Islam is like “Charlie Tuna” – it just doesn’t measure up

By Louis Palme

Some of us still remember the animated Charlie Tuna commercials run by Star Kist back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. They featured a rather unsophisticated tuna who really wanted to be selected for this brand of tuna, but he just didn’t measure up. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXOR9LBuWEU )

Like Charlie Tuna, apologists for Islam strive to put on a good face to the non-Muslim world: They hold “interfaith dialogues” with clueless leaders of other mainstream religions; every time there is an Islamic terror attack they hold impromptu news conferences to deny any association of the incident with Islam and/or lament the possible backlash against innocent Muslims; and they tirelessly labor to coach and provide copy for useful idiots in the media. For all their efforts, one might think that Americans would be flocking to mosques in droves. The fact is, except for an alarming number of prison conversions, the embrace of Islam by Americans is relatively rare and short-lived. (See: https://imamluqman.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/seven-out-of-every-ten-converts-leave-islam-by-imam-luqman-ahmad/ )

Muslims may attribute the high drop-out rate to hostility within the Islamic community or too many rules and disciplines to follow, but the real problem is that the basic ideology runs counter to 21^st Century values and standards of conduct in a civilized society. The Koran is filled with babble and nonsense. (See: http://www.annaqed.com/en/islam-under-the-microscope/muhammad-and-his-magical-cow ). Sharia Law contradicts the U.S. Constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood’s “Explanatory Memorandum” constitutes treason. And finally, most of the Islamic memes, like “Islam is a religion of peace,” have no bases in fact. It is possible that someone born into Islam loses his/her ability to reason after years of submission, but converts still need a religion that makes rational and reasonable sense.

Apologists for Islam attribute all of its flaws to “culture” rather than its retrograde ideology. But when it comes to actual tangible culture, Islam is a no-show. Islam forbids art (other than abstract designs), forbids music (other than tambourines), forbids innovation (“every innovation is misguidance”), and forbids freedom of expression. In recent times we have seen countries like Saudi Arabia and the Islamic State actively destroying works of art and sculpture. While there is a special kind of “Islamic” art which is basically made up of abstract designs and calligraphy, it is devoid of emotion or meaning. Here is what Sharia Law says in Reliance of the Traveller, paragraph w50.8: “. . . the banning of images is not only because they were worshipped, but also because of their imitating the creative act of Allah Most High, and the emulation therein of non-Muslims.”   So much for Islamic culture.

Certainly, if Islam were a religion for all people and all times, it would either be adaptable to different times and civilizations or it would be so self-evidently sacrosanct that people would embrace it whole-heartedly – no matter where or when. There would be no need for religious police (mutaween) to enforce its provisions; there would be no need to decree death to apostates; there would be no cause for bloody wars between different Islamic sects. The reality is that most of the Islamic world became that way through military conquest, not dawah (Islamic evangelism). Isam’s lack of appeal is even acknowledged by the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who said that without the sanction of death for apostasy Islam would have died out in a generation. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZVg_OHjS70 )

Sorry Charlie, Islam just doesn’t measure up.