Handbook for Infidels
The Candid Progressive's Guide to Islam & its War on the West
Copyright 2012 The Candid Progressive
Welcome to Handbook for Infidels, a candid, unflinching appraisal of the religion that keeps making the news, around the world, day after day. This site attempts to shed some light on just why Islam keeps making the news, and why that news is never pretty.
Some key points to get out of the way:
1) This site is NOT about hate. The Candid Progressive is too happy to be a hater. But not so blissed-out as to be unperturbed by a barbaric, woman-hating, freedom-squelching ideology with hordes of violence-prone True Believers, who are just aching to drag us all back into the seventh century and make us slaves to ancient superstition. That sort of jangling, in-your-face insanity does manage to puncture my cozy little bubble of bourbon-fueled bonhomie from time to time;
People are just people. Right?
Yes, it will. (If we let it.)
Allah's faithful preparing to stone
a woman to death in Iran.
Family values in Palestine.
A tender-hearted (and stylish) devotee of the Religion of Peace.
There's a lot of confusion in the West regarding Islam -- especially among progressives, because we're only programmed to distrust religious fanatics of the Bible-thumping, evolution-denying, queer-hating American variety. The others, we're told, are really just victims of something or other. But somehow the evidence confronting us from around the world doesn't seem to match up with the bland reassurances of the politically-correct types, or the passionate denials of dissembling Muslims.
Still, maybe you don't trust the harsh assessments offered by some of the more outspoken right-wingers, because, 1) They're right-wingers, and tend to get just about everything else wrong; and 2) Their criticism of Islam is often accompanied by smug praise for their own Iron Age religion, involving the worship of "a dead guy on a stick" * -- so just how objective (or astute) can they be?
That's where the Handbook comes in. An honest, clear-eyed appraisal of Mohammed's desert dogma, from an honest-to-God, tree-hugging, SUV-hating, voted-for-Obama progressive. Sound unlikely? A little surreal, perhaps? Is that the theme from The Twilight Zone you're suddenly hearing? Well, stick around, 'cause it gets weirder!
On this site, Political Correctness and Cultural Sensitivity will not stand in the way of honesty, common sense, or the basic instinct to survive. I'm sure of it. Because my first move was to slip a Mickey into the warm milk and cookies of those annoying, sissy-boy conventions. They've been tumbled into the trunk of a car, driven out into the desert, and dumped in a ditch someplace, shoeless, with their pants around their ankles. We won't be hearing from them anytime soon. That means you'll get the straight dope on Islam, from a perspective that values truthfulness and the well-being of progressive, democratic societies far more than the hypersensitive feelings of religious fanatics.
And you'll get that appraisal without being subjected to any cheerleading for Christianity, or any other hocus-pocus religion based on a magic book. And without any sneering commentary on godless liberals, or the "myth' of climate change, or discussion on whether or not Obama is, in fact, the Dark Lord himself. BTW: he's much too ineffective for that role. Satan gets stuff done. (Or so I'm told.)
At HFI, reason rules. Reason and a 21st Century morality based purely upon empathy, compassion, and a desire to serve the greater good. (Even if serving the greater good requires some straight talk. Or straight shooting.)
Ladies! Nice to (almost) see you! Apparently some Muslims believe it's just impossible to say anything stupid, as long as your heartfelt convictions are inspired by Islam.
You've no doubt noticed that Islamic culture appears totally alien and antithetical to the sort of open, progressive society we lefties cherish. And, in spite of all the assurances from Muslim apologists (and from such imminent Western thinkers as George W. Bush) that "Islam is a religion of peace", if you're like most people, you're not entirely convinced. You realize that something smells "not quite right" in
the world of burqas and beheadings. But what, exactly, is the source of that funk?
If you get your info regarding Islam from NPR, the BBC, and other PC venues, you've heard repeatedly since 9/11 that the violence, misogyny, and mayhem are not inherent to the religion itself, but are the results of unrelated "cultural" quirks. (One of those "You say 'tomayto' / I say 'Death to those who insult Islam!'" type of deals.)
