Recently Marie Harf, the deputy spokesman for the US Department of State, said about ISIS:
“We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians — they’re in this fight with us,” Harf said. “But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs.”
Likewise Queen Rania of Jordan echoed this sentiment:
“At the heart of this war is ideology, and you cannot kill an ideology with a bullet. You can only kill it with a better idea.”
Liberals will say you can't kill an ideology through war, but is it true? Some 70 years ago we defeated a similar ideology whose followers were just as religiously fanatical and fervent as the militant followers of Islam. This ideology was known as Bushido, which means way of the warrior. Bushido is a system of ethics that revolved around honor, loyalty, sacrifice, and ultimately death. It was a major factor in the growth of ultra-nationalism in Japan prior to World War 2. It is an ideology that has many similarities with Islam:
Submission and Domination:
In Bushido the emperor was revered as a deity and devotion to him was absolute. Bushido sees war as an act that could purify the self, the nation, and ultimately the whole world. At it's height, Imperial Japan succeed in conquering good portions of east and southeast Asia.
Islam means submission. Devotion to Muhammad is absolute and his words are revered as holy writ. Islam also seeks to dominate the world. In Islam the world is divided into two parts. The House of Islam, lands under Muslim rule and Sharia Law is imposed, and the outside world called The House of War, which is in a perpetual state of Jihad until subjugated. “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” -Hassan Al-Banna (Muslim Brotherhood founder)
Honor and Shame:
Honor and shame are two reoccurring themes in the Bushido code. Seppuku, or ritualistic suicide by disembowelment, was committed voluntary in order to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of the enemy, or if they had brought shame upon themselves. Surrender and defeat were unthinkable because they believed it was humiliating.
Islam is also a honor-shame based culture. Insults to Islam or to the prophet Mohammad are perceived as humiliating and are met with violence. Girls are taught never to bring shame or dishonor upon their families by being obedient and subordinate. Honor killings are murders committed by family members on their relative if they bring dishonor to the family. In Islam non-Muslims, called Dhimmis, are perpetually shamed by being treated as second class citizens and forced to pay a special tax.
Beheadings:
All Japanese soldiers during World War 2 were required to wear swords. The Japanese were often brutal with their prisoners and beheadings were a common form of execution. In one contest, two Japanese Army officers tried see who could kill 100 people the fastest with a sword.
Beheadings have been a part of Islamic culture since it's inception. Muhammad had 600-900 Jews beheaded. Beheading continues to be the preferred form of execution in Islamic countries and by Islamic terrorists.
A culture of death:
The Bushido code was about loyalty and honour until death. It was summed by a famous samurai saying, "I have found the way of the warrior is death". As previously noted, Japanese soldiers would rather kill themselves rather than surrender or be defeated. Kamikaze pilots would intentionally crash their planes into enemy ships in suicide attacks.
Islam is also a culture of death. Islamic terrorists have been known to engage in suicide attacks by detonating bombs on themselves or by crashing planes into buildings. The belief in Islam is that only through Jihad, or holy war, are they guaranteed a place in heaven.
Mistreatment of prisoners:
Japanese soldiers were notorious for abusing their prisoners. POWs being held by the Japanese were routinely taken on death marches, starved, beaten, beheaded, shot, and forced into slave labor.
Prisoners in Islam are tortured, shot, beheaded, and burned alive. Slavery and forced labor have been a part of Islam since it's beginning and continues to this day.
Conclusion:
In 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite these attacks and inevitable defeat, Japan was still reluctant to surrender. Members of the Imperial guard attempted a military coup to stop the move to surrender. Fortunately the coup failed and the conspirators ultimately committed suicide. Japan announced it's surrender on September 2, 1945, and with it the end of the Bushido code. Today Bushido is no longer practiced in daily life in Japan, proving that ideologies can be defeated through war.
Inspired by the article Bushido and Islam: Creepily Similar
“We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians — they’re in this fight with us,” Harf said. “But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs.”
Likewise Queen Rania of Jordan echoed this sentiment:
“At the heart of this war is ideology, and you cannot kill an ideology with a bullet. You can only kill it with a better idea.”
Liberals will say you can't kill an ideology through war, but is it true? Some 70 years ago we defeated a similar ideology whose followers were just as religiously fanatical and fervent as the militant followers of Islam. This ideology was known as Bushido, which means way of the warrior. Bushido is a system of ethics that revolved around honor, loyalty, sacrifice, and ultimately death. It was a major factor in the growth of ultra-nationalism in Japan prior to World War 2. It is an ideology that has many similarities with Islam:
Submission and Domination:
In Bushido the emperor was revered as a deity and devotion to him was absolute. Bushido sees war as an act that could purify the self, the nation, and ultimately the whole world. At it's height, Imperial Japan succeed in conquering good portions of east and southeast Asia.
Islam means submission. Devotion to Muhammad is absolute and his words are revered as holy writ. Islam also seeks to dominate the world. In Islam the world is divided into two parts. The House of Islam, lands under Muslim rule and Sharia Law is imposed, and the outside world called The House of War, which is in a perpetual state of Jihad until subjugated. “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” -Hassan Al-Banna (Muslim Brotherhood founder)
Honor and Shame:
Honor and shame are two reoccurring themes in the Bushido code. Seppuku, or ritualistic suicide by disembowelment, was committed voluntary in order to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of the enemy, or if they had brought shame upon themselves. Surrender and defeat were unthinkable because they believed it was humiliating.
Islam is also a honor-shame based culture. Insults to Islam or to the prophet Mohammad are perceived as humiliating and are met with violence. Girls are taught never to bring shame or dishonor upon their families by being obedient and subordinate. Honor killings are murders committed by family members on their relative if they bring dishonor to the family. In Islam non-Muslims, called Dhimmis, are perpetually shamed by being treated as second class citizens and forced to pay a special tax.
Beheadings:
All Japanese soldiers during World War 2 were required to wear swords. The Japanese were often brutal with their prisoners and beheadings were a common form of execution. In one contest, two Japanese Army officers tried see who could kill 100 people the fastest with a sword.
Beheadings have been a part of Islamic culture since it's inception. Muhammad had 600-900 Jews beheaded. Beheading continues to be the preferred form of execution in Islamic countries and by Islamic terrorists.
A culture of death:
The Bushido code was about loyalty and honour until death. It was summed by a famous samurai saying, "I have found the way of the warrior is death". As previously noted, Japanese soldiers would rather kill themselves rather than surrender or be defeated. Kamikaze pilots would intentionally crash their planes into enemy ships in suicide attacks.
Islam is also a culture of death. Islamic terrorists have been known to engage in suicide attacks by detonating bombs on themselves or by crashing planes into buildings. The belief in Islam is that only through Jihad, or holy war, are they guaranteed a place in heaven.
Mistreatment of prisoners:
Japanese soldiers were notorious for abusing their prisoners. POWs being held by the Japanese were routinely taken on death marches, starved, beaten, beheaded, shot, and forced into slave labor.
Prisoners in Islam are tortured, shot, beheaded, and burned alive. Slavery and forced labor have been a part of Islam since it's beginning and continues to this day.
Conclusion:
In 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite these attacks and inevitable defeat, Japan was still reluctant to surrender. Members of the Imperial guard attempted a military coup to stop the move to surrender. Fortunately the coup failed and the conspirators ultimately committed suicide. Japan announced it's surrender on September 2, 1945, and with it the end of the Bushido code. Today Bushido is no longer practiced in daily life in Japan, proving that ideologies can be defeated through war.
Inspired by the article Bushido and Islam: Creepily Similar
