Our country and way of life is under attack. A small group of religious extremists is set on destroying the America we all know and love. They loathe us for our very freedoms. They despise the liberty we enjoy in this country. They have perverted their religion, a beautiful faith that preaches love and peace, and turned it into a jihad against the infidel. They have ignored the precepts of tolerance and respect espoused by their most holy prophets. They have fashioned their beliefs into a weapon of hate against the very principles upon which America was founded.
The religion of these extremist ideologues is centuries old. Millions of people worldwide obey the tenets of this faith. Most of them are peaceful, loving people who believe in freedom and happiness for all people, just as we do. The vast majority of them are not the kind of people whose belief is so warped by fanaticism that they could commit senseless acts of death and destruction. Yet many of them support the efforts of their extremist brethren, believing that our secular ideals will bring an end to their way of life.
The leaders of these radical fundamentalists are men who have no problem reconciling their evil actions against the holy prohibitions of their religion. Their religion specifically forbids the killing of innocents, yet they are the masterminds behind vicious attacks on innocent people, all in the name of their God. Their religion teaches them to love and honor all people, yet they endorse discrimination and abuse against the women, homosexuals, and minorities in their society.
This enemy thinks very little of what we consider basic civil liberties. They will imprison their own citizens without charges, without counsel, and without a trial. They will torture and rape and murder their prisoners. The covenants of international treaty and law mean nothing to them; they are lawless holy warriors for whom any means justify the ends.
These extremists see our society as decadent and against the ordinances of their God. They hate that our women are allowed to expose their bodies, express their opinions, and control their reproduction. Their religion teaches that women are to be subservient to men, modest in their dress, and sexually chaste. They hate our open acceptance of homosexuality. They believe that our permissiveness is invading their culture, so they support their extremist leaders who promise to fight to keep their culture mired in the regressive ways of the past.
Religious fundamentalists abhor our open democracy. In their country, they will stop at nothing to sabotage the voting process. They fear an independent election that could bring the end to their dream of a religious theocracy in the region. They rely on a coordinated network of familial connections and radical clerics to maintain a climate of fear to discourage the hopes of the people who long for freedom and equality. They will use all means at their disposal to institute into law the words of their holy scripture.
There is no negotiation with the radical fundamentalists. They get their marching orders from God. No diplomatic, scientific, or rational argument is going to deter them from their goal of destroying our country and what it stands for. They seek to dominate the oil-rich areas of the world, to control the very lifeblood of the world economy. They will use weapons of mass destruction to terrorize the peace-loving people of the world into obedience and they will use their power to spread their culture and religion throughout the region.
The overwhelming world opinion against their terrorist actions means nothing to them. They will use their cable media outlets and internet web sites to spread their lies and hatred to their few sympathetic supporters worldwide. They will continue to recruit loyal followers who believe strongly enough (or are desperate enough) to die for their cause. They will raise their money and support with lies, through criminal means, and from the financial support of a few rich Saudi benefactors. They may be religious extremists, but they are also shrewd businessmen, laundering their ill-gotten gains through numerous shady institutions.
This is a struggle for the ideals of freedom and democracy not only in their country, but for the whole world. This is about democracy versus theocracy. Our founding fathers saw the influence of religion in government as one of the most dangerous threats to individual liberty. The founders created in our nation a system of checks and balances, and an adherence not to religious law, but to a supreme secular law – the Constitution.
We send our youngest and bravest – our soldiers – to defend our way of life. Our servicemen and women swore to uphold that supreme secular law, our Constitution. However, the extremist leaders don’t care about the life of a National Guardsman from Dubuque, Iowa, blown up by a roadside bomb thousands of miles away from home. That life is just another that must be sacrificed to achieve the greater glory of their God.
When we were attacked on September 11, 2001, they used the horror of that event to recruit their sympathizers for their ultimate jihad against all that America stands for. We cannot stand by and insult the memory of 3,000 of our fellow citizens by allowing the forces of radical fundamentalism to destroy our ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
America, be strong and resolute! Remember that the radical fundamentalists hate us for our freedoms. They hate free and open elections and will use any tactic at their disposal to disrupt the right to vote. They hate the idea of equality for all people, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. They will use lies, torture, and violence to impose their will on innocent, peace-loving people worldwide. They will use weapons of mass destruction on helpless citizens. They care nothing for international law.
Do not let the radical fundamentalists destroy our way of life. Just do your part and vote them out of office on November 2.
