For the second time this year Paris has been attacked by Muslim terrorists.
For the second time this year I went to the Boston Common to pay my respects to those who lost their lives.
For the second time this year I heard the French Consul-General to Boston express his sorrow and thank the people of Boston for their solidarity.
For the second time this year I heard the singing of La Marseillaise.
For the second time this year we made our way to the Lafayette Monument.
For the second time this year hardly anyone asked why.
When a placard featuring a peace sign was passed around for people to write messages, I simply wrote, “Pourquoi?”
Of course, I know why ISIS attacked Paris. Just as I know why the Twin Towers were attacked. Just as I know why the finish line of the Boston Marathon was attacked and just as I know why the offices of Charlie Hebdo was attacked. I suspect that most people deep down know why these attacks happen but are unwilling to say so for fear of being called racist and Islamophobic.
After all, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley were falling all over themselves denying the connection between radical Islam and terrorism during the Democrat candidates debate in Des Moines on Saturday night. Indeed, when moderator John Dickerson asked the candidates to respond to Marco Rubio’s statement that we are at war with radical Islam, it was Hillary who said we are not at war with Islam. Although Dickerson pointed out that Rubio didn’t say we were at war with Islam, this didn’t stop Hillary from saying it wasn’t helpful “to say we are somehow against Islam.” She would only say that the United States was at war with “violent extremism.” But violent extremism is a means, not an end. But no matter. Not long after, the very same Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked 9/11 to justify her Wall Street campaign contributions.
At the rally, there was one young Frenchman who was genuinely asking why. He was being interviewed by someone who was either a newspaper reporter or a journalism student. This young man was bewildered as to how people his own age could be so lost as to be prepared to murder people for listening to music.
His bewilderment is certainly understandable. But I don’t believe the people responsible for the atrocities in Paris were lost. As evil as ISIS is, those who join it have a very definite purpose — namely to be part of the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and even give up their lives for it. This is why they are able to recruit people and will only continue to add to their ranks after Paris.
While I wouldn’t characterize this young man as lost, there are many young people in the West who are lost because they are unable to discern between good and evil and the liberal media plays a huge part on this state of affairs. Three days before the Paris attacks, the following sentence actually appeared in Ms. Magazine:
While ISIS endorses sexual assault, American college administrations similarly facilitate and perpetuate the rape of women on campuses.
The last I checked ISIS doesn’t offer safe spaces.
Don’t get me wrong. It is important to honor those who died and I believed it was my duty to be in present. A vast majority in attendance were French expatriates who wanted to be among their countrymen. But this gathering and the one back in January would have never come to pass if not for the ideology of radical Islam.
The French Resistance, which united Gaullists, socialists, and communists alike, did not deny the existence of Nazi ideology during the Second World War. The French Resistance not only recognized Nazi ideology, but sought its defeat. How can we defeat ISIS and other Islamic terrorist entities if we do not acknowledge their underlying ideology? How can we defeat ISIS if we don’t acknowledge that it is (contrary to President Obama’s claim) Islamic?
ISIS says this is only the beginning. In which case, we will soon be gathering in Boston Common for a third time. Should we gather again I can only hope more people will ask, “Why?”
