William Bennett and Seth Leibsohn’s book, “The Fight Of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth & Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam” is a book written to wake up America to the dangers of Radical Islam. The book does a really good job at documenting at how wimpy we’ve become as a nation in really confronting terrorism. Why are we walking on eggshells?
Bennett & Leibsohn write, “The thought seems to be that if we speak nicely of Islam and ignore the terrorism it can produce, the Islamists will respect us more or lay down their swords. Such an understanding flies in the face of everything Islamists have told us; they want our defeat, not a refurbished détente that comes from soft language and retreat. (p.104)
What I found really eye opening is how the current Obama Administration is absolutely petrified of even mentioning the word “Islam,” in conjunction with the subject of terrorism. Bennett and Leibsohn write, “The term RADICAL ISLAM was employed to distinguish it from mainstream belief. But the Obama administration displays a shocking level of foolishness or knavery by downgrading and downplaying the connection between Islam and terrorism.” (p.103) (The book tries to be fair in laying out some claims against the Bush Administration as well.)
Bennett & Leibsohn quotes Professor Benard Lewis, “It is dangerous to exaggerate and is equally dangerous to ignore and neglect… most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists are not terrorists… but most present-day terrorist are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such.” (p.117) The facts speak for themselves. Most of all the power and money in the Islamic Community are in the hands of Radical Muslims. Just follow the money and it will take you places that you will be shocked!
The book does a tremendous job at substantiated all it’s claims with mountains of footnotes and indexes. (Tremendous Resource)
The chapter that I got the most out of was Chapter Seven entitled, “False Peace and True Peace,” in which Bennett & Leibsohn quickly disarm the argument that the Bible is more violent than the Koran. They write, “In the history of Christianity, there certainly are violent episodes where Christian leaders have committed, instigated, and justified bloody war –against others and themselves. But the New Testament itself is evidence to how such history and examples diverge and contradict the basic doctrines of Christianity. As Professor David Gelernter has pointed out, the New Testament is nearly a manifesto of pacifism, with emphases so common to our parlance that many people do not even realize their source. Put plainly… the highest and most revered person in all Christianity was not a warrior; rather, Christ taught his followers to bless their accusers and pray for their abusers. (p.111)
They go on to say, “Let us not excuse Christian violence in the past or present, but let us underscore the difficulty in justifying acts of violence based on Christian morality as taught in the New Testament,” and raise the question, “Can a reader of these words count on an entire hand the number of Jewish terrorist or criminals who have cited the Bible to justify their actions? Can a reader count on an entire hand the number of Jewish terrorist at all?” (p.112)
By contrast the Koran instructs, “Fight those who do not believe in Allah… Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them… Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites! Hell shall be their home, an evil fate speak for themselves. (p.115)
In conclusion Bennett & Leibsohn issue the challenge to all who would call themselves a progressive or reformed Muslim, “A truly reformed Muslim would lament extreme Islam and would denounce the application of Sharia law, prohibit polygamy and underage marriage, and extend social and legal equality to nonbelievers, and would weigh in against terrorism everywhere and always.” (p.125)
The next time a spokesman from a group such as The Council on American Islamic Relations seeks special consideration on behalf of Islam or American Muslims, ask them what he thinks of Hamas. Ask them if Hamas is a terrorist organization. Ask them if violence is ever justified against American or Israeli civilians. Ask them who was responsible for 9/11 and if any of it was justified in any way. The fight that we are in really is not only a fight of our lives, but a fight for our lives.
I found the book timely and relevant. This is not a book to sit back and enjoy, but rather a book to be informed about a current crisis in our country. I was expecting the book to be more religious than political. It wasn’t until chapter seven that the book began to touch on some of the major ideological differences between Islam and Judeo/Christianty. However, I am glad that the authors took the time to research and document the current disturbing trend concerning Radical Islam with a thorough index in the back of the book.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through Booksneeze Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
