Shadow

The shadow of Islamic State (IS) is elongating across the landscape. It moves across borders and into centres of commerce. The shadow brings urban warfare in its wake. The dawn of darkness is nearly here. And when this shadow envelopes the globe, mankind will cease to flourish.
Natural disasters are cyclic. Floods, famines and natural disasters can take a toll on humanity. But when the face of the earth is renewed again generations rise up with new strength. But this shadow of disaster hurtling towards humanity is of a different type. The dawn of this darkness is a disaster of human hand and based on a rising global consciousness of what it means to be a Muslim. Islam behaves very differently when Muslims begin to view themselves as a collective. And the strongest and most visible of collectives is (IS). It is like the Borg collective in the Star Trek series. The Borg was a civilisation with a group mind and collective consciousness. Members of the “hive” presented as thousands of voices that were collectively aware, yet unable to identify themselves as separate and unique individuals. This mental assimilation was so complete that members never spoke of themselves using singular pronouns. The sole reason for the existence of the Borg was to assimilate all other life forms into the collective. IS is doing a cracking good job. The model is assimilation or annihilation. Shadow: do you feel its steady creep across liberty’s landscape?
Now, before you think me stark raving mad, let me remind you that I have invested countless hours in observation and direct interaction with members of various political collectives. Today, millions of voices are emerging from the Islamic hive via Twitter platforms. Every second of every day the voices draw others towards assimilation. The danger is there for the clear-minded too. I am much like Nietzsche, who warns, “Battle not with monsters lest ye become monsters and if you gaze into the abyss long enough the abyss gazes into you.” While some interpret Nietzsche’s words to mean that evil must not be matched with evil, a separate interpretation is applicable. If the curious, poorly ethically clad soul gazes into the abyss long enough they might fall headlong into it.
Watching the evolution of jihad videos, propaganda and message traffic I note a growing movement towards collective consciousness. This collective identity is nurtured with vitriolic attacks. What causes Muslims residing across the globe to be drawn to the hive of Abu Borg? Why choose divestment of individual personality (a gift from God) and investment in life as an assimilated slave? I no longer speak. We speak. I am no longer a free moral agent. My will bends and sways to the sound of thousands of voices. I become the enslaved.
The communications coming from the hive consistently exhibit groupthink. Invariably, the speaker uses the word “we”. Rarely do I note, “I want you to commit x, y, or z crime in the name of the collective.” It is always “we” with an echo chamber of millions. The individual ceases to exist and the all-knowing collective controls the mission.
Why is Australian Muslim youth, UK female teens and foreign medical students dashing off to join this shadowy ideology? It is because they have been assimilated. The right hand of darkness has stretched out to them. They have grasped the hand. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has released its analysis. Seventy percent of all armed conflict fatalities last year involved Muslims. You are the foot soldiers for the collective. You are destined for World War M.
“In their collective state the Borg are utterly without mercy; driven by one will alone: the will to conquer. They are beyond redemption, beyond reason.” The Abu Borg collective is utterly merciless. I will not allow you to gaze into the abyss with me because the ethically naked run toward ironclad assimilation. But let me pose two questions based on the raucous boasts coming from the hive. Does the earth belong to each one of us as the gift of sustenance provided by the Creator? The Borg collective thinks the domain is theirs alone. At my place of employment I am surrounded by individuals of diverse faith and belief. I work as part of a team of six at my place of employment. Three of us were born in the US and the remaining three hail from Kenya, Pakistan and Vietnam. We celebrate different holidays and maintain different dietary standards. All of this is accomplished with great good will. Abu Borg would have you believe that the world belongs only to those who have spoken the Shahada. The rest of us were merely created to be punished by a capricious god.
Are Muslims the ultimate supremacists? Abu Borg punishes based on titles, not humanity. Infidels, non-believers, cross-worshippers, Jews and hypocrites are all legal targets for persecution, oppression, intimidation and threats of beheading. Why do some Muslims embrace this particular ideology? Let me quote Nietzsche again. “Thus I do counsel you my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.” The Borg collective is the punishment of fools visited upon the free. They exist to punish. They punish to remain in existence. By stomping neonates into the dust, chopping off the hands of women who use cell phones, crucifying their enemies, burning and beheading, they assure their future existence.
To rework the statement on the Borg let me note that in their individual state I have found Muslims to be merciful, kind, reasonable and certainly not beyond redemption. However, the voice of millions is seductive. The rope that you cling to is hanging more than a few. Choose I and not we. Be yourself and do not let another dictate your course. Choose freedom. The will of God is vast and not narrow. It is only our finite minds that imagine God’s will as a perpetual state of confinement. Be rational. You were born to be free.

The writer is a freelance journalist and author of the novel Arsenal. She can be reached at tammy@tammyswofford.com