Cruel and Usual Punishment-a book report

By; Nonie Darwish

Those of you who actually read my stuff understand that I have a great concern about the spread of Islam to every corner of the world. While it may be true that the vast majority do not espouse violence against those of different faiths, it is also estimated that at least 15% can be considered devout enough to commit acts of violence including death to non-believers. 15% times 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today equals 15,000,000. I would think that any caring, thinking person would consider that many radical Muslims to be sufficient to cause alarm.
This book is clearly written and clearly understandable. Mrs. Darwish was born and lived as a Muslim in Egypt for 30 years before immigrating to America. Her mission in life is to alert Americans to the danger we face. She describes in great detail what the life of a female is like living in the Muslim world where girls as young as 9 can be married. The very thought is repugnant to me. Women are deemed to be inferior to men, not to be trusted, not to be educated or allowed any semblance of the freedoms American women take for granted.
She dissects the Koran and Sharia law and exposes the hate that drives Islamic fundamentalists to spread the curse of their “religion”. I put that in parenthesis because I believe as she does that it is more a political ideology than religion. She compares it to fascism and Communism, both of which are dangerous ideologies. This book is different from most in that she does offer intelligent solutions.
1-Define religion and exclude any ideology from that definition that does not pass the following test.
A religion must be a personal choice.
No religion should kill those who leave it.
A religion must never order the killing and subjugation of those who choose not to be its members.
A religion must abide by basic human rights.

2-Make Sharia an illegal law and declare it not a religion but a dangerous totalitarian ideology.

3- Control immigration from the Muslim world. Forms should clearly state that the goal of the immigrant is assimilation into democratic society.

4-Stop issuing religious visas to Muslim clerics imported from Muslim countries.

5- Ban Mosques and Muslim organizations that use religion to promote incitement to kill and hate speech against people of other faiths or atheists.

6- Demand access for access.

7- Stop shipping petrodollars to Arab countries.

8- Strengthen Western Judeo-Christian roots.

All of the above headings were fleshed out with full explanations. I cannot re-write the book for you. I can only urge you to purchase or get from your local library. Quite frankly I am pleased that a book as strong as this got published at all. I fear for the life of the author and her family. These people do not allow others to deride their prophet and his teachings.
Finally I must add that I have been concerned since our President took office with his strong support for Islam. Early on he gave a speech in Cairo that glorified the religion. We are all aware of the deep bow he gave to the King of Saudi Arabia. He has given orders to enforcement agencies not to make any reference to the Muslim religion when killings around the word happen. Two years after Ft Hood the killer is still awaiting trial. Obama considers him a radical not a Muslim carrying out a Jihad against America. That in my opinion is exactly what he did.
Now you know how I feel. I still recommend you informing yourself by reading this book and then staying alert to the danger it declares we are facing today.

Jack B. Walters
December 21, 2011