Carving Multicultural Niches

Image of the subway Allahu Akbar "yeller"
that Right Girl posted at her blog

Conservative blogger Right Girl recently had a frightening experience in the subway. She writes:

I am totally shaken. On the subway on my way over to feed Kathy’s cat while they’re away at a funeral, it finally happened. Some deranged 6th Century Mohammedan lost it and began screaming ALLAHU ACKBAR, calling everyone racists, and talking about Bin Laden and rising up.

Read the full entry over at her blog, including how no-one did anything about it, security wasn't called, and the "deranged 6th Century Mohammedan" was left pounding on the subway doors.

Equally important is her comments section.

Yousaf on March 24 @ 10:12pm introduces himself as: "a former Muslim (now converted Christian)" and then goes on to berate Right Girl for "spinning more than a little yarn here; perhaps a little bit of propaganda mixed with a little hate."

I do agree that our conservative bloggers tend to up the ante when it comes to Muslims, and in this case Yousaf doesn't like Right Girl's:

[C]omments like "Some deranged 6th Century Mohammedan…." and "Mohammed continued to rage about Allah…" you really take away from your own credibility.

But, he doesn't stop there. He goes on to say:

But based on what you wrote alone though, all he really did was make some noise. I question how different that is from the occasional whino who graces his/her presence as they preach about how society wronged them and how the world is coming to an end.

Yes, a man who repeatedly shouts "ALLAHU ACKBAR" can be compared with "the occasional whino".

Yousaf continues:

Based on what you wrote, to accuse the person in this photo of being a terrorist is downright preposterous.

Well, Right Girl never said this man was a terrorist. She was explicit in her "accusation". She writes:

I would like to know if this is part of the city of Toronto’s protocol to deal with a terrorist threat on the underground. This guy was a lunatic who was unarmed - what if the next one is packing? Will the same level of incoherence apply to TTC staff?

Men who yell "Allahu Akbar" are known to blow off bombs attached to their chests, all in the name of Mohammed. In fact, Right Girl was quite generous to dismiss this guy as a lunatic. Anyone, deranged or not, who yells in this manner, should be treated like a potential suicide bomber/terrorist, based on innumerable pieces of evidence.

But, this account is about Yousaf, the Muslim who is a converted Christian. I find it strange that he goes on for four or five posts berating Right Girl's commenters. They are going on stereotype, sure. But it is stereotype founded on facts. People who yell "Allahu Akbar" in public places have a tendency to also detonate bombs. People who shout out "Jesus loves you" never have.

Writes Yousaf:

If someone screams out “Allah Akbar”, to me it’s no different if somebody screams out “Jesus loves you”.

Yousaf, the Christian convert from Islam, equates the Allah yeller with the Jesus lover. There is the final crunch.

Yousaf comments further on stereotypes:

Brown people are terrorists, the blacks are criminals, the hispanics are border jumpers...

Yousaf is most probably brown-skinned himself and feels that he will always be the target of this stereotype. Rather than deal with this minor problem in his life, he would rather that Canadians treat "Jesus loves you" with equal weight as "Allahu Akbar" despite our ample knowledge and proof that the latter could have us killed.

So, ultimately, like I said here with my discussion with Jeff (England) on "diluted" Muslims, even this "converted" (probably "diluted" in Jeff's terms) Muslim will be more loyal to his former Muslim brown-skinned group, and that his purpose "will not be to participate in the Western culture, and to save it at a crucial moment, but to carve [his] own multicultural niche".

His anger and fear at being unfairly stereotyped will be greater than his grasp of reality, part of which is to deal with the discomforts of looking like the group which terrorists come from. In order to squash this "racism", he is willing to say that "Allahu Akbar" is as benign as "Jesus loves you". That Islam and Christianity are the same. This, from someone who calls himself a Christian convert, and from Islam, no less.

Little Mosque in the Basement

No more basement mosque at Regent Park

The Globe and Mail has a timely article on a makeshift mosque in a Toronto neighborhood. The article talks about a basement mosque in a building in Regent Park, a social housing conglomerate. Regent Park is now being revitalized, with old buildings being torn down, and new ones (mostly high rises) coming up. This mosque will have to go with the building.

