Transcript [00:00] Everyone, I want to share a clip with [00:01] you today that I think is more relevant [00:03] now than even when it was recorded. And [00:05] it was recorded nine years ago. This is [00:08] Ayaan Hirsi Ali being interviewed by [00:10] Peter Robinson at the Hoover Institution [00:13] way back in 2017. [00:16] Now, just to review, she was born in [00:17] Somalia, raised as a Muslim, suffered [00:19] greatly under Islam. She fled to the [00:21] West. She became a Dutch member of [00:22] parliament. She left Islam. And she has [00:25] spent her life ever since warning the [00:28] West about Islam, about political Islam. [00:32] And she's done this at enormous personal [00:33] cost. She lives under death threat. [00:35] So, when she talks about the question of [00:38] whether the West has the will to win, [00:41] the will to survive, she's not speaking [00:43] theoretically. So, I'm going to stop the [00:45] clip a few times to comment uh because [00:47] there are things she says here that [00:48] deserve a moment to think about. Okay, [00:51] so let's hit it. Here we go. [00:56] >> And Soviet communism lasted seven [00:59] decades. [01:01] Islam has been with us for 14 centuries. [01:04] >> Yeah. [01:04] >> Are you optimistic? [01:06] >> I am optimistic because we have defeated [01:10] in the past [01:12] um these ideologies you mentioned uh [01:15] communism and [01:17] national socialism [01:20] that were in some ways um more [01:22] determined, modern, fighting with modern [01:25] tools. [01:26] And Islam has been around for a very [01:28] long time. But the jihad is the [01:31] political uh Islam of our day. [01:35] Buys weapons from us. Takes innovation [01:37] from us. Needs us to destroy us. [01:41] And so, in some ways, I think we should [01:43] be more optimistic because A, we've done [01:46] it before. [01:47] >> They can't destroy us without our [01:49] permission. [01:50] >> They can't destroy us without our [01:51] permission. They can't destroy [01:54] us without us letting them destroy us. [01:58] >> Okay. [02:01] She says it twice. They can't destroy us [02:03] without our permission. They can't [02:04] destroy us without us letting them [02:07] destroy us. Now, [02:09] this is huge. It's a very big idea. [02:13] But I want to add a layer to it because [02:16] from a biblical perspective, [02:18] this isn't just a political observation. [02:22] Right? It's almost a theological [02:23] observation. Right? The entire biblical [02:26] framework is built on [02:28] the concept of God empowering us, of [02:31] human agency. [02:33] That's what covenant is all about, that [02:35] we have to act to redeem ourselves. God [02:39] doesn't redeem us [02:41] and we're just passive in this. Okay? We [02:44] have to take a step. Every moment in the [02:47] biblical narrative where God shows up is [02:49] in is there's always a demand upon human [02:53] beings to [02:54] to risk [02:56] and to show courage and to use their [02:59] human agency. And then God, of course, [03:01] helps. [03:05] But human beings have to choose to stand [03:07] up. They have to choose to lay it on the [03:08] line. God has given us everything we [03:10] need to win this, the ideas, the [03:11] institutions, the track record, the [03:13] resources. What he hasn't done [03:16] and he won't do [03:18] is show the courage for us, is take make [03:21] the choice for make the choice for us. [03:25] And she [03:26] that's the point. That's the point she's [03:27] making. The choice has to be ours. They [03:30] can't destroy us without our permission. [03:32] Now, it also rings true what she's [03:35] saying about equipment and things like [03:36] that or just, you know, the whole fear [03:38] of [03:39] Look what happens every time a Western [03:41] army [03:42] comes actually into kinetic [03:45] confrontation [03:47] with one of these Muslim [03:48] groups or states or whatever it is. Go [03:50] back to the Iraq war and Israel with its [03:53] enemies. What The only thing holding [03:55] back Israel from completely decimating [03:56] its enemy its enemies is [03:58] is all sorts of reasons for restraint. [04:00] The The military capabilities are [04:02] unquestionably more powerful. Even [04:04] Israel against Iran, Iran was this [04:06] superpower compared to Israel's, you [04:07] know, money and weapons and missiles and [04:10] everything they're doing. And look what [04:11] Israel did in June in the 12-day war, [04:13] even before the B-2 bomber attacks, [04:15] right? Meaning there's [04:17] If you think about what the West's [04:18] capabilities are, [04:20] there's no real threat. Like no one just [04:23] evaluating the [04:26] capabilities [04:28] in all these different ways [04:30] would say that it's a threat. So, you [04:31] put that together with what I was The [04:32] point I was making about the biblical [04:34] mindset is that God basically is looking [04:35] at us saying, "Hey, look, you have [04:37] everything you need." [04:40] The question of whether you [04:42] prevail or you don't prevail [04:44] as a as a civilization, as a value [04:46] system, is entirely up to you. [04:51] It's entirely up to us. There's no [04:53] excuse to say that the enemy was strong. [04:55] We are stronger. [04:57] It's fascinating idea worth thinking [04:58] about. [05:00] Okay, let's see some more. [05:03] >> And even if you just put the two ideas [05:05] side by side, one thing [05:07] I was talking to Andy McCarthy, the [05:09] former prosecutor. [05:10] >> Yes. [05:11] >> And he was from, you know, as a [05:13] prosecutor, he's really tried to fight [05:15] this fight [05:16] within the justice system. And he's come [05:19] to the conclusion, you know, the biggest [05:21] part of this battle should be won on the [05:23] cultural arena. [05:24] >> Mhm. [05:25] >> On the battlefield of ideas. And if you [05:27] take it there, [05:30] I think that we can easily win if only [05:33] we would stand up for our own ideas. [05:37] >> Okay, this is huge cuz what she's [05:39] saying, and I want to be really clear [05:40] about this, is that the problem is that [05:42] is is not that we lack good arguments. [05:45] The problem is that we lack the courage [05:46] to make them, the courage to stand up [05:48] and say, "Yes, our civilization is [05:50] superior. Yes, it is more moral. Yes, it [05:52] is worth defending unapologetically." [05:55] But that shouldn't be a controversial. [05:59] But it is somehow. Like, look where we [06:00] are. [06:01] A civilization built on the dignity of [06:04] every human being [06:05] is a That's what we stand for, right? On [06:08] limited government, on freedom of [06:10] conscience, on the rule of law. [06:12] And compare that to a system that [06:13] assigns people different rights based on [06:15] their gender or their or their or their [06:18] religion, dhimmi status, everything that [06:20] you you have coming from Islam. [06:23] We should be able to say very clearly [06:25] and proudly which one is objectively [06:26] better. The reluctance to say that [06:29] to say that out loud, the flinching, the [06:31] hedging, [06:33] that's the problem she's identifying, [06:34] and she's right. [06:36] Like, the battlefield of ideas is one we [06:38] can easily win, but we just have to be [06:40] willing to show up [06:42] at, you know, for the fight. [06:44] >> If you're promoting Sharia, and you make [06:47] it explicit, you're you're selling [06:49] Sharia to someone like me. [06:51] Uh I left Islam. [06:53] So, for those who leave Islam is the [06:55] death penalty. [06:57] I'm a woman. You want to sell Sharia to [06:59] me? It puts me in a position of chattel. [07:02] You're trying to sell Sharia to a Jewish [07:05] person or a Christian. They've been [07:06] relegated to the status of dhimmis or [07:09] second-class, third-class, right? [07:11] Um and then you show people the places [07:15] on this planet today in 2017 where [07:17] Sharia is reality. [07:20] And you see a lot of pain and suffering, [07:22] discrimination, divisiveness, poverty. [07:25] So, it's it's not [07:27] a difficult idea, a difficult [07:30] philosophy, to defeat. It's just that [07:32] we're not interested for some reason. [07:34] We're not yet We don't get it yet. But [07:37] once we get there, [07:38] all of our ideas, I mean, and I know [07:41] most people here today feel a sense of [07:44] shame when they talk about Western [07:45] civilization. But the ideas and [07:47] principles of Western civilization, with [07:50] all their weaknesses, with all their [07:52] pathologies, are far superior to [07:54] anything that Sharia has to offer. [07:59] >> Mhm. [08:01] You know, so many people in the West [08:05] profess, when asked the simple question, [08:09] they profess faith in God. [08:12] And then there's many who go to church, [08:13] they go to synagogue, they say they [08:14] believe in God. [08:17] But genuine faith in God [08:19] has to manifest as confidence in God's [08:23] principles [08:25] as laid out in the Bible. Right? You [08:26] can't say you believe in the God of the [08:27] Bible and then be ashamed [08:30] of the civilization that has [08:32] that God's Bible built. Right? [08:35] Judeo-Christian [08:37] civilization. I prefer to just call it [08:38] biblically based Western