OPINION:
A recent, staggering 197-page report detailed how the British government allowed girls to be groomed and abused by Muslim gangs.
It should concern us here in America, where a widespread cultural softening toward Islam will inevitably lead us down the same path.
As someone who grew up under radical Islam and is now free, I am frightened by subtle signs that many Americans seem to be missing. Still, I am unsurprised. Although Islam often comes under the guise of gentleness and benevolence, it is not a peaceful religion.
Many here in the West naively presume that everyone wants to be like us. It has made us blind to the fact that key groups around the world aspire to make us like them, at all costs and through deception and adoption of cultural norms to break down barriers over time.
This is Islam’s agenda.
Although Islamic language may at times mimic that of Christianity, any similarities are in name alone. Words such as “truth,” “peace,” “freedom” and “power” provide vastly different understandings of how things manifest and are celebrated. This offers insight into why Islam looks similar to Christianity, though its long-term goals are oppositional.
This is deceptive and strategic.
Devout Muslims have learned to use the language of liberalism to play within the Western domain, but that does not mean they are striving toward liberal ends. This should trouble us, as longer-term agendas are at play.
Finally, although many Muslims live peaceful lives, many important and powerful individuals within the religion do not. Not only is the Quran arranged out of chronological order, but for those trained to read and understand it best, the text, in its entirety, provides a framework for infiltrating cultures and ultimately controlling them.
At its core, the Quran prioritizes avenues of dominance over peace, manipulation over love and abuse over benevolence.
So although one section may convey the good and decent aspects of Islam, that does not take away from the deep-rooted priorities and exhortations emphasized elsewhere regarding dominion over others. It is a long-game integration practiced by the most devout. Carrying out such commands advances the broader and most crucial strategy: Control the nations.
Time and again, Islam has transformed other cultures around the globe to the point of devastation. It comes to dismantle other cultures from the inside out under the guise of something appealing.
The most sobering part: Iranians are now experiencing this the most. Although many might even call themselves Muslims culturally, they hate what Islam has done to their country: depriving them of freedom, voice and the ability to choose their own lives.
Not every Muslim lies in wait in the shadows. Many (if not most) of the Muslims you will come across in America might be among the kindest, most respectful individuals you will ever meet.
This is all the more reason to see the person over the religion, a human being with a heart, a soul and a family. An individual created and loved by God.
Our deepened understanding of Islam should drive us further from suspicion of Muslims and deeper toward love for our neighbors. It should motivate us to better understand the Quran and its embedded harms to individuals and societies, and to learn how we can best connect with and minister to Muslims through active relationships and prayer.
I love Muslims deeply, which is precisely why I oppose Islam. My own life’s ministry is to serve Muslims and show them God’s love. Still, we do not go in naively.
I understand the deeper goals and ramifications of Islam’s cultural strategy, especially the brainwashing of its own people. We take great risks in our fight against such control, even putting our lives in danger, so that Muslims may know true hope and freedom.
We want them to have the choice and the opportunity to respond to it, so we must ponder why America is so eager to embrace a religion that millions of people around the world are desperate to escape.
If we keep allowing Islam to weave its way into our society, all while holding our Muslim neighbors at arm’s length, no one benefits.
We must be willing to ask: Are we willing to let the U.S. become the next Iran?
• Lana Silk is president and CEO of Transform Iran, an organization providing humanitarian aid and support to people inside Iran.
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