Throughout the course of human history, collaboration between the government and religious institutions of a state has been the norm.  A common religious identity binds a people together and often provides a legal and moral framework.  As Americans have become more “tolerant” and the roles of religious and cultural unity are no longer emphasized by the political leaders and the media, questions have increasingly been raised about the role of Islam in the United States.

            America’s leaders at its birth shared in a Christian heritage, but practiced under differing denominations of Christianity.  The Founder’s realized that to institute a state religion, which no doubt would have been some form of Christianity, would have caused strife among different denominations jockeying for political power.  With this foresight, and the understanding of personal freedom free from government control, the United States was created with the freedom to worship (or not worship) God as one sees fit without the government meddling in the operations of religious institutions.

            This “separation” was not created with a concrete wall.  Writings and speeches at the time of the Founding made clear the role of religion in providing a moral framework, and national unity.  President Washington tells the American people in his Farewell Address, “With slight shades of difference, you have the same Religion, Manners, Habits and political Principles…The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts; of common dangers, sufferings and successes.”  Citizens should protect and promote American principles in order to protect the integrity of their country, and their individual liberties.

            President Bush tells us that, “Islam is peace,” but does Islam threaten American unity and values?  While the moderate Muslims living in the U.S. do indeed only wish to live peaceful lives sharing in the bounty of American freedom, these Muslims have seemingly lost their way on the true path of Islam.

            The Islam practiced by the Prophet Muhammad and his successors was not a religion of peace, but of domination.  Muhammad conquered the Arabian Peninsula by the sword within ten years of Islam’s founding, and his successors conquered an empire within a hundred years that eventually stretched from Spain to India. 

            While the Qur’an does contain peaceful versus, these mostly come from before Muhammad was driven out of Mecca and became a military leader in Medina.  Two problems with reading the Qur’an are that the books, or Suras, are not in chronological order of revelation, and the principle of abrogation in Islam directs that verses revealed at a later time in Muhammad’s career cancel out earlier verses whose instructions they contradict (Sura 2:106).

As the sole role model of proper Islam, Muhammad does not reveal a religion of peaceful coexistence with others.  “Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book {Christians and Jews}, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.” (Sura 9:29).  Non-Muslims must either convert to Islam, or live as second class citizens, called dhimmis, and are required to pay a tax, called the jizya, to their Muslim rulers for protection.  Besides paying the jizya, dhimmis are forced to abide by a number of humiliating and destructive rules, or their lives are forfeit.  “Jihad is ordained for you though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you.  Allah knows but you do not know.” (Sura 2:216).

Such is the true nature of Islam that our terrorist enemies are fighting for.  Death or subjugation are the only options.  Islamic scholars have recognized this as true Islam.  For those Western Muslims who wish only to have lives of peace, and not of jihad, perhaps a public “Reformation” is in order to ease public fears and completely separate from the “radical” Muslims.

While the adherence to Christianity is not a requirement of American citizenship, certain fundamental values should be accepted and promoted to protect the American culture and the state as a whole.  Freedom from death and subjugation are certainly among them.  While freedom of religion should never be denied by the government, American unity must be maintained for a prosperous future.