Check out these word definitions of Islamic concepts from Princeton University’s WordNet, a Lexical Database for English. What strikes me is that where Muslims are a minority they are persecuted (my highlight), but where they are the majority there is no persecution. Sure, just ask any dhimmi or Christian living in the Middle East!

Dar Al-Harb – House of War

Noun. areas where Muslims are in the minority and are persecuted

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Dar Al-Islam – House of Islam

Noun. areas where Muslims are in the majority

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Beheading honor killer, Mo Hassan, to cop insanity plea – AtlasShrugs Blog

Insanity plea for Major Nidal Hassan – CBS News

Defendants in New York City terror trials to claim “mental disorder” – Wall Street Journal

The perpetrators in the above listed links are barbaric murderers, to be tried in the United States criminal court system. No surprise here that in the most heinous of criminal acts the clever defense lawyers, recognizing guilt is beyond question, will throw up the insanity defense to immunize the defendants against responsibility,  thereby minimizing if not avoiding punishment.

I started thinking about the ramifications of the successful use of the insanity plea in cases where it is clear that a faith in Islam is a common factor. Where the barbaric acts are like so many others we see around the globe attributed to Islamic extremists and jihadists.

Political correctness defends Islam as “the religion of peace” and no matter the result of these trials, guilt or insanity, we would be labeled as Islamophobic for attempting to blame Islam. What might happen is that successful insanity pleas in these cases might then make current and future cases of terrorists and brutal murders done in the name of Islam to be an accepted “mental disease” not attributed to Islam and not the fault of the animals accused. It will be blamed on a personal mental defect and not on motivations of faith.

While these court cases further insulate “moderate” Islam from critique in the event of terrorism, beheadings, and honor killings the attempt will also be made to determine what drove the accused to such acts of madness. Since personal accountability and a belief  in Islam are not factors we should expect to see “victimizers” of these poor souls identified and tried, whether in a court or by public opinion with mainstream media at the steering wheel.  Little thought is required to see where this goes.

The seed or cause of such mental illness in Islamic extremists would eventually be blamed on oppression and subjugation by Western nations stripping them of their dignity and natural resources, perhaps on Islamophobia, and maybe just having a bad day. Oh, wait….we’re already blamed for this. Now it’ll be official!

(A point of curiosity for me: Do the teachings of Islam, the tenets and requirements for rigid adherence to specific behaviors and beliefs make it easier to slide into extremism and radicalism, and where is the line that separates “moderate” from “radical” in Islam?)

Here is an additional article worth reading:

Tragedy or Jihad?