The long march to dhimmitude
October 26, 2006
worldnetdaily.com
"As for the concept of dhimmitude, it represents a behavior dictated by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability. The origin of this concept is to be found in the condition of the infidel people who submit to the Islamic rule without fighting in order to avoid the onslaught of jihad. By their peaceful surrender to the Islamic army, they obtained the security for their life, belongings and religion, but they had to accept a condition of inferiority, spoliation and humiliation. As they were forbidden to possess weapons and give testimony against a Muslim, they were put in a position of vulnerability and humility."
– Bat Ye'or in interview by John W. Whitehead
You probably didn't know it, but in less than two weeks the United States is conducting a nationwide poll on dhimmitude. This will be a very large sample of likely voters. In fact, it will be everyone who votes, legally or not.
You may not see the term dhimmitude printed on your ballot, but rest assured – it is there. It will be especially interesting to see the percentage of women who vote for this condition of slavery. Under Islamic law, women return to their pre-Christian, pre-Western status as property; that is to say they are owned by their husbands, brothers or fathers. Any money or property they hold immediately passes to the men in their lives who are held responsible for these women.
In my mind, a vote by less than 45 percent of women in America for the dhimmitude referendum will indicate that America has not yet made up its mind about living under an Islamic theocracy. A vote by 30 percent or less of women in favor of dhimmitude would indicate that in the very near future we can expect a broadening of the war against terror, to include the use of serious force against those nations sponsoring terrorism and nuclear proliferation to advance their own interests.
But what I'm really waiting for is to see how the militant-feminist vote breaks down. Feminists have not had much to say about the prospects of their fellow women in Muslim nations living under Islamic law. In fact, I haven't heard much feminist objection to Islamic "honor killings," where a wife, sister or daughter is murdered by an Islamic male for unfaithfulness or planning to marry outside the Islamic faith, actions that bring disgrace on an Islamic family. We might say the feminist non-response gives new meaning to the phrase, "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
No doubt the choice confronting feminist-leaning women this election is a difficult one: Do they vote for candidates who are unlikely to care much about, say, restrictions on abortion rights – but who will vigorously resist surrender to Islamic jihad? Or do they vote for candidates likely fight for abortion rights – but surrender to the imposition of Islamic law? Goethe's Faust comes to mind (although probably not for those educated within the last 30 years or so).
You see, Iraq was not invaded by American forces because we thought they'd perpetrated 9-11, or because an alarm went off in then-Secretary of State Colin Powell's office one morning that said, "Time to democratize Iraq!"
Iraq was invaded to destabilize the Islamic terrorist regimes around it with a democratically elected government, greater rights for women and economic hope (all an anathema to Islamic theocracies). Our government believed it was preferable to engage the terrorists on their own soil, as opposed to our shopping malls, sports stadiums, public schools and Starbucks coffee shops. Perhaps the war should be judged on how many of the latter have experienced terrorist bombings.
Earlier I said that you might not see the word dhimmitude printed on your ballot. That's true. But you can look for its abbreviation after the various candidate names. With only a handful of exceptions it shows up as a "D" after the candidates name. And while it is true that a few "moderate" (mediaspeak for liberal) Republicans support the dhimmitude agenda, the only Democrat senator I know of who supports a vigorous resistance to dhimmitude is Joe Lieberman. Oops – he's running as an Independent. His party booted him out in the primary election and embraced the dhimmitude "D" candidate. |
