This disturbing documentary is worth watching. The voice-over begins with this statement:-
“This is a film about radical Islamic terror. A dangerous ideology, fuelled by religious hatred. It’s important to remember most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror. This is not a film about them. This is a film about a radical worldview, and the threat it poses to us all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.”
The film includes interviews with respected historians, academics and journalists. But it is not these interviews that will imprint themselves on your mind. It is the sight of very young children being trained to hate and of people being trained to blow themselves up. This and the uncompromising message promoting war and hatred of Jews (and Christians and U.S.A).
If what is portrayed is representative of radical Islamic terrorist groups it raises many difficult questions. Among them:-
- Why is so little media coverage given to exposing their core message? This is not a rhetorical question: I’d be interested to know what you think. Could it be that journalists back away from this topic because they are frightened of being physically attacked? Or because they are frightened of being accused of Islamophobia?
- Are the makers of the film correct when they say that we are failing to ‘join the dots’? Are we failing to see that there is a global war of extremist terror supported by a coherent ideology?
- Has our predominantly secular press lost the capacity to understand (and therefore engage with) an ideology that is at core religious?
- How does one confront this ideology of religious hatred/death? This is a most uncomfortable question.
It is uncomfortable because we fear confrontation (which could, in over simplified terms, result in war between Islam and the West) and we also fear what might happen if these extremists are not confronted.
It is uncomfortable because the terror now being waged by minority extremist Islamic terror groups is not so very different to the terror once waged by European Christians embarking upon crusades. That might seem like ancient history to us in England, but it is fresh in the memory of those whose ancestors were on the receiving end. Seeing our past in the mirror at this time is not pretty.
It is uncomfortable because the theory of a ‘just war’ fits so untidily in the face of a threat like this.
It is uncomfortable because, as a follower of Jesus, I would far rather advocate a policy of negotiation rather than confrontation. But when someone is running at you with a knife aimed at your jugular ‘uncomfortable’ becomes too mild a word for the dilemma posed by the experience.
Your comments please….
March 4, 2015 at 2:54 pm
In answer to Q.1: I do not believe that fear of personal attack or being accused of Islamaphobia lies at the heart of the lack of examination of so called IS’ core message, although it may form part of the problem. I believe it’s hindered by Editorial/Political/22bn pounds worth of pressure from their Employers/government, that holds them back from chatting about ‘Core’ issues regarding any warmongers. No one would care about their perverted ‘core’ issues, if they had no funds or weapons, thus restricted to mere rhetoric!! Our Arms Trade involves an unholy alliance, in my view, between Government, City and Media. Zoe Williams writes with great candour concerning the 2013 DSEI arms fair at ExCel, in the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/sep/13/london-arms-fair-weapons This was the Arms ‘Fair’ (ooof – certainly not ‘fun’) where two companies were thrown out for selling illegal product used for torture. How the heck that got through customs, to make it into Excel at all, I do not know – when I have to put my liquid face foundation into a clear plastic bag to be permitted in or out of the UK?!! Caroline Lucas drew the Governments attention to this glaring oversight: http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/09/12/torture-arms-firms-handed-marching-orders – . So them’s my thoughts Graham! Ha! I love your writing … x
March 4, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Thanks, Tina. Interesting articles from Guardian too.
March 4, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Fully aware that I’ve completely ignored Q. 2,3, and 4! But for me – UK’s Arms Trading is the primary core issue needing to be addressed. x