Religious conservative Tony Perkins said on September 16 that the separation of church and state in America has led to the increase of Islamic radicals like Islamic State. While speaking on a radio show, he said Islamic State has filled the void left by United States’ secularism. Perkins believes if America had promoted Christianity over other faiths, those Americans who left the country to fight for Islamic State would not have done so.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish. Hello, this is Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council in Washington. Americans have been shocked to see the brutality and barbarism of the Islamic militants of ISIS, and they've been stunned by the revelations that radicalized Americans have joined their ranks and taken up their cause. Pundits and politicians alike have publicly pondered the question as to how young Americans can be sucked into such an evil venture. While it may be troubling, the answer is not hard. Radical secularism that has driven the defining characteristics of our Western culture, our Judeo-Christian heritage, from our schools, our entertainment and even our government has left in its place a void, a vacuum. And we should know from experience that a vacuum will be filled by something. Without a creedal vision that a society can unify around, the people, the nation, will perish. Unless we are content to allow ISIS or some other radical belief system to fill the void left by secularism, we must rediscover America's founding, Christ-centered vision,” said Perkins, who heads the influential religious right group Family Research Council.
The audio clip of Perkins’ minute long rant was published by Right Wing Watch. From the clip, it is evident how Perkins would have the United States doing more to unite government and religion if it wishes to counter violent religious extremists – an approach that is no different from that adopted by the religious radicals he himself was speaking against.
Even though Perkins’ comment seems ignorant, it is a surprisingly common notion held by many others within conservative circles.
In one particular episode of “The Colbert Report,” Dinesh D’Souza said that he thinks certain cultural critiques from radical, anti-American extremists are very convincing.
Similarly, Peggy Noonan has earlier said, “We make it too easy for those who want to hate us to hate us. We make ourselves look bad in our media, which helps future jihadists think that they must, by hating us, be good.”
Likewise, Glenn Beck argued that Islamic extremists are justified in condemning American depravity.
“The things that they were saying about us were true. Our morals are just out the window. We’re a society on the verge of moral collapse. And our promiscuity is off the charts. Now I don’t think that we should fly airplanes into buildings or behead people because of it, but that’s the prevailing feeling of Muslims in the Middle East. And you know what?
They’re right,” he said.
And finally, there is Perkins saying if America was not so stubborn about being secular, Americans would have been safe from Islamic State trying to fill the void left by secularism.
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