The mosque members are at a loss. Their basement place of worship was free of charge. They didn't have to pay any rent. With the new buildings coming up, they will have to either pay rent for any new space, or outright buy the property to house their mosque.

But, they are already coming up with excuses. "People living in this [area] are low-income and can't afford to buy space," says [mosque] member Shahan Ahia.

So how did these Muslims manage to have the space rent-free in the first place?

Here is part of the answer. According to The Globe and Mail article;

Members of the Khadem centre [KPA: Notice that the space is called both a mosque and a centre] remain skeptical that they will get help from TCHC [Toronto Community Housing Corp.]. For them, the five-year-old centre is not simply a place to pray. On weekends, more than 60 children come to the centre to learn English, Arabic, math and computer skills or to be mentored by university-aged Muslims about being a good Muslim and getting a good education.

This "centre", which functions as an all-purpose Islamic centre, most likely gets its funding from various levels of the government. It likely gets it rent money as well as funding for the several activities described above. To get its government funding, its sales pitch is probably:

- It teaches ESL [English as a Second Language] (good for assimilation)
- It teaches special skills like computers (good for assimilation via getting youth career and job ready)
- It maintains a heritage language component by teaching Arabic to children (good for multiculturalism)
- It keeps the young well-monitored by having adults supervise ethnic-centered activities (good for multiculturalism)

All these are 100% guarantees that it will get government funding. That is how many other cultural centers acquire their monies. Scroll down at Canadian Immigration Reform Blog's list of agencies which receive money from the government. For example in 2008, the Muslim Community Services received $4,115,064.00, and the Afghan Women’s Counselling and Integration Community Support got $512,006.00 (Canadian dollars).

With the right project and the right proposal (easy to do with many helping hands out there), there is no reason for the Khadm Mosque/Centre to worry about closing down.

But, of course the problem is bigger than receiving government money. The problem is that this center has already declared, openly in this Globe and Mail article, that it is a Islam-centric center. So, the government is funding young Muslims to get a Muslim education, through language and religious training.

I wonder how many more "basement" mosques there are, how many of them are fully funded by government monies? And how many such stories it will take before Canadians realize who and what they are funding?

"Diluted" Muslims

An email interaction with a correspondent who signs off as Jeff (England) introduced me to the term "diluted" Muslim. Jeff further explains this phrase thus:

I have called for encouragement of the creation of 'diluted' Muslims. A small minority young 2nd generation UK Muslims are already what I might call 'diluted'. I know a few. The likes of Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji are examples of 'diluted' Muslims...Some are atheists, others barely are religious, some even practice other religions. By a diluted Muslim I mean a Muslim who was a practicing Muslim but no longer does in any significant way. I know a few personally so I can state for a fact they exist.

Jeff then equates "diluted" Muslims with "diluted" Christians and Jews. I think he's trying to call them cultural Muslims, since I believe we do have cultural Christians, those who don't necessarily practice the religion, but are content to live in and follow the mandates of a Christian society.

Still, I put Jeff to task by saying:

KPA: There is no telling that these so-called atheist Muslims/diluted Muslims (or cultural Muslims) will not at some point pick up the Koran at a moment of cultural alienation.

Jeff: ABSURD!

Well, if Jeff is going to lump the Irshad Manjis onto his list, as well as the plethora of "Westernized" Muslims who, according to Jeff are "Muslims who [were] practicing Muslims but no longer [do] in any significant way" [my emphasis] I think we have to think about his coining yet another term that ill-defines Muslims (moderate, radical, Islamofascists being the few that have stuck so far), which will not get us any closer to dismantling this huge problem.

Jeff's premise really is that we cannot get rid of the Muslim or Islam problem, and we should find allies amidst these diluted groups.

Here is another point I made to Jeff regarding the "diluted" ones:

KPA: Their agendas, like I pointed out above, will not be to participate in the Western culture, and to save it at a crucial moment, but to carve their own multicultural niche in the society they're living in.

Jeff: If anything, these ex-Muslims (a minority I acknowledge) are bigger supporters of the West than you or me. Ali Sina and Hirsi Ali, Wofa Sultan and others are risking their lives daily and have expressed their love for western culture time and time again. As has Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese Christian immigrant to the West who also opposes Islam. C'mon man, give these people some credit and respect even if you oppose Islam and Muslims coming to the West.

