I am bothered by “political correctness.” I prefer honest discussion, and calling things for what they are without artifice or pretension.

I really take issue with the political correctness that has been applied to Islam. I cannot comprehend how people can willfully ignore the obvious facts and pretend that Islam has no direct responsibility for much of the violence the world has endured in our lifetimes; that it is a “peaceful” religion.

If one reads the Qur’an and the Sunnah, the books defining Islam, you will find justification and instruction for the killing of non-Muslims time and again. You will find references to horrific punishments for transgressions against Islamic teachings. You will learn that women are the chattels of men and are to be treated as property. Violence and subjugation are major themes within Islam. And now, a day hardly goes by that we don’t hear an imam or mullah reinforce these teachings by their calling for violence- usually death- against anyone daring to criticize Islam.

What other religion sports adherents who attack civilians as was done on 9/11? Name any other whose followers kidnap civilians and then executes them in the cruelest of fashions. Does anyone remember Daniel Pearl? Eugene Armstrong? Paul Johnson?

Our own government is complicit in this dangerous deception. President Bush went to great lengths to separate the “peaceful, loving religion of Islam” from the World Trade Center attack, and today President Obama has purged the use of “radical Islam” from the public lexicon. Despite the fact that Major Nidal Malik Hasan was screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he gunned down 13 of his fellow soldiers last year at Fort Hood, the federal government’s report on that incident mentions Islam not at all.

Muslims continually refute their religion’s propensity for violence, always saying that the violence is perpetrated by a small and radical faction. But, rarely do you see a Muslim condemn these actions, and never do you see any condemnation by Islamic leadership. It’s worth noting that another tenet of Islam is that it is perfectly acceptable and honorable to lie and dissemble to the infidels; non-Muslims.

There is more to jihad than the direct violent approach. One needs only to look at what is happening to Europe. Over the past several decades, Muslims have immigrated to western European countries in astoundingly large numbers. But, unlike immigrants of old, Muslims make no attempt to assimilate within their new countries; they demand their host change to accommodate them. Continual riots in France, Sharia law in Britain, and “honor killings”- should these trends continue, Europe will not be recognizable in a very short time. We are seeing examples of this behavior in the United States right now.

We delude ourselves when we acknowledge Islam as a peaceful religion. Islam is the most intolerant of faiths, and according to its own doctrine, will only be at peace when those left living submit to Allah. Fueled in recent decades by petro-dollars and the West’s refusal to acknowledge the threat, Islam has been able to promote its quest for dominance to new and more noticeable levels than in centuries past. And make no mistake about it, Islam’s quest for domination is centuries old.

Under the guise of political correctness, the leaders of our country place our nation and its people at grave risk by their refusal to acknowledge the threat posed by Islam. Seeing us as weak-willed, the Islamists who would damage and destroy our way of life are emboldened. Will it take another tragedy such as 9/11 to awaken our leadership? I certainly hope not.

If our nation is to ever successfully confront this aggression against our people and culture, we must first start by calling it what it is.

Ted Ropple, a Casco resident, invites discussion and comment on any of his columns at www.tedropple.com.