Islamists and Democracy

Two posts from Jihad Watch highlight the unpleasant fact that many Muslims do in fact want to change our political system. This would not be significant, except for the fact that most of the US is trying desperately to ignore the radicalized portion of Islam and pretend that we can get along peaceably with them.

The first article describes an essay posted by the treasurer of the Muslim Student Association at San Diego Mesa College on Oct 14. In it, Farhad Akbari urges his friends not to vote because supporting either candidate would be "poisonous to the cause of Islam".

The other post refers to an article by Anwar Al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born imam currently living in Yemen. He describes democracy as "an un-Islamic system," and says that "we as Muslims should have nothing to do with it."

I honestly can't be too disappointed that at least some of those who hate our way of life will refuse to participate in the electoral process. At least that way they can't directly influence the outcome. On the other hand, one would assume that they still desire to effect change. If they can't do it through the ballot box, that does not leave many other options. Based on the propensity of others who hold similar ideologies to use violence, it seems reasonable that these people might feel the same way. Cause for concern, in my opinion.

NEWSFLASH!! Television can influence behavior!

I saw this yesterday and almost laughed out loud:

“Groundbreaking research suggests that pregnancy rates are much higher
among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behavior than among
those who have tamer viewing tastes.”
Read more

I really think this is so obvious that it needs little additional comment. However, I will say one thing: If those who claim that viewing media images of sex or violence do not influence behavior are correct, why do companies spend millions of dollars each year producing TV commercials? They obviously believe that media messages can influence behavior.

In what is becoming a depressingly regular pattern, California is the home of yet another attempt to indoctrinate children with a leftist worldview:

During a celebration of National Ally Week, Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith
Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, Calif., passed out cards
produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to her class of
kindergartners.

The cards asked signers to be "an ally" and to pledge to "not use
anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene,
when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or
harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts."

The school has acknowledged that the exercise was not appropriate for
kindergartners. (emphasis added)

I am not shocked by this. I expect things like this (and this)to happen in our public education system, especially in California. This is one of the reasons why my wife and I decided to homeschool our children. What I find interesting is that the school is not willing either to discipline the teacher or to support her. If they were intellectually honest, they would censure the teacher for conducting an indoctrination exercise that they acknowledge to be inappropriate for the age of the children, or they would support her for her courageous stand for tolerance and against "anti-gay bigotry". The fact that they will do neither leads me to believe that they support her views, but lack the courage to publicly admit it.

On a larger note, this incident highlights the desperate need for parents to be heavily involved in the education of their children. By homeschooling our children, we choose to be involved to the point of absolute control over all aspects of their education. Other parents may not feel that this is the right answer for their families. Regardless of your choice of method, it is only through parental involvement that we can hope to counteract the influence of those who would push a leftist ideology on the next generation.