civilization. [08:41] And with all of its imperfections, [08:44] it's the greatest attempt in human [08:45] history to build a society around those [08:48] biblical principles, right? Like, you [08:50] know, [08:51] the United States of America. [08:52] Human [08:53] dignity, limited authority, individual [08:56] conscience, moral accountability. [08:59] Right? If you believe that those [09:00] principles come from God, then there's a [09:01] confidence in them. That That's not [09:04] arrogance, it's faithfulness. It's [09:06] confidence in the truths of God. [09:09] And what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is observing, [09:11] she doesn't bring up God in this, [09:13] but she's saying as someone who came to [09:15] the West as an adult, [09:18] is that the people who should be most [09:20] confident, those who have faith, [09:25] those who have faith aren't showing [09:28] that confidence. And so, when we look at [09:30] Sharia law, of course what we have is so [09:32] far superior. What does Sharia law offer [09:36] people? [09:37] And people of the West who are being [09:39] taken in [09:42] by a tolerance for Sharia. It should be [09:44] a It should be easy to make the case [09:47] that the Western value system is [09:48] superior to Sharia and that Sharia is [09:51] wrong. [09:54] You have to [09:56] She's pointing to the problem of our [09:58] societal [10:00] cultural confidence, our confidence but [10:01] in our faith. [10:04] That's why I'm saying when we It It goes [10:05] back to faith. That's why I started this [10:07] comment by talking about faith in God. [10:10] What is real faith in God? And that's [10:11] what I think has happened here. As we [10:13] move away from a real faith in God, you [10:16] know, like I I often think that it says [10:18] on the American dollar, "In God we [10:19] trust." And if you ask your average [10:20] American, "Do you believe in God?" [10:21] they'd say, "Yeah." [10:23] But what if you ask the follow-up [10:24] question? Instead of saying, "Do you [10:25] believe in God?" you say to your average [10:27] American, "Do you believe that God is [10:29] involved [10:32] on a day-to-day basis [10:35] in [10:37] managing your life, in managing the life [10:40] of society? Do you believe that God it [10:43] you know, like [10:44] Oh oh oh oh oh oh. [10:47] Suddenly, I don't know if you'd get the [10:48] same [10:49] the high percentage as when you just ask [10:51] people if they believe in God. [10:55] Because when you believe in God, when a [10:56] society really comes from a place of [10:58] strong faith, that then then they also [11:00] have a confidence in the values that [11:02] come with that faith. [11:04] So, these things are all connected. I [11:05] hope I'm making clear. These things are [11:07] all connected. That's why this is all To [11:09] me, the the the decline in traditional [11:13] faith in God that we've seen in the [11:15] post-World War II era [11:17] goes hand-in-hand with the lack of moral [11:19] conscience. Oh, I'm sorry, moral [11:21] confidence. A moral confidence, cultural [11:24] confidence, confidence in our moral [11:25] system is what I mean. Sorry if I'm [11:27] being a little convoluted. [11:30] And then you have Israel, right? Well, [11:32] Israel is a very is an increasingly [11:34] traditional society. [11:37] Moving more and more towards biblical [11:39] faith in the last couple of generations. [11:41] And and a politically conservative [11:43] society, a society that also has has has [11:45] fought these [11:47] uh these forces. [11:50] And I think that's one of the reasons [11:51] that Israel is surviving and thriving [11:52] right now. We're going to have a little [11:53] bit more on that. [11:55] Um [11:57] in an upcoming comment here on this [11:58] video. Let's watch some more. [12:00] >> We shouldn't be embarrassed about saying [12:01] that. That should be where we begin the [12:02] conversation. [12:03] >> Last question. This time I'm going to [12:05] quote President Trump. This is Donald [12:07] Trump speaking this month in Warsaw. [12:09] Quote. [12:11] The fundamental question of our time is [12:13] whether the West has the will to [12:16] survive. [12:16] >> Yeah. [12:17] >> Do we have the confidence in our values [12:19] to defend them at any cost? Do we have [12:22] enough respect for our citizens to [12:25] protect our borders? [12:27] Do we have the desire and the courage to [12:30] preserve our civilization in the face of [12:33] those who would subvert and destroy it? [12:35] Close quote. [12:38] Does the West have the will to survive? [12:40] Is that the fundamental question? [12:42] >> That's