American Values, End of Day, with Gary Bauer: The “Critical” Thing About Islam; CUFI Action In The News; Latest Op-Eds

Monday, August 3, 2015

From: Gary L. Bauer

The “Critical” Thing About Islam

Speaking recently at a national security forum in Aspen, Colorado, Jeh Johnson, the Homeland Security secretary, said that to keep ISIS from radicalizing Americans, it is “critical” to avoid the word “Islamic,” when describing terrorist groups.

That’s right. The head of the government agency whose mission is to “ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism�” said that any effort to link the terrorist group to violence must not mention the source of what motivates the terrorists, i.e. their faith. Johnson said that doing so would only legitimize that form of violent Islam. Here is a quote, “�If you call [ISIS terrorism] Islamic anything, we are dignifying this terrorist organization with occupying a part of the Islamic faith which Muslims in this country I know push back very strongly on.”

This is one more example of a well-defined trend of tiptoeing around what to call the enemy we’re dealing with. Johnson is part of the same administration that referred to Nidal Hasan’s murder of 14 people at Fort Hood as “work place violence.” It’s leftist political correctness run amok, and it begs the question: If we cannot name the enemy and identify what motivates it, how can we hope to defeat it?

I won’t waste your time reminding you that ISIS knows the Koran better than the head of Homeland Security does. That point is obvious when ISIS terrorists cite the Koran and their Muslim faith for everything they do-from what foods they eat and how they procreate to how they treat non-Muslims and wage jihad.

As recent events have made clear, Home-grown terrorism is a growing problem. According to one recent poll, a majority of Muslims in America-51 percent-wants the choice of whether Muslims should have their own courts or tribunals for Sharia law.

Other polling has found that one-third of American Muslims support al Qaeda and suicide bombing. Johnson and DHS may deceive some Americans, but they are not fooling the many Muslims around the world, including here in the U.S., who believe it is their religious duty to kill the infidel.

CUFI Action In The News

As the battle continues to rage over President Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal with Iran, CNN has a piece on its homepage outlining what’s at stake. The piece discusses the “historic mobilization” of pro-Israel groups against the deal, including the efforts of Christians United for Israel Action Fund (CUFI), which I lead. In just a few weeks, I’m proud to say that we’re being recognized as a key player in the fight for Western civilization.

Latest Op-Eds

“Sanctuary cities” have been in the headlines for weeks. But while most of the debate has focused on the legal and political ramifications when cities refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration law, I’d like to offer the following thought experiment: What if there were sanctuary cities for religious conservatives? I explored this idea in a Saturday op-ed for the American Thinker.

The conventional wisdom in the media and among political elites is that Americans are tired of politicians who talk about their faith. But the evidence shows the opposite: that most Americans want more God-talk, not less. I explain why in my latest piece for the Washington Examiner.