An American filmmaker (I use the term in its broadest, most inclusive sense) makes a film critical of Islam and Mohammed. The Muslim World goes nuts (not exactly something unusual) and now the U.S. Ambassador to Libya is dead along with three others, and the embassy in Tripoli is ashes. A CNN blogging-head suggests that it's not really the fault of those Muslims because they've all been raised under dictatorships and don't understand esoteric concepts like 'freedom of speech'; they think the U.S. government should have prevented the production of that film just as their own government would have. Americans, by and large, are shocked at how thin-skinned Muslims seem to be.
Yeah, well, this isn't the first time we've run afoul of Muslim hypersensitivity and it assuredly won't be the last. What to do? What to do?
Here's what I'd do: I would immediately cut off foreign aid to Libya and any other country we know or suspect implements Sharia law until such time as they demonstrate that they can act like adults and not merely petulant children. I would warn Americans that travel in those parts of the world are extremely hazardous and that they should expect no diplomatic or consular help should they step on the wrong crack on a Muslim sidewalk. I would immediately impose severe visa requirements on all those countries, cancelling all existing visas, and expelling any here on those cancelled visas. That includes diplomats, and I would pull all of our foreign service personnel from their countries.
Left to their own devices, the Muslim world would quickly devolve to its natural state — a ninth- or tenth- century culture, complete with slaves and beheadings on the town square (something that actually still happens in places like Saudi Arabia). Since this appears to be what they so desperately desire, we should strive to make them happy by cutting them off from all our decadent 21st-century technology. Set them adrift. Isolate them from the civilized world.
Someday, possibly far in the future, Islam, the Religion of Peace, will discover The Golden Rule and internalize it to their theology. They will stop 'converting by the sword' in the name of a god who apparently isn't awe-inspiring enough to gain adherents merely by the strength of hir philosophy. Until then, Islam cannot claim to be a religion in the true sense of the word. Until then, Islam is merely ideology. Since it's not a real religion, the First Amendment doesn't apply, and we should forbid the practice of Islam, just as we would squelch Communists and anarchists. Should Islam ever overtake America, you can be sure they would see it exactly that way as regards Christianity, Judaism, and any other religions.
We've already got more than our fair share of ideologues here in America. Let's not go looking abroad for more. Cut them loose.
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