Confronting Islam - Choosing Rage or Fear

Every other day seems to bring another news story about a manifestation of Muslim Rage (TM). Muslim rage seems to be triggered by anything from a war to a political cartoon, from a anti-terrorist operation to a Koran in the toilet to a teddy bear named Mohammed. But the important thing about Muslim Rage (TM) is not what triggers is -- but how we respond to it.

Many minds as of late have devoted themselves to analyzing Muslim Rage(TM) but that is as pointless as the police analyzing the motives of the man smacking his wife around the kitchen and leaving blood on all the cupboards. It isn't their job to analyze his motives but to drag him off to a cell preferably after a thorough beating. There is a loose common denominator in both his rage and Muslim Rage (TM). Not a rational one but a common sense one, they act out their rage because they can.

When one dog barks at the other, the other dog either retreats or barks back. If the first dog bites it, the second dog either retreats or bites back harder. If the second dog retreats, it has become the whipping boy, a safe target for the first dog to express its rages and tantrums on. People may be more complex but are no fundamentally different. Human complexity comes down to the appeaser creating a complicated system of rationalization, self-blame and stockholm syndrome to paste across that shameful retreat.

The simple reality of Muslim Rage (TM) is that it exists because we've become a safe target for it. Storming government offices at home is met with a ruthless response. Storming the US embassy is met with quiet smirks from the police force. Screaming about destroying the government is a matter for the secret police. Screaming about wanting to destroy America makes you into a courageous martyr without the messy 'getting killed' part.

The real problem is our response to Muslim Rage (TM) with shrugs, with guilt or nervousness. We've made ourselves into the dog that retreats, the wife that gets beaten because we've been unwilling to stand up to Muslim Rage ™ . That's why Geert Wilders and everyone who responds to Muslim Rage (TM) by provoking them even more and why the "Let's Not Make Them Mad" crowd is wrong. Even if we don't go far enough.

Responding to Muslim Rage (TM) with anything like compromise or appeasement is an invitation for more of the same. Responding to rage with anything but an equally ruthless response is an invitation to be beaten, to be the outlet for every once fury exhaled by frustrated serfs, celibate fanatics and miserable murderers.

In response to Muslim Rage (TM),the West must choose between rage and fear, because time and time again the West has chosen fallen into fear. Trying to be the reasonable party in an encounter with a maniac only insures that you will come out the loser. And yet the West has repeatedly tried to be the reasonable party, to cajole, appease, persuade, plead and only occasionally threaten in order to somehow obtain Muslim goodwill in return.

We have become the small dog whining pleadingly in the corner and in the process we have lost our self-respect, our mandate of self-defense and our honor. We have grown willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone, to apologize for any comments we make and even for our freedom of speech. As a result we have apologizes ourselves into cravenness and we have not prevented Muslim Rage (TM),only increased it.