We're told that the suicide bombings, the "honor" killings, the stonings, the female genital mutilations, the acid attacks, the forced marriages of underage girls, the slavery in royal households, the judicial amputations, the murderous rioting over cartoons, the virulent anti-Semitism, the hostility towards outsiders, the Sunni/Shiite massacres, the public hangings of homosexuals, the beheadings of blasphemers and apostates, and the murder of outspoken infidels in Western cities are all the results of, well...something else. Maybe it's poverty. A lack of education. "Cultural" hangovers from a barbaric past. "Tribal" traditions. Political oppression. European and American imperialism. The PC types have all sorts of theories. The only thing they seem to agree upon is that it has nothing to do with Islam.
Or, at most, they'll tell us that these horrors are the products of a tragic (and apparently commonplace) misreading of what is actually an enlightened, peace-loving religion. A religion that rejects these nightmarish behaviors in the strongest possible terms...but, regrettably, can't seem to go five minutes without being hijacked by brutal, misogynistic thugs.
* Hat tip to "the Reverend" Ivan Stang.
We're in for a fight, whether we want it or not, and whether it's to be fought with words or bullets. So we might as well get busy trying to neutralize our enemy's perverted program with vocal, determined opposition. With an informed public that values basic freedoms more than platitudes and political correctness. With governments that vigorously defend free speech and freedom of the press against hostile, intolerant, would-be theocrats. With a sensible program of foreign policy, based upon a realistic appraisal of Islam and the threat it poses to progressive societies. With alternative energy sources that allow us to stop funding the enemy. And with total, taqiyya-confronting, myth-deflating candor.
And, who knows? Maybe it'll work.
If not, and you happen to live in France, for instance, then you'd better sharpen your savate skills, mon ami. And oil up grand-père's old Grande Puissance. And get ready to defend Mdme. Liberté once again (this time with a little more enthusiasm, one would hope) against the latest breed of fascist invaders -- the Islamofascist immigrants currently torching cars, raping infidel women, and generally creating havoc in Gay Paree. Otherwise, your grandkids may have to trade in their Capri pants and jaunty berets for burqas and beards, and replace hanging out in cafes smoking Gauloises and reading existential novels with groveling on their knees facing Mecca five times a day.
Sound like crazy-talk? Alarmist rantings? If so, then you haven't been paying attention for the last fourteen hundred years. Because these guys are serious about their religion. And they breed like bunnies.
But in reality, Islam is a nightmare religion. (If it's being done properly, anyway.) In fact, the more you study it, the more horrifying it becomes. And the more obvious it becomes that the "radicals", "extremists", and "fundamentalists" are practising Islam exactly the way the prophet Mohammed intended. The way he himself practised it, only without the aid of modern weaponry or fuel-laden jetliners. And the more you learn about it, the more apparent it becomes that this barbaric, maladaptive religion should no longer be allowed to maintain the air of respectability it currently enjoys in the more PC venues of Western society. It's time for all of us to start being brutally honest regarding this brutal ideology.
Some of our earnest Muslim brothers, promoting Islam the way it's been done
for 1400 years -- through violence and intimidation.
Not the sort of guys I want to see
influencing Western politics or culture.
(Women's fashion, in particular.)
This is the real danger.
(This, and spinelessness on our part.)
These are not equally sane worldviews. (And it's okay to say so.)
Ex-Muslim Websites
The Handbook is intended to serve as a wake-up call for some of my dozy / less-scrappy fellow progressives, who seem unaware that we're now engaged in a global War of Ideas that's much bigger, and more threatening, than the absurdly-named "War on Terror" suggests. HFI is one-stop shopping for the secular progressive who wants to get the skinny on what we're facing in the Muslim world, and what we can do to protect our more enlightened, life-embracing culture from the advancing shadow of grim, aggressive Islamism.
