The Prophets of the Bible (Jeremiah, Isaiah et al) rebuked Israel, saying we suffer for our sins. It was Israel’s misbehavior (rather than Nebuchadnezzer’s), that caused the destruction of the holy Temple in Jerusalem, the icon of God’s presence in the world. Our sins were so egregious that even King Josiah’s repentance (about 2,500 years ago) was not enough to avert the decree. It would be sacrilegious to say otherwise.
On September 11th we remember the destruction of an iconic building of our time, the World Trade Center. And like the prophets of the past, many blame this on our sins: Western colonialism, expansionism, interference in the Middle East, racism, militarism… In this view 9/11 was deserved payback.
Same with San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, etc. The attacks were revenge for Western oppression. The terrorism committed by European-born North-African Muslims is a direct consequence of our sins of European oppression of North Africa.
But wait!
North African oppression of Europeans preceded European colonialism. Barbary coast (North African) slavers attacked the European coasts as far north as Ireland from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, taking as many as one and a quarter million white European captives, according to some estimates. Unlike black Africans shipped to the Americas, these slaves did not live long enough to reproduce, have families, and eventually find freedom.
The enslavement of Europeans doesn’t fit the general theme of European world conquest and colonialism that is central to scholarship on the early modern era, he said. Many of the countries that were victims of slavery, such as France and Spain, would later conquer and colonize the areas of North Africa where their citizens were once held as slaves. Maybe because of this history, Western scholars have thought of the Europeans primarily as “evil colonialists” and not as the victims they sometimes were, Davis said.
America resisting North African pirates
It would be sacrilegious for any progressive to dare declare that Islam is the problem with Islamic terrorism. They will jump through any hoop to blame terror on its victims. Disposing of Saddam Hussein, the savage despot of Iraq, supporting Israel, failure to accommodate Shariah law… Every historical grudge fantasy is dredged up to illustrate our sins.
But just as King Josiah’s ancient repentance was insufficient, only complete submission to Islam’s prophet can atone for past resistance to his bloody demands. We’re moving fast down the road to compliance, to surrender. And like Josiah’s repentance, it won’t help.
America submitting to Iranian pirates
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.”
? Winston S. Churchill, The River War
