A German's View on Islam

by nvrgnbk 8 Replies latest jw friends

  • nvrgnbk
    nvrgnbk

    Dr. Emanual Tanay is a well known and well respected psychiastrist who has written the following which I think merits wide circulation.

    This man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

    'Very few people were true Nazis 'he said,' but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

    We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

    It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the 'peaceful majority', the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous.

    Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

    The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

    And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

    History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving and Christians and Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. All will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

    Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

    As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

    Lastly, at the risk of offending I think anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems of expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.

    Emanuel Tanay, M.D.

    2980 Provincial St .

    Ann Arbor , MI 48104

    734-997-0256

  • stillajwexelder
    stillajwexelder

    great post and it is exactly how I feel

  • jaguarbass
    jaguarbass

    Better not vote for Obama then.

  • emy the infidel
    emy the infidel

    Preventing the “systematic slaughter” of “Christian or tribal groups” will require more than “speaking up”, those slaughters mentioned were stopped by people who were willing to take action. As with today, this was done in the face of opposition to their action.

    Dr. Tanay stopped, imo, before reaching the logical conclusion.

    Emy

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    NVR,

    An interesting essay.

    The analogy between Hilter's Germany and Radical Islam is imo flawed, and the two circumstances actually have little in common.

    In summary, what he seems to be suggesting is that we should not sit by and let radicals take over the world. The lesson of history is that radicals never last the course and are quickly educated out of the picture by social evolution. Only in areas with primitive resources is the passage slowed, and we live in a world where the free flow of information is bringing even these areas into rapid change. In fact, this rapid change is probably one of the reasons why radicals have primed bombs, in order to stop changes. They cannot succeed. History will defeat them.

    Comparisons between a religious ideology founded 1400 years ago and that has millions of adherents internationally, and a group of men who held power over a nation for twenty years before being dealt with by allied forces falls short of reality.

    For example, if he is suggesting that force be used to deal with the issue of radical Islam how could this possibly be accomplished? The US have tried and failed. In fact in attempting to bomb this ideology out of existence they actually seem to have created more zealots than they have killed. the author also seems to have little knowledge of the numerous Muslim groups who ARE doing something about the radicals in their community. There are some very brave Muslims out there doing more than writing essays.

    One aspect of Nazi Germany that may bear comparison is that of the Hitler Youth. At the end of the war, war wisened older men discarded their uniforms and went home defeated. The Hilter Youth, many only aged 12-13 fought to the death. Their young and unformed minds were easy fodder for Hitlers ideology. Look at the radical Islamists. The large majority are children doing the will, often for reasons not involving ideals, of their older cynical masters. The Allies were sensible enough to quickly establish units to debrief these young and zealous people. They were saved by education.

    If the path of experience where radical Islam is concerned, has taught us anything is that while bombs, tanks and guns may kill radicals, they seem to have little effect against radicalism.

    There is no easy solution here, especially now the the US invaded a nation without justifiable cause and created a maelstrom, but I am certain that security in this issue, lies at a nations borders and within its own internal security and not on overseas adventures.

    HS

  • journey-on
    journey-on
    The analogy between Hilter's Germany and Radical Islam is imo flawed,

    I don't think he was suggesting an analogous connection. What I got out of it, is that sometimes it is necessary to fight Evil.

    HS, you are calling it radicalism.....but just for a moment, consider that what NEEDS to be actively fought against is not really radicalism, but rather

    further along that continuum toward downright EVIL. In other words, there is RADICALISM and then there is EVIL!! And Evil can and does prevail

    when it is not FOUGHT against.

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    Journey On,

    And Evil can and does prevail when it is not FOUGHT against.

    A question. How many ways do you think exist of fighting evil?

    HS

    PS - As the author is clearly suggesting that in some respect similarities exist between two otherwise differing situations, this is an analogy.

  • journey-on
    journey-on
    How many ways do you think exist of fighting evil?

    Uh? I dunno.....seven? ten? five hundred?.......

    Sometimes (note: Hillary-S....I said "sometimes") all out WAR is necessary.

    As far as MY take on the analogous connection, I was thinking more along the definition that says if two things are known to be alike in some respects,

    then they must be alike in other respects. I didn't get that from this piece.

    Anyway, you and I NEVER agree on anything......lol.

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips
    There is no easy solution here, especially now the the US invaded a nation without justifiable cause and created a maelstrom, but I am certain that security in this issue, lies at a nations borders and within its own internal security and not on overseas adventures.

    I wish that were so, HS, but we are entering a world where such radicals, whether acting as third parties or in control of a state, can deliver massive death at a distance with celerity. My own country has a long history of isolationist ideology, however the world has changed as you yourself note:

    The lesson of history is that radicals never last the course and are quickly educated out of the picture by social evolution. Only in areas with primitive resources is the passage slowed, and we live in a world where the free flow of information is bringing even these areas into rapid change.

    What exists now is a race between the discrediting (and defusing) of radicalism by social evolution and the ever easier acquisition of technology originally developed in more evolved societies for the purpose of mass destruction.

    Burn

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