Ain’t No Fanatic Like a Religious Fanatic

By Alan Burkhart

People can always find an excuse for killing each other. It’s human nature. But I find it doubly disturbing when someone feels wanton murder is somehow an act of righteousness. Faleh Hassan Almaleki and Yasser Said stand accused of attacking their daughters. The fact that as of this writing, both are still on the run pretty much cinches their guilt.

Almaleki’s daughter, Noor Faleh Almaleki, is alive but suffered life-threatening injuries when her loving father ran her down with his car. Said’s two daughters were shot a total of eleven times in his taxi cab.

PEORIA, AZ. - Peoria police are looking for a father suspected of running down his daughter because she was becoming too "westernized" and was not living according to their traditional Iraqi values.

Peoria police say 48-year-old Faleh Hassan Almaleki of Glendale allegedly ran his daughter down Tuesday at an Arizona Department of Economic Security parking lot in Peoria. - KSAZ Fox 10

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LEWISVILLE, TX. - An honor killing.  That's how the mother [Patricia Owens] of two girls murdered in their father's taxicab last year describes their deaths. 

Amina and Sara Said's father, Yasser Said, is wanted for capital murder for allegedly shooting them 11 times on New Year's Night 2008.

Owens says their father was offering the girls a night out on January 1, 2008.  Amina had even come home from a friend's house.  "Amina said she was hungry and he said he was going to take them to eat," Owens said, "and the next thing I knew the Lewisville Police was at my door."

The officers were there to notify her of a 911 call that had come into Irving Police, in which one of her daughters screamed she was being shot. - CBS 11 TV

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That much of Islam’s teachings reduces women to little more than property is beyond debate. We see and hear evidence of this sad fact around the world almost daily. Those who adhere to and believe in a strict Islamic lifestyle cannot help but regard Western culture as decadent and obscene.

This of course gives rise to the question: “If we’re such a rotten bunch here in the USA, why do Muslims flock across our borders in such great numbers?”

There are many possible answers to that question - some right, some wrong. Many Muslims come to America and other Western nations to escape the violence and poverty often present under Muslim rule. One can hardly blame anyone for wanting to get out of Afghanistan.

Why then, do some Muslims insist upon bringing with them the thing that destroyed their lives overseas? No one expects them to completely leave their culture and religion behind, but it should be obvious to these people why their home countries are in such a sorry state of affairs. The so-called Religion of Peace is little more than a death cult.

One needs look no further than the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan to see the carnage wrought upon innocent people, especially women, by Muslim fanatics. Women are feared and mistrusted, seen somehow as predators preying upon the weaknesses of honorable men. For this, the Taliban denies them almost all basic human rights. They aren’t even allowed an education under the Taliban’s primitive interpretation of Islamic law.

These beliefs and the resultant abuse and murder bear a disturbing resemblance to the treatment of blacks during America’s dark past. When blacks were finally granted citizenship and voting rights in the US, many backwards-thinking whites were loathe to see blacks become their cultural equals. Much violence was done against blacks as they sought to emerge from the shadow of slavery and live lives free from the fear of harm.

Racial prejudice has gradually faded in America, though it still rears its ugly head from time to time. Trouble makers, both black and white, find excuses to stir the racial soup to see what rises to the top. How fortunate we are that such human debris are the exception rather than the rule.

Perhaps some Muslim men feel similar fears upon coming to America. Centuries of being taught that women are unworthy of respect, that their lives have less value than primitive notions of “honor” can be difficult to leave behind. Change can be a frightening prospect.

But what can be done under US constitutional law to protect Muslim women from harm on our soil? Non-Muslim men commit violence against their families every day. Domestic abuse is rampant in America, so we can’t exactly look down our noses at Muslims in particular. Many innocent American women are murdered without any connections to religion, Islam or otherwise.

I think a broader problem, of which domestic abuse specifically by Muslim men is a symptom, is the mindset that is created by adherence to strict interpretations of the Muslim faith.  Apostasy, for example – leaving the Muslim faith for another religious faith – is punishable by death under Muslim law. And in many Muslim nations, Muslim law is the law of the land.

In Western civilization, law is not based solely on religious beliefs. Any government that respects all religious beliefs must by definition be religion-neutral. This isn’t to say that lawmakers should not be allowed to follow their beliefs, but rather that no religion be allowed to trump the rights of the citizenry. And our rights are guaranteed via the limits placed upon government in our Constitution.

(Note to President Obama: Please memorize the previous sentence. There will be a quiz.)

This is the dilemma we face as a free nation in allowing religious extremists into our society. We cannot ban Muslims because of their faith, nor can we routinely intrude into the homes of Muslims just because they’re Muslims. But we must remember the fact that the same extremist mindset that led Yasser Said and Faleh Hassan Almaleki to attack their daughters, is that which led 19 Muslim terrorists to kill 3000 Americans on September 11, 2001.

BOSTON —  Tarek Mehanna grew up in Boston's upscale suburbs, earned a doctorate in pharmacology, taught religion and math at a Muslim middle school and was considered a typical American kid by those who knew him. Yet Mehanna, who had Egyptian and U.S. citizenship, told a friend he felt out of place in America, according to documents filed in court. And prosecutors say he used his hostility toward this country in a plot to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, assassinate top politicians and shoot down shoppers in U.S. malls.

Mehanna, 27, was arrested early Wednesday at his parents' home in Sudbury, an affluent town around 20 miles west of Boston. He was charged with conspiring with two others — Ahmad Abousamra, an American now in Syria, and an unidentified man who is cooperating with authorities — to support terrorism. – Fox News 10.22.09

Islam, in the mind of a devout Muslim, supersedes any and all other laws. This is why it is considered a crime in some Muslim nations to practice a non-Muslim religion, and why non-Muslims are often treated badly under Sharia law.

And, it is why innocent young women like Sarah and Amina Said were struck down in the flower of their youth. It’s why Noor is fighting for her life after her father ran over her. It’s why Fathima Rifqa Bary ran away to Florida to escape her father after she converted to Christianity. Whether her fears were justified, only time will tell. But the fact that she has those fears is significant.

Western culture is far from perfect, but we abhor and punish those who commit violence against the innocent. Muslim culture, whether it openly embraces it or not, is at least tolerant of violence against women and non-Muslims. Peaceful Muslims living in the US, Canada and other civilized nations have done little to persuade their fellow immigrants to embrace the West’s more tolerant way of life.

Until Islam moves forward and joins the rest of the world in the 21st century, women will continue to be in danger from Islam’s warped sense of honor. And the world at large will continue to be victimized by violent Muslim fanatics who kill at the urging of their false god.

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