Convert to Islam Richard Dart, left, who with others pleaded guilty to preparing for terrorist acts overseas.

I used to be much more tolerant of those who converted to Islam than I am now, for reasons that should be obvious given the rise in acts of terrorism, violence and abuse that emanates from that ideology. I knew however, that although I’d never met a convert to Islam that could be said to be truly ‘sane’, I knew also that is an accusation that could be aimed at anyone who embraces a different way of life, or even posseses a religious belief in the first place. Maybe all those with religious beliefs are all slightly mad, but not in general, certifiably so. That does not seem the case with converts to Islam, it appears that Islam is an ideology that attracts those have serious mental health issues.

I’ve moved in various spiritual and religious circles over the years and I began to notice that there was something ‘special’ about those who convert to Islam. They seemed to me to be genuinely unhinged, they must be to embrace a vicious ideology that is completely opposite in morality to all other beliefs, especially Judeo-Christian beliefs. I came to notice over time that there is a special sort of lack of sanity that causes people to embrace Islam. Just as the psychopath is someone whose complete lack of empathy leads them to act in inhumane ways, a convert to Islam chooses this ideology because of something missing or damaged within themselves.

I’ve met a variety of converts to Islam and what has struck me is how very damaged they are in their personalities, especially female converts. It is easy to see why some men convert to Islam because it is a very macho path, with women required to be under the control of men, that sort of thing is very appealing to some men. Young men also have a propensity for violence and action which is why it is often young men who choose to join the armed forces for example. It is also why young men, who don’t sublimate this urge to violence in positive ways, like joing the armed forces, make up the majority arrested for violent crime and the majority of violent Islamic converts.

The female converts on the other hand often have backgrounds that include sexual abuse, familial conflict, drugs, crime, bad relationships, self-esteem problems or problems with being easily manipulated. For those who have suffered lives that consist of some form or another of debasement, like sexual abuse, then accepting the extra debasement of Islam seems like only a small additional step to take, and may even to such sad people, look attractive. Also, Islam gives those who are yearning to be loved a false sense of structure and community. Sadly, these lost souls and losers are searching for a loving community in something akin to a fascist political party, and not a nourishing and socially useful spiritual path, of which there are many they could have chosen from. It is in my opinion a human right for a person to change their religion, but it is also prudent to treat those who convert to Islam with suspicion.

Not all religious paths are equal. A person choosing to follow Christianity or Judaism or Bhuddism or even becoming an ardent follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not joining with an ideology where violence, intolerance, misogyny and dishonesty, are hard wired into its DNA. The convert to Islam on the other hand has signed up to show fealty to an ideology that has inspired its followers to kill tens of thousands in over 20,000 violent attacks since September 11^th 2001. The violence in the Koran isn’t just a record of historical violence, as would be the case with the Bible, but is an exhortation to violence in the here and now.

Because converts to Islam often, in my experience, come from damaged, violent or antisocial backgrounds, they are probably likely take these exhortations to violence in the Koran onboard. This can lead subsequently to the convert suffering from the sort of Sudden Jihad Syndrome, the sort of which we have seen in Woolwich.

Because of this instability and also because of the growing number of them involved in terrorist crimes and promoting hatred for non-Muslims, maybe the time has come to consider converts to Islam as ‘hostiles’. Islamic converts must not be hurt, nor be killed, but most definitely should be shunned as misguided adherents of a terrible and violent ideology. Their words and actions should also be closely observed and attempts by them to undertake Dawa checked and challenged.

Look at this way, any sensible and reasonable person would shun those who decided that Nazism, Stalinism or Maoism were respectable ways to live a life, why should we not therefore do the same to those who have embraced Islam? After all, these ideologies have, like Islam, killed millions. If your friend, son, daughter or anyone else decided that they were happy to wear an SS uniform or put up a portrait of Stalin or continually quote from Mao’s ‘Little Red Book’, would not you have something negative to say about that? I contend that most reasonable people would have something to say about these scenarios.

We should treat those who choose the Hijab and the Koran just like we treat those who choose the Swastika or the Hammer and Sickle, which is with massive contempt for their choice. Those who choose to follow Islam and present Islamic symbolism to the world are advertising their adherence to evil, just like those who display the symbols, and follow the edicts, of the great and terrible tyrannies of the 20^th Century.

Links

Number of Islamic attacks since 2001 can be found on the Religion of Peace website

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

WikiIslam has a comprehensive list of those converts to Islam who have either committed terrorism, supported terrorism or have agitated for Shariah Law. It is a shockingly long list.

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Converts_to_Islam