Besides erroneously calling the Arab Christian Brigitte Gabriel an ex-Muslim, and now confusing "ex" with "diluted", Jeff says:

Saving 'White Christian Civilization' is no longer a realistic option. America, the UK and the West are going to be multi-racial and multi-religious forever.

I put this scenario to Jeff, about his compromising position:

KPA: By the way, your set-in-stone assertion that we are now a full blown multicultural society with no going back can be disputed. Many Indians and Chinese, disappointed with life in Canada and the US, are going back. People travel back and forth much more now, and are beginning to see what they're missing living in alienated cultures. Many other factors, including native (not native Indian) Americans and Canadians beginning to see the light, especially in these difficult economic times, are turning things back - look at the H-1B visa debacle in the States.

If you give up, you cannot take advantage of moments like these. I think we are in the right, and "they" are in the wrong. That is surely a strong enough impetus to go on!

Jeff: Stop the 'giving up' bullshit label, it won't wash with me. Ditto the 'defeatist' label. I am a realist and am trying to deal with a complex 'battlefield' situation while too many of you 'traditionalist conservatives' want to live in fantasy land blogging away with your fantasy suggestions about what needs to be done....

Why is it that in the blogosphere, people you have never met, and never even corresponded with, take the liberty to use epithets at whim and will?

By the way, Jeff initiated the email, and I didn't buy his "diluted" Muslims, and I still call his attitude defeatist (dhimmi!) for giving up before even trying.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Knopf Canada

Hirsi Ali speaking at a private club in
Montreal on February 25, 2009.

Knopf Canada recently announced that it has signed a new book with Ayaan Hirsi Ali due out in Spring 2010, although it doesn't have a title yet. Its executive publisher says that the book:

will be a blend of personal narrative and reportage, weaving together Ayaan Hirsi Ali's ongoing story, including her reconciliation with her father who disowned her, addressing the situation of girls and women in the world today, and speaking openly about her own efforts to reconcile Islamic and Western values. She explores why Muslim women agree to submit to a world ruled by men, and Islam's obsession with virginity, excision, and the honor code, as well as her own relationship with sex and 'dishonor'.

Hirsi Ali has previously published two books, Infidel and The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam. The first is an autobiography, and the second, as the title describes it, is a critique of Islam's treatment of women.

Her third book seems like a combination of the two - a critique of Islam, its place in the West, and how Muslim women in the West can be protected from, as she describes it, militant Islam.

There was news for a while that she was in the middle of writing a more philosophical book, Short Cuts to Enlightenment, where Mohamed is interrogated by several Enlightenment-era thinkers. But there is no information about the progress of the book. I encountered a similar dead-end when researching her proposed sequel to Submissions. It seems that autobiographical, feminist books are more her line, and perhaps it is an expedient way for her to acquire the funds she obviously still needs for her upkeep and tight security.

It is not clear where she is living now, but it looks like she's temporarily back in the Netherlands while still working for the American Enterprise Institute.

She has spear-headed a foundation whose aim is to "to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West against militant Islam" called the AHA Foundation.

A security trust was initiated by Sam Harris (and supported by the other infamous atheist Richard Dawkins) to help her meet her large costs for maintaining her safety.

I had predicted a while ago that her leftist, feminist stance, coupled with her atheism, would diminish her importance in the public debate against Islam. In fact, unless one makes an effort to find her, she is keeping a very low profile and seems to have left the world of politics. Perhaps her role now will be a restricted one as a representative of Muslim women in the West who are suffering under Islam.

Her ambitious goals to reform Islam, or to reconcile Islam with Western values and philosophies, have been curtailed, if not abandoned.

Arabic Text on Newsweek

Arabic text on Newsweek, with fine print in English.
Also, notice the Islamic green as a background

Creeping Sharia has a post on how mainstream print magazines such as TIME and Newsweek, as well as newspapers such as the New York Times introduced Islam-friendly stories almost at the same time this month. He calls these simultaneous publications an orchestration, but I would say they were more of a coincidence. Still, the more Muslim-friendly publications there are, the more these coincidences will occur, perhaps turning innocent simultaneity into the planned orchestration CS talks about.

