A meaningful controversy

As discussed in a previous post, Bill O'Reilly and the ladies of "The View" were involved in a bruhaha on air involving Muslims and the Ground Zero site proposed mosque.  Peter Wehner weighs in here with his thoughts with which I disagree here.  Wehner needs some serious historical background before sounding off on a subject about which he knows very little.  His critique of O'Reilly's analogy of the nation state of Japan and al-Qaeda is irrelevant and misguided.  He submits that O'Reilly's conflation of al-Qaeda with the Japanese war machine of WWII is wrong because Japan was a nation-state and al-Qaeda is simply an unaffiliated extremist element of Islam,  a peaceful mainstream religion with 1.5 billion congregants.  Is Wehner seriously suggesting that the unelected dictatorial military junta that led the Japanese people over the cliff truly represented the nearly 80 million citizens of that country who had no idea why they were being conscripted into the military and sent by force abroad to subjugate and murder foreigners? History is replete with examples of fanatics who in the name of  nation states (and in the name of religions) lead masses of people to tragic ends: Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in Russia, Mao in China, Castro in Cuba, and let us not forget the Crusades and the Inquisition.  At one time Christianity was an intolerant and yes, murderous religion dominated by a cabal of fanatics until the Reformation eliminated Christianity's dark side.  O'Reilly is right to have made the claim that Muslims were responsible for 9/11, and not "extremist" or "extremist Muslims".  When followers of Muhammed and the religion of Islam (Muslims) expose, denounce and eliminate the intolerance and fanatical elements in their faith, the virulent evil threat to mankind we now know as al-Qeada will die out and Islam will then be a religion of peace, like Christianity. Until Islam experiences its reformation, it is merely a religion that breeds intolerance and mayhem. Only Muslims can reform their religion and until they do they are a threat to the rest of the world that has to be contained.  No one should forget that the only theocracies in the world today are Islamic states: Iran, Saudia Arabia, Indonesia.  These are nations in which the church (Islam) and state are one and the same, a description of a totalitarian regime in which the people have only the rights conferred by leaders (the Mullahs) and and live by a code (Sharia law) that has some unacceptable strictures, such as stoning. For Muslims to live peaceably with westerners in the West,  Islam must embrace the western concept of separation of church and state and reform some of the more unacceptable dictates in the Quran.  Mr. Wehner is naive.

Sharia is what it's all about

O'Reilly visited "The View", a left wing klatch of female ignoramuses, yesterday to push his new book.  The discussion ventured to the proposed mosque at Ground Zero with predictable results.  When pushed why the mosque at GZ was a bad idea (all the ladies thought it was a good idea) O'Reilly correctly pointed out that it was a bad idea because a mosque is for muslims and muslims attacked us on 9/11.  The ladies took umbrage because they alleged the attack had nothing to do with muslims or the muslim faith and everything to do with extremism and extremist behavior.  The are dead wrong and O'Reilly is dead right, even though he was willing to concede, in the interest of harmony on the program that the attack was the work of muslim "extremists", and not muslims in general.  Diana West has lived in the middle east and has written about muslims and Islam and the terrorists for many, many years.  There may be no one in the West who knows more, or understands more about muslims and islamism than she.  In the article here, having to do with the Geert Wilders trial now underway in  the Netherlands, in no uncertain terms Ms West explains why O'Reilly is right and the ladies on The View are wrong.  In short it has to do with the objectives of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) an organization representing 57 islamic countries which attempts to criminalize any criticism of the  religion of Islam, in the West! Thus, Geert Wilders is on trial for defaming the religion of Islam in a western courtroom, believe it or not.  Wilders is the head of a growing political party in the Netherlands that is trying to stem the rising tide of Islam and Sharia law in that country.  Now the real issue is what is Islam, a religion, or something more?  And the answer is something more.  Islam is the marriage of church and state under the umbrella of Sharia law.  Sharia law, a body of law based upon the teachings of the Quran, is the controlling force in all islamic states and it results in the second class status of women as well as prohibiting any dissent or other religions.  There are no churches in Saudia Arabia or Iran, for example.  The OIC can and should be viewed as the advance guard of the Islamic movement to convert the entire world to the faith and control of Sharia law.  Everything to do with Sharia law is antithetical to western traditions and value, everything.  In the end any muslim who believes Sharia law should prevail is an islamist who does not value individual rights or freedom as we understant that concept in the West.  Most surveys suggest well over 50% of all muslims believe in the idea of society controlled by Sharia law.  Once again, O'Reilly is right but lacks the courage of his convictions when he caves to the ladies and qualifies the perpetrators of 9/11 as "muslim extremists".  If muslim moderates were in control of their religion, there would be no extremists or terrorist, they would see to that.  Since they lack the courage to confront "extremists" or "terrorists" those elements are in control of their religion of islam.  Under the control of Sharia advocates Islam is not just a religion as we understand that term, but a theocracy, which puts it into the category of a political movement like communism, fascism, and the National Socialism of Germany in the '30s and 40's.  If the West does not turn back the tide and growing influence of Islamic Sharia law, we will have another world war.

Schuyler and friends' walk for juvenile diabetes

Schuyler and friends' walk for juvenile diabetes was a huge success.  Here are video clips of the beginning of the walk.  The combined total raised for the march from Battery Park to Brooklyn and return was over $140,000.  Yea everybody!!!