PrintAugust 23, 2007
The Future of Western Civilization Depends on Two Things
The current political squabbles in America between the liberal, socialist left and the moral capitalist conservative right are merely a skirmish line on the edge of two colliding civilizations. The combatants are not the free market, individual centric conservatives and libertarians vs. the Nanny State, socialist plantation liberal straw bosses. Not at all!
The Elephant in the room is Islamofascism - and President Bush and his brilliant General Petraeus, at the head of the greatest Army of our lifetime, are decisively engaged. What is at stake dwarfs the '08 elections topics of single payer medical care, unfunded social security, or our billions of dollars held by China and Saudi Arabia, for economic blackmail.
The Elephant in the room is Islamofascism - and President Bush and his brilliant General Petraeus, at the head of the greatest Army of our lifetime, are decisively engaged. What is at stake dwarfs the '08 elections topics of single payer medical care, unfunded social security, or our billions of dollars held by China and Saudi Arabia, for economic blackmail.
Life as we know it -- the profound blessings of the Age of Enlightenment and the spectacular technological progress in the arts and sciences that resulted -- is, absent a courageous defense, doomed to be devoured in the maws of a barbarian Islamofacism if President Bush's war leadership fails. Militant Islam means to convert, enslave, or exterminate the infidel non-Muslim world, depending on the degree of resistance encountered. The Koran demands it, and militant Islamists are implementing it wherever they have the critical mass to enforce it. Secular pluralism and a democratically established Rule of Law will not survive, absent protectors that exercise lethal force to defend it. This should be the litmus test of who should be our next president, and no other.
Islamofascism will be stopped by one of two ways, if it is stopped.
The first possibility is secularly pragmatic and essentially Darwinian. The society -- Islamofascism or Western Civilization -- will prevail depending upon who imposes its will on its neighbors sufficient to expand its borders, increase its population, and accumulate treasure. This follows the tectonic civilization shift thesis of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Society.
The rise and fall of one society or another reflects the simple equation of warfare, biology, and technology development. For example, Islamofascists, reproducing rapidly, brainwashing young boys with the militant texts of the Koran, raising battalions of kamikaze homicide bombers, cutting off hands and heads to maintain discipline and tribal cohesion, are overcoming a complacent West, spoiled, secular and imploding with negative birth rates. In fact, Islamists are reaching a tipping point in Europe, for example, nearing a critical mass in Spain, France, and Great Britain.
We'll know for sure that the game's over when they burn down the idolatrous art museums in Paris. That Islam condemns half its population (females) to abject servitude and shows profoundly little ability to advance the frontiers of science and technology suggests an approaching dark age if left unchecked.
The alternative, brighter future depends upon supplying General Petraeus with what he needs, funding the Surge all the way.
The rise and fall of one society or another reflects the simple equation of warfare, biology, and technology development. For example, Islamofascists, reproducing rapidly, brainwashing young boys with the militant texts of the Koran, raising battalions of kamikaze homicide bombers, cutting off hands and heads to maintain discipline and tribal cohesion, are overcoming a complacent West, spoiled, secular and imploding with negative birth rates. In fact, Islamists are reaching a tipping point in Europe, for example, nearing a critical mass in Spain, France, and Great Britain.
We'll know for sure that the game's over when they burn down the idolatrous art museums in Paris. That Islam condemns half its population (females) to abject servitude and shows profoundly little ability to advance the frontiers of science and technology suggests an approaching dark age if left unchecked.
The alternative, brighter future depends upon supplying General Petraeus with what he needs, funding the Surge all the way.
The other scenario finds its roots in Judaism, already old a thousand years before Mohammed went into his desert caves. God declares in Psalm 137:5 "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!" This is the biblically-centered world view that abides by the ancient narratives, prophesies, and hopes. Everything depends on the choices of the righteous, and the mercy of God.
In this scenario, the Land of Israel and the descendents of Jacob -- the Jews -- drive the future. Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. It is as plain as the green line -- the boundary of lush forests that illustrate the moral, civilized border of Israel, with the Islamist ineptitude of the West Bank. On one side, a flourishing earth; a barren mistreated desert on the other. The West must cast its lot with Israel.
In this scenario, the Land of Israel and the descendents of Jacob -- the Jews -- drive the future. Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. It is as plain as the green line -- the boundary of lush forests that illustrate the moral, civilized border of Israel, with the Islamist ineptitude of the West Bank. On one side, a flourishing earth; a barren mistreated desert on the other. The West must cast its lot with Israel.
The more noteworthy characteristics of this world view include the resilient, compassionate and just Rule of Law, grounded in a correct interpretation of the Torah, upon which Western Civilization based its legal system.
This scenario also includes the hope of the Messiah, one who will provide profound leadership and usher in an age of genuine peace. This is the same Messiah famously predicted by Jesus of Nazareth, coming when the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached to the ends of the earth. It is the same declaration, according to Chassidic Judaic history, repeated by the Messiah to Rabbi Israel, the Ba'al Shem Tov, in the 18th century during his soul ascent into the heavens during prayer. The Messiah said He would come with the Holy Torah would be proclaimed throughout the earth, essentially quoting Jesus, 1800 years later. In this scenario, folks, it ain't over until the Messiah says it's over -- and we must teach the world that essential, Godly morality. Would it be the Jews who rise to the occasion -- the Light unto the Nations.
While Jews hope for the advent of the Messiah (may He come quickly in our day) and Christians await the return of Jesus, the civilization-loving pragmatist must give no quarter to Islamofascist barbarians. We must also support Israel -- and the moral compass Israel symbolizes. The skeptic may not put much stock in the latter, but it very well may speed things up!
