Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Islamism

  • The Euthyphro Problem, Islam, and Thomism

    Peter Lupu called me last night to report that it had occurred to him that the famous Euthyphro Dilemma, first bruited in the eponymous early Platonic dialog, reflects a difference between two conceptions of God. One is the God-as-Being-itself conception; the other is the God-as-supreme-being conception.  After he hung up, I recalled that in June,…

  • Diana West on Dr. Ben Carson’s Muslim Comment

    Here is what Diana West says verbatim: A reporter just asked me if Dr. Ben Carson was correct to rule out a Muslim in the presidency. Below is my reply — the short version. No caliphate, no jihad, even. First things first. Is this the first time the media have focused directly on such a…

  • Another Thing Islamists and Leftists Have in Common

    Both are destructive of the past. Examples aplenty in the news.  “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” (George Orwell)  Quotation found here.

  • Islamic Supremacism as Source of Muslim ‘Grievances’

    Here.

  • The Decline of the Culture of Free Discussion and Debate

    Professor of Government Charles Kesler in the Spring 2015 Claremont Review of Books laments that "The culture of free discussion and debate is declining, and with it liberty, on and off the campus."  He is right to be offended by the new culture of 'trigger warnings' and 'microaggressions,' but I wonder if his analysis is…

  • Diplomad on Drawing Mohammed

    Here: My view on holding "Draw Mohammed" contests? Sure. Why not? If you can have a Broadway play that mocks Mormons, an "artistic" exhibition called "Piss Christ," and any number of other art, including paintings, literature, and movies criticizing or mocking Judeo-Christian symbols and values (Monty Python, anybody?) why should Muslims be exempt from criticism or…

  • Why the Left Will Not Admit the Threat of Radical Islam (Revised and Expanded)

    Why don't leftists — who obviously do not share the characteristic values and beliefs of Islamists — grant what is spectacularly obvious to everyone else, namely, that radical Islam poses a grave threat to what we in the West cherish as civilization, which includes commitments to free speech, open inquiry, separation of church and state,…

  • A Dog Named ‘Muhammad’

    There is a sleazy singer who calls herself 'Madonna.'  That moniker is offensive to many.  But we in the West are tolerant, perhaps excessively so, and we tolerate the singer, her name, and her antics.  Muslims need to understand the premium we place on toleration if they want to live among us.  A San Juan Capistrano councilman named his dog…

  • Of ChiComs, Cojones, and Civilization

    At least the ChiComs have the cojones to defend their civilization against the Islamist barbarians.  Not that I approve of the method, the use of state power to force shop keepers to sell alcohol and tobacco products.  But if you put a gun to my head and force me to choose between Communist and Islamist…

  • Civil Courage

    A reader sent me  a batch of critical comments prefaced as follows. "I’ve been enjoying your work, and I have great admiration for your guts. Hopefully no members of the “religion of peace” will put your bravery to the test."  In this connection one ought to wonder about the lack of civil courage of liberals…

  • Flag Burning, Muhammad Mockery, and a Double Standard

    If a coalition of what some leftists call knuckle-draggers (including rednecks, bigoted white working stiffs, those who "cling to their guns and Bibles," in the derisive words of Obama) were to slaughter flag burners, the leftists would howl in protest, pointing out (rightly) that flag burning counts as protected speech in these United States.  They…

  • Is He Your Prophet?

    Here are some questions for journalists.  Why do you refer to Muhammad as the Prophet?  Is he your prophet?  Do you mean to endorse his claim to be a prophet?  Or the prophet?  Do you accept the very idea of prophecy?  Do you speak of Jesus as 'Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ'?  Or as…

  • Stay Quiet and You’ll Be Okay

    Mark Steyn: Can Islam be made to live with the norms of free societies in which it now nests? Can Islam learn – or be forced – to suck it up the way Mormons, Catholics, Jews and everyone else do? If not, free societies will no longer be free. Pam Geller understands that, and has…

  • Free Speech and Islamic Terror: Locating the Bone of Contention

    Let me begin with two indisputable facts.  The first is that here in the USA we have a legally protected and highly latitudinarian right to free speech that extends beyond speech and writing proper to include such activities as flag-burning and the drawing of cartoons.  The second is that many Muslims of the present day…

  • The Danger of Appeasing the Intolerant

    Should we tolerate the intolerant? Should we, in the words of Leszek Kolakowski, . . . tolerate political or religious movements which are hostile to tolerance and seek to destroy all the mechanisms which protect it, totalitarian movements which aim to impose their own despotic regime? Such movements may not be dangerous as long as…