DHS report suggests we stop using terms like jihad and sharia

POSTED AT 10:01 AM ON JUNE 18, 2016 BY JAZZ SHAW

Remind me again why we set up the Department of Homeland Security? Because something tells me that the people in charge really aren’t grasping the actual problems we’re dealing with. (Fox News)

A new Department of Homeland Security report urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as “jihad” and “sharia” in programs aimed at countering terrorist radicalization among American youth.

The Homeland Security Advisory Council report recommends that the department focus on American milliennials by allocating up to $100 million in new funding. It also urges greater private sector cooperation, including with Muslim communities, to counter what is described as a “new generation of threats to the Homeland related to the threat of violent extremism.”…

Under a section on recommended actions on terminology, the report says DHS should “reject religiously-charged terminology and problematic positioning by using plain meaning American English.”

Government agencies should employ “American English instead of religious, legal and cultural terms like ‘jihad,’ ‘sharia,’ ‘takfir’ or ‘umma,’” states the June 2016 report by the Council’s countering violent extremism subcommittee.

There is a disturbing element to this report which ties into multiple complaints we’ve heard about the administration and how they choose to deal with or even speak about the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. But this goes much further than the alarming refusal of the President and his staff to even speak the words. We seem to be stuck in a mindset of not only refusing to name the enemy, but to make their attacks into something else more politically palatable and useful. It’s why we’ve seen the recent terror attack in Orlando turned into a debate over the Second Amendment or homophobia rather than dealing with the fact that an ISIS inspired jihadist murdered dozens of people.

I understand the urge to avoid the “us vs them” mentality and can see the value in being careful in how we conduct outreach programs in the Muslim community. Nobody is trying to ban the Muslim religion from the shores of the United States or to scrap religious freedom from the First Amendment. But at the same time, we can’t afford to abandon the principle that there is a duty incumbent upon everyone who makes their home in America to assimilate into our culture and stay within the bounds of not only the law, but civilized behavior.

We can and should welcome those who wish to peacefully practice their own faith, whatever it might be. You can bring elements of other cultures into America and incorporate them into the already diverse tapestry we’ve constructed here, but there are definite elements of Islam as it’s practiced in too much of the world which simply must be rejected. You will not be allowed to bring the idea of jihad here because that’s evil, pure and simple. We have our own Constitutionally mandated system of laws here and Sharia law is not welcome. We are not going to meekly accept “honor killings” of women who are raped or cast their eyes upon another man because that’s how you practiced your religion in some other country. You are free to encourage your own family members and congregants to abstain from sex outside of marriage, but you may not do so under threat of death, torture and violence.

There are huge problems with the way Muslims practice their religion in other countries and we can’t afford to be in denial about that. Things like jihad and sharia law are part of the problem, not something to be quietly accepted as a religious practice. And if the Department of Homeland Security can’t wrap their heads around that they should get out of the business of national security.

DHS report suggests we stop using terms like jihad and sharia