“The majority of (insert religion) want to kill you.” No they don’t. In fact we’re going to play a numbers game in a minute based on just that subject but, first, I’d like to give all my non-racist readers a reason for hope.
After World War One Germany was subjected to the Versaille Treaty. This was the closest thing to bureaucratic rape the world had ever seen. In the old days conquering armies would kill your men, rape your women and steal your wealth. That was back when things were kinder and gentler. The Treaty of Versaille upped the ante dramatically. It destroyed Germany and left it with no hope of ever becoming a viable country again.
The people were angry and looking for someone to blame. In the middle of that cauldron roiling with anger fell the Great Depression. At its height, in Germany, a wheelbarrow full of money might, if the baker was a nice person, get you a loaf of bread.
Now, here’s what you need to remember. Germany was one country, mostly one race, spoke one language, lived in one time zone, was increasingly isolated, and needed one target for their rage. Along came Adolph and his Merry Band of Miscreants, and he gave them one; the Jews. Oh, sure, he tossed in fags, dykes, Catholics, and anyone of color too, but those were the icing on the cake. The real dough, both literally and figuratively, was in the Jews.
Keep this in mind as I continue.
There is now a vocal movement in America that closely resembles Hitler’s early Nazis. They’ve substituted Muslims for Jews – hey, why not? They’re all middle eastern – and tossed in fags, dykes, and anyone of color too. They don’t discriminate when it comes to discrimination. The main difference this time around is there is a large enough number of Catholics who agree with them that they get left off the hate train.
At least for now. Given Pope Francis’ stance on stupidity I don’t see that lasting.
There are other differences too. Unlike post war Germany, America has multiple races, a fuckton of prominent languages, four time zones (excluding Hawaii & territories), and is drifting towards inclusion as opposed to isolation.
A big reason for that last statement is the fact that by this time in 2050, the United States of America will no longer have an Anglo majority. For the smart people that means they’d better learn to get along with their new neighbors or move.
To which I might ask, “move where?”
There are only two countries in the world aligned with Trump’s beliefs and social policies who also have enough infrastructure to handle the influx of his supporters. Those would be Iran and Saudi Arabia.
If you click the previous link you’ll read what was noted here back in 2012;
NEITHER allows the teaching of evolution; BOTH require prayer in schools; NEITHER allows gay rights, especially not gay marriage; NEITHER allows abortion; women in both countries know their place and don’t complain about it; everybody and his brother owns a gun; BOTH are theocracies run strictly by the laws of the old testament; and BOTH have populations with very few Black people and NO Mexicans. It’s practically paradise! Conservative Heaven on Earth!
I’m not worried about Trump claiming to be a Christian any more than I am about any of his followers. He’d sell his wife to a dog food company if it suited his goals. Seeing his toupee howling Alluha Akbar isn’t a stretch at all. The same holds true for his followers once they figure out the benefits to them.
Most of them seem to be incapable of reading a bible anyway, let alone following it.
“But, what about all those Muslim terrorists?” you whine. Good question. What about them?
“Where are they?”
Best question ever.
Let’s run some comparisons to help you out. There are 142 registered Neo-Nazi groups in the US. By “registered” I mean they have Facebook pages, places to hang out, and so on. There’s no ‘registry’ at Bed Bath and Beyond for hate groups.
There are another 72 chapters of the Klan. In Chicago our chapter is called the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Feel free to visit them. Some of them have lovely rainbow colored robes.
You’ll note that irony isn’t a thing with racists.
Let’s take them at their word and say they each have around 1,000 members. Radicalized racists, if you will.
Obviously this doesn’t include “soft” racism. The kind that denies people jobs, homes, or fair rates at a bank. Then those numbers go up dramatically. And sadly. In this regard the U.S. is the tenth most racist country in the world, with India coming in #1.
Gandhi would not be pleased. God knows I’m not.
Okay, back to our radicalized racists.
Let’s start with the Klan.
72,000 armed Klan members, if they banded together, could take over cities like Parma, Oklahoma or Lubbock, Texas. They would be able to do so since the local police in places like that are poorly trained and likely to sympathize. Also, there’s a lot of empty land around them they could use to fortify their positions.
The 142,000 Neo-Nazis, banded together, could take over cities like Nashville, Tennessee or Atlanta Georgia. Again, they would be able to do so since the local police in places like that are poorly trained and likely to sympathize. And, again, suburban sprawl around those cities is thin. They could easily entrench themselves there.
