by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Private Papers<\/em><\/p>\n I<\/span>f seeing Arab, Pakistani, or other \u201cethnic\u201d Muslims menacingly wave their hands while lambasting the West is nothing strange, seeing homegrown, non-accented Western converts doing the same thing is.\u00a0 Along with John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid, Jose Padilla, and Germaine Lindsay \u2014 all Western converts to Islam and all terrorists \u2014 in the spotlight today are Abu Abdullah, the native Briton turned Muslim cleric, who makes no secret of his vitriolic hatred of the West and who was just arrested for terrorist-related charges, and Azzam \u201cthe American\u201d (formerly Adam Gadahn), who after receiving a gracious introduction by Dr. Aymin Zawahri on an al-Qaeda video, harangued and mocked his fellow Americans into submitting to Allah.<\/p>\n What causes such men, born and raised in the West, often from Christian backgrounds, to abandon their heritage and embrace radical Islam?<\/p>\n A common reason cited is that, unlike Christianity, which can be heavy on theology, Islam is relatively simple and straightforward.\u00a0 So while Christianity revolves around metaphysical concepts such as the Trinity, Christology, the nature of salvation, grace, free-will vs election, and the futility of the law, Islam, in black and white terms, commands its adherents to do this and not do that.\u00a0 In fact, the Arabic word \u201cSharia,\u201d that comprehensive body of laws Muslims must follow, literally means the \u201cway\u201d \u2014 as in the way to paradise.<\/p>\n There is another subtle factor that makes Islam attractive.\u00a0 Traditional masculine roles are well preserved in Islam.\u00a0 Indeed, manly honor, courage, patriarchy, and a sharp division between the sexes are at the core of Islamic culture. This may be appealing to Western men who find it difficult to express their \u201cmanhood\u201d in increasingly neutered societies. Harvey Mansfield, author of\u00a0Manliness<\/i>, defines that term as \u201ca quality both bad and good, mostly male, often intolerant, irrational, and ambitious. Our gender-neutral society does not like it but cannot get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n W<\/span>ith an ethical code that coalesced in the 7th century, Islam is today an avenue for men to exercise even the most exaggerated forms of manliness.\u00a0 Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who despised organized religions due to their emasculating effects and who preached the need for man to be transformed into an amoral \u201csuperman,\u201d professed some admiration for Islam, describing it as \u201cmasculine\u201d and \u201caffirmative.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, traditional masculinity is not the sole domain of Islam; historically almost every civilization has lived in accordance to \u201cmasculine-centric\u201d norms.\u00a0 Gender-neutral societies are historic aberrations.\u00a0 It is not unreasonable, then, to surmise that disaffected young men living in a postmodern West, who feel that they do not fit into a \u201cgender-neutral\u201d world, turn to a religion which honors traditional masculinity.<\/p>\n John Walker Lindh especially seems to fit this category.\u00a0 A main factor that precipitated his conversion to Islam was his teenage discovery that his father was a homosexual \u2014 an event that, by all accounts, traumatized and alienated Lindh.\u00a0 Islam\u2019s strong masculine ideals and condemnation of homosexuality undoubtedly baited young Lindh, who after discovering his father had moved in with another man, converted to Islam at age 16.<\/p>\n The main reason, of course, that Islam possesses what are seen as masculine virtues, has to do with the fact that its essence is trapped in the 7th century \u2014 \u201cwhen men were men,\u201d for good or ill.\u00a0 That is the \u201cgolden era\u201d of Islam, when the Muslim prophet Muhammad, the paragon of all Islamic virtue, whom Sunnis are exhorted to emulate in every possible way, walked the earth, sword in hand, accepting no insult, and conquering his infidel neighbors.<\/p>\n But just as traditional masculine virtues are upheld in Islamic culture, so too do traditionally masculine vices abound.\u00a0 Honor, courage, as well as patriarchic ethics, can easily morph into foolish pride (e.g. \u201chonor killings\u201d), disregard for life (e.g. suicide-bombings), as well as sexism and misogyny.<\/p>\n T<\/span>hat is not all.\u00a0 Based on the Koran and Muhammad\u2019s history, raiding, killing, and plundering infidels, abducting their women and enslaving their children, are all legitimate, so long as they are done in the service of Islam.\u00a0 In fact, that is exactly how the prophet and the first Muslims spread Islam, as attested by the Koran and Hadiths.<\/p>\n Of course such behavior was somewhat \u201cnormal\u201d in the 7th century.\u00a0 In Islam, however, the actions of 7th-century Muhammad are believed perfect and to be emulated today no less than yesterday. Any scruples a potential convert may have over such primitive (though possibly tempting) practices immediately dissipate in light of God\u2019s approval.\u00a0 For instance:\u00a0 \u201cO prophet, We have made lawful to you . . . the slave-girls whom God has given you as spoils of war\u201d (Koran 33: 50).<\/p>\n Little wonder that Islam appeals to certain men over Christianity: it comports much better with man\u2019s most primordial lusts \u2014 for war, booty, and women \u2014 than do injunctions such as \u201cturn the other cheek\u201d and \u201cpray for those who persecute you.\u201d\u00a0 Even the Muslim heaven is far more alluring \u2014 there, rivers of alcohol and sex slaves await the mujahid who dies battling infidels.