What was unique about CS's post was how these publications also used images to support their stories. One of my points in this blog is that images are subtly being changed or added to create a Muslim-friendly world. People don't have time (or often the desire) to read long articles about Jihad, Islam, the Koran or Mohamed. They are far more likely to respond quickly and viscerally to images. That is after all one of the ways propaganda (and advertisements) work.

As I've shown throughout this blog, Muslims are becoming quite adept at changing the imagery in our landscape - from TV shows to magazines, and even in clever ways to accepting Arabic script (as in the Arabic script for halal which we can - or will - slowly recognize without reading Arabic.)

Now Newsweek has on its front page the Islamic green as the background to Arabic text (with a finer print, supposedly its translation in English.) Like the halal script, we are cleverly being introduced to Arabic, and eventually, we will surely begin to visually recognize (without actually reading them) prominent words like Jihad, Allah, Islam and Mohamed.

I wonder when "green" will no longer mean Irish, but Islam instead?

How to Run for Office

Ryerson University's The Eye advertisement for Student Union officers

[Pay attention to the group highlighted in green]

Muslims rally together to have an airtight, all-Muslim executive team to run for the 2009 Ryerson University Student Union.

Now, this is clearly a perfect model for the real world of politics. Surely, with a little more time, such boldness will not be noticed, or be considered out of the norm. After all, we will have had ample practice at our universities and high schools.

This is how it's done. When running for office, make sure that your team is composed 100%, and 100% unequivocally, of people like you. Then call it "change" or some such thing to convince your voting block that you're serious about changing things - i.e. making things look more like them. Then, just keep on going. Of course, make sure that you're elected. This may cost you a bit of leg work and rallying of forces, but you might well do it.

This is Ryerson University's Student Union elections for 2009. I go to the library (less regularly now because it gets too crowded and noisy) and at times pick up the school papers to skim through what's going on. In this same issue, there is news that the university could snag $70 million of federal and provincial funds towards "sprucing up the campus". This validates my posts on the university's plans for expansion, which I say are dictated by immigration numbers.

Now, the student union is preparing for elections. The Muslim contingency is well-organized, keeping itself airtight to prevent anyone else from getting in.

Mosques: From Nondescript To Full-Fledged Traditional

Madina Masjid: From a nondescript building to a full-fledged traditional mosque

I had previously blogged about a new, non-camouflaged mosque soon to be completed in the downtown Toronto skyline.

Zak Ghanim, the architect, who is fittingly an Egyptian immigrant, is disclosing some design and architectural plans he has for this new mosque. He has been asked by the President of Madina Mosque (as this mosque is called) to emphasize the traditional elements in order for it to have " a 'real' mosque look" which incorporates "classical minaret, domes, geometric detailing and elaborate columns."

This is a far cry from corner "Islamic centers" (euphemisms for mosques) and mosques attached to strip-malls , when it seemed that the Muslim community wanted to hide its presence from the city's inhabitants. The same was true of the original Madina Mosque, which was really a nondescript building in an unattractive part of the Danforth.

Even Ghanim makes this observation by saying, "The first mosques in the city were not very elaborate, so we could build each part quickly. Now, it seems, each mosque is fancier than the next."

Now that Muslims have acquired a new-found confidence, they are not afraid to publicize their presence at all, as is evident by their new plans for the Madina Mosque, which has all the traditional paraphernalia of minarets and domes. The only things that appear to be missing from the Madina Mosque are the loudspeakers and recording devices for the multiple calls to prayer. But, we have to wait and see for that one.

Ghanim is already making plans for another city's mosque. This time, he would like to put more modern and avant-garde elements into it. He says that his modern vision for the mosque in Kitchener, Ontario, would be,"an original Canadian contribution to Islamic architecture."

This is how far we have come in Canadian architecture. Islamic architects can now talk about their "contributions". Unlike the exotic architecture of Moorish influences and revivals of past centuries, we are not talking about short, concentrated architectural influences which didn't change the cultures of the countries where they were erected. In fact, these buildings blended into the prevailing architecture, for all their foreignness.