Here you'll find a veritable cornucopia of facts, figures, and commentary on the "Religion of Peace"; its origins and mythology, its founding prophet; its central texts and tenets; its rambunctious fourteen-hundred-year history; the types of societies it tends to create -- and what it has in mind for you, Cupcake!
You'll also find some timely advice on how to wage a war of words, laws, and ideas -- a cultural counter-jihad, designed to halt the spread of light-sucking Islam in its tracks -- along with a few Islam-savvy suggestions on foreign policy and national security, and the occasional plug for energy independence, via clean, renewable alternatives. That sort of thing.
It's time to halt the spread of 7th Century Arab insanity -- even if some Muslim feelings get hurt in the process.
We need to get serious about putting a halt to the Islamization of Western Europe, and other parts of the infidel world. And to do this, we have to abandon political correctness and openly put our ideological foes on notice.
Instead of helping Muslims to feel more comfortable in their hellish religion, by pretending to respect it, we need to hang out a great big sign that reads:
Barbaric Iron Age ideologies are not welcome here!
Again, this has nothing to do with "racism". This is about a hostile ideology -- not skin color, language, or preferences in food or fashion. This is easily proven by the fact that former Muslims are warmly welcomed by anti-Islam activists in the West (including Yours Truly), even though their skin is still brown and they still have the funny accent.
It's not about "bigotry" or "prejudice" or "Islamophobia", either. It's about the survival of the most enlightened cultures the world has ever produced. Cultures that some very clever people went to a lot of trouble to develop and foster over the last few centuries -- braving the fiery wrath of our own native brand of religious zealotry, until Christianity could finally be defanged. It's about defending the progressive ideals we supposedly stand for, against a threat that's very real. Against enemies who are very, very determined. And well-funded. And willing to kill, and die, for the most retrograde ideology on earth.
But, ultimately, we need to laugh this absurd religion right off the face of the earth. We need to tell the True Believers exactly what we think, and why we think it.
This life-sucking ideology has survived for fourteen centuries because it's been sheltered from criticism by the combined forces of violence (on their part) and political correctness (on our part). Because its devotees have been insulated from the ideas of non-believers, who tend to be far more adept at critical thinking.
It's time to change all of that. It's time for all progressives to do what we can to help eradicate this deadly mind virus, by resisting its spread in the West, and by undermining its central truth-claims, via honest conversations in all available venues. We need to create an environment in which myth-based religions such as Islam are constantly being confronted by reason, skepticism, and reality. These religions have bullied, brutalized, and befuddled mankind for centuries. It's time to fight back!
And Islam, the biggest, meanest bully of them all, is just begging to get its ass kicked. So, let's make that happen, on a global scale. Let's show the True Believers that we infidels still have a little grit and determination. And that militant progressives, armed with reason and science, and firmly grounded in reality, can prevail over ignorant zealots motivated by ancient superstition.
More topics coming soon!
Islam for History Lovers
Historical Perspectives
on Islam
The Cultural Counter-Jihad
Some Basics
Miscellaneous
Islam in America
The Essentials of Islam
Islam in Europe
If ever there was a "good fight", this is it. Not even World War II involved such a clear-cut case of good vs. evil -- or had so much hanging in the balance, in terms of the future well-being of mankind. This is not over-heated rhetoric, but a realistic appraisal of the situation, as you'll discover as you continue to peruse the Handbook. I say this because the end goals of the Islamists are even more despicable than those of the Nazis and the Japanese of WWII. Their vision of a "pure" society is even more hellish than anything dreamed up by the fevered brains of Hitler or Goebbels.