the fundamental question. Yeah. [12:43] That is the fundamental question. He [12:45] said these words in Poland and they were [12:47] well received. And what I've noticed I'm [12:50] I'm you know, I came to [12:52] the West in 1992. So I'm a newcomer. [12:56] >> But you're doing fine. [12:58] >> Thank you. [12:59] In in this short period what I notice is [13:02] those to whom freedom came late, [13:06] they are the ones who are willing to [13:07] fight. [13:09] >> Poles having suffered for for four [13:11] decades under the communists. [13:12] >> Hungarians, Eastern Europeans. You know, [13:14] for them it is not some vague story in [13:17] history. It's they still know what it [13:20] was like to be under the Soviet Union, [13:22] to be behind that iron curtain, to have [13:25] of freedom. They know what a [13:26] totalitarian ideologies. [13:29] They recognize it and they're willing to [13:31] fight for the core principles of [13:33] freedom. [13:36] >> Wow. [13:38] She's She's pointing to something really [13:40] important here and I was actually [13:42] I was actually just saying to my wife [13:43] the other day you know, I was reflecting [13:45] on [13:46] Israeli society. [13:49] And of course we don't ask for wars. We [13:51] don't No one wants a war. [13:53] But there's something that happens to a [13:56] nation [13:58] to a country, to a society when they [14:00] fight for survival together. A social [14:02] cohesion. [14:04] A clarity about what matters kind of [14:07] like there's a shared focus, a shared [14:09] sense of purpose that peacetime and [14:11] prosperity [14:13] don't really produce [14:15] in the same way at all. [14:18] And the Eastern Europeans she's talking [14:20] about here, the Poles, the Hungarians, [14:22] they have it because they earned it the [14:24] hard way, right? Israelis [14:26] Israelis also have that [14:28] for the same reason. [14:31] But [14:32] But you know, the post-World War II West [14:37] which has gone like 80 years without an [14:40] existential threat on their home soil. [14:45] And you can see the erosion of that [14:47] cohesion, right? It's not just political [14:49] disagreement. It's the erosion of the [14:50] shared sense of being a people, of [14:53] having something worth defending [14:55] together. That a civilization that was [14:58] inherited was was paid for by people who [15:01] sacrificed and showed courage. [15:04] Like that sense is fading. [15:07] And when it fades [15:08] you know, the will to defend it fades. [15:13] I hope that made sense. [15:15] Let's watch to the end. [15:17] >> It [15:17] will and that's what Western [15:19] civilization has [15:21] uh [15:22] has granted in to a certain degree to [15:25] human beings and has promoted and has [15:27] established systems that protects that [15:29] individual freedom. They know that. The [15:32] northern Europeans [15:34] to some degree Americans who have been [15:37] free for so long that they don't know [15:40] what freedom is anymore. They are the [15:42] ones who are in this I think moral [15:46] um [15:47] moral twist about and [15:50] wringing their hands and thinking you [15:51] know how can we defend Western [15:53] civilization? I mean what is Western [15:55] civilization? Is it white supremacism or [15:58] is it something else? And if our [16:00] leaders, if our elites cannot tell the [16:03] difference between white nationalism and [16:06] Western civilization or what it is that [16:08] makes America great again, then I think [16:10] we're in big trouble. [16:12] We'll have to depend on those Eastern [16:14] Europeans to defend us. [16:16] >> That's the [16:17] This really is the last question. I keep [16:19] saying last, but this one really is the [16:20] last question. [16:21] >> Yeah. [16:23] >> If the question is whether the West has [16:24] the courage to defend itself, has the [16:26] will to defend itself, [16:28] then you've just identified the central [16:30] sub-question within that question and [16:33] that is [16:34] will the United States of America stop [16:37] wringing its hands? [16:38] >> Yeah. [16:40] >> What do you think? [16:42] >> Uh I hate to say it, but something has [16:45] to happen to make us focus and to stop [16:47] wringing our hands. [16:49] Uh [16:49] you know, just turn on the news and the [16:51] first thing you hear is about North [16:53] Korea testing missiles that could hit [16:55] us. Then there's the whole radical [16:57] Islamic phenomenon. There's this rise of [17:00] China which is [17:01] again in its expression anti-Western. [17:06] And looking at all of that, I think it [17:08] is I don't know. I feel a sense