What we're seeing, when Ghanim says "an original Canadian contribution to Islamic architecture", is buildings that are distinguishable and foreign from distances away. More importantly, the purpose of these buildings is not as attractive, even beautiful, exotica, but as functioning buildings that cater to cultures and religions which have no bearing on the predominant and historical culture of the cities and towns in which they are built.

In short, their purpose is to allow Muslim populations to unabashedly follow their own cultural and religious traditions in buildings that resemble - from function to design - those (traditional ones) that they left behind in their Muslim lands.

Thus, we have come from hidden Islamic "centers" to unequivocally traditional mosques, within a matter of a few years.

Muslims in Canada are no longer afraid to build fancy, traditional mosques. Which also means that they will not be afraid to publicly use them either.

InControl: A Christian (Sort of) Magazine

Here is a new Canadian online magazine which calls itself InControl Magazine and whose first lines define it thus:

InControl Magazine online is a Christian-based website that provides Canadians and International users with contemporary practical day-to-day online tools and resources that are geared towards helping people take control of everyday issues from a Godly perspective and consequently finding liberty in dealing with everyday encounters.

In the fourth paragraph of its "about us" page, here is what it says:

We believe that all religions lead to the same God. And because of that no one is excluded from being a part-taker of InControl Magazine. Although InControl Magazine is Christian-based, the content is consciously selected to serve all religions (Judaism, Muslim, etc)...

It is also geared toward:

A new, different and creative Christian magazine primarily for teens and generation Y.

I'm not sure if the ultimate agenda of InControl is to give the "Christian" youth a bit of slack, or if it is to attract the attention of other non-Christian theists. But, I think they're playing a dangerous game. Theologically, of course they have been proven wrong on the "God" issue. The God of the Muslims is different from the God of the Jews and the Christians. Even if they declare their similarities loudly, Muslims will not agree, and will not join.

So what is happening is that the Christian youth they convince to be more relaxed followers of Christ will be left with a wide open option on the true nature of God.

These irresponsible, and to be frank, flat out deceivers, are more dangerous than atheists, who at least call themselves something concrete and tangible.

I'm not sure what is ultimately the plan of these pseudo-Christian liars. But, given the force of atheism, and the even bigger energy of Islam, young people are prone to be hijacked by all kinds of things these days.

I've noticed that those who lack a strong fundamental belief are easy targets for those who propose strong fundamental beliefs. These days, it isn't even atheism. The big contender is Islam. People don't stay non-religious or half-religious for long. Yes, even atheism becomes a form of belief. But even stronger than that is Islam.

I sent the following letter to the editors:

To whom it may concern:

I read your new online magazine with great interest, and I thought it would be a strong force against the double-edged sword of atheism and Islam that is facing young people today. Both these groups have strong campaigns which attract young people to their sides (for example, look at the "atheist" bus ads now in view throughout Toronto, and the many recruiting methods of Islam including TV shows and sitcoms.)

Christianity is doing very little of that. In fact, it is one of the most timid movements of them all, and since it is in constant fear of being maligned by other groups, it conspicuously scales down its messages for outreach.

Your magazine is doing exactly that. Rather than put out a forceful message that Christians believe in the Old and New Testaments, and nothing else, you become all-inclusive and, with your illustrative phrase: “We believe that all religions lead to the same God”, you accommodate anyone who believes in some kind of God

By declaring the gods of Muslims and other theists as being similar to that of the Judeo-Christian God, you are not only theologically incorrect, you are also sending a dangerous message to the very youth you're trying to reach.

Islam is a strong and aggressive religion. It needs just a crack to get in, and once in, it will act precipitously and aggressively to take hold of the innocent bystanders. You have opened this crack by including Muslims as part of your magazine's focus, and thus endangered the Christians who participate. This is very irresponsible behavior.

If you wish an ecumenical magazine, please say so. Otherwise, Muslims (and other non-Judeo-Christian believers) have no room in a review that calls itself "Christian-based". It will only confuse your readers, and it might (although I pessimistically predict that it will) cause them to have a change of heart and leave Christianity altogether.

We need strong, confident messages from Christian leaders; not wishy-washy, unclear, sentimental messages about "All religions lead to the same God". That is false and deceitful, and will only spiritually harm your readership.

