The day after the senseless, devastating shooting in Orlando, President Barack Obama delivered a solemn address in the hopes to somehow send relief to the families affected by the tragedy.
I remember in 2012 after the Sandy Hook, I was extremely moved by the president's remarks, and remember his tears as he talked about the most horrific crime I personally have ever heard of. I thought that Obama might have talked similarly about the Orlando victims, and to call out the evil who brought this upon us as he did with Sandy Hook.
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But I was not given relief nor solace. I watched incredulously as our president refused to call a spade a spade, refused to acknowledge the root of the evil done the night before, refused to insinuate that this was anything more than "an act of hate."
This was an act of terrorism. This was an act of Islamic terrorism, claimed by both ISIS as well as the shooter (he did it in the name of ISIS) just moments before he went and did this terrible deed. And not once did the president mention anything resembling that.
The culture prevailing on the left is peddling a phenomenon known as "Islamophobia," which suggests that most people in America are afraid of Muslim people and are terribly racist, bigoted, etc. toward them. They say that in reality, the Islam faith and Muslim people are good, peaceful and respectful citizens. I would agree to that. The vast majority of Muslims are good people, good citizens who pay taxes and don't blow things up or pledge themselves to ISIS. I'm not talking about the good people of Islam, who I believe really are in the massive majority.
I'm talking about the radical Islamists, who are so intent on destroying western culture and ideologies that they have caused the most public and destructive events in the last two decades, including the Paris attacks, 9/11 and now, most recently, the Orlando shooting, which was the largest mass shooting in American history. Sharia law is one filled with limitations on individual freedoms, protects rapists, calls for female genital mutilation and calls for the extermination of homosexuals, as well as penalty of death for anyone who leaves Islam. Afghanistan, where this particular shooter had roots, is a country where 99 percent of citizens believe in Sharia law. ISIS has kidnapped Nigerian girls as slaves and has become even more radical than their terrorist predecessors and being known for beheading people who dissent or denounce Islam.
In fear of being labeled "Islamophobic," people are afraid to label this act of terror as an act of terrorism, which is a big difference. Just saying it's an act of terror is like a weatherman saying "there will be a storm" instead of identifying what kind of storm, where it's happening and how severe it is. Obama called it an act of terror instead of clearly labeling our enemy, the Islamic State, as the clear perpetrator of the atrocity that was committed. Instead, he turned the blame on Americans, saying that we need "the strength and courage to change” our attitudes toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. I'm not sure what world Obama is living in, but we have become an incredibly accepting country to LGBT people, one where such acts of violence are unthinkable, hence the outrage of what this Islamic terrorist did.
By not calling out our enemy properly, we're avoiding the problem. We're too afraid to offend people who may identify as Muslim or to offend people who are so sensitive to over-stereotyping that we now would rather take the easy route and yell "homophobia!" as the easy-to-blame and vague reason for the killlings than a radical Islamic terrorist who actually did it in the name of ISIS.
Well I'm not afraid to call it how it is. This was an act of terrorism by a group that hates everything we stand for as a country: individual freedoms, peace and civil rights. I'm not denouncing the religion of Islam; I'm denouncing and blaming the radical terrorist ideology hiding cowardly behind it.
I hope you do too.
