A New Phase
in an Old Conflict
On November 9, over
one hundred TFP members, friends and supporters gathered
together at the TFP's Washington Bureau in McLean, Va.,
to discuss Islam in the post-September 11th world. Speakers
at the event included His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince
Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza, Joseph D'Agostino, assistant
editor of Human Events and head of the TFP Washington
Bureau Mario Navarro Da Costa. His Highness Kigeli V, exiled
king of Rwanda, attended the discussion as a guest of honor.
Beginning the event, Mr. D'Agostino
spoke of the link between radical Islam and the left.
While Islam seems to be hierarchical,
is actually an egalitarian religion. The Koran, which clearly
teaches inequality between men and women, also teaches that
among men there should be little if any distinction.
Because it is also a sensual religion
which frowns upon all abstract thought, Mr. D'Agostino demonstrated
that radical Islam promotes the Cultural Revolution.
Mr. Da Costa then pointed out that
in the 1930s, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira predicted
Islam's recent religious resurrection. This predication
goes hand in hand with prophesies of saints throughout history
such as St. John Bosco.
Centering on history, he showed
that militant Islam is a new phase in an age-old war. This
is demonstrated by the teachings of Sayyid Qutb, key figure
in the formation of Osama Bin Laden.
Quoting these teachings Mr. Da Costa
showed how they are a mixture of Marxism, Islam and self-management,
marked by a distain for logic and a hatred for any vestige
of medieval Christendom. Analyzing these teachings, he brought
the audience to his conclusion. Far from being an outdated
seventh-century ideology, radical Islam is on the cutting
edge of a post-modern movement towards self-managing tribalism,
the Fourth Revolution.1
He finished by showing how the United
States represents the world's greatest obstacle to this
movement and called upon Americans to stand strong in face
of these rising threats.
His Highness Prince Bertrand finished
the evening with a message of hope. He showed how, in all
epochs God has bestowed sufficient graces on mankind to
fulfill His Will. Such will also be the case with the United
States in the present conflict.
This conflict, which at root is
a religious conflict, he compared to the Crusades. His Highness
hoped that, following the example of Europe in the eleventh
century, the United States would join together in a collective
"Deus vult"2 and
write a new page in history.
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