Sincerely,

Kidist Paulos Asrat

Islam on IMAX

Sultans of Science: 1000 Years of
Knowledge Rediscovered
Exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre

The Ontario Science Centre's Imax theater started screening a film called Journey to Mecca on February 6. This alone wouldn't make much of a story since Imax makes many kinds of films. In fact its roster of current films at the Science Centre includes: The Mysteries of the Great Lakes, Roving Mars and The Alps.

What is peculiar about this film is that it is not really a film on a great landscape or equally impressive architecture, or even the microscopic, but macroscopically projected Bugs! (made by the same director as Journey to Mecca) . This film is the journey of a 14th century Muslim scholar making his pilgrimage to Mecca from Morocco, overcoming all kinds of adversity along the way. This looks like a script more conducive to regular theaters, rather than the giant Imax theater with its 3-D, wrap-around walls for screens.

I wonder if the director, Jonathan Barker, is using this huge projection to overwhelm us with Muslims, Mecca and Islam in general? Here is his explanation for making the film:

[O]ur whole idea for this film...is to try to bring people together and have more understanding of one another. It's very regrettable, but in many parts of the post-9/11 world, seeing three million Muslims in one place evokes fear, and the word 'Muslim' means 'Islamic terrorist.' We want to build bridges, reduce that fear.

Concurrently, the Ontario Science Centre is hosting an exhibition entitled: Sultans of Science: 1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered , which started just a day before Journey to Mecca. The website for Sultans of Science says:

Sultans of Science’ is a global touring exhibition celebrating the contribution of Muslim Scholars in Science and Technology during the Golden Age of the Islamic World (700-1700 BC) and the influence their inventions and contributions has towards modern society.

Focused on increasing knowledge and understanding of these invaluable contributions, Sultans of Science has been created as a global travelling exhibition in order to enable its message to be far reaching through science centres and museums around the world.

Now, I keep hearing about the great contributions of Muslim scholars during that ephemeral Islamic Golden Age, but each time I look into this further or into the great Muslim contributions in art and design, I usually come up short. I often find that people who insist on the great Muslim Golden Age are devout liberals who want to promote a sophisticated image of Islam, as an antidote to regular news coverages of bombs and blasts. There is, in other words, an agenda to this exhibition.

As there is an agenda to John Barker's Journey to Mecca, which he himself has admitted to.

The problem is that these shows will be viewed by school-aged children, since the Science Centre is a favorite destination. Here is one more way that Islam's proponents are pushing their message, undetected, to slowly and gradually seep into our lives. Their clever strategy is also to get at the young children, whose natural curiosity will allow them to imbibe whatever "interesting" information is put in front of them, and who will be ready to spout all this propaganda at the necessary time.

Conference on Preserving Western Civilization

This Weekend

This site started its odyssey (strong word for such a small blog, I know, but the ambitions were high) with the intention of recording the good and the bad that is happening in (my) Western culture. I wanted to focus on art and culture, but inevitably I had to get into areas like immigration and multiculturalism, factors which are negatively affecting the culture I'm writing about.

There is an important conference taking place this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland entitled Preserving Western Civilization. As far as I know, it is the first of its kind. I think it is a timely and necessary conference. It represents what I'm trying to do here at Camera Lucida and Our Changing Landscape, at least in blogging about the issues.

Some participating speakers include:

- Lawrence Auster from the View From the Right, whose website covers issues from Islam, to liberalism, to Christianity and Darwinism with a traditionalist perspective.

Mr. Auster will be presenting on A Real Islam Policy for a Real America.

- John Philippe Rushton, psychology professor from the University of Western Ontario, who has been criticized by Canadian media, and has even received the honor of David Suzuki's attention with Suziki saying, "There will always be Rushtons in science, and we must always be prepared to root them out!" for his views, including his book Race, Evolution and Behavior.

- Peter Brimelow, founder of Vdare, an immigration restriction site, and Brenda Walker contributing writer at Vdare.

I'm not sure about hotel reservations and conference tickets, but there's more information here, including the topics the speakers will be discussing. I would think Washington D.C. and Baltimore residents can go for the day (both days or one only).

