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The aim of Islamists is neither integration, defined as participating in and strengthening American constitutional government alongside other citizens, nor indifferentism, defined as withdrawing from participation in the wider society to form an insulated community. In other words, the aim of Islamists is not integration into our society, nor to isolate themselves within their own enclaves, but rather to energetically integrate America into Islamist culture. Far from a Muslim “Benedict Option,” the Islamist strategy is political and confrontational. Islamists divide the world into the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). When Islamists build a mosque, they see it as sanctifying a hitherto unholy place, transforming it into the territory of Dar al-Islam.
The mosque and Islamic center are not a refuge to withdraw into prayer and worship, but an outpost in hostile territory, a stronghold to reform the surrounding world, and a place for chastising unscrupulous Muslims and driving out unbelievers. In Ruling in the Name of Allah, the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal explains how this duality shapes many Muslims’ perception of all of reality: “There is the world of Islam that must be protected and there is the world of evil in which war must be waged.”
As the memorandum indicates, this project extends beyond simple ethical reform or a largely invisible spiritual battle. The objective is spiritual AND temporal: to complete the total overhaul and reorganization of society, culture, business, commerce, finance, law, and government. This is why Islamists claim to offer “a civilizational alternative” to the West. They provide a comprehensive human association that is intended to challenge and replace other civilizations.
Informed by such an ambitious and wide-ranging project, Islamists oppose the American sense of nationhood and form of government and seek to replace constitutional and national governments with the global Islamic state.
Nathan Pinkoski
A few weeks ago, an image went viral. In Belgium a migrant used the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to cook an omelette. For many, the desecration brought to mind a quote from French author Jean Raspail, written in 1973 in his novel Camp of the Saints, about a sudden invasion of Muslim, Indian and African migrants into France:
“Your universe has no meaning to them. They will not try to understand. They will be tired, they will be cold, they will make a fire with your beautiful oak door.”
“Beware of two errors: despising the world God sustains, or worshipping the culture He restrains.”
— Abraham Kuyper, Common Grace Vol. 1, Ch. 30
"[Successful NY Mayoral candidate] Mamdani built his campaign on the infrastructure of the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA and its city allies can dispatch activists across New York and, with a network of progressive partner organizations, can mobilize young people, get out the vote, and do the work of door-to-door politics.
"We saw this dynamic many times in the twentieth century: socialists rise to power, their policies degrade the quality of life, and, as they enter the endgame, they tighten their grip on power and offload resentments onto their ideological, racial, and economic enemies.
"...the twentieth century taught us that left-wing voters have extraordinary defenses against reality."
-- Christopher Rufo