If you believe in progressive ideals, and support progressive agendas, you need to get involved, before the essential tools / weapons of free speech and freedom of the press are sacrificed completely in the interests of multiculturalism and political pandering. The struggle over free speech is the front line in this war. And we've already lost a lot of ground here, both in Western Europe (where, in some countries, criticizing Islam has become a criminal offense) and in the U.S. (where making an honest, sensible statement about Muslims on airliners can get you fired from National Public Radio). For the concerned citizen in the Western world, the first order of business is reversing this dangerous trend. We need to halt the steady erosion of our essential liberties, and vigorously re-assert our right to speak plainly and openly about important issues, even if this means "offending" our ideological enemies -- who have no qualms about giving offense to us, on a regular basis.
I will laugh. And so should you.
British progressive Pat Condell gives politically correct appeasers of Islam a good talking-to.
4) This is a critique of an ideology -- an ideology that that is inherently hostile to democracy, free speech, freedom of the press, women’s rights and other fundamental human rights -- principles that all progressives should support wholeheartedly. Islam's brutal subjugation of women should be reason enough to make all liberals unite in heated opposition to it. (And the fact that this has not happened indicates that something very strange and unlikely is going on here, between Islam and the political left.)
5) The idea that Muslims should somehow be exempt from having their ideology criticized (in a way that Christian Creationists, for instance, are not) is a bigoted position, because it’s based upon the assumption that they are too uncivilized, or too immature, to handle it. It’s actually more respectful to treat them as adults, like everyone else, and expect them to deal with criticism without reacting violently, just like everyone else.
6) Some cultures are clearly far more enlightened and humane than others. A brief look at what goes on in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan makes this fact obvious. Cultural relativism is a lie, and it serves no purpose, except to prevent backward cultures from engaging in the kind of honest self-criticism that leads to the development of happier, healthier, more progressive societies.
7) Political correctness is totally counter to the spirit of free speech, and prevents the discussion of important truths. It might make superficial people feel more comfortable, but it has serious, real-life consequences. Political correctness is an unacceptable hindrance for serious people who want to see the world become a better place.
8) Ultimately, the problem here is religion in general -- a problem of people accepting “revealed” truths without sufficient evidence, and confidently acting upon those beliefs, regardless of the consequences. Magic-thinking still causes a vast amount of misery around the world, and prevents the development of more enlightened intellects and moral codes. That being said, no other religion in the 21st Century continues to promote medieval barbarism on such an epic scale as Mohammed’s “spiritual” legacy. Islam is religion taken to its most diabolic extreme.
Let's prove these assholes wrong. Let's do everything in our power to ensure that democracy, liberty, critical thinking, human rights, and basic human decency will dominate the world, instead of barbarism, misogyny, ignorance, and superstition.
and from my (relatively) civilized, femme-loving, liberty-addicted perspective, that whole scenario seems more than a little f’d up. Toss in the fact that I consider religious superstition to be the greatest impediment to intellectual, moral, and spiritual enlightenment, and the result is a politically incorrect book that treats Islam with exactly as much respect as it deserves, and gives faint-hearted multiculturalists “the vapors”.
2) This site is NOT about racism. I have nothing but respect for former Muslims, regardless of their race/color/ethnicity. And I consider bone-headed white converts to Islam to be just as great a threat to democracy and human decency as rabid Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia. The trick (which many of my fellow progressives have not yet mastered) is to ignore skin color, language, and geography, and focus on the ideas that motivate people, and on their resulting actions. Race has nothing to do with it.
3) If white people behaved in the ways that millions of dusky-hued Muslims do every day, liberals would be literally foaming at the mouth in their condemnation of them. On MSNBC, they would never shut up about those vile, pedophilic, wife-beating, honor-killing, homo-hanging Scandinavian bastards. But since the miscreants are swarthy people from third-world countries, the mainstream media seems to have nothing but respect for their ideology and culture. Apparently they get a special Brown People Dispensation, and are thus beyond reproach. That, of course, is bullshit. Bad behavior is bad behavior, regardless of who is hacking off their pubescent daughter's genitalia, or “marrying” some unfortunate goat.
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