of [17:10] urgency. I hope that you feel a sense of [17:12] urgency that we have something to [17:13] defend. But unfortunately, something [17:17] and and this is this is not my analysis. [17:19] This is what I hear from other people. [17:20] This is Americans first try all the bad [17:23] options and they try all the before and [17:26] then the very last one will be now if [17:29] that's the case, I hope we have time [17:31] this time. [17:32] >> [laughter] [17:36] >> Wow. [17:38] Something will have to happen [17:40] to make us focus, right? She said that [17:44] She said that 9 years ago. [17:48] And then on October 7th, 2023, we got [17:50] something that made us focus, that [17:52] brought things into focus. [17:54] At least we should have or partially. [17:58] Wasn't just the attack, right? It's what [18:00] happened to the West. Look at what [18:02] happened to the West in the wake of [18:03] October 7th. The entire Western world [18:06] changed. [18:07] Because within days the streets of [18:09] London, Paris, New York, the university [18:11] campuses [18:12] all across the West were filled with [18:14] people celebrating, justifying, [18:16] explaining away the massacre of Jewish [18:17] families [18:19] and and the media, the professors, the [18:21] journalists, the student organizations, [18:22] right? The whole red green alliance. [18:25] Political Islam suddenly become became [18:28] so much more front and center worldwide, [18:29] not just with with what Israel's doing. [18:31] And meanwhile, you have Israel [18:34] trying to defeat it [18:36] trying to defeat it and the whole world [18:38] kind of getting really uncomfortable if [18:40] Israel drives too close to actually [18:42] defeating evil, to actually vanquishing [18:45] it, actually bringing it to its knees. [18:46] We can't have that. [18:52] Right? The red green alliance has this [18:53] shared enemy, the West. [18:56] Biblical civilization. [18:59] Both the atheist progressive left and [19:00] the and and political Islam, right? They [19:03] want to destroy it. [19:05] They want to destroy biblically grounded [19:07] liberty loving [19:10] Western values that Ayaan Hirsi Ali has [19:12] been describing for the last for this [19:14] whole video, this whole 6 and 1/2 minute [19:16] video. [19:18] And she's asking like, does the West [19:20] have a will to survive? Does it have a [19:21] will to win? [19:24] Are we okay with that? Are we Are we [19:25] okay actually having victory? Well, for [19:27] victory, you need courage and [19:29] confidence. You need to actually believe [19:31] that you are [19:33] in the right and that you must defeat [19:35] evil. [19:39] We have to be willing to say clearly [19:40] without apology what we are for, what we [19:42] are defending, who we are. [19:46] And she's optimistic. She says the West [19:47] is going to rediscover itself. It has [19:49] to. And listen, as a person of biblical [19:51] faith, we know that the story ends well. [19:54] The good guys win. [19:56] The question is how bloody it is on the [19:57] way to that. [20:00] And it's hard to see there's some [20:01] corners of the West that ain't they they [20:03] ain't looking like they're winning. [20:07] But I But you know, and this is really a [20:09] call to Christians. There aren't enough [20:11] Jews in the world to win this fight. We [20:13] could We could be victorious for [20:15] ourselves. [20:16] But to win the the global battle for [20:18] civilization, for biblical values, [20:21] Christians need to step up. [20:23] And that's what she's pointing to here. [20:26] Anyway, that's it for this one. I hope [20:27] you found this video useful. Please drop [20:30] a comment. This is an important [20:31] conversation. I want to hear your [20:32] thoughts on this. And I read as many of [20:34] the comments as I can, you know, I [20:35] really do. And I appreciate all of them. [20:37] And I appreciate all of you for [20:39] for liking, sharing, subscribing, doing [20:41] all that. And I'm grateful to you for [20:43] helping grow the channel. [20:45] These are big issues. We have to have [20:46] these conversations, folks. We have to [20:47] talk about these things. But she raised [20:49] some very big issues here. [20:51] Bottom line is [20:53] saying they're scary, [20:57] they're invading, [21:00] it's all up to us. [21:01] I mean, that's just that's just [21:02] deflecting. It's all up to us. We have [21:04] what we need as a society, as a [21:06] civilization, to win. We have what we [21:07] need to win. [21:09] We just need the will, the courage [21:10] [clears throat] [21:12] to stand up and do it. [21:15] God bless.