<\/p>\n And so like mischievous little boys who find the wild image and lifestyle of the pirate fascinating \u2014 raiding, killing, plundering, abducting \u2014 so do some Western men apparently find the wild image and lifestyle of the mujahid warrior fascinating.\u00a0 And so they convert.<\/p>\n None of this is to say that Muslims in general are murderers, plunderers, hedonists, or misogynists.\u00a0 It is to say, however, that Islamic law\u00a0justifies<\/i>\u00a0and makes such behavior, under the rubric of \u201creligion,\u201d\u00a0legal<\/i>\u00a0for any would-be Muslim (\u201cIf it was right for Muhammad and the first Muslims, it must be right for us\u201d).<\/p>\n It is also ironic that the converts mentioned above \u2014 Reid, Padilla, Lindsay, and Abdullah \u2014 all\u00a0 have prior criminal records, including convictions for mugging (Reid and Abdullah), gangster activity (Padilla), and drug-dealing (Lindsay).\u00a0 Usually when criminals turn to religion, they at least try to change their evil ways. Did these men embrace Islam merely to receive divine sanctioning to gorge their villainous appetites?\u00a0 From being petty criminals, they went on to embrace Islam and became major criminals \u2014 terrorists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Or, Boys will be Boys by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers If seeing Arab, Pakistani, or other \u201cethnic\u201d Muslims menacingly wave their hands while lambasting the West is nothing strange, seeing homegrown, non-accented Western converts doing the same thing is.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,770],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1rl","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2448,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-are-christian-girls-converting-to-islam-in-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":0},"title":"Why Are Christian Girls Converting to Islam In Egypt?","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Few things in Islam are as liable to provoke passion and violence as the issue of conversion. The health hazards involved in converting out of Islam \u2014 apostatizing \u2014 are well known. But even the issue of converting\u00a0to\u00a0Islam is fraught with drama. Consider Egypt alone:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3091,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-inferiority-complex-kills-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":1},"title":"Muslim ‘Inferiority Complex’ Kills Christians","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPageMagazine.com Days ago in Egypt,\u00a0throngs of Muslims\u00a0(henceforth, \"Islamists\"), estimated at 3,000, fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, homes, and businesses in the Imbaba region near Cairo: twelve Christians were killed \u2014 some shot by snipers atop rooftops \u2014 232 injured; three churches\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1053,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/who-the-president-should-speak-out-against-religious-persecution\/","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":2},"title":"Why the President Should Speak Out Against Religious Persecution","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Christian Solidarity International On January 24, during his State of the Union Address, the president of the United States has a chance to expose the plight of religious minorities living in Muslim majority nations. 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Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@RaymondIbrahim5 Venn Institute: Most Americans see persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7989,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/book-review-crucified-again-exposing-islams-new-war-on-christians-by-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":4},"title":"Book Review: Crucified Again; Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians by Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Scambray \/\/ New Oxford Review\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Islam: Victors\u00a0Vanquishing Victims \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Crucified Again; Exposing Islam's New War on Christians by Raymond Ibrahim.\u00a0 Regnery, 2013.\u00a0 247 pp. Throughout\u00a0 the Muslim world from Morocco to Nigeria to Indonesia - and even occasionally in Western Europe and North America, Christians are being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our Contributors"","block_context":{"text":"Our Contributors","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11999,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/book-review-sword-and-scimitar-fourteen-centuries-of-war-between-islam-and-the-west-by-raymond-ibrahim-da-capo-press-2018-pp-297\/","url_meta":{"origin":5539,"position":5},"title":"Book Review: Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West by Raymond Ibrahim. Da Capo Press, 2018. Pp. 297","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Please\u00a0read\u00a0this\u00a0book\u00a0review\u00a0from\u00a0my\u00a0colleague Terry Scambray \/\/ New Oxford Review Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West\u00a0by Raymond Ibrahim.\u00a0 Da Capo Press, 2018.\u00a0\u00a0 Pp. 297 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We judge individuals by what they say and what they do.\u00a0 We judge cults, religions and ideologies the same way; that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5540,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5539\/revisions\/5540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}