Other members and sympathizers could, should they wish, wreck havoc on soft targets in major cities. Bombs, shootings at nightclubs, the occasional public transportation massacre, and so on.
In neither case could they take over this, or any other, country.
Let me know if any of those scenarios sound familiar to you.
Now, on to Muslims. There are 1.75 Billion of them on the planet. Many talking heads on Fox News claim that 10% of them are radicalized. That would put 175,000,000 armed maniacs on the ground. That number could wipe out America, Canada, and Mexico in short order and then take on the world.
Even if all you watch is Fox News you know that hasn’t happened.
Not that the real number of Daesh members, a/k/a ISIS, a/k/a ISIL, is tiny. It’s not. There are an estimated 200,000 of them. Just a hair more than the number of armed Nazis in the US, and able to do about the same amount of damage.
Which is about where they’re at. They control an amount of real estate slightly smaller than Britain, but a lot of that is empty land or previously held by nomads or peasants.
Not exactly prime targets.
I’m not denigrating the people who live in those places. The reason there are so many refugees, multiplied by those fleeing the civil war in Syria, is due to the fact they’re not big fans of Daesh and its allies. Just like most Americans aren’t big fans of Neo-Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan. If those two groups embarked on the scenarios I posited above there would be millions of people fleeing. Hopefully nice countries like Canada, France, and Saudi Arabia would take them in.
Saudi Arabia? Yep.
You see, for better or worse, they are ruled by the Holy Qu’Ran. That book includes the Five Pillars of Islam. One of those pillars is called Zakat. It is widely interpreted to mean all followers must provide charity to those in need. Simply put, they don’t count refugees as refugees, so they end up not getting counted on the U.N.’s list. Instead they count them as “brothers and sisters in need” and just take them in.
Oddly, despite their inherent racism and backwards attitudes towards anyone different than them, they apply that rule to anyone who asks for help. They’re not well versed in irony either.
When you see that fatuous graphic showing all those empty tents in Saudi Arabia you need to keep a fact in mind.
I know, I know, facts are annoying.
Anyway, those tents are set aside for people who make the Hajj, a/k/a the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. So Saudis don’t put people there. They can’t risk them being occupied when the holy time arrives. Instead they put the refugees, sorry – brothers and sisters in need, in their homes or hotels or where ever they can. They have taken in several hundred thousand brothers and sisters this way. Including over 100,000 children they have enrolled in their schools. Just not a single “refugee.”
This is why words matter. As Neil Steinberg noted, calling the terrorists “radical Islamists” is a disservice to both words. They are no more adherents of Islam than Neo-Nazis or Klan members are Christians.
Fun side note. A growing number of Neo-Nazis are renouncing Christianity in favor of Odinism. All that peace and love shit makes them itch, so they’re joining a cult with a warrior ethos. Yes, they’re perverting its core beliefs too. They have to justify their hate somehow.
Call me when you hear the phrase “radical Odinists” on Fox. I’ll buy you a drink.
The point is, there aren’t nearly as many assholes in the world as you are being led to believe.
So why don’t we, or the Saudis, or anyone, just bomb the fuck out of them? Mostly for the same reason we wouldn’t bomb Parma, Lubbock, Nashville, or Atlanta. The terrorists hide amongst innocents. A rough guess averages the numbers of innocents at around ten per terrorist. I’ve seen estimates as high as fifty per terrorist. Either would be about the same as if the U.S. cities I noted, and their surrounding areas, above got over run. No matter which number you use that’s a lot of innocent lives we would be taking. Too many have already been lost this way, and that’s with everyone being as careful as they can.
So we tough it out. Knowing that, in the long run, they can’t win. Daesh has neither an air force nor a navy. They are stuck where they’re at. That’s why President Obama, correctly, professed they’re contained.
Are they still a threat? Absolutely. To individuals. Maybe a small city or two. Not to nations. That doesn’t mean we should discount them, it just means we should measure our responses and base them on reality. Then provide aid where we can.
Or, to make it real simple for you, don’t fear the victims.
Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG (FOX! Sports) every Friday around 9:10 AM.
Visit us on Rebel Mouse for even more fun!
contact Bill McCormick
Your Ad Can Be Here Now!