The Haj To Sloan-Kettering
By Irwin N. Graulich (06/29/05)
Everyone and everything eventually gets sick. It is actually a good thing, because it reminds us to take care of ourselves and appreciate our good health when we have it.
People, religions and ideologies all have their illnesses aka fanaticisms. Jews who are sick may be overly obsessed with drinking kosher seltzer, eating specially checked vegetables or being blind observers of virtually all 613 commandments without any real understanding. On average, once every 50 years there is a lone, evil nut with a skullcap who murders a prime minister or shoots innocent people. Christians have their meshuganahs (crazies), who may blow up an abortion clinic or become a David Duke. And there are those secular fanatics who would allow a human baby to die rather than kill a pig for its heart valve.
However, these are all aberrations, rare cases to say the least...that is, except for Islam. The Islamic world has a cancer that has spread throughout its body politic, affecting many millions in its path. Their illness represents a serious percentage of adherents located throughout the world. Unless Muslims begin to recognize the problem and go for aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, they truly risk an unwanted massive radiation treatment from an unexpected source.
How did these evil "cells" begin to metastasize? Before displaying an antisemitic, anti-Americian streak, there was a certain romanticism with much of Arab and Muslim cultures. Lawrence of Arabia was a hero to all of us. It is Islamic society under the influence and rule of the Koran that has become the trigger mechanism for the tumors to grow.
Conquering the infidel, being the strongest religion in the world, honor and saving face are the most important values within a Muslim society. Thus, an extreme sensitivity has developed for anything critical of Arab-Muslim culture. The Jews will never, ever be forgiven for getting their original land back and defeating the 5 strongest Arab/Muslim nations in the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973. Talk about being humiliated.
To rub Islamic noses into the sand further, this tiny, weak group of Holocaust surviving Zionists built the most successful technological country and strongest military force in the history of the Middle East...and so, every Muslim nation "covets Israel," an emotional jealousy so dangerous, that it actually is forbidden by The Ten Commandments.
To complicate the entire matter, American Christians, using Judeo-Christian values created the ultimate paradise on earth, and the supreme powerhouse of all time. How can another religion that considers itself superior to all, ultimately live with that reality? America and Israel make every single Arab/Muslim country look bad; that is the problem in a nutshell.
Muslim leadership understands that the only way to defeat the truth is through the propaganda of repeated exaggeration and outright lies. Saddam's "mother of all battles" was truly a cakewalk. There have been greater battles fought in gang wars on the streets of Brooklyn. Yet the rhetoric in the Arab/Muslim press was astounding through its depiction of the ferocity of the fighting during the Gulf War, the Iraqi invasion of 2003 and Egypt's supposed victory over Israel in 1973, where there is even a museum in Cairo today portraying this fictional nonsense.
Since Islamists have come to the inevitable realization that they have no chance of winning a real war, they are attempting to win Jospeh Goebbels style, through rhetoric and hyperbole in the press. The two recent humiliating routes of the strongest Arab/Muslim nation--Iraq, and the capture of their modern day Saladin, Saddam Hussein, was a rather painful experience to the masses, even though he mass-murdered fellow Muslims.
Now, the Arab/Muslim street praises suicide bombers as brave and strong freedom fighters. The truth is these heroic (sic) murderers are not able to reach Jews or Christians, so they wind up blowing up their own innocents. By substituting words for actions, the Muslim leadership and press falsely glamorize the evildoers to the uneducated masses, who need to hang on to their dreams of power and world domination.
One of the most important concepts regarding government is the separation of church and state, meaning that the Koran/Muslim ideal can never successfully govern a society under its present terms. The only successful Muslims who are truly free today are ruled by Christians in America or Jews in Israel.
By living in other societies, Muslims realize that these countries want all of their citizens to succeed in life and practice their religious or non-religious beliefs freely. This concept is an affront to "Islam," a word meaning surrender to God, which for the most part, does not permit other religions to exist in their midst. Why were they afraid to permit American soldiers to have Christmas trees in their Saudi Arabian desert tents?
When the religion you cherish fails you by continuously displaying a flawed approach, the human being will defend it by blaming others for political, economic and quality of life problems. "Everything is falling apart around me because of colonialism, Zionism, imperialism, the occupation, American hegemony and other convenient excuses." To make things even easier for the Islamic world, these ideas are supported by Western leftists with Marxist ideas that help reinforce the blame game of Muslim intellectuals and their obedient press.
The Osama's of the world actually believe that they will return to a more glorious past where they can confront the world on their own terms. The only two things standing in their way are America and Israel, two quite immovable objects.
To call America or Israel an occupier, when one looks carefully at the reasons for going into Iraq, Gaza or the West Bank, is akin to blaming the doctor for the cancer, simply because you walked into his office. These types of lies are among the root causes of world evil today. Unfortunately, decency is irrelevant throughout the Muslim world. What is most relevant is Muslim and non-Muslim. Doesn't Ted Kennedy or Shimon Peres ever get it?
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Irwin N. Graulich is a leading motivational speaker on politics, ethics, religion and Judaism. He is also president of a leading marketing, branding and communications firm in New York City.
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