America Should Look to 19th Century Utah to Understand How to Deal with the Threat of Islam

In 1899 Winston Churchill wrote the following: “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die: but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”

I find this quote to be quite compelling. The most prescient aspect of it is this: “No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” If Churchill is paying attention at all in Heaven, he’s banging on the podium saying “See, I told you so!”

The other, more troubling element of this quote is this: “and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall,” If anything characterizes western civilization in 2025 it is an almost complete absence of “the strong arms of science.”

Emotion has replaced science, rational thought and common sense as the guiding principle in the Christian dominated, i.e. western world.  No longer are chromosomes determinative of a person’s gender.  A series of ever evolving fictional climate emergencies are used to force western nations into handicapping their economies and reducing prosperity. Nations that took centuries or a millennium to coalesce are being shredded in a few years or decades as they import millions of third world immigrants who share neither their cultural norms nor values.

Even in areas where science is literally part of the function of the organization, science is sidelined for empathy.  Here in America we have doctors, pilots, air traffic control officers and myriad others who are regularly being hired because of the pigment of their skin or some other irrelevant demographic characteristic. 

It’s clear that the world Christianity built is no longer the bulwark against the invasion of Islam it once was.  Actually, it’s just the opposite. In 2001, the year of 9/11, there were 1.5 million Muslims in America.  Today there are four million, an increase of 150%, eight times what the population at large grew.  In Europe, over the same period the number of Muslims has gone from 15 million to more than 45 million, essentially tripling. This while Christianity declined from 78% to 63% of the population in the US and dropped by both a percentage of the population and absolute numbers in Europe.

What, if anything should the United States do about this?  The first question to ask if it’s a problem.  I’d suggest it is.  There are countless resources that track the impact on nations as Islam becomes more entrenched, and those impacts are never good. Not to mention the terrorist attacks or the ongoing threats of such. Or the violent campus (and beyond) protests after the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 to see that this is a problem.  And finally, at the end of the day, there’s the fact that Islam seeks to obliterate western civilization.

One might point out that Islamist terrorist attacks only killed a few thousand Americans over decades, out of a nation of 350 million people. That’s true, but that’s only because we have avoided another 9/11 thanks to the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people working hard to keep such an occurrence at bay.

Should something be done?  Yes.  Can something be done?  Yes. What?  Look to history. 

The first item of note is that for most of 20^th century Communism was rightfully seen as evil and anti-American.  And although the Communist Party was free to exist on free speech grounds, it was hindered in almost every way possible.  From not allowing Communists to work for the government and trying to root them out everywhere to the FBI surveilling them, Communism was anathema to American values and almost everyone agreed with that.  Islam is not Communism, but it has at its core the goal of eliminating all other religions, quashing free speech, relegating women to 2^nd class status and replacing secular government with Sharia law.  Those goals are equally as dangerous to the Republic as anything Communism ever dreamt of doing. The difference is, while the former was shunned or even denounced in the media, in academia and among most of the citizenry, the latter is celebrated by the media and the intelligentsia while being supported by NGOs and leftist government bodies across the country. 

Of course we have a 1^st Amendment that promises a freedom of religion... That’s true, we do, but it’s not an absolute. The latter half of the 19^th century saw the United States government essentially wage a 50 year war against the Mormon Church over polygamy, a core tenant of the faith. From outlawing the practice via law and arresting violators while Utah was just a Territory to refusing to allow it to become a state until the practice was officially expunged, the United States did everything within its power to eradicate the practice.  The Church finally relented and in 1890 banned the practice, thus clearing the way for Utah to be admitted as a state in 1896. 

Polygamy – a practice that is explicitly part of Islam – is indeed problematic, but certainly far less dangerous to the nation than the threats that Islam writ large poses for America.

So, what can be done? The first thing to do is explicitly recognizing that Sharia – the moral and religious law of Islam – is wholly incompatible with the Republic of the United States. From there a few things follow: 

1)      Explicitly outlaw Sharia law nationally and in every state.

2)      Monitor and close any mosque that hosts a speaker or features an imam who calls for Sharia law.

3)      Ban all funds to organizations in the US coming from nations that have Sharia law.

4)      Close any school that teaches or encourages Sharia law.

5)      Demand every mosque and Muslim affiliated organization affirm that the supreme law of the United States is the Constitution and they will not seek to undermine it, replace it with Sharia nor to engage in or support terrorism in any way. 

6)      After designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, do the same for organizations in the United States and beyond who support it or any other terrorist organizations.

Just as Mormons integrated into the United States after accepting the reality that the law of the land is founded on the Constitution, Muslims could do the same if America is really where they want to live.

Far from a mere mental exercise, this is a clarion call for the survival of the Republic. In little over a month, arguably America’s most important city is poised to elect as mayor an Islamist who also happens to be a Communist. In previous times those who advocated for overthrowing America were called traitors and were dealt with accordingly.  Doing so now will most certainly result in being called racists and Islamaphobes, but not doing so will be another step in bringing the Republic to an end.  Which is a better long-term outcome? 

 

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