Frankly, I’m tired today, and will just expand a few of the issues so well expressed by Robert Spencer adjacent to this column.

Spencer is one of the most articulate experts on militant (and non-militant) Islam today. A very courageous man, he is the author of several fine books on the subject of the Koran, Muslim jihad, and Islamic history. I strongly recommend Spencer’s books, especially The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). The front cover of this book highlights 5 blurbs: “Islam teaches that Muslims must wage war to impose Islamic law on non-Muslim states; American Muslim groups are engaged in a huge cover-up of Islamic doctrine and history; Today’s jihad terrorists have the same motives and goals as the Muslims who fought the Crusaders; The Crusades were defensive conflicts [a delayed response to centuries of Muslim aggression]; and, Muslim persecution of Christians has continued for 13 centuries-and still goes on.” These are historical facts. Nothing but bloody disaster will be accomplished by ignoring these facts, or by politically correct naiveté. To quote Spencer again “What is known today as the ‘Islamic world’ was created by a series of brutal conquests of non-Muslim lands”. We cannot believe all of the talk about peaceful Islam because the few peaceful parts of the Koran are abrogated by (Koran 2:106) because they were written before those demanding war on non-believers. “...the violent verses of the ninth sura, including the Verse of the Sword (9:5) abrogate the peaceful verses, because they were revealed later in Muhammad’s prophetic career: In fact, most Muslim authorities agree that the ninth sura was the very last section of the Koran to be revealed.”

I also believe that the Koran can be shown to be the antithesis of the Christian Bible, starting with the denial of Christ’s divinity, a faith proudly proclaiming its love of death, instead of the Christian ideal of love, forgiveness, and freedom.

Islam believes that the Koran is the pure, literal, perfect, and final word of God, and as such, can never be “interpreted” differently than that which has been received historically. The Hadith (stories of Muhammad’s life) is also believed to be the perfect, eternal word of Allah, and therefore can never be changed.

Islam provides a license to kill anyone perceived guilty of heretical thoughts, words, or deeds, and it is done throughout the world, every day. Muslim believers can, with Koranic authority, take essentially any act against any non-believer which, in their minds, will promote or defend Islam. This is a license to not only to kill, but to deceive as well. That most Western Muslim believers do not take such devious or violent action against non-believers is not to say that they cannot justify doing so in the future. Think of the many murders inflicted by Muslim believers who were in positions of trust. Those Muslim believers who deny any of the Koran’s violent parts are themselves considered heretics by hundreds of millions of Islamic fundamentalists. Actually, it is heretical to be anything less than a Muslim fundamentalist – fundamentalism is the worldwide norm, not the exception, though, as Spencer says, Islam is not monolithic. It is deadly heresy (according to the Koran) to refuse to believe the plain, “perfect” language of the Koran. Examples of this satanic, religiously-driven murder are abundant (see recent story of a couple and 3 children (including infant) murdered in their sleep by a throat-cutting Palestinian – later celebrated in Gaza).
While the recent Koran burning by that fool “reverend” Terry Jones may be morally unconscionable, it pales in comparison with the Muslim murders of many innocent non-Muslim U.N. workers in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Americans should not, however, limit legitimate means of Constitutional free speech. We should make it clear that Christians condemn jihadist murder because we do not believe in the faith that promotes it. Also, that our Bible is the written word of God, not, as some uninformed Muslim advocate recently proclaimed, only a book written by man, which can be burned with less disrespect.

Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad, Stealth Jihad and The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran (all from Regnery-a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).