world view, that we need to fear.

Again, simple reality — like the past century, which was distinguished for being both the most secular and the most bloody in modern history — does not diminish by one iota their vision of fundamentalist religion as a plague upon society, to be blamed for all the world’s ills. Hitler, Stalin, and Idi Amin were apparently fundamentalists in extraordinarily good disguises.

It is this sort of anti-religious intolerance that has led to unparalleled efforts to ban Christmas trees — though neutral “holiday trees” are ok. There is a desperate need for the supposedly “enlightened” individuals to wake up to reality — to accept that fanatical Islam is dangerous, while a friendly “Merry Christmas” is not. Even when it’s said to a Rabbi!