Why you must oppose Islamism (especially if you're a liberal)

On various Internet discussion forums, I've been called a "winger" and a "wingnut", both of which are leftist pejorative terms for right wingers. Why? Because I support the notion of a "war on terror", which I agree is a lousy descriptor, but more on that later. The funny thing is I'm more of a liberal in the classic sense of the word.

The cognitive dissonance of the left wing's love of Islamists is enough to make anybody's head hurt. Lynne Stewart, a far-left lawyer who prides herself on representing "revolutionaries" and jihadis, once said "To rid ourselves of the entrenched, voracious type of capitalism that is in this country that perpetuates sexism and racism, I don't think that can come nonviolently." She was on trial at the time for aiding and abetting terrorism during her representation of radical Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. She was convicted of passing instructions to Rahman's henchmen under the guise of attorney-client privilege.

Apparently lost on Stewart is the irony that if her client had his way, women would be covered in burqas and confined to the home, cooking, cleaning and squeezing out more jihadis.

So, to my liberal friends, the reasons you must oppose Islamism:

• Separation of Church and State: As Robert Spencer points out in his book The Truth About Muhammad, it's no coincidence that the Islamic calendar starts when Muhammad moved from Mecca to Medina, and assumed the mantle of political-military leader. The dates of his birth or death or even of his first revelation are of less importance. Islam makes no distinction between church and state. The church is the state.
• The Status of Women: No matter what Muslim leaders and their apologists say to the contrary, Islam is a misogynistic religion. In any state currently under Islamic rule, women are, at best, less than equal to their male counterparts and in many countries are little more than breeding stock. I won't even get into the vile topics of female genital mutilation or "honor killings" here.
• Freedom of Religion: Just ask Christians in Saudi Arabia or Indonesia or Copts in Egypt how free they are to worship without persecution. I realize the right to practice any religion isn't very important to many far-lefties, but I think even most of them would agree it's a slippery slope. And if you're a Muslim who decides to abandon his religion and join the far-left, you just may find yourself dearly missing your head.
• Lesbian and Homosexual Rights: No, not the right to marry. The right to live. Under Islamic law, homosexuality is punishable by death. Any questions?
• Sexual Freedom: A cornerstone of liberal thought born in the '60s, you can say goodbye to this under Islamic law. Any sexual activity conducted outside of marriage, even between two unmarried people, is considered adultery. This is also punishable by death.
• Abortion Rights: The premier liberal cause. Under Islamic law, abortion is not allowed, period. Don't even think of asking for one. Even if you've become pregnant at the age of 13 in your forced marriage to a cousin who beats you and has run off to join the jihad.

So, just why is it that so many self-described liberals not only oppose anything remotely resembling a "war on terror" but embrace and enthusiastically support radical Islamist groups like Hamas, Hizballah and the rest? I suspect the problem is as simple as bad marketing.

In its politically correct squeamishness, the current administration has used the term "war on terror" over and over again, apparently out of a reluctance to use the word "Islam" in any reference to the bad guys. More recently, President Bush has used the words "Islamic extremists" and even "Islamofascism", but on those occasions he's been shredded by liberal columnists and, of course, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for his "bigotry". Some have even disingenuously used the term "racist", ignoring the fact that Islam is practiced by every race on the planet.

What's needed is a better nomenclature, and improved marketing to go along with it. Islamic activists and advocacy groups like CAIR are fond of saying that Islam is under attack. We are not at war with Islam, the religion. We're at war with Islamism, the political-military movement.

This subtle difference may not matter to the average man in the street in the Islamic world, but I think the average American, whether on the left or the right, can grasp this concept. And if properly educated of the difference between the two and informed of the consequences for ignoring the Islamist threat, we might actually stand a chance of winning.