Unforeseen Contingencies

Is Islam inherently violent?  No!  As I've explained in the past, there are many variants of Islam, and some of them are certainly not violent or totalitarian.  In fact, there are genuinely libertarian forms of Islam that respect the rights of all individuals.

Unfortunately, it's also clear that that these are minority variants.  In addition, it's clear that among today's major religions Islam is by far the least tolerant, most violent, and most totalitarian; no other broad set of beliefs comes close.  It is only mad people largely on the left who seem not to be able to recognize this.  Egypt's President al Sisi, a Muslim, made a very clear statement on this matter in a New Year's Day appeal to Muslim clerics, calling for a revolution in Islamic thinking, because Islam has gone off the rails, because the entirety of Muslims have become "a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world."  He accused Muslims of "antagonizing the entire world" and repeatedly called for a "religious revolution" that discards violent doctrines.

I think al Sisi's points are obvious to almost everyone, save for a large share of the contemporary Left. Driven to insanity by political correctness, they are going to absurd lengths to deny there are any problems at all in Islam, hence the various bizarre convolutions of Obama and his administration to avoid terms like Islamic terrorism, or Duke University's decision to institute the Muslim call to prayer on campus as a way of responding the the Charlie Hebdo attacks (a decision that has, fortunately, been repealed, at least for now).

Well, the problem is not terrorism.  It's not even Islamic terrorism.  It's Islam.

It would be a waste of time  to argue that terrorism or Islamic terrorism are bad; anyone uncertain of this is beyond reason, and there's no fun in making arguments to the deaf.  On the other hand, there is some sport to be had in maximizing cognitive dissonance among politically correct leftists.  Towards this end, Unforeseen Contingencies excitedly announces a new feature: The Islamic Crime of the Week!

Every Friday -- the Muslim holy day -- we'll highlight an unambiguously Islamic action of mainstream "civilized" Muslims that is outrageous and violent.  Of course, if Islam really is a religion of peace, as we're repeatedly lectured, this will be impossible, so the politically correct need not worry.

Here's this week's entry:  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is postponing the continuation of the public lashing of Raif Badawi for a week, for "medical reasons" (they suspect another 50 lashes this week will kill him outright).  Badawi received a sentence of 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison for insulting Islam by establishing a blog -- Liberal Saudi Network -- that some Saudi clerics and officials disliked.

President Obama, Eric Holder, Josh Earnest, and the entirety of the politically correct left are welcome to go ahead and explain that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not Islamic, and that this brand of Islam has anything to do with peace.