Islamists suffering from paranoid schizophrenia

Last weekend an Islamic conference on the “Media War on Islam” was held at the Islamic Society of York Region, just north of Toronto. The function, which was attended by some 300 Muslims, focused on complaints that Western media were biased against Islam and that a vast conspiracy was in play to discredit that religion and its followers.

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The National Post reported that Iranian Cultural Attaché, Hamid Mohammadi, attended and slammed the West and its media outlets for their “spiteful policy” toward Iran and for inventing false and “fraudulent” stories to “encourage disturbance.” The Post considered Hamadi's statements “among the least controversial”, as other speakers made outrageous claims, including that the Christmas Day underwear bomber was actually part of a plot masterminded by Israel! We in the West, who since the Reformation and Age of Reason, have adopted views that are based more on reason, can hardly believe what we are learning many adherents to Islam espouse. In fact, the continual sense of aggrievement and the paranoia displayed by those following such luminaries as Iran’s theocratic leadership, the Taliban and al Qaeda could be viewed in terms of psychological disorders. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), most of those speaking at the conference are in serious need of help. DSM IV states “Paranoid Personality Disorder is a pattern of pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent”. Clearly this fits the bill. The manual goes further to state that Paranoid Schizophrenia included delusions that “are typically persecutory or grandiose, or both, but delusions with other themes (e.g., jealousy, religiosity, or somatization) may also occur. The delusions may be multiple, but are usually organized around a coherent theme.” I don’t believe there is a way to reach an accommodation with Islamist radicals because of their pathological psychology. Certainly therapy might be useful, but in order to get help the patient must cooperate and there’s little chance of that. When reality becomes inconvenient for Islamic radicals, they simply deny or modify the paradigm to suit their view. Hence, al Qaeda is “a figment of the imagination” of the West, the 9/11 bombing was a nefarious plot on the part of Jews and the US government and Iran’s quest to become a nuclear power is essentially an endeavor rooted in peaceful pursuits. Never mind that Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad continually insists that Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth. A few nukes would go a long way toward achieving this goal. Similarly, the belief that 9/11 was anything other than a terrorist attack promulgated by Islamic al Qaeda radicals is delusional. Given that people who are rooted in reason might consider the rantings of the Islamist radicals to be the product of paranoid Schizophrenics, there is another possibility. That possibility entails their engaging in The Big Lie, which many adherents to evil tenets have used throughout history to rationalize their actions. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot readily come to mind as examples of evils who thrived through the Big Lie, which resulted in the deaths of inestimable millions of innocents. We need to accept that Islam is at war with the West and that they are willing to do whatever it takes to inflict harm on us. Are we prepared to do the same?