Belgian Converts Getting Their Own Flemish Mosque

'Cities against Islamisation' in Antwerp,
17 January 2008.

I have recently added Islam in Europe as another link to my blog roll. A recent post from there caught my attention, in view of the convert stories I have written about here and here.

Belgian converts are having a hard time following the Arabic in the cities' mosques, and have decided to open their own mosque with Flemish as the principal language.

Rates of converts are pretty high, with the Antwerp Imam seeing to one to two converts every day. Now this could be an exaggeration by the Imam, but even one to two every week is pretty high.

According to Islam in Europe, there are 150 Muslim converts in Flanders (seems a little low). But numbers are growing, and these dedicated new Muslims want to get into the business of worshiping as fast as possible.

What is more interesting, though, is that more than half of the citizens of this Antwerp suburb, where the mosque is being established, are Muslim.

My argument all along has been that with more Muslims in a certain location, the more likely the non-Muslim population is going to get influenced by them. You cannot get a sufficient number of converts to build their own mosque without this influential presence in the first place.

Ingrid Mattson's Strange Journey

Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in
Vatican City. I wonder if Ingrid Mattson went there?
[Click on image to see larger version]

[This post has been revised somewhat to include more biographical material, and some information on Mattson's "journeys".]

Ingrid Mattson is a Canadian convert to Islam. She is the President of the Islamic Society of North America. She recently was part of an ecumenical group of Christian, Jewish and Hindu leaders who participated in the traditional National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral following Obama's inauguration.

Mattson's ISNA has been linked with Hamas and terrorist activities. I am not particularly interested in this, since I will always presume that Islamic societies will at some point or other support, or even fund, Jihad-advocating groups, of which Hamas is certainly one.

What interests me is Ingrid Mattson's conversion. When I saw her photograph, I saw immediately that this was a white woman convert. Her face reminds me of countless women I see around me, with the rounded cheeks and small chins, who resemble no Muslim from a Middle Eastern country.

Sure enough, she is originally from Ontario, and her story is as intriguing as any.

She was a philosophy and fine art student at the University of Waterloo and worked as an archivist cataloging art slides in the university library. She traveled to Paris and spent whole days in the Louvre. She calls this episode in her life "The summer I met Muslims". She went to daily mass as a young girl and adolescent. But neither the art nor her Catholic faith was strong enough to keep her with her family.

Right after graduating from university - when she says that she had already started her "personal study of Islam" - she went to British Columbia by train for a tree-planting job for the summer (another one of those "summers".) She took with her Fazlur Rahman's Islam, which she had found in a bookstore a only few days before. She read this book on her cross-country train ride, at the end of which she decided to apply for graduate studies in Islamic studies. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The most intriguing comment she makes is:

[I]n the end, I found even the strongest reaction to a work of art isolating. Of course I felt some connection to the artist, appreciation for another human perspective. But each time the aesthetic response flared up, then died down. It left no basis for action.

What a strange thing to say! All those pietàs and Madonnas, all those crucifixions and portraits of saints? All those paintings of the infant Jesus? She left all that to go to Islam?

Which is what happened, as she describes it:

Then I met people who did not construct statues or sensual paintings of gods, great men and beautiful women. Yet they knew about God, they honored their leaders, and they praised the productive work of women. They did not try to depict the causes; they traced the effects.

If a young woman so imbued in the most beautiful productions of Western culture and Christianity cannot find the grace to remain in that culture and faith, what is it that pulled her away from it?

She does say that her studies in philosophy eventually led her to Existentialism.

In college, philosophy had brought me from Plato, through Descartes only to end at Existentialism - a barren outcome.

I've always said that where there is a barren and empty heart, an unbeliever's heart, which is nonetheless always searching for something, then this heart is easy prey for Islam.

Perhaps this is what happened to her. And this should be a warning to all those in the West. If you take belief, and specifically Christianity, out of the equation, it will get filled with something else, which ultimately will not be the "nothing" of atheism, but could well be the something of Islam.

And Islam is around us everywhere these days. Even Mattson, almost twenty years ago, found enough Muslim influence in her metaphorical and real journeys to make final, fundamental decisions in her life. And how much more susceptible we are now, with Muslim influences that much more dominant in our daily lives.