As an Armenian-American, I understand, better than most, the severe costs of overestimating how safe it is for Christians to have Islamic neighbors. Frankly, it would take generations of new, non-violent behavior by Islamic adherents before I would ever suggest it was safe to have Islamic adherents as neighbors.
I am also an independent sort of person. I have a reputation for speaking my mind so, in a sense, I am not surprised I should be among the first to sound the alarm and to argue that Muslims have not yet proven to the world that they are safe neighbors. As such, I am livid at the coverage provided by the mainstreamm media. After watching MSNBC and the White House's response to this latest act of terrorism in Boston, I am offended that we are not doing more to link Islam to a bombing that wounded more than 170 people and left three dead.
All in all, I am startled about how squeemish and politically correct the media gets as we face down the threats posed by Islamic ideology. For a great look at Al Qaeda ideology, I recommend Dore Gold's book, Hatred's Kingdom.
The fearful ideology that apparently motivated the Boston Marathon bombers has been a violent threat to its neighbors in Saudi Arabia for years.
The depth of the challenge should be obvious to anyone who reads through the Koran. In a recent article in American Thinker, Victor Sharpe provides a great list of passages from the Koran which should be read and understood by every American. As he reports, the Koran instructs people as follows:
"Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them." Koran 2:191
"Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood." Koran 9:123
"When opportunity arises, kill the infidels wherever you catch them." Koran 9:5
"Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable." Koran 3:85
"The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them."... Koran 9:30
"Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam" Koran 5:33
"Punish the unbelievers with garments of fire, hooked iron rods, boiling water; melt their skin and bellies." Koran 22:19
"The unbelievers are stupid; urge the Muslims to fight them." Koran 8:65
"Muslims must not take the infidels as friends." Koran 3:28
"Terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur'an." Koran 8:12
"Muslims must muster all weapons to terrorize the infidels." Koran 8:60
When I read these passages in the Koran myself, I was shocked at the way this supposed holy text propogates and justifies violence against, and oppression of, Jews and Christians. It is disturbing to me that otherwise capable mainstream analysts would seek to minimize the extent to which the Koran is not really a religious book at all, but actually a political ideology of fascist-style domination.
I have also seen Islamic contempt for Christians face-to-face. I taught my grant writing workshop at the Bible Society of Egypt in 2008 and got to see how persecuted Christians lived under an Islamic regime. It was not pretty. The Christians we met were reduced to living in and worshipping in a cave above a garbage dump.
I am deeply afraid that we are going to be too slow in catching the next wave of violent Islamic terrorists out of fear of offending Islamic adherents. Frankly, the more I read up on Islam, the worse and more dangerous it looks to me. I expect the bombing in Boston will renew a fresh, courageous conversation regarding Islamic terrorism and the root causes of Islamic violence - the words of the Koran.
John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.
