I enjoy getting a good reading recommendation from other people’s blogs from time to time. Just for fun, then, I thought I’d return the favor and let you guys in on what I’m currently reading and/or listening to.
Nomad
Challenging ideas, but then LW readers like to think.
The full title is Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. You remember her, right? She’s the person who, as a young woman, ran away from an arranged marriage, served a term in Dutch Parliament, made a movie with Theo van Gogh that exposed the brutal treatment of women under sharia law, which led to van Gogh’s assassination by a militant Muslim who had lived his entire life in Holland?
If that doesn’t sound familiar, then you’ve got to read this book. It’s a follow-up to her first book, Infidel, which I’ll admit I haven’t read yet. (It’s on my pile. I just happened to grab Nomad first.)
What I’m getting from the audio version (read by the author herself) is that Islam is not a religion of peace. Perhaps it is in theory, but it certainly isn’t in practice. Fundamentalist zealots are working hard to establish sharia law everywhere that Muslims tread. And they’re succeeding, too. Right now, a large percentage of the world’s population is being ruled–one way or another–by Bronze Age laws and morality codes.
Think that might have an effect on social progress? The first-hand accounts that Hirsi Ali relays are… “shocking” is the only word I have for the stunned sensation I get every time I listen to a new chapter.
Wait–this doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it? Think again. Refugees from the Middle East and Africa are flooding into North America and Europe. Some of them really do want to assimilate, contribute, and find a better life. But there are a great many, too, who cling to a glorified version of their country’s mythic past, who will not let go of their Old World values, and who have no qualms about using up the social welfare benefits you pay for… all while secretly plotting against the very societies which have welcomed them.
Please understand: I am not an anti-immigration zealot. My skin color guarantees the fact that my ancestors were not here when Europeans first colonized North America. I am completely in favor of allowing everyone and anyone who wants to build a better life to come on in. That’s the idea America was built on, after all. (“Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”)
That said, I’m no Pollyanna, either. Just because there are good people longing to come in and breathe freedom, that doesn’t mean there aren’t also sharks circling the waters of Ellis Island, too. Some of those sharks are already inland. This book helps bring to light the danger these resentful, backwards-thinking immigrants pose to America, to Canada, and to all the nations which provide safety, sanctuary, and the hope of a better life.
I’m hoping that, by the end of the book, Hirsi Ali will suggest some strategies for separating the good guys from the bad. Right now, however, all I see are imperfect solutions which will require a lot of work on everyone’s part–including those who don’t think the problem applies to them.
Leave a comment below sharing your thoughts about immigration, about Nomad, or about the fact that there really isn’t any good Islamic porn.
Jim Black
Jim Black is the driving force behind this blog. He's also a personal safety advocate who's been teaching martial arts and/or self-defense since 1997. (No, they're not the same, and you shouldn't ask Jim about the difference unless you're prepared for a long-winded lecture.)
Because many people believe that porn is evil—and that all people who watch porn are child molesters and rapists—Jim uses a pen name when he's writing about porn, sex, and politics. (It helps to keep the raging morons away.)
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