Dominated by political correctness, the media is determined to present Islam in a positive light. Today’s UPI article claims that Winston Churchill was attracted to Islam that he considered conversion. and that if not for the intervention of his family, he may very well have. Since UPI is a major news wire, it is not surprising that the story was featured in newspapers from Great Britain, Sweden, Holland, the U.S, Middle East Forum, Russia, India, the Middle east South America, and even the Jerusalem Post.
Churchill's purported love affair with Islam is based on a letter to Churchill from Lady Gwendolyn, Churchill’s future sister in in law, found recently, in which she expressed concern about his attraction to Islam and expressed her concern that he might convert. Churchill appears to have had an interest in the culture of the middle east but deplored Islam. After serving in the British army until 1897, he returned to England and wrote memoirs of his experiences in which he expressed his opinions about Islam in no uncertain terms. Unfortunately Churchill’s views are relevant today. His writing needs no paraphrasing. Here are his opinions in his own words
The Effect of Islam on its followers
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries [devotees] Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia [rabies] in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident [short-sited] habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. ...Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde[backwards] force exists in the world”
Enslavement of women
“The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.”
The Danger to the West
“Far from being moribund [pointless], Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity were sheltered in the strong arms of science – the science against which it had vainly struggled – the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”
Contrast between Islam and Christianity
“It is, difficult if not impossible for the modern European to fully appreciate the force which fanaticism exercises among an ignorant, warlike and Oriental population.... Christianity, however degraded and distorted by cruelty and intolerance, exerts a modifying influence on men's passions, and protect them from the more violent forms of fanatical fever, as we are protected from smallpox by vaccination. But the Mohammedan religion increases, instead of lessening, the fury of intolerance. It was originally propagated by the sword, and ever since, its votaries have been subject, above the people of all other creeds, to this form of madness.”
Religion and war
“In a moment the fruits of patient toil, the prospects of material prosperity, the fear of death itself, are flung aside. The more emotional Pathans are powerless to resist. All rational considerations are forgotten. Seizing their weapons, they become Ghazis--as dangerous and as sensible as mad dogs: fit only to be treated as such. While the more generous spirits among the tribesmen become convulsed in an ecstasy of religious bloodthirstiness, poorer and more material souls derive additional impulses from the influence of others, the hopes of plunder and the joy of fighting. Thus whole nations are roused to arms. Thus the Turks repel their enemies, the Arabs of the Soudan break the British squares, and the rising on the Indian frontier spreads far and wide. In each case civilization is confronted with militant Mahommedanism. The forces of progress clash with those of reaction. The religion of blood and war is face to face with that of peace. Luckily the religion of peace is usually the better armed.”
A warning
These words written by Churchill over 100 years ago warn us of the dangers the world would face were if Muslims became armed to the degree that others are. The west, would never be as single-mindedly dedicated to war, never reach the altered state that Islam provokes. Many people know that Churchill was the first to see the dangers of Naziism and Stalinism But how many people would have guessed he also warned us of the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism?
Political Arrest in Britain
Paul Weston , chairman of the Liberty Party was arrested this year [4/26/2014]b for the crime of quoting what Winston Churchill,said in 1899 about Islam: No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” A British political candidate running for elections was arrested in mid-speech simply for publicly for quoting a former Prime Minister. Orwellian in its attempt to rewrite the past by erasing a statement that does not fit today's narrative about Islam. The UPI ‘news’ publicizing Churchill’s love affair with Islam is of the same genre. It exaggerates a number of events and ignores the majority of information on the subject.
When reading ‘news’ especially news that did not occur the day it was written, caveat emptor, I was fortunate as I learned this in sixth grade when my social studies teacher asked this question : How can you tell the New York Times is biased? None of us knew, Look in the box on the front page. “All the news that’s fit to print” I read as I heard her say. Who decides?
A critical mind protects against baseless extremism. Unfortunately, there are fewer teachers who encourage this today
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