No War? Or a Just War?

Some interesting responses to my NRO piece on “The War Against the Christians.” An academic, a man of the left, wrote to say that I was pushing a “paranoid right-wing fantasy.” He added:

So people call themselves “jihadis.”

Out in the deserts of California we have a bunch of lunatic right-wingers living in trailers, cooking meth, stockpiling weapons, and scanning the sky for the black helicopters of the New World Order, and who call themselves “patriots.”

Are we to take them at their word?

There used to be a funny little man who panhandled outside the Farragut North Metro station and called himself “the Messiah” — were we missing our chance at Heaven by not tossing a quarter into his coffee can? Is there anything that happens in the world that you can’t manage to concoct some global Muslim conspiracy out of?

Then there was this e-mail:

800 MOSQUES DESTROYED IN KOSOVO BY MILOSOVICH AND HIS FORCES …. HE WAS IN HAIGUE FOR THIS CRIME AND COMMITTD SUICIDE (OR MURDERED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE). THE CHRISTIANS OCCUPIED IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND HAVE BOMBED MANY MOSQUES …. EVEN NOW THEY ARE DOING IT ….

[I]f you stopped destruction of mosques this may not have happened. So learn to accept retaliation … In America and Europe thousands of Muslims are arrested on suspicion ….. tit for tat .. don’t cry …

I can provide proof for millions of Muslims being persecuted by Christians in Muslim Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Philipines, Bosnia, Chechnya and in many Christian countries …

So when you send these info please balance the two sides well and make an issue if Muslims have done more crimes than your people have done to Muslims …. at least follow the principle eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth … So if only two churches are detroyed so far don’t talk about it until another 999 are destoryed …. ie., one more than 1000 ….Have patience for that day …. I hope you will change your attitude …. You don’t have to wait until you become a Muslim to do that ….

My question to you: Who is more in touch with reality? The left-of-center academic who denies that there is a real and dangerous Jihadi movement waging a war? Or the radical Muslim who says of course that’s what is happening — and it’s exactly what you people deserve? Just asking.

The full article is available here.